135 A Glitch?
The bluish golden rays of morning sunlight entered the room, illuminating the bare chested figure of Samar practicing the 108 motions of Mana Conversion Art. Surprisingly, the exercise was useful in the real world as well, helping him absorb Mytherium in the air.
What shocked him the most was that it paired extremely well with the Tej Mantra's breathing rhythms, showing exponential effects on his body!
As Samar went through the movements, dry and charred flakes of skin fell around him, as if he was undergoing a molting. His body was being exfoliated, unveiling the young and glowing skin underneath the dead and dry tissues.
The effects of the combination were great for his skin but they were not limited to cosmetics; he also felt a deeper change within his body. Samar had a feeling that his body was lighter, his movements smoother and his muscles a little more firmer than the day before.
Even though they were minute, such visible improvements spurred him to master the Tej Kaya his father spoke of. He could only imagine how powerful he would be after combining the mastered Tej Kaya and the Mana Conversion Art.
Samar called Mimi and let the robot clean up his room while he took a shower. He went down for breakfast with his family but the icy tension around the table was palpable.
The frostiness in his mother's gaze was like a glacier but starting to show signs of melting. Still, his mother was not willing to take a step back, and he had inherited her stubbornness; he would not apologize for what he believed was the best course of action.
Had the housing space on Mars not been so limited, he would've loved to move out of his parents' house. Unfortunately, that was not possible so he endured the breakfast in suffocating silence.
Half an hour later, he was walking towards the VR complex with Stivi. She briefly told him about the quests they had taken and interference of the Grandeur Guild members.
"I will be done with my quest by afternoon. Hold on until then." Samar assured Stivi and walked into his allocated VR Room.
Samar geared up and started the game, expecting the same opening scene to present itself but today was different.
The usual animation did not appear on the screen but instead a short montage of clips of less than a second began to play. All six clips showed a man in black hood, working on a computer.
Samar could not see what was on the computer but he realized that there was indeed some kind of problem with his VR card.
'Should I report it?' Samar thought, but he immediately dismissed the idea. The Imagine Corps would replace his card should he report the issue.
That meant his character which was bound to his VR card would be deleted, losing all the progress he had made, including having to give up on Sage Nyasa's legacy!
Samar was conflicted. On the one hand, he did not want to lose his legacy, on the other hand, a glitchy game card could prove to be dangerous, as Dreamverse was intimately connected to human evolution.
'No! I can't report just yet and risk losing my VR Card!' Samar resolved, after thinking of the consequences of reporting the bug. 'I'd rather wait and see if the glitches persist, hindering my gameplay.'
In the meanwhile, the screen loaded and he was once again transported to the beautiful haven of Legacy Land. There was no lag or any other common signs of bugs like pixelated scenes or such.
He could smell the fresh fragrance of green grass and see the vivid colors of the wildflowers. The gentle breeze whistled in his ears and the sunrays spread warmth across his face.
Samar picked up a wild herb and put it in his mouth. The thorny root pricked his tongue and he also tasted the bitterness of the herb, making him spit it out.
This meant all the senses were working as they should've been, assuring Samar that the bugs would not significantly affect his gameplay.
Reassured, he opened his notification panel, which was filled with messages of success or failures. He ignored all of them and opened the summary details for yesterday's automated production.
—--
Materials Consumed:
Entwood Timber x 6
Purity Metal Alloy x 216
Meltree Sap x 300
.
.
.
Arrows Produced:
Fire Rune Arrow x 60
Wind Rune Arrow x 48
Water Rune Arrow x 43
Earth Rune Arrow x 49
—-
Success Rate: 60%
—-
Samar was astonished by the success rate. The Lv3 Rune Arrow Forging Technique only provided a 40% success rate for automated forging of White-Wood Grade arrows but the special Crafting Room in the hut had increased that rate by another 20%!
Also, the improvement in the quality of materials used may not have improved the grade, but the stats had definitely increased.
—-
Fire Rune Arrow
Grade: White-Wood
Attack: 11-11
+5% Fire Damage
—-
These Rune Arrows were comparable to Lv15 Elemental Arrows available in stores! Samar gladly put them away and went towards his next destination, the Aranyak Garden guarded by Shail.
The pure white canine pup was lazing away in the sun, uncaring of the butterflies hovering over her head. She heard Samar's footsteps and perked her ears. As they approached closer, she opened her eyes and stared fiercely at Samar, daring him to take a step near her territory.
When Samar ignored her warning glance, the pup stood up on all its fours and barked, baring her fangs, blocking the way to the garden. Samar did not back off after her threatening bark but stood on the spot, dazed, and stared at the little pup weirdly.
Hearing the commotion outside, Uluk flew out of the window. Seeing the standoff between Samar and Shail, it advised the Sage's new successor.
"Don't mess with the pup Samar; you are no match for Shail yet."
His words brought Samar out of his daze. He looked at Uluk and nodded, and again turned towards the pup.
Samar got down on one of his knees, and kindly smiled at Shail. Avoiding staring directly in her eyes, Samar said two words, "Berry fruits…"
Samar was not talking out of his ass, or maybe he was but as soon as Shail barked, he had received a system prompt and it read,
[.... berry fruits….]
Samar gauged the Wolf pups reaction to his words and noticed her aggression had fallen quite a bit. Although she was not wagging her tail like a happy puppy, she was not baring her fangs either, waiting for Samar to speak further.
This showed that she was clearly interested in berry fruits!
Excited, Samar pushed forwards using this clue and asked, "Are you willing to exchange berry fruits for medicinal herbs?"
Shail hesitated, pawing the ground. She was clearly reluctant to part with the herbs but also wanted to eat the berry fruits. Ultimately she made her decision and caved in to her desire.
"Yes," Shail spoke softly, relaxing her tense posture.
Immediately, a chart of berries and the herbs he could exchange for them appeared before him. Samar began to read and his eyes shined brighter and brighter.
The Berry Fruits listed were all delicacies. Many of them were uncommon in the Elven Forests but they were not as rare as the Herbs and Medicines they could be exchanged for. In fact, it was quite the bargain!
Samar had collected a lot of them while traveling as they were excellent food ingredients. Even after selling many, he kept some of them on his person as they could serve as in-game snacks when he was feeling peckish.
After checking his backpack, Samar found 5 kinds of berries from the list. He used them to exchange for five specific medicines on the list.
12 Blueberries for 6 drops of Pure Morning Dew
8 Wolfberries for 8 drops of Golden Nectar
4 Selene Berries for 2 stalks of Tier 1 Stardust Thistle
1 Sol Berry for 1 flower of Tier 1 Glowroot Blossom
3 Dewberries for 1 Hair of Tier 1 Hyacinth Root
The Pure Morning Dew was a great catalyst for improving the purity of medicine. Golden Nectar could be used as a sweetener and effect amplifier for many medicines.
As for the last three Tier 1 Medicines, they were the most requested items on the forums with highest rewards. Most importantly, they were all requested by the Severed Flower Guild, which had the first Adept stage Herbalist in the Panjal region!
After finding the trick to getting Herbs from Shail, Samar turned to Uluk, who wouldn't let him touch the books in the study.
"Don't think you can trick me as easily as Shail. I will only allow you to read the books if you can bring me rare tomes from the Holy Human Empire or the Death Kingdom." The Eagle Owl said, stating his requirements in a straightforward manner.
Samar did not receive any prompt like before. So he accepted the result and teleported back to Torana Town.
