Vera and Adrien left the Ashfall Frontier Town on a quest on behalf of the Mercenary Guild.
The Mercenary Guild, which sent Vera and Adrien on their quest, was divided into seven ranks: Unforged, Stray-Blade, Copper-Vein, Iron-Bound, Steel-Warden, Silver-Apex, and Mythril-Crown. Unforged was the lowest, while Mythril-Crown represented the highest.
Vera and Adrien, as newcomers, started at Unforged. Advancement depended on quest completion and exams; higher ranks demanded stricter criteria.
"Stop grumbling, Adrien," Vera sighed, adjusting her pack. "What's done is done."
"Nine Velar!" Adrien hissed, kicking a loose stone. "That smug bastard with the handlebar moustache actually looked me in the eye and took nine Velar for this... this trash. Look at it! The charcoal sketches look like a child's doodles. It only covers fifty herbs, and the 'expert' advice is so basic it's a miracle they didn't waste the ink."
"Yes, yes, I get it. You were robbed," Vera said, reaching out. "Now hand it over. Let me see if it's actually useless or if you're just being dramatic."
After Adrien handed over the handbook, Vera received a system-generated message while examining it.
━━━━━━━━━━━[ ITEM IDENTIFIED ]━━━━━━━━━━━
Name: The Wayfarer's Herb-Lexicon
Type: Utility / Educational Tool
Rarity: Common
--
Description: A practical, pocket-sized guide tailored for budding herbalists. It contains charcoal sketches and brief tactical notes on 50 of the most common flora found.
--
[Effect]:
* Helps in identifying Rank F to Rank E herbs.
* Provides 'Best Practice' instructions to lower the chance of ingredient spoilage during extraction.
--
Durability: 25/25
--
After reading the handbook's effects, Vera quickly flipped through the pages and opened the section describing their quest goal.
--
Herb Name: Bloodroot Vine
Appearance: A thick, pulsing vine with heart-shaped leaves that have serrated edges. Identifiable by the thin red veins that run through the stems.
Properties:
The sap is a potent coagulant used in 'Minor Healing Potions'.
Harvesting Method: Use a silvered or clean steel blade. Do not use bare hands; the sap is acidic and will cause 'Burn' on skin contact. Collect sap in glass vials immediately to prevent oxidation (Browning).
Warning: The vine is sensitive to vibrations. If cut incorrectly, it will constrict or 'lash' toward the heat of a human body.
--
Vera's knuckles were white as she glared at the parchment. "I hope that handlebar-moustached scumbag gets a violent case of dysentery," she spat, the words jagged with fury.
"Look at this! It's practically blank," she continued, gesturing wildly as they hiked.
"They could've told us this verbally instead of shaking us down for a guidebook, and listen to this: 'The vine is sensitive to vibrations. If cut incorrectly, it will lash toward the heat of a human body.' Great, fantastic, they forgot the one tiny detail of how to actually cut the damn thing!"
"Told you," Adrien muttered, his boots crunching rhythmically against the dirt. "It's a total racket."
"Racket? It's a heist! They should rename the Mercenary Guild to the Scammer's Syndicate." Vera's head bobbed in a sharp, angry nod. "We had to drop a ten-Velar deposit just for these stupid glass jars. If even one of them so much as cracks, we're broke. All for a two-Velar payout? The math is insulting."
Adrien's scowl deepened, shadows catching in the lines of his forehead. "They never mentioned the fine print before we accepted the quest. I never would've signed us up for this 'quest.' It's a net loss."
"My family would have a field day with this," Vera sighed, her anger simmering down into a dull ache. "I just have to pray this 'investment' pays off eventually. If we had a halfway decent info-hub, we wouldn't be at the mercy of those bottom-feeders."
"Fat chance," Adrien said. "The library is for permanent residents only; we'd need a local to sponsor us."
Vera rolled her eyes. "Which is basically impossible this early in the game. Unless a miracle happens and an NPC decides they like our faces enough to vouch for us."
Adrien let out a long, heavy breath. "Changing the topic, did you ever hear back from Orbis? Did they explain why the hell we spawned outside the safe zone?"
"Oh, I got a reply," Vera said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "According to them, it wasn't a bug. It was a 'hidden feature' designed to make the experience 'spicier' for a select few players."
Adrien snorted, a sharp, cynical sound. "Right. 'Spicier.' That's developer-speak for: we messed up the code, and we're too proud to admit it."
As they trekked further, the landscape opened up. In the distance, a small party of players was locked in a messy scrap with a wolf, their shouts muffled by the wind, but Vera and Adrien had their own problems. Looming ahead were the skeletal remains of a crumbling ruin, and clinging to the grey stones like a fresh wound was their target, the Bloodroot Vine.
"Splendid," Vera muttered, coming to a halt. "But of course, there's a catch."
"You mean the giant, scaly 'catch' napping over there?" Adrien asked, narrowing his eyes.
Coiled near the base of the ruins was a massive, bony creature, its scales white as the surrounding drifts. A pair of wicked horns protruded from its head, twitching occasionally in its sleep.
"Only in a game like this would you find a snake thriving in sub-zero snow," Vera whispered, her hand drifting toward her weapon. "A bony-horned snake. Fantastic."
Adrien didn't waste time. He moved to a nearby tree and gingerly set the satchel of fragile glass jars down, tucking them safely between the roots.
"Well," he said, straightening up and rolling his shoulders. "Time to see if we can handle ten meters of mountain-dwelling reptile."
Vera mirrored his movement, her gaze locking onto the beast as it began to stir. "Let's get it over with. I've got a deposit to get back."
"Let's try to pick it off from here," Adrien suggested, levelling his rifle. "On three, we open up together. Does that work for you?"
Vera checked her revolver, her thumb pulling back the hammer with a sharp click. "Let's do it."
They took a breath, syncing their aim on the snake's triangular, bony head.
"Three..."
"Two..."
"One..."
The synchronised cracks of the rifle and revolver echoed through the ruins. The Juvenile Frost-Viper jerked once, its white scales blooming with red as the heavy rounds found their mark. A few follow-up shots ensured the ten-meter serpent slumped into the snow, motionless.
"Well," Adrien said, lowering his barrel as the smoke cleared. "That's the easy part. How are we milking this thing for sap?"
Vera reached into the satchel, her fingers closing around the hilt of a steel knife coated in a thin, shimmering layer of silver. She took a steadying breath.
"I'll make a quick diagonal slice. You're ready with the jars to catch the runoff."
"Got it," Adrien said, stepping in close. "But watch yourself. One wrong move and we're the ones getting harvested."
As Vera stepped toward the pulsing plant, her vision flickered. A semi-transparent window snapped into existence, hovering over the tangled growth.
━━━━━━━━━━━[ ITEM IDENTIFIED ]━━━━━━━━━━━
Name: Bloodroot Vine
Type: Alchemical Flora (Mildly Hazardous)
Rarity: Common
Attributes:
* Primary Resource: Coagulant Sap (Core ingredient for Minor Healing Potions).
* Sensitivity: High (Vibration-based reaction).
--
Warning: Improper harvesting will cause the vine to constrict or strike toward the nearest heat source.
Condition: Causes 'Burn' status effect on skin contact. Use silvered or clean steel tools only.
--
Vera stared at the hovering text, her eyes narrowing. "Okay... no pressure. Just don't vibrate, don't touch the sap, and don't get whipped to death."
She gripped the silvered knife, her eyes locked on the thin red veins pulsing under the vine's surface.
Adrien's hand was suddenly a firm anchor around her wrist. "Your hands are shaking, Vera," he whispered, his voice barely audible over the wind.
Vera let out a soft, jagged chuckle, her shoulders dropping an inch. "Sorry. Guess I'm a bit more wound up than I thought."
"It's okay," Adrien said, his gaze shifting from her to the pulsing red veins of the plant. "If you want, I can take over."
Without a word, Vera handed him the silvered knife. Adrien gripped the hilt, centring his weight as he took a slow, grounding breath. The ambient noise of the ruins, the distant wind, and the rustle of dry leaves seemed to fade into a dull hum as he focused entirely on the target.
Then, in one fluid, surgical motion, he snapped the blade forward. The silvered edge bit deep into the vine, a perfect diagonal slice that bypassed the plant's vibration sensors before it could react.
The Bloodroot Vine didn't so much as twitch. Adrien's precision had won out, and the sap began to flow, a thick, crimson syrup that they caught in the glass jars with practised care. Within minutes, the satchel was heavy again, but this time with a payload that actually made the risk feel worth it.
"Clean sweep," Adrien muttered, carefully sealing the final jar and tucking it into its padded slot.
"Not a single lash."Vera let out the breath she'd been holding, a genuine smile finally breaking through her frustration.
"Maybe our luck is turning around. Let's get out of here before this 'perfect' game decides we've had it too easy."
"Vera, you missed a spot," Adrien said, gesturing toward the massive, coiled corpse of the Juvenile Frost-Viper.
Vera gave an embarrassed chuckle. "I didn't forget, it's just... look at the size of that thing. It's way too heavy for us to haul back to town."
"True, but we don't need the whole snake. We just need the loot," Adrien replied. He pulled out a basic skinning knife and pressed the tip against the scales. A system notification immediately flickered into view.
"Interesting..."
"What happened?"
"I saw some players talking about this yesterday, how you need a skinning knife to actually harvest a carcass, but I didn't realise how deep the mechanic went," Adrien explained, his eyes scanning the floating text.
"The moment the knife touched the hide, the system gave me two choices: Manual or Auto."
He looked up at her. "Auto is instant. It gives you a standard amount of loot based on the drop rates, but Manual? That depends entirely on the player's skill. If you know what you're doing, you can walk away with a windfall of high-quality materials. If you mess up, you get nothing but scraps."
"So," Vera asked, tilting her head. "Which one are you going for?"
Adrien didn't hesitate. "Auto, I'm not a butcher, and at least this way I'm guaranteed a payout."
A dull flash of light pulsed from the carcass. In an instant, three bony scales, three frost-meat fillets, and a single viper fang materialised in the snow. Adrien checked the tags: all Common tier.
After stowing the loot, the duo shouldered their gear and began the long trek toward the distant silhouette of the town. The ruins faded into the snowy haze behind them, and for a moment, the weight of their quest felt a little lighter.
Back in the town, Danijel let out a long, loud yawn. It was his duty to stand vigil atop the wall, but most days, the job was dreadfully boring.
That boredom vanished in a heartbeat. He caught a glimpse of something high in the sky, and as he squinted to focus, the blood drained from his face.
Adrien and Vera were just approaching the gates of Ashfall Frontier when the sirens began to wail, a piercing, jagged sound that cut through the wind. The crowd around them instantly panicked. People scrambled for cover, some even abandoning their carts and wares in the middle of the road.
"Adrien, something's wrong," Vera said, her voice tight. "We have to hurry."
Adrien gripped the straps of his pack. "With this fragile cargo? We can't sprint, but we'd better find another gear. Those sirens aren't a good sign."
"We have to walk faster than before at the very least, sirens and people acting like this is not a good sign."