"I had no say in her calling me Lord… I don't know why she chose that! Please don't misunderstand,"
"Hmm, I guess that makes sense… but, you better not try anything with her?!" Phoebe voiced her final warning as she glared at me.
"Erm… I'm sorry if I created trouble. Is there something you need me to do?" Bell jumped in.
"It's no trouble Bell… just call me Alaric from now on. Could you help me plant these crops in the best spot to keep all of them healthy?" I asked while gesturing to the crops Phoebe had removed from her inventory.
"Of course!" She responded happily. Bell somehow lifted the crops without touching them, and planted them all in different crop plots within a minute. "These should be the best places to plant them so they don't interfere with each other… I also fixed the Fire Lily placement… please don't get mad I just didn't want it to die," She began looking down as she quietly said the last bit.
"Oh no… it's great thank you" I also looked down awkwardly, realizing I may have rushed with planting the Fire Lily.
I walked to the module in the middle of the room and directly selected to customize the crop plots to the best environment. Upon doing so, mana began circling in the air as all of the plots formulated the best environment for their group of plants.
"Many of these plants are ready to be harvested, as it seems they grew in the wild before you picked them up; would you like me to pick them?" Bell asked with slight hesitation.
"That would be great, thank you Bell," I quickly responded in appreciation.
Her face lit up, as she flew around the room harvesting the crops. Thats right she flew. No she doesn't have wings… the best relation would be Superboy, who can stand on air and directly fly with one arm outstretched. After gathering all the plants, she flew directly to me and handed me a basket filled with plants.
"Well, I guess it's your turn now Phoebe," I turned to look at her happily, as all the plants were ready for her to make potions.
We began walking out of the greenhouse when I stopped, "Bell I would appreciate if you could take charge of the greenhouse… when your free, feel free to roam around the store or accompany us as you please," I waved at her happily.
"Of course! Thank you Lor… Alaric, I won't let you down," She responded enthusiastically.
We left the room and walked to the opposite side where the potion brewing hall was. We entered and walked to the center. "Can you hand that to me please, Im going to begin but it might take a bit of time. Someone got an easier quest with a lot of help from a professional!" She said angrily.
"It's not my fault" I handed her the basket and left the room.
'Well, given my quest just required me to gather the resources to be planted, I guess my quest was easier. Then I got to choose my employee, who happened to be a great help in planting the crops. Wait a minute… where is the Tome?' I wandered in my mind. I walked back to the greenhouse.
"Back so soon?" Bell asked upon seeing me.
"Bell, did you see a tome, or book around here anywhere?"
"No, I'm sorry. Would you like me to look around?"
"It should be fine, thank you," I left just as quickly as I had arrived.
'Where could it be? Hmm… O…M…G… I really am stupid,' I opened my inventory which was empty except for a book taking one of the slots. I removed it from my inventory and grabbed it directly. As I opened the book, the information directly flooded my brain as I felt I could now control mana.
"Well that's useful, wait… Jericho, wasn't I only supposed to get one freebie? I thought I'd have to pay to directly learn the information?" I remembered the freebie the system mentioned when I learned about the greenhouse.
{Spell Tomes can be directly learned by anyone without the use of the system}
'I guess I have heard about that before,' I walked to the front of the store curious about what to do now.
{Quest Assigned: Alaric: Open store and accumulate 50 energy}
{Reward for completing quest: Mystery Box, Upgraded inventory space}
"50 energy?! But even with everything we have currently, we can only sell it for a little over 250 gold"
{Host is encouraged not to be lazy}
"Fine… how do I open the store?"
{Host is encouraged to use your brain}
"…"
{Unlock the door}
"Well now I feel like an idiot,"
{As you should}
"…"
I walked to the door and turned the knob, sliding the bolt, unlocking the door. I turned around and walked towards the counter. Once I was behind it i received a notification.
{Flip the sign to open}
"Are you fucking kidding me?" I slowly walked back over, "Couldn't you have told me while I was unlocking the door?"
{Jericho does not approve of the use of profanity directed at it, first warning}
"What the fuck does that mean?! Just because you don't want to admit you were purposely giving me a hard time!"
{Second warning}
"Oh and what'll you do if I get to three hu?! I appreciate your help with everything, but do you have to be an asshole?!"
{Initiating random punishment… Teleporting in 3…2…1}
"What?! Where are you bringing me?" The next second I found myself surrounded entirely by water. As I tried to swim upwards to the surface, I suddenly felt my feet were tied together. I looked down to find a giant medal disk tied to my feet which was dragging me down.
I couldn't help the deep seated fear that filled my bones at this time. I couldn't imagine drowning, but I knew the experience would not be a pleasant one. I began pulling at the rope with all my strength. When that didn't work I used my teeth, to no avail. Finally, I opened my mouth involuntarily to gasp for air, only to swallow a mouth full of water. I froze… I felt I could no longer use my lungs, it was as if I couldn't breathe even if I wanted too.
Finally, after what felt like hours I passed out. Unfortunately for me, the system didn't want it to be so easy; the next second, I found myself watching my body from a third person perspective, as I felt all of its pain. It began convulsing back and forth as it begged for oxygen. Finally, as it seemed I might die, I found myself in the store on the floor gasping for breath. This had all been my imagination.