Cycle of Ruin - Book One
They say Arrivals choose to come here, but Leo has no recollection of ever choosing such a fate. Thrust into the harsh wilds of a world where one's strength is measured and recorded, a single mistake here can cost him his li...
A cloud of dust filled the air around Leo as he tried to brush off the dirt he had accumulated in his fight. He went through his mental checklist; he had water, food, and wasn't covered in blood, pretty much the best state he had been in since crashing on this forsaken planet! Now the only item left unchecked was figuring out how to get back to Melody, except he had no idea where to even begin on that front. All he could do was keep searching and moving forward while trying not to die in whatever encounter came next.
It was strange how quickly his mind had adapted to his new circumstances. Just yesterday he had nearly been mauled to death by wolves, but the memories of that harrowing event hardly weighed on him today. It was hard to get hung up on past trauma when even living through the next hour was uncertain.
Leo turned his head and eyed the multitude of flora that covered nearly every inch of the cavern. If he listened closely, he could hear the faint scuttling of movement from unknown creatures deep within the depths of the garden's underbrush. With how massive the garden was, there were bound to be ingredients that would prove invaluable to him, but he needed to be wary of how he tried collecting them. As fun as rushing into unknown places sounded, it was liable to get him killed. He was impulsive, not suicidal.
If he stuck to the stone path, he might be able to avoid most of the lurking dangers while browsing the ingredients. The walkway would also provide an easy route to escape by, and he wouldn't have to worry about getting lost. With a semblance of a plan, Leo started down the winding path as it took him deeper into the garden's depths.
He scanned the plants lining the walkway as he proceeded nervously forward, aware that each step he took deeper into this tropical jungle was one step farther from the exit. He was a little disappointed to find the plants closest to the walkway only appeared to be of the common and uncommon variety. He did manage to spy a flower whose petals shined like starlight farther out in the underbrush, but he didn't dare to try to harvest that rare ingredient.
The sound of various creatures could always be heard deeper inside the garden, and their noise only increased as he drew closer to the cavern's center. Once he came across a small, green sprite wearing a crown of petals and picking at the nectar of a dark purple tulip near the roadside, but it scurried off when it noticed his approach.
Leo tried harvesting useful ingredients as he passed by, as long as the plants were directly next to the trail. Most of his attempts ended in failure, with a small portion or sometimes the entire plant quickly wilting away when he messed up. It seemed he really was destroying nature one plant at a time.
Hissuccess rate was always significantly lower when he tried to harvest one of thefew uncommon ingredients hefound. He had no idea why the Pandorian had been so easy to pick, or why theRumored ingredient wasn't tucked farther back in the garden. He was able tosuccessfully pluck two more types of ingredients, filling the pouches in hisbelt to the brim while leveling up his herbalism three more times.
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