(Desmond POV)
Several hours have passed since the epic battle between myself and the mighty rabbit Aqua. Unfortunately, maybe God favors cute and fluffy creatures, so having two aqua rabbits' deaths on my back, I'm having bad luck.
First, I had to run for my life from the brutal slaughter in the woods back there; shortly after, I ran like crazy from a couple of terra wolves. At least they are as slow as any ground-type monster in an old RPG.
The surrounding landscape had not significantly changed; trees so tall that they seemed to touch the clouds, all kinds of plants and flowers can be seen with the naked eye; the sound of the wind combined with the chirping of the birds (I hope these are birds) gives a real sense of vitality and nature to the scene.
Unfortunately, a certain stray hunter was more concerned with avoiding being eaten by the various creatures that inhabit the forest. Taking advantage of the low light in the environment and keeping my presence as low as possible, I had managed to have the low profile that I had wanted from the moment this little adventure began.
After what seemed to be an eternity of drab scenery (according to myself) and the stress of staying in stealth, a new image finally appeared in my field of vision.
In front of me, a small lake lay quietly; its pure and crystalline waters made it look somehow magical (in fact, there were real chances that it was); in the center of the lake was a tiny island with just enough land to house the tree that there resides.
The tree alone seemed particularly special, but I wasn't precisely a Botanist, yet I didn't need to be to say that the fruits of it seem valuable. The fruits were something between an apple and an orange, the color of an almost hypnotic vibrant red and had spiraling lines of emerald green all over its exterior.
Of course, as a rookie hunter, I had no idea what these were, but at least I had enough brains to use analysis on them.
< Fruit of fiery vitality, zero-star class; low-level
Elemental energy: vitality / fire
State: mature.
Effects: Its less dominant fire element nature first burns some impurities from the body, later supporting the refining process driven by the dominant life energy in the Fruit. In simple terms, it slightly strengthens the body and increases the mana affinity by a minimal amount.>
Observing the existence of 4 other fruits resting peacefully on the tree, I had already started to drop drool with greed; I just wanted to run as fast as possible and take it all.
Fortunately, greed did not blind me to the possible hidden dangers in my current situation; despite not having time in my daily life for video games, even a fool would know that treasures are usually guarded by powerful monsters.
I waited patiently in my hiding place while observing the surroundings; I even threw a stone into the lake to ensure that there was not some legendary bakemon hidden in it. Clearly, the few hours I had been in this world called Serefia had made me somewhat paranoid.
After being sure that I would not be eaten by a powerful monster, I slowly approached the lake, gradually calming down, and finally stopped acting as a confident double zero spy when he infiltrated an enemy base.
Getting to the small island was easier than I thought, as the lake was only half a meter deep. As soon as my feet touched the ground, I ran as if hell was burning behind me. I took the four fruits with superhuman speed and started running again.
I kept running; I didn't stop once I left the lake. I ran as if I was sure that some horror movie villain was chasing me at a deceptive speed.
I sought a discreet place to rest when my legs began to ache, and my lungs felt on fire.
¨come on, lungs, I did not even run so much, and the guy chasing me while walking catches up with me even though I am running for about 3 km. ¨ The lack of oxygen makes me say more stupid things than average.
Putting aside my persecution traumas associated with bad horror movies, I am amazed at how well this all turned out. I got four valuable fruits, but I didn't even have to fight to the death for them.
There is only one crucial question now: can I just eat these things? I guess there's only one way to find out.
Jum. . . Jum. . . Jum.
It is pretty tasty, I couldn't describe the taste, but I guess if you force me to compare it to something, it would be like the taste of kiwi. A fruit that looks like orange is apple-colored and tastes like kiwi. These things can only happen in a fantasy world, I guess.
I don't feel anything; I assumed I would feel some kind of burning or. . . and there it is.
¨ FUCK! SHIT HOW IT HURTS, AAAAAAAH! I THINK NOW I'M DYING¨ It seems that even the stinging pain I feel doesn't take away my bad sense of humor.
Shit, shit, shit, and shit again! this hurts a lot more than I thought. Is all the damn food around here like this? Doesn't that mean that it will be better to run for my life if I see a fat man? The guy is probably more brutal than a Spartan.