Nick was woken from dreams by a block of text floating in front of his face, bringing him back to full alertness within a matter of seconds. Apparently, the System could reach him whenever it wanted, even in the murky depths of unconsciousness.
While he wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep, it was one of the few times that the System had messaged him directly, and he knew that whatever was going on, it had to be important.
His flash of irritation faded away as he focused on the meaning of the words and began to read.
System message: Proximity triggered event.
Event: ‘The Jewel of the Night’ has begun.
Once a year when the moon is full, the emerald star lotus produces a single fruit, commonly known as the jewel of the night. The rare fruit cannot be cultivated and has the power to increase any skill by a single point, making it a valuable commodity throughout the multiverse.
Somewhere nearby, a star lotus fruit has reached maturity, sending its call out to every contestant and beast within range. If you don’t find it soon, another surely will.
Immensely relieved that this event was an opportunity rather than an imminent threat, Nick opened his eyes, sat up, and took a long look around. It was a bright night on the bog and the air was clear. The radiance of the moon offered clear visibility, draping the landscape in a thousand shades of silver and lead.
He took a deep breath in through his nose, catching a whiff of something delectable riding the midnight breeze. A zesty citrus tang that set his mouth watering, sparking a hunger within him that was deeper than the desire to fill his belly. A strange sensation unlike anything that he had experienced before.
Intrigued by what he was feeling, Nick started scanning the surrounding terrain for signs of anything hostile lurking nearby. While he did so, he fired up the risk versus reward part of his brain, pondering whether he wanted to participate in the event.
This event seemed to lack the inherent danger of the others Nick had come across. It felt more like a side quest without major stakes, although that didn’t mean the event would be safe. Regardless of the details, the prospect of improving one of his skills was nothing to scoff at. While he wasn’t willing to risk it all for the sake of a single skill point, he decided that it was worth trying to find the fruit before anything else ate it.
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If he couldn’t locate the star lotus fruit within an hour or two tops, he would give up and go back to bed. Not that he expected the fruit to last that long with its enticing scent riding the breeze. Rubbing the sleep from the corner of his eyes, Nick rose to his feet, drew his sword, and put on his pack. He sniffed at the air to get a better sense of where the smell was coming from, then started walking, picking a path that would keep him away from the water or any deep brush.
Just because the quest was simple didn’t mean that Nick would lower his guard. The bog was a dangerous place at the best of times, home to a variety of fearsome beasts and rough terrain. Further complicating matters, he had a hunch that the local wildlife was converging on the ripe magical fruit, drawing closer with every beat of his heart.
Although the silver moon was shining bright, it was no easy feat to cross the bog at night. Nick would have to pay close attention to the surrounding soundscape as he followed the mouthwatering aroma. In this ethereal half-light, his ears were just as useful as his nose. On that note, he could hear the cries of animals and beasts in the distance, growing louder by the footfall. Nick would have to move fast if he wanted to claim his prize.
Fortunately, this stretch of marshland was flat and relatively dry. There were a few shallow ponds here and there, but nothing deep enough to conceal any of the massive predators he had seen hunting within the water over the last few days. When he sized up the terrain ahead, the skill didn’t report any hidden dangers either.
Even still, he kept his distance as he wove his way between shadow-studded bushes and shrubs, stopping every few minutes to reorient on the zesty tang riding the breeze. He followed the tantalizing odor, keeping a low profile as he crossed the marshlands as quickly as he could without giving his position away.
Ten minutes later, Nick found himself standing on the top of a low rise, the elevation offering him a decent view of the lay of the land. When he cast his gaze across the bog, his eyes landed upon a small pond. It was surrounded by a ring of tall trees with yellow bark and wispy leaves that reached all the way down to the ground below.
However, it wasn’t the trees that had captured his undivided attention, but what he saw growing in the middle of the pond. Dominating the entire pool was a lotus pad the size of a minivan, a great sprawling plant that glowed with a soft emerald radiance.
Clued in by the plant’s color and shape, Nick became certain that he was looking at his target when he spotted the fruit. A lone, star-shaped growth was hanging from the highest part of the lotus, a single offering that was bigger than both of his fists combined, shining brighter than the rest.
The instant that he laid eyes upon it, Nick felt a surge of desire. A need to consume the star lotus fruit that went beyond the mere pursuit of his next meal. Unlike the hunger-inducing pollen of the ravenous creeper vines that had nearly ended his life, this attraction felt natural rather than any kind of external compulsion. Like his body knew on an instinctual level that consuming the fruit would allow him to grow stronger.