Saad approached the reception desk, where a petite and adorable receptionist named Lucy was stationed. Her bright eyes widened as she noticed him, and a friendly smile graced her lips.
"Hello there," Lucy greeted, her voice warm and welcoming. "How can I assist you tonight?"
Saad returned her smile, his heart felt a little lighter now that he had made some
A thought occurred to him. Perhaps the guild had a solution to his predicament. He entered the guild hall and approached the receptionist, a friendly NPC with a warm smile.
"Excuse me," Saad began, "is it possible to purchase the forest map?" He knew that he might have to spend the money again, but it was better than wasting his time, running around like a headless chicken.
The receptionist nodded. "Of course, adventurer. A forest map is available for 20 quills."
Without hesitation, Saad paid the 20 quills for the forest map. It was a significant portion of his remaining funds, but he believed it would be worth it. Even so, it left him with a queasy feeling.
With the forest map now in his possession, Saad realized how much easier navigating the dense forest would become. It was a valuable asset for his quest.
As he pondered his next move, Saad noticed a sign near the receptionist's desk that read "Item Exchange." It sparked an idea. He approached the receptionist once more.
"Is it possible to sell items here?" he asked.
The receptionist smiled warmly. "Indeed, you can sell various items and equipment here. What do you have in mind?"
Saad's gaze fell to his collection of slingshots, the result of hours of crafting and practice. He decided to part with them to bolster his meager funds. "I'd like to sell my slingshots, all of them and also the ceramic bottles. I have few monster drops as well." Saad spoke as he took out the drops from slimes and grasshorus.
The receptionist nodded and examined Saad's slingshots. "I can offer you 10 quills for each slingshot. As for the bottles, since their durability is just one point down, I can give you 2 quills for each of them." She then looked at the monster loot and nodded, "For all of these I can offer you 195 quills."
Saad did some quick mental math. With 77 low rank slingshots, he could earn 770 quills from the sale and by selling the bottles, he was going to make . It wasn't a vast sum, but it was something. As for the other item, he could see the offered prices in a silver box above them.
[Clear Slime Gel] x1 [Clear Slime Essence] x1
Price: 15 Quills Price: 60 Quills
[Shrieking Chitin] X1 [Grasshorus Leg] x1
Price: 30 Quills Price: 22 Quills
[Grasshorus wing] x1
Price: 25 Quills
"I'll take the offer," Saad said with determination.
The receptionist counted out the quills and handed them over to Saad. As he collected his earnings, he couldn't help but feel a sense of relief. His total funds now amounted to 10 spheres and 34 Quills. It wasn't a fortune, but at least he wasn't completely broke.
With a newfound determination, Saad left the Adventurer's Guild, forest map in hand and a plan forming in his mind. He was ready to face the challenges of Seraphia once more, equipped with both knowledge and resources. He was going to complete this quest today at all costs!
The next step of his quest awaited him, and he was prepared to take it head-on.
------------------------------------------
The next step of his quest awaited him, and he was prepared to face it head-on. Determined and focused, Saad made his way to the Moon Water Cave. He had spent enough time worrying about the enchanted bottles and the mysterious properties of moon water. It was time to concentrate on his quest.
The virtual landscape stretched out before him, and the Moon Water Cave loomed ahead. Its entrance was a dark, mysterious portal in the side of a rocky cliff. As he stepped inside, he felt the familiar coolness of the cave enveloping him.
Without wasting a moment, Saad reached into his inventory and retrieved the empty enchanted bottles he had acquired earlier from the alchemists. He held them under the dripping stalactites that glistened like crystals in the faint light. The moon water filled the bottles with a soft, melodic sound, saturating them with its luminescent liquid.
It was a straightforward task, one that required nothing special other than having the right equipment. Saad couldn't help but chuckle at the irony. Sometimes, the simplest things required the most complex solutions.
Once all of the bottles were filled to the brim, he carefully sealed them and returned them to his alchemical sachet. He felt a sense of accomplishment wash over him. The moon water quest, which had seemed so elusive and complicated, was finally within his grasp.
Leaving the Moon Water Cave behind, Saad ventured back into the forest. The enchanted cave, with its mesmerizing beauty, held no allure for him at the moment. His focus was solely on gathering the last ingredient: the Everbloom berry!
Saad consulted the map, his virtual fingers deftly navigating the interface. He needed to find the next crucial location for his quest. Everbloom berry grew in poisonous environment and with the help of his updated map, Saad was sure that he would be able to find the next location in no time. And as expected, he found a name, written in purple within the bounds of the city: the forbidden cemetery. As he scanned the digital landscape, he located the ominous spot and marked it with a virtual pin.
His next destination sent a shiver down his spine. Just as the name suggested, the forbidden cemetery had an eerie atmosphere and unsettling ambiance. Even in the virtual world, Saad couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding as he approached it.
The transition from the serene forest to the cemetery was palpable. A thick, ghostly fog enveloped the area, reducing visibility to almost zero. Saad felt a chill run down his spine as he entered the misty graveyard. It was as if the very air was laden with an unnatural heaviness.
[The Forbidden Cemetery]
Is it haunted or are the stories exaggerated? The cemetery is always dark and poisonous gases make it the ultimate gateway to afterlife.
The description was short but was enough to make Saad's skin crawl with ants. The only thing keeping him going was that he knew it was just a game. As he ventured further into the cemetery, his virtual senses tingled. A message notification popped up in his heads-up display, and his heart sank as he read it.
[You have entered a poisonous environment. Your HP decreases by 1 every 30 seconds.]
The realization sent a shiver down his spine. Poisonous environments in the game were no joke, and they often came with deadly hazards. Saad knew he had to proceed with caution. But then soon another message popped up and Saad looked down at the creepy necklace. 'If only it didn't come with free vampire feature-'
[The widow's eye resists the low rank poison. Your resistance is increasing by 0.1 every 1 minute.]
He cautiously stepped forward but with more confidence, the fog swirling around him. The only sounds were his own footsteps, echoing eerily in the silence. The atmosphere was oppressive, and the occasional rustling in the distance only added to his unease.
The cemetery was filled with ancient tombstones, their inscriptions barely legible through the fog. But Saad's attention was drawn to something peculiar. He noticed that the everbloom flowers, the coveted ingredient for his quest, only seemed to bloom on top of graves.
Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Saad approached one of the graves and carefully plucked the everbloom. As he did so, a notification flashed before him.
[The cemetery has been disturbed.]
It was a cryptic message, and Saad couldn't help but wonder about its implications. He knew one thing for sure: his quest had taken a dark turn, and he was now faced with the mysterious and potentially dangerous consequences of disturbing the forbidden cemetery.
As Saad plucked the everbloom from the grave, his unease grew. The cemetery had been disturbed, and the ominous message hung in the air like a dark omen. His instincts screamed at him to hurry, to finish his task and escape this eerie place as quickly as possible. But the more flowers he picked, the more messages popped up. Saad did take out the monster ward as protection but he was still spooked.
He was only halfway through the cemetery when the virtual world around him seemed to tremble. The ground beneath him rumbled, and an ominous message appeared before him.
[The dead ones have become restless.]
Saad's heart skipped a beat as he turned to see the ground around him stirring. From the graves emerged skeletal hands and rotting corpses, their hollow eyes fixed on him. Panic surged through him, but he knew he had no choice but to fight.