A few moments later, Eldric was standing beside the corpse of the shattered fox and hare, both of which soon turned into specks of light before disappearing.
[Material: Heart of Glacier Fox]
Looking at a small palm-sized heart that was made out of ice, Eldric shook his head and threw it into the inventory. He didn't know what it was used for, but since it was something from this place, it might be worth some tokens.
Taking a step forward, he began to look around.
The entire place seemed to be devoid of any activity as the only creatures that he occasionally came across were Frost Hares. Even the Glacier Fox was nowhere in sight.
After roaming aimlessly for a while, Eldric finally came across something other than trees or grass.
In the distance, he could see a small palm-sized mushroom glowing. It wasn't the glow of the sun but a rather faint blue glow.
Arriving near it, Eldric carefully plucked it out.
[Material: Frostcap Mushroom]
Throwing it into the inventory, Eldric kept on moving.
After an hour of aimless wandering towards the icy river, Eldric looked at his inventory before breaking out in a smile.
[Heart Of The Glacier Fox x 8]
[Frostcap Mushroom x 15]
Opening the Auction, Eldric tried to find these two items, and soon, to his surprise, the heart of the glacier fox was priced at twenty-three tokens each, and the Frostcap mushroom was priced at thirty-three tokens each. This was perhaps the most expensive material that he had seen.
On one hand, Eldric was happy due to its high cost, while on the other, he was confused. From the moment he entered this place till now, there doesn't seem to be anything special about this place, other than its weird lifeform. This made him wonder why there weren't that many people around. After all, this place seemed like a great place to earn tokens and the strongest beast was only the Glacier Fox with attributes similar to a person before their awakening.
"Forget it." There was no use thinking about the questions that he had no answer for. Since there was no one else, he could get more materials for himself.
With this thought in mind, Eldric soon reached near the Ice River. Looking at the constant flowing ice, he hesitated for a while. Should he just cross it on foot or should he jump to the other side?
With this thought in mind, Eldric was about to make a decision when his eyes were suddenly attracted by a small milky white rose at the top of the river.
Narrowing his eyes, he carefully observed the rose that seemed to be stuck in one place. Even the flowing Ice River around it seemed to be frozen.
"A TREASURE!"
This was the first and only thought in Eldric's mind as he looked at the rose. And with every passing second, his breath kept on increasing due to excitement. He didn't know its use, but he was sure he could get a hefty sum of money for this thing.
The more he looked at it, the more Eldric was unable to control his excitement. In the end, he looked around and after not seeing any living being in his sight slowly began to walk towards it.
Even though his heart was filled with excitement, his mind was clear. He kept on observing the area around him, as if afraid of something jumping suddenly.
It wasn't until he reached around fifty meters away from the Rose that Eldric stopped in his footsteps. At this time, a line from his school textbook kept reappearing in his mind about how a treasure is always accompanied by a beast.
In the end, Eldric stopped in his place, grabbed the nearest two-meter-tall tree, and uprooted it like a carrot.
Holding the tree in both his hands, he aimed near the flower and threw the tree with all his strength.
"BOOOOOOM!"
Accompanied by the sound of Explosion, the tree shattered into countless pieces and the solid ground below the Rose had thin cracks.
And just when Eldric was wondering whether something would happen or not, his eardrums were almost shattered by a roar.
"ROOOOOARRRR...."
In front of Eldric's stunned eyes, a head slowly emerged from the Icy River.
"Gulp."
Looking at the snake's head which was as big as a two-story building and a body that was still under ice, Eldric's guts turned green with regret.
[???]
[Vitality: ???]
[Strength: ???]
[Agility: ???]
Looking at the entire panel in front of him covered with question marks, Eldric didn't dare to spend another second in this place.
Turning around, he activated his skill and jumped as far as possible.
As soon as Eldric used his skill to run away, the giant snake immediately turned its head in his direction before opening its mouth.
Within a few seconds, a small ball of light formed in its mouth which it then hurled toward the escaping Eldric.
Eldric who could feel the drop of temperature around him, didn't dare to stop. And with the constant use of his skill, his figure kept on flickering throughout the forest, moving at an incredibly fast speed.
Within a few seconds, he was able to cross the forest and reach in front of the portal.
And just when he felt he was in a safe distance, Eldric felt the entire ground beneath his tremble as if it were struck by an earthquake.
"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM."
With a loud explosion, the entire forest in front of Eldric's eyes shattered into a million pieces as the shockwave approached him.
"Fuck." Cursing at the top of his lungs, Eldric jumped into the vortex and immediately disappeared from the place.
It wasn't until a few more moments passed that the situation became somewhat clear.
At this moment, the entire forest was razed to the ground. Every tree, every plant, every herb and material. Everything shattered into pieces before spreading across the icy plains.
If Eldric was here, he would have been astonished to see the area in front of the portal looked exactly the same as the icy field of nothingness as the one behind the portal.
.
.
"Huff... Huff..." Opening his eyes outside, Eldric didn't dare to spend another second here. Who knows whether that giant snake was capable of passing across the vortex or not? Even if it wasn't, Eldric didn't want to take a risk with his life,
Opening the panel, he immediately chose to transfer back to the zone.
.
.
.
.
"Finally." Looking at the familiar sight of people walking all around him, Eldric couldn't help but cry out in relief.
He didn't know what that beast was and how strong it was. But knowing that the Inferior Potion Of Enlightenment could give information about the tier two evolution beasts, he knew this thing was beyond tier two. As for how strong... He had no idea.
It was only now that he understood why he didn't see any other person besides himself on the Frozen Tundra map. It wasn't that people were not aware of the treasures inside it or couldn't afford the teleportation fee, but they just didn't want to risk their lives.
Take Eldric for example. If he knew that there was a beast like that inside the domain, then he wouldn't have dared to go near that place much less hunt for resources there.
Swallowing a mouthful of air, he calmed his nervous heart. This time he was able to survive due to his luck... But there certainly wasn't going to be a next time. So, instead of taking these high-risk missions, it would be much better for him to just accept lower-difficulty missions and slowly accumulate tokens.
Making up his mind, he finally looked at the mission of submitting resources with firey eyes. Everything he did was for this moment...
Taking out one Heart of the Glacier Fox, Eldric put it in the small window in front of him for submission.
[Heart Of the Glacier Fox]
[Price: 15 Tokens]
[Accept Y/N]
Looking at the price of it, Eldric didn't even hesitate and chose to exchange all eight hearts for the price of one hundred and twenty tokens.
He then took out the Frostcap Mushroom and placed it.
[Frostcape Mushroom]
[Price: 25 Tokens]
[Accept Y/N]
Without any hesitation, Eldric chose to exchange again while suppressing his excitement.
Soon three hundred seventy-five more tokens were added to his balance.
The newly gained tokens, coupled with the previous five tokens finally brought Eldric's balance to a number that he didn't dare to imagine before.
[Tokens: 500]
"Holy..." The more he looked at his balance, the more he found himself at a loss for words. For a moment he even felt like this was all a dream.
.
.
.
.
After escaping death by a hair's width, Eldric was in no mood to take on another mission. And with these many tokens, it would be a waste to not use them as soon as possible to increase his strength.
"But do I evolve my skills further or do I purchase the attributes potions?" The more he thought about it, the more he found himself at a loss.
There is no need to mention what higher attributes mean. Every single attribute was a complete overhaul in strength for him.
But he also couldn't ignore his skills.
After all, without the evolved skills, it would have been impossible to escape that giant snake, much less earn these many tokens.
After pacing back and forth in his room for almost an hour, Eldric finally made up his mind.
"Buy three agility potions first and save the remaining two hundred for skills."
This was the only decision he could come up with.
Without wasting another moment, he opened the Nightmare shop and looked at the items inside.
[Potion Of Vitality: 100 Tokens]
(Increase Vitality by one.)
[Potion Of Strength: 100 Tokens]
(Increase Strength by one.)
[Potion Of Agility: 100 Tokens]
(Increase Agility by one)
[Gardener Profession Stone: 50 Tokens]
(Let you have the life profession of Gardener.)
After thinking for a while, he finally chose his options.
"Buy three Potions Of Agility."
Right now, Eldric didn't need more power or defense. The most important thing he needed right now was speed. With the effect of his skills, he can stun targets for a while. This effect, coupled with his speed would make a short work of his enemies.
Gulping down the three potions in a go, Eldric clicked his tongue. Unlike the Inferior Potion Of Enlightenment, this potion didn't have any taste or smell. Drinking it felt like drinking water.
Soon, Eldric's entire body was overwhelmed by a warm comfortable sensation.
Taking off his mask and coat, he threw them to the corner of the room before lying on his bed and soon drifted into deep sleep. And while he was asleep, the muscles all over his body kept on twitching, as if undergoing transformation.
.
.
.
.
"Knock...
Knock...
Knock..."
It was the knocking sound on the main door that woke Eldric up.
"Ugh..." Gently massaging his somewhat blurry eyes, he stood up, stretched his body, and walked towards the door with a yawn.
Still half-asleep, he opened the door only to see an old man in his eighties standing there silently, wearing a long, crude robe and carrying a small bag. With a head full of white hair and a goatee that he kept on twirling, the man gave the feeling of a scholar to Eldric.
"You are!?" Now that he was awake, Eldric narrowed his eyes while looking at the old man. He tried to recall his memories, but he had no impression of the old man.
"You must be Eldric." The old man didn't answer his question but stated Eldric's identity.
Seeing no expression on Eldric's face, he looked inside the house and spoke further.
"I am the doctor who is in charge of your sister and I am here for a monthly checkup."