Early the next morning I visited Tori, and she scolded me for forgetting about her, and I apologized and we spent some time together preparing and eating breakfast before it was time for my usual morning lectures. After I finished with them I summoned my hellhounds and headed for the woods. As Nico and I had agreed, I spent the next few days hunting wild animals, picking berries, nuts and herbs, and fighting goblins and forest predators. And of course exploring the secrets of the forest.
Often I returned with a ring full of goods and have found and marked the location of many herb-rich spots that I sold to the alchemists for future credit. I was their main creditor, but for now there was not much to purchase from them. Although I often used their potions for stamina regeneration, I didn't want to overuse them.
It turned out that the wild animals and the goblin groups also gave a good amount of currency units, although they couldn't compete with the zombie-filled city.
Nevertheless this was an excellent vacation for me, especially the extended meditations in the few, beautiful, mana-rich places I found with my skill in mysticism.
Today, however, I discovered ancient looking ruins, on an island in the middle of a large swamp. I spent most of the morning chopping down and collecting wood with the help of my bear. After that I went back to town in search of a specialist, and after a few hours I came back with a rope and made myself a pretty solid raft from a total of 15 straight logs.
Then, I spent a lot of time in summoning attempts, using the Book of Solomon, until I finally managed to summon a group of water monsters. I sent them out to scout the swamp and half an hour later, after making sure there were no hidden dangers in the watters, with the help of a large pole, I began to slowly paddle towards the island in the center of the marsh.
When I got to the center, I saw that the ruins were filled with many poisonous snakes. I used my raft as a base from which to summon my various creatures, and all day I hunted snakes and extracted their venom.
"These snakes are a veritable goldmine for any alchemist and especially for me and my crossbow.", I rejoiced looking at the many valuable snake parts and various poison bottles filling my ring.
The snakes were pretty thick and appeared to be giving an excellent amount of currency units. This made me quite happy and so I worked hard all day.
I had to go back to town twice, and even stretched a rope between the island and the marsh shore so I could move around more easily.
At the camp, I purchased multiple containers in which to collect the snakes' venom, and I also unloaded their flesh, as well as their useful parts for alchemy.
The various snakes, like most monsters in the forest, had various mana-rich organs that found widespread use in crafting a variety of potions, could be used as anchor points in formations, and could even hold significantly more runic and magical enhancements.
From the first days, our specialist had already found that a large amount of runes could be written on the bones of the animals in the tutorial island and made into quite interesting weapons or arrowheads.
So I placed a large order for crossbow bolts and poisons. When he saw the poisons and the parts of the mana-rich snakes, Mr. Dellucci cried like a little child and wouldn't stop rubbing his hands contentedly and couldn't wait to start making the different kinds of new poisons from those rare materials.
"Meridin, you're a real gold mine!" the old alchemist squeezed my hand with both of his hands. "When we return to Earth I will give you my granddaughter as a wife. I'll give you both my granddaughters if I have to! No, best my two granddaughters, along with my grandson as a servant to serve you!"
"There's no need, there's no need." I laughed nervously and began to reassure the excited alchemist.
Soon more artisans started coming out of the nearby work stations and I hurried to excuse myself and head for the tree shops.
After purchasing some essentials from the store I immediately went back to the swamp.
I worked late, and when the night grew so dark that even my summoned creatures had trouble seeing, I stopped my work and found a tall, thick tree.
With the help of my familiar, I attached my rope to the branches of the tree and climbed up it. Then I pulled out some previously prepared thick branches which I had gathered and stowed in my ring and with the help of ropes made a sort of a nest for myself. I even gathered dried leaves, grasses, mosses, and dirt, which I used to fill the holes between the branches and make the floor softer and more comfortable. Then I pulled out a camping blanket which I spread on the floor and my sleeping bag.
Although it was dark, it was still early for me. So I spent the next forty minutes in mana control drills and summoning rituals.
It was a hard day and an equally hard night. So when I finally went to bed, I slept deeply until morning.
I woke up refreshed and cheerful. I dismissed my creatures, finished my morning refreshment and after a breakfast of hot venison soup and three wild goose eggs I was back to work.
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By noon I was back in town and made another deal with the alchemists, and Nico happily informed me that a certain portion of the snake meat was edible and had been smoked.
As I said earlier, we had found that the animal bones in the tutorial could absorb a large amount of runes and could be used to make various weapons or arrowheads. For this I was very pleased when one of the crafters greeted me with an improved crossbow, which I immediately purchased, along with a significant amount of rune-enhanced crossbow bolts. After practicing with it for a while, I found it to be significantly more powerful than my old weapon!
I met with George and caught up on the news from the last day. Turns out I'm not the first or the only one to find something interesting. There were plenty of mysterious places in the woods and the zombie town and various hunting groups had already managed to explore a few of the more easily accessible ones.
Groups of orcs were seen again and there were even clashes between them and the humans. The few attempts at negotiation were unsuccessful as the orcs were extremely aggressive.
"Meridin, I don't know how we're going to manage, it's so hard to convince people to stop hunting for currency units and take the time to help with the defenses. I'm terribly worried about all these orcs, goblins and whatnot on this island."
"I know you'll make it, my friend. Here, take this credit." I pulled out a third of the credit to the alchemists guild and handed them to George. "Use these items as rewards. You can pay me by turning their price into points for contributing to the government."
"Really?" George hurried over the papers I handed him, and when he saw the figures written there his eyes lit up.
"Meridin, this is a very good start. I'm going to visit a few of the more successful hunting groups and offer them similar trade, so we can build a wall and defenses faster. Maybe things will work out. Thank you very much for the support, and for the idea!"
"I hope that these points and these ideas will significantly increase the influence of the government. So some day, with a concerted effort, we can build a strong centralized government that could take the blows that will inevitably come our way." I remarked while imagining a bleak future filled with battles with hordes of monsters, suffering and death.
***
For two days I stood on the island and killed snakes. There were huge creatures among them and I often lost my bears and or other summons. I had to adjust my strategy often for this and learned many new things.
"This new world was made to confront us with new challenges, but also to give us many opportunities," I recalled the tower spirit saying. - "During the tutorial, we need to study the uses of mana and develop our magical cultivation, because the next levels will be significantly more deadly. And when we meet the other races, the real challenges will begin."
On the island there were a total of five ruins and each of them had a small miniboss, as well as an altar with a small magic box on it.
Out of the five boxes, I received five different items.
A silver knife that was very sharp and highly poisonous. The source of its poison was a green pearl embedded in the hilt, and I had been notified by a thought packet that the poison was limited and would not last long.
The other items were, a small magic lamp that could glow for several thousand hours, a box of white powder that sprinkled on an open wound could disinfect and heal it in about half an hour, there were ten doses, and a pair of comfortable gloves made of tough snakeskin that had various runes on them that made them resistant to toxins and fire.
After I killed the last miniboss, a hidden door opened in front of me leading to a dark dank dungeon. I sent my creature forward, and after a while I clutched my new magic lamp and stepped inside the stairs.
I slowly made my way along the corridors, nervously looking around every corner, pointing my crossbow at every shadow. I felt trapped. I knew something was lurking ahead in the darkness. After about ten minutes, my forehead was beaded with sweat, but I finally reached a well-lit hall. There were numerous drawings on the walls, as well as various symbols and diagrams. As I examined them, I noticed that the columns that supported the ceiling could rotate. After an hour or so of trial and error, and analysis of the drawings, I came to the conclusion that this was some sort of elaborate intelligence test. Unfortunately, I didn't have the slightest idea how to solve it.
I decided to stop and summon my creatures anew, after which I slowly continued down the only corridor. It turned several times into darkness and suddenly I found myself in a second lighted hall. In its center was a huge monster bound with a heavy chain. It had the torso of a giant lion and three heads: the head of a goat, the head of a wolf, and the head of an eagle. And finally a tail made of poisonous snakes.
"Stranger, come and try your might with me, in a contest of strength and endurance." The creature spoke in a human voice.
I decided to try it, and dispatched my bear.
"Huh, you're sending that pitiful creature against me? Don't you have the guts to face me alone?"
"Honestly, no." I thought, but said nothing. During that time my bear reached the creature, but after exchanging only a few blows, it became clear that my summon didn't stand a chance. The creature was incredibly strong.
Suddenly the eyes of its three heads lit up and it swung its paws and with one mighty blow split my bear in two! The speed of this attack was incredible. I was pretty sure that none of my acquaintances would be able to dodge or even block this blow!
"Hahaha, another win for the invincible Minotaur!"
"The Minotaur has the body of a bull," I scolded him. "You're a chimera."
"My name is Minotaur. From my father Mino!" the chimera cried in a horrid voice."
"Your father may be Mino, but you are a Chimera."
Here the creature couldn't endure it anymore and a cloud of poisonous steam began to rise from its body. Then its three heads simultaneously stared at me and began to shoot balls of magical energy.
"I AM MINOTAUR!!!!"
"And am I'm gooonnneee” shouted and ran with all my might back down the halls.
"This chimera is super strong. Apparently I'm going to have to solve the puzzle from the front hall" I thought reluctantly.
After spending a few more hours in the puzzle room, a fascinating idea formed in my head. I went out into the woods and went hunting again. After filling my ring with food, I returned to camp. There, I reached out to some of my contacts and with their help, we began recruiting people to help me deal with the chimera.