*Evan POV*
“UGH!”
I groaned loudly as I dramatically crawled out of the cave that I spent hours in mining, kicking the ass of any monster who decided to have beef with me while delving down in the deep.
The sun was already back on his BS and is trying to blind me again. Thankfully this time I knew I had the help of Pain-Immunity senpai and decided to face the sunrays head-on. I have to admit, after spending a few hours in the deep dark, I think I went blind for a minute.
After blinking a couple of times and making sure that I could see again, I checked the time and I guess it was around 12pm? I can only guess since I don’t have a watch but it should be accurate enough. This also means that I've been down there for at least about 4 hours.
Usually, I would be annoyed for doing these things but not when it yielded a lot of loot. Well, not really at first but after I started to dig my own path and found another cave, only then I started finding the real booty. I even found three Life Crystals which I really needed! A Life Crystal will permanently give you an extra heart or 20 HP. So, Let’s take a look at my Health now.
Life:(160/160)
❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
I also found 2 chests and tons of other things from the mysterious pots that spawns under uncharted territory. So, taking a look at my inventory now, I have…
Strong Enchanted Boomerang.
Warding climbing claws.
18 gold coins.
18 lesser health potions.
6 Healing potions.
348 ropes.
2 blinkroot.
4 blinkroot seeds.
And tons of ores (copper, iron, silver etc) including a few other less useful materials (cobwebs, gels, clay etc). I got some of these things, such as the lesser health potions, ropes and coins from the mysterious pots and the others from chests (enchanted boomerang, climbing claws).
Strong Enchanted Boomerang:
Damage: 13 (Melee damage)
Knockback: Very Strong
Critical chance: 4%
Use time: Very Fast
The boomerang had a banana shape with a red ruby installed in the middle and was plated with some kind of gold and a blue material. It also looked magical and sometimes rainbow-colored sparkles would come out of it which gives off a faint light in dark places.
The great thing about boomerangs is that they have a huge knockback and can create distance between you and your enemy very easily. So, it’s a must-have for rangers which I’m deciding to go towards for now.
The luckiest thing I got here are the Warding Climbing Claws. The Climbing Claws gives you the ability to wall jump which isn’t really useful compared to other accessories like the Cloud in a bottle which gives you a double jump ability but I’m not lucky in getting the Climbing Claws, I’m lucky in getting the Warding Climbing Claws
Warding Climbing Claws (Accessory):
Tooltip: Can climb walls.
Warding: +4 defense
It looks like a black band with 3 metallic black claws attached to it.
So, now I have a total of 8 defense points which is almost near a full silver armor set. Let’s not forget that I'm not even wearing any armor yet besides the goggles. I wonder if the armor sold by Arnold will also be cheap. Since I'm not going to waste these materials on making armor since that takes a lot of materials that can be easily used to make many more useful tools.
Better make it back to the guild now. I got a good haul of money too, so I need to buy tons of things and prepare myself for the Eye of Cthulhu, just in case he spawns. I need armor, potions, ammo, and any other things I can get my hands on so I started to head back.
*Luna POV*
I was locked up in a room of some house which was right beside the Adventurer’s guild. The room was pretty normal. A door, some windows, wooden furnishings, table and chairs, and also a bed.
I was supposed to stay at the Adventurer’s guild but after my many attempts to escape, they locked me in here and kept Lark to act as my bodyguard but I knew it was to make sure I don’t go anywhere else.
No matter, I’ve been taught the art of escape by my father a few times just in case I was ever captured, and even if I wasn’t, it was required to have the princess know some self-defense techniques. Which was why I bided my time.
“Lark, has there been any news about Reid?” I calmly asked him.
“Ugh, this is like the 20th time you’ve asked me, and no. I’ve been staying guard here in case the cultists came after you again. So even if he did come back, I have no way of knowing but I will tell you If I get any news about him. So please, wait patiently until then.”
It's been around 5 hours since he left and I haven't heard anything of him yet. I'm worried, and also frightened. What if those people catch him? Would the Adventurer’s Guild send help? But how would they even know if he’s caught? And what of my father and mother? Where are they? My best friend Mia and her family? I’m really scared.
That's it. I have recovered all of my Mana and I’ve also decided on how I’m going to escape from this place, so it’s time to initiate my plan. I hid beside the door and conjured up a small ice spike. It floated above my right hand and was releasing a really cold mist. I shot it towards the window and the window broke, making a lot of noise but Lark might be smart and see through my plan so I screamed.
“AHHHHHH!!!”
I immediately materialized an ice club and it floated above my head.
“SHIT! LITTLE MISS!?”
The door slammed open and Lark frantically searched for me. Before he even figured out what happened, I immediately smacked him on the back of his head with the ice club and he collapsed immidiately. I stayed hidden behind the door just in case there might be more people nearby but there wasn’t which is an unusual thing but they might not even trust their own adventurers right now so Lark was their only safe choice.
I breathed a sigh of relief.
I'm coming, Reid. Please be safe.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
I quietly left the building I was in and headed towards the south gate that Reid said he was going to go to.
*Tifa POV*
Sarah and I were wearing black hooded capes to hide our long ears from the humans as we made our way inside the Human Kingdom. We faced a little problem when we tried to enter the kingdom, though.
It was not because our disguises were weak but because the kingdom was in high alert due to those evil cultists. Fortunately, Sarah was well known in the Adventurer’s Guild because she was an elite and was awarded with her own Adventurer I.D. which we used to enter.
We searched for that person everywhere. Obviously, we asked the Adventurer’s Guild first but no luck. We looked at each face walking past us carefully, asked the local stores and inn, and even visited the slums.
Half a day had already passed by like this. While still searching for him, I talked to Sarah.
“We have been searching for him for quite a while now.”
“Yea, this is taking quite a while. What's surprising is that the Adventurer’s Guild refused to help us this time. Even me, which is weird.”
“They did mention something about a giant threat they were facing and also to watch out for the Cultists.”
“Hmm, that’s the weird part. The cultists are a giant force, and really strong too. But for them and that boy to have a connection...” Sarah made a wide grin and continued, “Well, even more reason for us to recruit him. If he was easy to get, then he might’ve not been worth it but I’m getting more and more curious about him ever since we came here.”
Sarah started laughing quietly in a creepy manner.
“Umm, that's okay but right now we don't even know where he is. Maybe he’s not here at all?”
“Maybe. Maybe not. Let's split up from here. You go towards the south section and search there. Meanwhile, I'll go towards the east section. We will regroup at the Adventurer’s Guild at night. If you get in danger, use the magic “Wind Whisper” that I thought you about and call me. I'll come running.”
I nodded. “You do the same too, then.”
“Heh, as if I’ll ever need help, but I will use it if I found him, alright? Bye now and be careful.”
Sarah waved her hand at me and I nodded.
“Same to you. Bye.”
She headed towards her destination and I headed to mine.
*Evan POV*
I reached the south gate and I saw the same 2 guards from before.
“What’s up guys? Remember me? Care to let me pass?” The guard to the left looked in my direction.
“Hm? Ah, Evan was it? Give me a second.”
He took out a parchment and ticked the space beside my name.
“Hmm, looks like you’re here earlier then you mentioned, but regardless, you may pass.”
“Thanks guys, I was just done with what I needed so I came back.”
“I understand, but be careful now. There are rumors of the cultists acting up in here and the guild has been telling everyone to be on guard against any suspicious person or activity.” The guard to the right said.
Liza is taking her work seriously.
“Alright then, I will be.”
I passed them and walked a bit before I saw the marketplace. There were many stalls of food, restaurants, general stores, furniture stores, materials store, etc. I ignored them all and opened my map, which seems to be invisible to everyone else because nobody was paying attention to it. I used the map and headed towards the shop which sold alchemical ingredients. I finally found it and entered.
The place was not a shabby place but a neat place, there were some shelves placed behind the counter filled with many different colored potions. I recognize the potions. There were thorns potions, regeneration potions, mana potions, gills potions, etc.
“Welcome!”
A guy with glasses greeted me from behind the corner. He had straight black short hair and looked around 17-18 years old. He was wearing a blue wizard robe with a red tie on a white undershirt.
“How can I help you? Do you need alchemical plants? Perhaps any specific potions that can help you in adventuring or for general purposes?”
“Yea, I uhh… well, I need alchemical plants. Specifically, I need some cactus, daybloom, red mushrooms, tons of water-filled glass bottles, and if possible some blinkroot and shiverthorn too. Oh, and can I use your alchemist bench too? If you have it that is. I can work with a normal workbench too as long as you can give me some empty bottles.”
An alchemist bench is just a crafting table with a bottle on it, which gives you the ability to craft potions. He was visibly surprised by the list of things I ordered from the top of my mind.
“I-I, um, yes! Please follow me!”
He was a little taken back but he still showed some professionalism and went towards the back door which was behind the counter. I obviously followed him in. Here, there were no windows and the room was lit up by torches only. There was an alchemist table at the very middle and there were some wooden chests on the sides with a workbench and a small water pool at one corner.
There was also some kid working on the alchemist table. He was wearing a black wizard hat and robe but the hat was too big for him and hid his entire body because of his height. He was around 4’6”, basically about as tall as my belly.
“U-Um sensei, this customer wants to use the alchemist table.”
He kept working with the bottles in his hand for moment before he placed them down and turned around to look at me... and surprisingly it's a she and not a he. She was also wearing glasses and looked around 15 years old with braided brown hair.
“Hm? Sure but it's a fee of 1 silver for one hour at the alchemist table and 10 copper for an hour at the workbench.”
An hour? I just need a moment to craft everything I need. Looks like this proves my theory that they don’t have the help of the system. I started suspecting with Arnold but this seals the deal. I wonder If I have the system because I’m not even supposed to be here or if all the heroes have this system awarded to them. Well, no point in thinking about it since I haven’t met any other hero.
“Alright, I’ll use the alchemist table. Just need the materials now.”
I nodded my head and looked at the glasses guy.
“Ah yes, please tell me the amount you need of each ingredient.”
I told him the exact amount of each ingredient I need. That total came out to be 1 gold and 37 silver. Expensive since I only took 10 of each ingredient aside from the 30 water bottles.
I paid them the total and 1 extra silver coin for the alchemist table.
The girl pouted a little bit before she started moving away all the things from the alchemist table. I should mention that this is not the alchemist table I was talking about before which is the bottle on top of a workbench. No, this is the advanced alchemy table that can only be found in the Dungeon.
It’s surprising to see it here because that would mean that the dungeon boss is cleared. Well, in the end this is just going to help me because this alchemy table gives off a 25% chance not to consume ingredients which is really helpful.
“You sure, that you know what you're doing? I can make those potions if you want, but it will cost you more in the end.”
“Pardon?”
What is this small loli trying to say?
Then the glasses guy butted in, “Ah, you might have not recognized her but this here is the miracle child, the wizard Lucy. Her name is spread among the whole kingdom because of her fine potion-making skills. The potions you saw outside were all made by her.”
The girl named Lucy started to look up with pride. Finest potions huh, well those aren't really that useful unless in specific situations but they can still be used somewhat. Well, the only potion that was really useful was the mana potion that I saw... Wait a minute, mana potions require fallen stars to be made!
“Do you have fallen stars?” I asked them with literal stars in my eyes.
It was as if I dropped a bombshell on them and they were both petrified.
“W-Why do you ask if we have those? T-Those things are u-useless. R-Right O-Oswald?”
“Y-Yea why would we E-Even keep them here? T-They are a waste of T-Time and S-Space.”
You guys suck at lying. I can see the hesitation on your faces. And fallen stars are sooo useful, and aside from the many useful things they can be used to make, you can also use them as ammo to shoot stars at your enemies if you get the star cannon, but well it’s expensive and I would rather use the fallen stars for other things.
“Okay cool, I need, like, 50 of those fallen stars.”
“OUR ENTIRE INVENTORY!?!?”
Lucy slammed her hands on her mouth after realizing her mistake and color drained from Oswald’s face... Seriously, what's the big deal about this?
“Well I know you have fallen stars because I saw those mana potions outside displayed inside the shelves. Those potions are made from fallen stars if I remember correctly.”
As I said that, the blood drained from Lucy's face as she straight up flippen collapsed and Oswald caught her quickly before she fell on the floor.
“P-Please!" Oswald said as he Panicked, "I will do anything you say! Just, please don't tell anyone about this!”
Okay, now you have officially lost me. What the hell is going on here?