“You should have woken me up, Shadow…” Arika said.
“You were exhausted. I’m fine with a little less sleep. I’ll catch up on it tonight.”
“I didn’t ask you to—”
“I know. I’m also not looking for a thank you or a favor in return. It’s fine, Arika. We’re a team. You had a bad day, and you needed rest.”
“You’re the one that almost died!”
“It doesn’t matter. Pressure hits everyone differently—the spiders clearly overwhelmed you. I felt fine afterwards, so don’t mention it. I would have done the same for Orion or Honeypot if they were as exhausted as you were last night.”
“You really were super grumpy last night,” Honeypot said, emerging from his tent at the same time as Orion emerged from his. “I thought you might have finished your Explosion cast anyway, even after Azeria started being all friendly.”
“If I could have hit only you, Honeypot, I would have.”
Shadow had already stoked the fire and prepared a delicious breakfast for the party by the time they began going over their plans for the day.
“We can’t go back to town, and we already have a lead on the remaining two dungeons. Does anyone have any goals they want to accomplish today?” Orion asked.
“I don’t. You guys?” Honeypot asked Shadow and Arika, who both responded with a shake of their head. He faced Orion. “What about that herb location you got from Tallon?”
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Orion said. “It’s southwest of here. I really want to check it out. We might even find some baddies to kill and loot on the way if we’re lucky.”
The rest of the party agreed. With a destination set and a goal in mind, they finished their breakfast, packed up the camp, and headed off.
Orion marked the clearing so they could find their way back once they found a cure for the corruption of Azeria’s kin.
They traveled in an almost-straight line to the location marked as ‘Stims’ on Orion’s map, following animal trails when the verdant-green forest became too dense.
Orion pondered the animal tracks they’d used over the last few days, wondering if they were Creator made, or if they were a natural creation by the passage of beasts. Distracted by his thoughts, they made good time, arriving at their destination after an hour of walking.
The first sign of the herb was a patch growing on the side of the trail. Orion stopped on the spot as he recognized it, the soft-spiked leaves standing out from the grass and trees. Bending down, he went to pluck a leaf off, but sensed… wrongness coming from it. Inspecting further, he ran his finger down the stem until the feeling dissipated, replaced by a pulse of… contentment? The spot that felt correct was just below where the plant separated from a single stalk into multiple stems.
Orion plucked the herb in a single motion and a small wave of light washed out of him, alongside a euphoria he had felt before.
A series of notifications followed.
You have learned the skill: Herbalism.
Current rank: Apprentice 0.
You have advanced from Apprentice 0 to Apprentice 1 in Herbalism. Congratulations!
You have earned a new title! Congratulations!
For being the first Adventurer to learn Herbalism in this world, you have earned the title: Green Thumb.
Title: Green Thumb has been automatically equipped. You can change your equipped title in your character sheet.
New ability: Vegetative Vision.
Tier 1 Level 1
Cooldown: passive
Rare or higher grade ingredients that can be harvested by your Herbalism profession will now be more visible to your eyes.
Hey guy, maybe save some vision abilities for the rest of the Adventurers?
“Oh, you have got to be kidding me! Green Thumb Orion? Did you really just get another title for pulling out a plant?” Arika was staring daggers at Orion as he dismissed his notifications. “Of course you did. Unbelievable!”
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
“What can we say?” Honeypot brushed his shoulders. “The System rewards those that are worthy of such accolades. Jealousy looks bad on you, darl.”
Arika turned her withering gaze on Honeypot.
Orion laughed awkwardly. “I uh, I just learned the profession Herbalism, yeah. I’m the first adventurer to do so…” He managed a sheepish shrug, but was unable to keep the smile off of his face.
He checked his character sheet, seeing that his second profession slot now had the word ‘Herbalism’ printed inside of it.
He checked the new title.
Active title: Green Thumb.
Earned by being the first adventurer to learn Herbalism in this world.
Bonus: +5% Intelligence, +5% Stamina.
Bonus is doubled for active title.
More percentage modifiers…
He beamed a smile.
“I think I’ll leave Green Thumb active.” He dismissed the screen. “It gives the same bonuses, and it’s more ambiguous than ‘the Alchemical’. If someone inspects me, they might just assume I really love gardening.”
“You are so infuriating,” Arika said.
“Shouldn’t you be happy, Arika?” Honeypot asked. “Think of all the flowers he can bring you.”
“Oh, shut it. I can be happy for him and annoyed at him at the same time. He just keeps getting…” She waved her hands around in vague circles. “… things! He keeps getting things, okay?”
“Can you show us how?” Shadow looked hopeful.
“I think so. I kind of just knew how to harvest the herb. It told me what to do.”
Orion looked down and inspected the herb he’d harvested.
Stim Leaf
Common
Smoking or eating this herb can have a mild stimulating effect. Users might notice increased cognition and reaction time. This herb can also be used by alchemists to produce a number of effects if prepared correctly. Prolonged use may lead to mild hallucinations and paranoia.
At least you’ll have increased cognitive ability and reflexes to defend against, or better yet, attack your friends that are definitely plotting against you.
The Stim Leaf that Tallon showed him had only been Common rarity, whereas this bunch was upgraded to Uncommon. Was that because he’d harvested them correctly, or maybe because he now knew the Herbalism profession? How had Tallon picked so much of the herb but not gained the profession himself? As usual, he had so many questions, and the world he found himself in offered little explanation.
With the herb upgraded to Uncommon, the description now also mentioned that alchemists could use it.
Maybe Alchemy is a prerequisite to Herbalism… is that why Tallon didn’t learn it, despite harvesting enough Stim Leaf to keep him wired for almost a week? I’ll have to check with Carl and see if I can get any more information.
Orion relayed his thoughts and suspicions to his friends.
“Well, that’s easy enough to test, right?” Honeypot bent down and looked at another patch of the Stim Leaf. “Show me how you plucked it, and we’ll see if I get the profession. If so, Alchemy isn’t a prerequisite, and it’s all about the way you use for digits.”
“Hang on a second,” Orion said. “This might sound selfish, but I think we should check with my teacher Carl before we have anyone else try.” Seeing his party’s confusion, Orion continued, “I only have two profession slots, both of which are now occupied. What if you get Herbalism and you’re not able to unlearn it? I think it might be beneficial to have a variety of different professions across the team…”
“That’s not selfish, glorious leader… that’s prudent!” Honeypot patted Orion on the shoulder. “See? This is why you’re the leader. We can afford to check with this illusive, learned Carl of yours first. Better to be safe than sorry.”
Shadow and Arika also agreed with the sentiment, so they decided only Orion would harvest the herbs for now. He bent down to harvest the herb that Honeypot had been inspecting and plucked it just as he had the previous plant.
You have gained progress towards Apprentice 2 in profession Herbalism by picking Stim Leaf.
Recognizing that it would get old getting a notification every time he picked some Stim Leaf, he turned them off with a mental push.
Following the track they were on, they soon emerged into an area of forest that was sparsely occupied by trees. Orion would still classify it as a clearing, but it wasn’t completely free of trees. The soft-spiked leaves of the Stim Leaf plants filled any areas that received both shade and light as the sun traveled through the sky.
“We’re gonna be here a while, aren’t we?” Arika looked over the veritable trove of herbs.
“I can see why Tallon would share the location,” Orion said. “I don’t think I could clear this place out given a week.”
“One way to find out! Get to it, boss-man. We’ll be waiting.” Honeypot removed a small wooden stool Orion hadn’t seen before from his inventory, set it down in a patch of shade, and let out a weary sigh as he sat down and relaxed.
“Don’t you guys want to do something?” Orion asked, feeling guilty that only he could pick the strange herbs. “We can keep adventuring if you’d like. Look for some monsters, maybe a dungeon unrelated to our quest? Hit something?”
“As much as it pains me to say, I’m with Honeypot on this one,” Arika said. “May I please have a seat, Shadow?”
She took the requested stool from Shadow and took a seat in the shade by Honeypot, then turned to Orion.
“If you think Alchemy is something we need as a party, and these herbs might help in that regard, I’m all for having a rest day. Besides, this week has been exhausting.”
Shadow agreed, taking a seat by Honeypot and Arika and pulling out a chopping board and some vegetables to prepare ingredients for a hearty lunch.
Orion began harvesting.
Beginning on the biggest patch in the middle, he plucked the herbs one-by-one with meticulous care. He felt himself speed up a little, consistently growing more experienced and comfortable as he went.
He went from patch to patch of the soft-spiked leaves, taking a little less than half from each area, stopping when it felt right. It was odd to him he could feel positive reinforcement from a patch of what was essentially weeds, but that was exactly what was happening—he felt as though he was helping the patches of plant, thinning out the leaves to ensure new growth and continued life. He went on, guided by the feeling the plants were giving him, ensuring that there was enough cover and healthy plants left for the patch to regrow even stronger than before.
Time flew by, with Orion engrossed by his work and only noting the passage of time when he would finish harvesting a patch.
It was approaching midday when something odd caught his notice.