Even after one of his Foundation Stars had been upgraded to the Novice rank, Zayn’s foundation was still much weaker than the Inferior Demonic Treant’s foundation. No matter how high his raw strength was right now, Zayn merely invested a dozen Soul Essences into his Foundation. It was just enough to destroy the Inferior Demonic Treants with ease.
Of course, upgrading his Foundation Star altered the drop-rate of Soul Essences and Card Shards, but the changes weren’t major since the average of his Foundation hadn’t changed much. Zayn considered everything long before he executed his plan.
Smashing dozens, if not hundreds of Inferior Demonic Treants, was his plan. And it worked perfectly fine even now that the Blackbelly Boars left the vicinity. They’d rescued their brethren and ran for their lives. Zayn made enough use of the boars. He didn’t need them anymore since he had six dead treants lying around, dozens of main roots coiled around them to drain the energy and nutrients left within them.
It was a bit odd to see the treants drain their kind, but Zayn felt that it was perfect. Their main roots were busy, creating the opportunity he needed to sever the roots one by one, turning the dangerous treants into defenseless victims of brute force.
Fortunately, brute force was something Zayn could deliver better than anyone else at this point!
Inferior Demonic Treant has been slain. +1 Soul Essence
Inferior Demonic Treant has been slain. +1 Soul Essence
Inferior Demonic Treant has been slain.
Inferior Demonic Treant has been slain.
Inferior Demonic Treant has been slain. +1 Soul Essence +Common Card Shard
…
There was not much for Zayn to do. Hunting the Inferior Demonic Treants after analyzing their behavior and attack patterns was rather simple. Time passed quickly and all he could use to tell the time was the soreness that spread all over his body and the darkness that crept through the Arylin Forest.
The sun was about to set when Zayn regained his senses. He was not sure when it happened but he ended up fully focused on the task ahead. It was not the first time something like that happened, but it was the first time that he entered trance in combat within Forgotten Lands.
Several hours had passed in the blink of an eye and it was already dark. Dozens of messages popped up in front of him.
Inferior Demonic Treant has been slain. +1 Soul Essence +Common Card Shard
Inferior Demonic Treant has been slain. +1 Soul Essence
Inferior Demonic Treant has been slain.
Inferior Demonic Treant has been slain.
Inferior Demonic Treant has been slain. +1 Common Card
Inferior Demonic Treant has been slain.
Inferior Demonic Treant has been slain.
Inferior Demonic Treant has been slain. +1 Soul Essence +Common Card Shard
Inferior Demonic Treant has been slain. +1 Soul Essence
…
Zayn had been doing the same over and over again. His tactic didn’t change even a little. Why would it? It was not necessary, and his tactic was highly efficient. Using the treant trunks to fool the stupid Inferior Demonic Treants before severing their main roots and cutting them down in three or fewer strikes was simple.
At some point, Zayn didn’t even have to pay attention to anything around him anymore. He weaved around some main roots, evaded them, and cut down the Inferior Demonic Treants.
Whenever his body was growing tired, Zayn took some short breaks. He replenished his Stamina all while using energy to use Scent of Treasures. Zayn turned into an herbalist during his breaks, searching for rare flowers and unique herbs. He didn’t find a lot, but the few flowers and herbs he found were certainly valuable.
Using Scent of Treasures was certainly a much better way to spend his breaks rather than dying of boredom, or getting a headache from overthinking about the next steps of his plan. There were lots of things he could do, but Zayn realized that thinking too much about them would throw him into a spiral of depression. He was too restless and impatient, unwilling to waste a single second resting, or doing something that would not lead to the grand victory against the Primordial Pantheon.
It was understandable that he was growing restless, but it wouldn’t help to grow impatient and restless if it turned his highly efficient plans to earn money and acquire more strength long-term uselessly. That was not what he wanted.
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Once the night set in, darkness shrouded the Arylin Forest. Zayn could barely see anything around him even though some bushes and plants began to glow. It was simply too dark.
Fortunately, Zayn was prepared for this. He retrieved one of the two vials he’d purchased for five silver coins each, opened the cork, and swallowed most of the content. Zayn left only a few droplets within the vial, which he emptied into his eyes. Two droplets of the liquid trickled on each eye, resulting in severe itching. It was uncomfortable, but Zayn knew better not to scratch his eyes right now.
Serum of the Foolish Owl has been consumed efficiently.
The notification was nothing special but it was enough to know that he did everything correctly. He blinked a few times to spread the serum properly and opened them once again. The world around him was a little bit brighter than before. He could see the Inferior Demonic Treants around him and it was no problem for Zayn to move around freely. It was all thanks to the Serum of the Foolish Owl. Zayn didn’t know what ingredients had been used to produce this potion but it was a Lesser Nightvision potion with some side-effects.
The Serum of the Foolish Owl couldn’t replace a proper Nightvision Card since the effect was inferior. The severe itching in his eyes was also not exactly a great side effect. Nonetheless, it was a cheap version compared to a Nightvision Card, and it was something Zayn could afford to purchase.
Using the Serum of the Foolish Owl, Zayn could continue to hunt even at night.
Inferior Demonic Treant has been slain. +1 Soul Essence +Common Card Shard
Inferior Demonic Treant has been slain. +1 Soul Essence +Common Card
…
...
It was almost midnight when Zayn was jolted awake. He was forcefully logged out of Forgotten Lands because he hadn’t been moving, eating, or drinking for almost 12 hours.
“I should log back in and continue the grind,” Zayn mumbled, ready to put on the VR helmet once again and press power when his stomach growled loudly. It sounded like a desperate plead for food. Only now did he realize how parched he was and that he had to rush to the toilet. His bladder was about to explode.
Zayn got up from the bed and stretched his body. His muscles were extremely sore and he felt miserable.
“I really need this Gaming Pod as soon as possible. How the hell am I going to survive like this?” He grumbled quietly under his breath.
It had almost been 12 hours since Forgotten Lands started, and Zayn had to acknowledge that he did fairly well. However, he could do much better. A few ideas had formed in his mind in the hours he spent mindlessly grinding the Inferior Demonic Treants. Thus, Zayn picked up his laptop on the way outside his room.
On his way to the kitchen, Zayn made a short detour to the toilet, where he emptied his bursting bladder. That had been more than necessary. Zayn sighed in relief when he departed from the toilet, his steps as quiet as an assassin’s.
He paved his way to the kitchen at last and opened the laptop. A new empty document appeared on the screen in front of him. But before he wrote something on the document, Zayn retrieved some beverages and a wide variety of food from the fridge. It didn’t take long to prepare a few small meals that mostly consisted of bread, eggs, sausages, and the like.
His focus finally moved to the laptop and he began to type while trying to eat and drink simultaneously. It was a challenge but Zayn made it work, devouring several glasses of orange juice and several plates of food in the blink of an eye.
[Professional Beginner Guide for Forgotten Lands]
[Forgotten Lands – The Foundation Orbit and what you have to know about it]
[Forgotten Lands – Cards, their Perks and how to create a custom Card Set.]
[Forgotten Lands – Moneymaker. How to earn a fortune.]
…
…
Zayn figured that he could create some guides about Forgotten Lands. He could hide the guide behind a paywall to earn some money. After all, his tips could help average Players turn Forgotten Lands into their main source of income – even if it would only last half a year.
Releasing a bunch of guides meant that he could earn some credits on the side and help everyone willing to spend some money to become a better Player. That would change the future immensely since he could share the knowledge he’d accumulated over a decade.
Zayn continued to write down a bunch of notes for each title, but he didn’t think about writing the complete guides out of nowhere. He didn’t have enough time and focus to spend the rest of the night typing on his laptop. It was much easier to do that tomorrow, or in the next few days.
Once he put the empty plates into the dishwasher, Zayn noticed that he’d nearly emptied the fridge in one go. He chuckled lightly and closed the fridge after putting away the orange juice before he returned to his room.
He had a few more hours before he had to wake up. Everyone else was sleeping. Meanwhile, Zayn would continue to play Forgotten Lands. After all, it was possible to use the advanced VR helmet while sleeping as well!
It was a great function that allowed white collars to work during the day and play at night. The only downside was the lack of light at night and the fact that monsters were stronger at night. Of course, that also meant monsters dropped more loot as their strength increased – unique loot. Not all monsters were stronger at night, of course, but some transformed, affecting their combat prowess and their Foundation drastically.
Inferior Demonic Treants were such monsters. Their roots’ lifeforce-drain would grow three times stronger. It was a good thing that the main roots never touched Zayn as they focused on draining their kind, otherwise, he would turn into a corpse before he could count to three.
The downside with the Inferior Demonic Treants’ power-up at night was that they could regenerate much faster as they were cut down. That slowed down Zayn’s grinding process, which balanced out the increase in drops he obtained for killing the reinforced Inferior Demonic Treants.
At the end of the day – or night – Zayn continued to hunt the Inferior Demonic Treants without using a single Soul Essence to strengthen his Foundation.
He was a little bit unfortunate that a wolf pack attacked him once, and that a bunch of Nightingale Owls decided to play with him all night, issuing attacks whenever he was busy moving around – evading the wolf pack or the Treants’ main roots. But by using Blink now and then and keeping his focus on the surroundings, Zayn survived more or less easily.
The time he spent playing non-stop in Forgotten Lands allowed him to get fairly accustomed to his in-game body and its limits, his Cards, and the One-handed Shanyt Axe. He wielded a one-handed axe a few times in the past, but it had never been his main weapon.
Fortunately, it had been perfect for the treant-foresty plan.