Chapter 8

Just past the door was a mechanical console with a grey portal in front of it. Of course their was other stuff in the room but, how are we expected to pay any attention to that with this in our sight. We made our way to the console as a prompt came up in our minds.

{Welcome to the cultivation module… unlike the cultivation room this allows the user to teleport to a location on this world of their choice at the cost of energy based on the distance from the portal}

"Whats energy… in this context" I couldn't help adding the last part to avoid a stupid answer like electricity.

{As the user receives customers, and they use the various facilities available to them, they are charged gold which will then be converted to energy at a 10:1 ratio}

Well given we still haven't received any customers, I decided to walk away from the portal for now. "GOD! How big is this store?!", at the back of the room was four plots of land… by plot of land I mean a giant volcano took up one, a tornado took up another, a mountain covered in trees took the third, and finally the last was a mountain waterfall that fell into a pond of extremely clear water.

The only way to explain the fact we hadn't seen it sooner, was just how drastic seeing a portal was. "Jericho, what are these plots for?"

{When a customer pays to have their companion trained, they can be placed in one of the four plots which will help passively improve their natural traits/genes}

"So this is how we train the pets?"

{Host has multiple options when training "pets", the most efficient is to use the portal to transport to a cultivation world with a high element resemblance to the pet. While this is expensive, through the use of the portal, beasts will be allowed to revive infinitely helping to further bring out their natural bloodline}

"Does that mean if I use the portal I can also revive infinitely?"

{Due to high intelligence of humans, Host will be limited to 3 revives total while in portal area. This is designed to increase Host ability to survive and strive for life}

I decided to leave it there for now, as I checked the rest of the store. While there wasn't much more to see, on the right side of the room was a cobblestone pond with a waterfall and stream. Standing near the stream had a natural appeal, as you could feel the natural energy permeating the pond. "Jericho, are you just into aesthetic appeal, or does this have a use?"

{If Host places infant beasts into the pond, they will soak in the divine energy in the pond increasing their growth in strength}

I turned towards Phoebe, "What should we do now?"

{Quest Assigned: Alaric: Gather 5 different plants of various uses to grow in the greenhouse}

{Quest Assigned: Phoebe: Make a healing potion, a stamina potion, and a mana potion}

{Reward for completing quest: Magic Tome, shop employee selection}

"I guess we should go get some supplies then," Phoebe responded with a smile.

"THAT'S WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY!!! If we get a magic tome, we'd surely be able to use it right?! But we have no affinity! Jericho can you please explain." I couldn't help the excitement about having a chance to get magic. Unfortunately there was no response from the system.

"Fine don't respond! But, how should we get supplies if we haven't had any customers yet?"

{Host Alaric currently has 43 gold coins. Would Host like to convert coins to energy at twice the cost?}

"Wait, why's it twice the cost?"

{Host runs a store. You are encouraged to operate the store to increase power}

"Fine, convert my coins to energy," I figured using the stores functions was a great way to make my gold coins multiply. I was left with 3 coins as another notification popped up in my vision.

{Host Alaric currently has 2 energy}

I walked to the console to check the prices, 'Hopefully I can find a place to train Freyja and Bagheera while collecting herbs'. The prices were surprisingly cheap, while the names of the places were bizarre. Of coarse there were places as expensive as 1,000,000 energy, while there were the places I recognized which were much cheaper. Below each name was a description of what to expect as well as the general difficulty in that place. As I was looking at the herbs described in places, as well as pets, I realized I had no idea what I needed, or what was valuable.

"Maybe we should go read our introductory books to get a general idea of what to expect?" I looked towards Phoebe hesitantly was voicing my question.

"Honestly, I have to agree with you… with our quests we've been assigned we should try to find the materials to complete it as soon as possible," Phoebe responded resolutely.

We split up near the entrance and walked towards our separate areas. As I walked towards the podium in the middle of the greenhouse with the book, I received a new notification.

{Due to being a beginner the system will grant Host Alaric one freebie, you can now instantly access all information from book, Introduction to your Official Greenhouse}

As weird as this notification seemed, the more I tried to find the information supposedly accessible in my brain, the more I felt helpless. I couldn't make sense of what Jericho meant, so like most people I gave up. I walked to the book and opened the cover, as I did the information flooded my brain.

'well that would have been helpful to know prior to making myself look like a constipated fool' The book remained in front of me, while all information in the book was easily accessible in my brain. It was as if I knew all along. All information I might need to successfully handle crops in this… my… greenhouse, I now fully understood. In addition, I could now successfully harvest crops and determine there value from a simple look. Finally, I could identify most of a crops uses giving me a general idea of where we should go. I was ready for our first trip through the portal.