Vulren, as soon as he noticed that Ms. Malonne had been poisoned, began running toward his own house with all his speed. He reached his house much faster than usual, rushing inside and grabbing various herbs from the cabinet in the pantry, along with the ready-made potions in bottles. He carefully packed the bottles into his bag without breaking them and quickly ran back to Ms. Malonne’s house. Panting, Vulren dashed to the kitchen and began frantically searching the cabinets. He was looking for a pot in which to boil the herbs, and when he couldn’t find one at first, panic began to rise in him. But soon, he found the pot, hidden behind some larger saucepans. He emptied the liquids from the bottles and the herbs into the pot and lit the stove.

While the herbs were boiling, he was flipping through his book, searching for the antidote’s recipe. After flipping through the thick, leather-bound book for a while, he finally found the recipe, Keshish Antidote. The name of the medicine came from the poisonous Keshish mushroom, a rare mushroom with pink spots that grew in the deep swamps of the forest. Vulren wondered where Ms. Malonne had found such a rare mushroom that grows in the forest, but it wasn’t the time to think about that. While the herbs boiled, he continued reading the recipe, and after a moment, he breathed a sigh of relief as he realized he had all the necessary ingredients. His relief was short-lived, however, as he reached the final ingredient: Stardew Flower.

This flower had bright white petals that attracted herbivores with its powerful scent. It grows under a massive tree in a meadow, the home of a herd of Woolly Rhinos. It was common all over the forest years ago, but the flower had almost vanished due to its scent attracting herbivores. Now, however, it only grew under that massive tree in the meadow, a place the Woolly Rhinos seemed to avoid for some reason. Vulren knew that there was no way for him to pass through the rhinos and reach the tree, as the rhinos were extremely territorial. Moreover, because it grew in a meadow, he couldn’t sneak past them either. So, if he couldn’t find it in the herb shop in the village center, he would have to face a massive herd of rhinos. Given the spread of the poison, Vulren had roughly six hours before Ms. Malonne would die. If he didn’t find the flower in that time, it would be too late. Without wasting any time, Vulren dashed out of the farm and started to ran towards the village center.

He didn’t know the exact location of the herb shop, so he hurriedly started searching the streets. After a while, he finally found it and rushed inside, panting. The old man, who had been reading his book, raised his eyes in surprise, and his face wrinkled slightly. Standing up, the old man asked, “What do you want? I hope you’ve got money, because if you don’t, I won’t even give you the moss between the floorboards.” Vulren ignored the man’s words and quickly asked, “Do you have Stardew Flower? I need it urgently for a patient.” Realizing the urgency of the situation, the old man went to the storage room in the back. After couple of minutes, which felt like several hours, the man returned empty-handed. “Sorry, we’re out of stock,” he said. For a moment, Vulren’s heart stopped, ut then he thought of another option— the doctor.

The village had a small hospital, and although Vulren had never been there because he hated depending on others, but he had no choice now. He hesitated for a moment at the door of the two-story hospital but quickly snapped out of it and pushed the door open. Inside, he saw a young man a few years older than him sitting on a chair. Vulren approached him immediately and said, “Are you the doctor? I need urgent help, my neighbor has been poisoned and is about to die.” The young man calmly looked at him and said, “The doctor is not here right now, but I’m his son. Maybe I can help.” Vulren didn’t have time to wait for the doctor, so he cut straight to the point. “I need Stardew Flower. Do you have any?” he asked. The young man thought for a moment before answering, “Keshish poisoning? I never thought I’d see it. Sorry, we don’t have any. But if there’s anything else I can help with, feel free to ask.” Hearing this, Vulren muttered under his breath, “God fucking damn it.” He then turned to the man and asked, “Do you want to help?” The young man replied, “It would drive me crazy just sitting here while someone needs help.” Vulren said, “Then follow me.” He left the hospital and waited for a few minutes outside before the young man finally came out with a bag. They walked at a pace Vulren knew he could handle, and without turning around, he asked, “What’s your name?” The young man replied, “Zhoron Adjeon.” “I’m Vulren Ravanan, nice to meet you, doctor,” Vulren responded. Zhoron said, “I know you. You’re quite famous around here, though not in a good way.” Vulren replied, “It’s interesting that you’re helping me even though you know who I am. What’s even more interesting is that you haven’t insulted me yet.”.

They didn’t talk much longer before they reached Mrs. Malonne’s house. As they entered, Zhoron turned to Vulren and said, “I won’t insult you. After all, we’re kind of alike. My father is the best doctor in the village, but sadly, his skills didn’t pass on to me. My healing magic is weak, and my Skill is not that good either. That’s why I’ve always felt burdened by other people’s expectations.” While Vulren was gathering his things, he turned to Zhoron and said, “I’m glad you’re sharing your sad story with me, but if we waste any more time, this woman’s death will be added to mine.” ,“You’re right, buddy. Now, how can I help?” Zhoron replied. Vulren threw his bag over his shoulder and said, “I’ll go find some Stardew Flowers. You, on the other hand, will look after the woman and not ask any questions about how I do things, and don’t tell anyone about this. I’ll be back in a few hours.” Zhoron started to say “Wait, but it’s impossib-,” but Vulren cut him off and ran out of the house again, heading back to his house.

Thanks to the effect of the energy potion, he still wasn’t sleepy, and he was thankful for that. When it came to rhinos, the first thought that crossed his mind was to ask Kavrala for help, but he quickly dismissed the idea because he didn’t want to drag her into this dangerous situation. When he arrived at his home, he immediately went to his bedroom and pulled out a large chest from under his bed. Inside the chest were some shiny and beautiful pieces of armor and a short sword. These sword and armor pieces were high-quality items made by his mother. His mother had given him these items just before he left home, which felt strange to him because she had always been cold towards him. Thanking his mother, he started putting on some of the armor pieces. He only wore the essential ones, as wearing all of them would significantly reduce his flexibility and agility. Finally, after attaching the shiny and clean sword in its beautiful leather sheath to his belt, he set out for the forest.

The armor was a bit heavy, but compared to the Titantula black silk, it felt light as a feather. After about an hour of moving through the forest, he saw the giant tree’s leaves in the center of the meadow. Vulren, after getting a bit closer to observe the rhinos, climbed a tree. Initially, he planned to deal with the rhinos secretly by using the giant tree as a cover. However, when he saw that the rhinos weren’t gathered in one place but had spread out across the meadow, he abandoned this plan. His brain working harder than ever, Vulren desperately tried to come up with a proper plan. The best idea that came to his mind was to calmly walk into the middle of the rhinos. If he suddenly started running, the rhinos could perceive him as a threat and charge at him. But if he remained calm, even if one of them caught him, it might not view him as a threat. After taking a deep breath, he descended from the tree and began walking cautiously.

At first, the rhinos didn’t seem to care about him, but as Vulren got closer, it was clear they started to feel uncomfortable. His path was relatively clear, except for a large, woolly rhino grazing just a few meters ahead. Vulren tried to pass by without startling the animal, but when the rhino stopped grazing and started looking at him, he froze. After waiting motionlessly for a while, when the rhino turned away, he continued on his way. The path was completely clear now, and it seemed he could reach the flowers easily. As Vulren locked his gaze on the pure white flowers ahead, the ground suddenly began to tremble. When he turned around to understand what was happening, he noticed a massive rhino charging straight at him, just one meter away.

With no time to react, Vulren felt a sharp pain on his back and lost his breath. He was lifted off the ground and slammed headfirst into the dirt, and for a few seconds, the world went black. But when he felt the ground shake again, he reflexively jumped up and threw himself several meters to the side. He narrowly avoided the woolly rhino’s enormous size, but blood started pouring from his mouth. The only thing he could think of was running, but when several rhinos surrounded him, that hope turned into a distant dream. When he got up and drew his sword, his legs were still trembling. If he made too much noise and gathered the other rhinos, it would be the end for him.

The ground started shaking again, but this time, he was able to react to the rhino charging from behind and managed to dodge. As the rhino passed him, he swung his sword toward its thick fur. With a normal knife, he wouldn’t have made a scratch, but with his mother’s sword, he was able to make a shallow cut on the animal’s skin. His goal was to scare the rhinos, but it seemed to have only angered them further. Enraged, the rhinos began charging at him all at once, but Vulren was waiting for this moment. As the rhinos rushed toward him, he calmly awaited the right moment. Just before they crushed him, Vulren jumped several meters into the air, watching the rhinos crash into each other below. He landed safely in an open area, but his legs were shaking more than ever. As his mind became foggy, he felt a warm liquid trickling down his forehead. He realized it was blood when he saw his vision turning red on the left side. He must have been injured when he fell headfirst to the ground. He raised his hand and wiped his left eye, and when he finally cleared the blood away and opened his left eye, he locked eyes with a rhino several meters away. He thought to himself, “These stupid animals never stop.” and was about to jump toward the flowers, but his trembling legs wouldn’t allow it. Realizing he couldn’t escape, Vulren tried to grab the rhino’s horn and redirect it, but the immense strength of the animal was too much for him, and he lost his balance, falling to the ground. As the massive animal that weighs almost three tons passed over his arm, Vulren felt his bones turn to dust under its weight. With the blood spurting from his arm, he screamed in pain, and another horn strike from the side sent him flying once again.

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When he landed, he started vomiting blood. Lying on his back in the grass, he couldn’t help but think how beautiful the sky was. While he thought he was going to die there, the ground tremors suddenly stopped, and when he turned his head to the right, he saw dozens of rhinos staring at him motionless from a few meters away. Wondering why they weren’t attacking, he turned his head to the left, and a pleasant scent filled his nose. It was the scent of Stardew Flowers. He was lying in the middle of a white flower garden, having reached the flowers, but he had no idea how to get out of there. Crawling to the massive tree, he took out the bandages from his pockets and the small metal box hanging from his belt. The metal box contained healing potions, but after all the damage he’d taken, the box was bent, and the healing potions inside were broken. After getting rid of the broken glass pieces, he drank some of the potion directly from the box. He poured the remaining potion on his broken arm and gritted his teeth as he wrapped the bandages around it. He was in a lot of pain; he had been injured many times in his life, but this was the worst pain he’d ever felt. He could barely breathe, and as his consciousness slowly faded, he watched the leaves of the old tree swaying in the wind.

When he opened his eyes again, the sun was high in the sky. How long had he been asleep? He tried to get up immediately, but the incredible pain throughout his body caused him to collapse back to the ground. The rhinos were still watching him. Why weren’t they getting any closer? To pass the time, he started collecting the white flowers from the ground, wrapping them in a piece of cloth and putting them in his pocket. He still had a few hours before Ms. Malonne died from poison, so after resting as much as he could, he decided to come up with an escape plan. Leaning against the tree again, he began planning his escape, but the sharp pain in his arm made it hard to think clearly. Thanks to the healing potions, the bleeding had stopped, but his broken bones still ached. After regaining some of his strength, he began wondering why the rhinos weren’t getting any closer to the tree. He formed several theories in his mind, but most of them seemed quite irrational. The most plausible one was that the tree posed a serious threat to the rhinos. What about this tree would scare them enough to keep them from eating the Stardew Flowers? The tree was large, so maybe a predator lived in the top of it, but what could be dangerous enough to scare an entire herd of woolly rhinos?

These thoughts began to stress Vulren more and more, but at least they helped him temporarily escape from the pain a little bit. After half an hour of restless thoughts, Vulren, unable to resist his curiosity, decided to climb the tree. Maybe he could find something up there that could help him escape. Vulren wasn’t particularly good at fighting, but he was very strong when it came to lifting heavy objects, so carrying his own weight was child’s play for him. Even with one arm, he easily started climbing the tree, and before long, he reached the upper parts. When he sat on a branch and started observing his surroundings, he noticed something at the point where the tree trunk split into branches—a nest. After confirming there was no strong magical presence, he began climbing higher. When he finally reached the level of the nest, he found a massive nest with two huge, brown-spotted eggs and a pile of bones that seemed to belong to the rhinos. This sight made Vulren freeze, and his legs began shaking again. However, this time, it wasn’t due to the numerous blows from the three-ton rhinos, but fear.

Vulren recognized the eggs instantly. They belonged to a monster he had always wanted to fight when he was an adventurer, a Griffin. It didn’t make sense; Griffins were usually rare creatures that guarded treasures. But in this nest, there were only two eggs and a pile of bones. Vulren immediately wanted to leave, but escaping from the rhinos with his injuries seemed impossible. He had only one option: to use the chaos the Griffin might create. No matter how risky it was, the only problem with this plan, which was the only option, was that it was unknown whether Griffin would return or not. Vulren, hiding as much as possible, waited for Griffin among the leaves. After waiting for about an hour, Vulren, whose hopes were fading, began to hear the sound of wings from afar. However, there was still no strong source of magic, and Griffins had incredibly large magical power. He should have been able to tell a Griffin was coming from hundreds of meters away, so he thought it was probably just an ordinary bird and continued to wait. Unable to endure waiting any longer, Vulren decided to step out of his hiding place and climb down.

He got up from the densely-leaved branch he was sitting on and started to walk carefully toward the tree trunk. When he reached near Griffin's nest, he instinctively tensed up again, but he wanted to climb down without wasting time. Just as he was about to leap to the branch below, the tree shook, and he almost fell. He looked down, wondering if one of the rhinos had crashed into the tree, but all he could see below were pure white flowers. He had a very bad feeling, and when he looked to the right, he realized what that feeling was.

He was face to face with a living Griffin, with its pointy beak, razor-sharp claws, and magnificent wings. Vulren froze upon seeing the Griffin, and the Griffin was clearly observing him as well. Vulren had understood why he hadn’t noticed the Griffin coming; the animal’s magic core and magic channels had been completely shattered. Therefore, it wasn’t emitting any magic, in a way, it was just like him. Reflexively, Vulren jumped to the other end of the branch, his eyes scanning the Griffin. The animal’s entire body was covered with wounds, and in its eyes flowed a wisdom that no ordinary animal could possess. Griffins were among the most intelligent creatures in the monster realm; they could easily understand the intentions of humans and words, and a Griffin would not engage in unnecessary combat. Vulren knew he couldn’t escape from this creature, nor could he fight it, so his only option was to beg for mercy from the Griffin. He immediately sat on the branch, crossed his legs, and began speaking while looking at the Griffin. "I do not intend to fight; I am simply trying to leave."

The Griffin continued to watch him without reacting to his words. Vulren’s fear was growing, and he took off his shirt to try and show the Griffin his wounded body. Then, bowing his head, he spoke again, “We are alike, I cannot use magic either. Please, let me go.” This time, the Griffin’s reaction changed. It had shifted from a stance ready to attack to a more relaxed one and took a few steps back. As the Griffin relaxed, Vulren noticed green cracks appearing on the animal’s legs and under its wings. This was clearly the effect of Titantula venom, and the poison that had made significant progress would painfully kill the animal within a few weeks. Seeing this, a clever plan came to Vulren’s mind. Without standing up, he put his shirt back on and pointed to the Griffin’s leg, saying, “You are poisoned; you will die in a few weeks if this continues.” The Griffin hissed, covering its legs with its wings, and adopted a tense stance again. However, Vulren kept his calm and continued speaking, “Let’s make a deal. If you protect me from those rhinos, I will return in a few days and heal you. You can trust me, I never break a promise.”

The creature, with a suspicious look in its eyes, watched Vulren for a short while before opening its wings and jumping off the tree. Slowly descending from branch to branch, Vulren followed, his heart pounding. When the Griffin reached the ground, the animal calmly started walking towards the rhinos. Upon seeing this, the rhino herd immediately scattered. Walking behind the Griffin, heading towards the forest, Vulren had forgotten almost all of the pain in his body, overwhelmed by the shock of the situation. After a short walk, when they reached the trees, the Griffin took off without looking at Vulren and started flying in circles above the tree. Having safely reached the forest, Vulren grabbed the bag from its hiding place and began running toward Ms. Malonne’s house.

After running for a while in the forest, the village walls were visible, and as usual, the area was completely empty. After a strong leap, he started running through the fields. Before long, he had reached Ms. Malonne’s house. When he entered through the unlocked door, he found Ms. Malonne, almost entirely purple, lying on the couch, with Zhoron performing a healing spell by her side. Zhoron froze for a moment, even though he was sweating, when he saw Vulren, covered in blood. “Buddy are you okay? You're covered in blood.” Zhoron said. Vulren, mockingly, took the flowers wrapped in cloth from his pocket and threw them in front of Zhoron, saying, “I’m fine, ‘buddy,’ I got a bit hungry on the way and ate some strawberries, it might have spilled on me.” Zhoron, with a confused expression on his face, said, “Oh, I see, enjoy then.” Vulren couldn’t tell if the man was joking or not, while Zhoron opened the cloth on the ground, and when he saw the flowers, his eyes widened. Zhoron, about to say something, suddenly stopped when he remembered what Vulren had said before leaving and quietly took the flowers, heading to the kitchen. A few minutes later, he returned with a bottle containing a muddy brown liquid. Although Zhoron looked like a total moron, Vulren was impressed by Zhoron’s potion-making skills; the potion he made was nearly perfect.

After giving the medicine to the woman, who was sleeping uneasily, he began to gather his belongings. “She will wake up in about half a day, and then she will be completely healed within approximately three days,” he said as he stood up. Vulren, who stood up with him, walked over to Zhoron, shook his hand, and said, “Thank you for today, doctor, and remember, this is a secret between us.” Without saying anything, the man nodded and left the farmhouse. Vulren then began waiting for Ms. Malonne to wake up while treating his own wounds. Hours after the sun had set, Malonne opened her eyes and started looking around. Seeing that she was in her own house, she felt a bit relieved, but she still felt very weak. The kitchen light was on, and she grabbed the armrest of the couch to stand up, heading toward the kitchen. When she entered, she saw Vulren cooking at the stove.

Seeing Malonne, Vulren hastily dropped the ladle in his hand and ran to her. "You shouldn't have gotten up, Ms. Malonne, you still need to rest.” he said, then grabbed her arm and helped her back to the couch. Malonne, with a confused expression on her face, turned to Vulren and spoke in a faint voice, “What’s going on here, kid? Tell me.” Vulren then explained how he had found her unconscious in the barn in the morning and that she had been poisoned by a mushroom. “By luck, the doctor had exactly the medicine you needed,” he added, finishing the story. Then, returning to the kitchen, Vulren came back with plates in his hands and handed one to Malonne. After Malonne ate her meal, Vulren started washing the dishes. Just as he was about to leave the house, Malonne called to him, “Thank you, kid, I owe you this one.” Without saying anything, Vulren left and returned to his home. A few days later, it was revealed that a bird had dropped a Keshish mushroom from deep in the forest onto Ms. Malonne’s farm, and the chicken that ate the mushroom had its egg eaten by Ms. Malonne. She had recovered, and now it was time to fulfill the promise he had made to the Griffin.