("Anyways, now that you know I'm not bullshitting you. Can we continue what we were doing?")
Abel was still in awe at what he realized. It took him a couple of minutes to snap out of it.
"Yeah….....let's do that."
Abel picked himself up and grabbed his stuff, and entered the tree.
...
The inside of the tree reminded Abel a lot of the goblin caves, Not with their interior or any items, but more of how they felt. If Abel could describe it in one word, it would be.
'Archaic'
Though their atmosphere was the same, they still held some key differences.
Firstly the tree stairway was narrower than the caves and had a much lower ceiling full of sharp stalactites. The stairs weren't any better. Abel had to make sure to watch his step, so he didn't trip over an old root as thick as his arm.
The stairway was at least 200 years old. It was falling apart. The edges of the steps would crumble If Abel put too much pressure on them. He almost fell several times. Thankfully as an Awakener, his balance was better than a normal human.
"Hey, how did you know about this place anyway? Is there an important item here or something?"
("Not really, This place was found by one of the main harem members, and she used it for a little bit but eventually ditched it for someplace better. It should be fine for our purposes though")
Abel's face twisted in confusion and disgust
"Did you say Harem member?"
("Yeah, man! David Is a chick magnet. He had at least four harem members when I stopped reading. Why you don't like harems?")
Abel scoffed as if he was offended by the question
"Of course not. I'm not interested in romance, and even if I was one lover seems like enough work. Four is definitely overkill."
Cain grunted
("A Harem is a man's dream! Even now, I can't stop thinking about it!")
"Well, can you stop? I don't want you being a pervert in my head. It might rub off on me."
("...")
Abel felt a little bad about tamping down Cain's enthusiasm, so he changed the subject.
"Uh, anyway, Could you tell me what we'll find down here?"
Abel's question worked, and Cain perked back up again.
("I'm not entirely sure. When this place was found in the novel, it was a couple of months down the line. So it could have changed but what I do know is that most of the stuff down here is only suitable for making a quick buck.")
Cain let out another regretful sigh.
("Honestly, if we weren't short on cash, we wouldn't even be here.")
Leaving it at that, Cain and Abel continued their way into the unknown.
....
After a couple of minutes and an unknown amount of steps later, They arrived. When Abel reached the bottom of the stairs and saw what was inside, he was shaken.
"Wow!!!"
A beautiful underground garden filled with colorful and strange-looking plants was spread out in front of the staircase. It wasn't huge, but it also wasn't small. It was around the size of a baseball field.
The garden was split up into four different main sections, each with unique plants, and at the point where all those sections met stood a small worn-down shed.
Abel wasn't able to contain his anticipation for another second. He shot out of the staircase and examined every plant he could get his hand on.
"Holy Shit!! Is that an elderberry!?! Those things are worth at least 2,000 UC each!"
He went through the whole garden and kept recognizing rare plants. The more he recognized, the more excited he got. Cain, who was taking a back seat, got curious.
("How the hell do you know so much about plants")
At Cain's question, Abel's smile became melancholic.
"As a kid, I dreamed of becoming a warrior who fought monsters and saved people. So, when I learned that I wouldn't awaken, I was distraught. I refused to accept it. In desperation, I turned to alchemy to see if I could make a concoction to help me become an Awakener. To create it, I studied and researched all kinds of plants, real or fake."
("Sorry for asking")
Still on cloud nine from striking it rich, Abel didn't mind in the slightest.
"No need to apologize. Now let's get back to business."
Cain retired the topic and let Abel go through the garden and do his thing. Eventually, Cain and Abel made their way around the entire garden and came up with a rough estimate.
"If we sell all these plants at market price, we're looking at 1,000,000 UC at least!"
When Abel imagined himself with that much money, he was filled with inconceivable joy.
The unbeatable joy of striking it rich.
("Calm down, Scrooge. You haven't even finished exploring the whole place yet.")
"I haven't?"
("You see that shed over there?")
Turning his attention to the center of the garden, he remembered.
'Can't believe I forgot about it!' Abel moved from the garden toward the shack.
The shed looked like it would collapse from the slightest touch. The roof was worn out and had multiple holes in it. The wood it was made of reminded him of the old tree on the surface.
`Probably the same material,' he thought.
Stirring Abel from his thoughts was Cain.
("Why are you just staring at it? Go inside and check it out.")
Taking his advice, Abel opened the door and entered the shed.
*CREAK*
Abel was bewildered at its large interior. The size of the outside was much smaller than the outside.
'Some kind of space magic, I guess.'
Going further inside, Abel realized that this wasn't a tool shed; it was an actual house. A very lived-in home. The longer he was in there, the more apparent it became that someone had lived in this shack for a very long time.
It had all the bare essentials for comfortable living, a kitchen, a living room, a lab, and a bedroom. If Abel was being honest, it was better than his house. While exploring, he found a door that was different than the others. It was the room near the back of the house and at the end of the hallway.
"Huh? Why is this door locked?"
("Who cares? Bust it open!")
Seeing nothing wrong with his plan, Abel used his newfound strength and broke the door down.
*SMASH*
Greeting Abel, when he entered the room, was a skeleton sitting at an ancient desk.
The skeleton was looking at the door and staring into Abel's eyes. Abel got spooked and made sure it was dead by waving his hand in its face.
Luckily for Abel, the skeleton didn't move or respond at all.
("Creepy.")
"Agreed"
Looking closer at the skeleton, they saw it clutching a book in its right hand.
Abel knew that Cain had read about this place and was curious.
"Do you know what this is?"
Cain was just as curious as Abel was. When this place appeared in the novel, he hadn't heard about this part at all.
("No, I don't know what that is")
Curious, Abel pried it from the skeleton's bony hand. The book was fragile, so he was careful not to rip or tear it.
He blew the dust off the cover and started reading.
===
If you're reading this, then that means I'm dead.
First off, I would like to congratulate you on finding my secret garden.
If there's anything still left here, you can have it. I don't mind. I'd appreciate it if you could find a good use for them. I've also recorded all my research in this journal for future use. So please be very careful with it.
You're probably curious about why this place exists and who I am.
My name is Islan Ferchen, and I am an elder of the Alchemist Spire. An organization built to create miracles not of magic but of alchemy.
I created this garden as an alchemical haven of sorts. A place to do my research away from the prying eyes of the other elders and away from the fighting and wars going on above.
It worked well enough for the first couple of years. I wasn't found, and I got a lot of good research done.
But that all changed one day. When an invading army of demons attacked the forest, my garden was built under. They used this Forest as a shortcut into the human domain and decided to burn the place down while they were at it.
Thankfully they didn't find me but what they did do was destroy the only exit.
After I sealed the staircase, I was left with no exit. In other words, I was stuck.
That happened a few months ago. I've tried finding a way out for a while, but nothing worked, and I've started running low on food and water.
So, instead of wasting time looking for an exit that doesn't exist, I've given up and have decided to spend the rest of my life developing my research.
I've started running low on food recently. I've only got enough for around a year or so.
I've been portioning and trying to grow something edible, but I'm not having any luck. I think I'm going to give up again and focus on my research while I still have the time.
I mean, if you know you're going to die, why not die doing something you love?
So, that's where I'm at—just doing research and waiting to die.
If you're still reading, I would like to thank you for tending to my tree.
She was my most incredible creation as an alchemist. I put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into creating her. So, truly thank you.
My friend, before you go, can I ask you for a tiny favor? Can you please bury me on the surface in front of my tree?
You don't have to make me a gravestone or anything. I want to be next to her.
I would be forever grateful if you could find it in your heart to grant this old man's dying wish.
===