Lucas carefully reached out and picked up the small ball of light, known as a mana core, with his bare hands. The thick, slimy, transparent liquid covering the surface of the orb was disgusting to look at, but he didn't let it deter him.
Despite the unpleasant texture and appearance, he felt a sense of wonder as he gazed upon the tiny ball of light. It was pulsating with energy, and he could feel a faint hum emanating from it.
Sarah wrinkled her nose at the sight of the slimy liquid, but she could see the excitement in Lucas's eyes.
"Ew…" Sarah groaned and closed her eyes, the whole process was gross to look at.
"Ha! This little gem is going to bring me one step closer to become strong. The shelter's screen mentioned these mana cores, and upgrading it is exactly what I need to do to survive in this unforgiving wilderness," Lucas declared, picking up the small ball with care.
Sarah hmmed in response, knowing the use of the small ball of dim light. She was enlightened and happy.
"Now that I look at it again, this plant is very big." She started looking at the dead rapacious plant up close.
Her gaze fell on a small piece of something that made her furrow her brows.
"Paper?" She questioned her own eyes, finding paper in an unknown primal forest was a very unique thing.
She went near it and picked the small piece of paper. It was brownish in color which made it look old yet it felt finely made in her hand.
"L-Lucas… look a-at this." Sarah's eyes were wide open in shock as if seen something unbelievable. Lucas was observing the mana stone with curiosity all this while.
"Hm? What's wrong?" He got up with the mana core in his hand. In Sarah's hand, there was a piece of paper with a text written on it. Sarah passed it to him with frowned brows.
===
Herbalism
Rare
===
[You are in contact with a skill 'Herbalism']
[ Learn it?
Yes No ]
"This is a skill!" Lucas exclaimed with shock.
"We can get skills by killing things? Thats dark." Sarah said with a small sniff. Lucas looked at her cute little nose sniffle while she massaged the muscles around her knee in pain.
"This is a good thing, herbalism from what I know will help us find the useful plants for use. The situation with that aggressive plant will not happen again with this skill." Lucas was very happy, not only did he get a small mana core, he also got a skill. He was going to click the option'Yes' but stopped mid-way.
"You earned this, Sarah. Good job with that accurate fireball hit." Luke said and tried to give the piece of paper back yet Sarah pushed his hand away with a smile.
"I was only able to attack because of you, you have helped me survive in this horrendous place, and for that, I want to give my gratitude with this skill."
"... If you say so, thank you." Luke was filled with warmth that showed on his face with a smile. They both had a emotional eye lock both expressing their emotions without speaking.
Lucas took a deep breath and accepted the skill with a tight grip. Sarah could tell that Lucas was nervous and excited at the same time.
As Lucas clicked on the "Yes" option, a message popped up in front of him.
[Congratulations, you have learned the skill 'Herbalism'!]
===
Herbalism
Uncommon- level 1
Allows the user to identify and gather useful parts of herbs and plants for medicinal and alchemical purposes.
===
Lucas felt a rush of excitement as he read the message. He had never imagined that he could gain skills just by defeating monsters in this world.
"Guugh!" Lucas let out a groan as he tightly shut his eyes and clasped his head with both hands.
"What happened?!" Sarah came and supported Lucas who was out of his wits, the headache looked serious.
"Khhuughh… FUCK!" He shouted.
Sarah could only help him up and support him, she didn't know what was happening and what to even do.
A minute passed when finally, a somewhat relaxed face of Lucas greeted her eyes. He was sweating profusely that it was dropping down his chin.
He took a knee and laid on the ground huffing in exhaustion.
"Water…" He said, his lips looked dry.
"T-There is no water, Lucas… don't sleep, we are going back to the shelter." Sarah pulled him up from the shoulders, it was hard but looked doable after the level up.
Before Sarah wth Lucas in tow could take him back in the shelter. His gaze fell on the big plant's body.
Lucas didn't have energy yet his eyes bulged with astonishment.
"...Wait.." He muttered slowly.
"What is it?"
"Take the plant with you…" Lucas said, his eyes still on the plant when finally, they closed. His whole body's weight was on her shoulders.
"Take the body back?" She said while lookin at it. His orders were important for her so she placed him on the ground for a second and went to the plant.
"Huff… one.. two…. THREE!" She pulled the plant out of the ground with one strong pull. To her surprise, the plant's stem was at it's full length outside the soil so a huge lump of soil with big thick roots brownish in color came out.
Sarah pulled on it and found that it was not that heavy aside form the mouth of the plant.
She pulled Lucas up again and with plant in the other hand started limping toward the shelter that was a couple meters away from them.
Finally, they arrived at the shelter. Sarah had worked up a sweat, the sun beating down on her face, leaving her feeling parched. Surprisingly, the adrenaline rush and the lack of exertion had not made her thirsty, nor had the act of running before. But the desire to drink water was still there.
The thirst was getting very high. Her throat had dried completely but the worry of Lucas being more thirstier than her came in her mind. She had already placed him inside the shelter and was looking around to see if there was any water.
'There is no water around… Lucas needs water urgently…' She bit her nail in panic.
"If this goes on, he might die…"