Running Evan felt thirsty as he drank a water bottle from his bag, he was only a kilometer away from the location. It had been an hour now!
Feeling unprecedented energy from his body, no his soul! He was close to his final goal of becoming C-rank! It's not that he never thought of getting the fruit before or natural treasure before to become strong fast but it was that he was incapable.
There existed no fruit that allowed someone to sense mana, either it didn't exist or it was kept secret. And from E-D there is no such fruit. He knew about the treasures able to help to advance but he only thought of it now because of his urge not to die. Not dying is a strong motivation.
Before he would never have thought about this because other people would compete. Whether it was passing nobles, adventurers, or any time of profession. And they would bring with them a group of people of D-rank. He could not compete with that.
He had an advantage because fruits like this were rare though most people looked they never seriously thought they could find it. But he knew the location an hour ahead and a coincidence it was so close! His lazy life has never been so clear. So he rushed even faster
On the other side, an old man sat in a dark room with a blue orb on a table in front of him. Using mana to activate it, he said,
"An Eflina fruit has been found, we have the location. Whether you go to obtain it is up to you. costing 1000sc, per map for nobles. For adventurers not belonging to a noble lineage 200sc"
What he said, appeared as a poster as many of them flew around pasting themselves all over the city.
"Look an announcement from Melardriss shadows"
"AN ELFINA FRUIT, MEN GATHER UP!" A man said as a group of people gathered.
"Bain, call the hunters. We leave in 1 min. Time is of the essence." "YES SIR"
As groups began to form and people began to move, it alerted the whole city.
"Oh? An elfina fruit?! Even for us, those are rare! C'mon, let's go!" A man with red hair said, as he stood up tall and muscular filled with a heroic spirit with a flaming dragon symbol embedded into his shirt, as his subordinate had just whispered news.
"Sigh, we've been here for a month already. Still can't find that trash. We got nothing better to do, it would be helpful for our clan. Move out now." A man with green hair said he had green eyes wearing a nice green T-shirt and pants. He was the embodiment of green.
Back to Evan. Evan looking ahead could see a cave ahead, running while looking at the details and map he had received there was a cave drawn on the map at X spot. Finally coming close to the cave
He finally realized his surroundings were completely different than before, around him were trees as tall as the sky, with red leaves. There were gigantic weird-shaped bushes right next to him, he looked on mesmerized by the scene.
Snapping himself out of it he ran, he had no time to waste. Entering the cave he found that it was huge but he paid little attention to the surrounding cave. Going deeper, the place started to become slowly dark as night though it was in the afternoon.
Running deeper, he finally realized the place was as dark as night. Moving to the right to touch the walls, he continued feeling his way.
On the other side, people had already left. Moving in big carriages some on fast centello wolves! Everyone was rushing to that cave it was a race against time.
Evan kept feeling his way passing through several pathways, not telling left from right. But from the details on the map, he had read while moving. It was all the same path. Moving forward with a hurried pace he knew an hour had already passed.
He needed to find the fruit fast before the others rushed here! Or he wouldn't have a chance at all. Thinking his pace was too slow he stopped touching the wall and ran ahead in full pace straight.
As he kept moving faster and faster, he felt a beating excited in his heart. The feeling of accomplishing something great, the feeling of power. He lusted for it and he was going to get it, he thought.
"Thud" He fell onto the floor as his foot had slipped on something in this blind zone. Getting up he saw a ray of light in the distance and the flow of mana in the surrounding area were heading there as if heralding something's arrival.
Running towards the light, after a few minutes. He arrived at a scene he would never forget again.
"HING" "HING" "QWISH"
He saw a bright sparkly fruit, it was crimson red. The mana radiating from it was preposterous, he started moving closer.
"BOOOOOOM"
An explosion of mana was released in the surrounding area, as Evan was pushed back. Groaning he got up and saw a glowing red tree about 2m tall, small but it had a single fruit filled with symbols all over it.
He looked at it as he thought "C-rank here I come!"