Curiosity burning, Ethan continued down the lone path, the terrain growing stranger with each step.
While he was wandering, marveling at the sights, he remained blissfully unaware that, sowhere deep within the world of Ethereal, chaos was brewing.
The ragged old man, the NPC he had encountered when he started the ga, was searching for him with frantic desperation.
"Where did that kid go? Where the hell did he run off to?"
A glowing interface hovered in front of the old man, its projection shifting rapidly as his hands manipulated it. Ethereal's map flickered like a slideshow, zooming in and out across different regions.
Finally, with an exasperated gesture, the old man brought up an image, Ethan lying unconscious inside his VR capsule.
"He's in deep sleep, fully imrsed in the ga. But why can't I sense his soul energy anymore?" The old man, usually laid-back and carefree, now wore a grave expression. Gripping the flask strapped to his waist, he muttered, "Damn it. I take one little nap, and I lose track of him."
He scowled. "It took thousands of years to find a soul as uniquely flawed as his, and now he's gone?"
With another flick of his hand, the interface paused on a region Ethan had passed through earlier: the Plaguelands.
Zooming in further, the old man focused on a altar within the Plaguewood Forest. The area was eerily calm, long abandoned by its once formidable guardian, Archmage Sorenth.
The old man vanished in a flash and reappeared at the altar.
"This is his energy… and traces of the Underworld too." His eyes narrowed. "Could it be…"
---
anwhile, Ethan entered a narrow valley, the ground beneath his feet glowing with a deep crimson hue.
As he moved forward, he realized why, the valley was filled with an endless sea of blood-red flowers, their petals spreading in intricate, radiant patterns.
Fascinated, Ethan reached out to touch one of the blossoms.
Ding!
[You've discovered a rare herb: Ethereal Bloom. Would you like to use Harvesting?]
"Yes!" Ethan said without hesitation.
Ding!
[Harvest successful. You've obtained Ethereal Bloom.]
Ding!
[You've gained 50 experience points!]
The notification startled Ethan. Opening his inventory, he inspected the flower:
Ethereal Bloom:
Rarity: Rare
Properties: Adds additional effects when used in alchemy. Effects are unspecified. Can also be consud to increase soul energy.
Description: The Ethereal Bloom is a flower that blooms at the end of all seasons, thriving where life ets oblivion. It takes a thousand years to bloom and another thousand to wither, never eting its own leaves.
Ethan was overjoyed, not because of the flowers properties, which he barely understood, but because harvesting it gave experience points. Normally, gathering herbs outside the ga's wild zones didn't offer any XP rewards.
"I'm so glad I leveled up my Herbology skill while working on that land acquisition quest. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to harvest this!"
Thanks to his diligence, his harvesting skill had reached a level where rare herbs like this could be collected. If he hadn't leveled it, all this experience would've gone to waste.
Looking across the endless sea of Ethereal Blooms, Ethan felt like he'd struck gold.
"Man, it's great being a Druid. Other classes take 2.5 seconds to harvest a flower. I can do it in one."
One flower. Another flower. And another.
50 XP… 50 XP… 50 XP…
Ethan dove into the field, relentlessly harvesting blooms, the experience rolling in far faster than fighting monsters ever could.
As his XP bar climbed steadily, his inventory began filling up with flowers.
Ding!
[Your inventory is full. Unable to harvest more items!]
Annoyed, Ethan opened his bag to see the problem. Each of his four 12-slot bags was cramd with random junk from monster drops, but the majority of the space was taken up by Ethereal Blooms. Packed into stacks of 20, the flowers filled every slot.
Checking his XP bar, he grinned.
Level 15: 83,742/156,800 XP.
In just a short ti, he'd gained over 80,000 XP.
Ethan had never found leveling up so easy. Gazing at the endless field of Ethereal Blooms ahead, his excitent was beyond words.
He began to wonder, could he just keep going until he hit Level 100? Maybe Level 200? Or even higher?
This ti, he took a closer look at the bloom's properties and noticed sothing interesting, it could be consud directly, boosting soul energy.
He wasn't entirely sure what "soul energy" did, but he rembered it being a reward in the Dream Trial. Even now, its purpose remained a mystery.
"Well, it can't hurt," Ethan muttered, pulling one of the blooms from his inventory. He popped it into his mouth, chewing absentmindedly.
To his surprise, it dissolved instantly, leaving no flavor behind. Without hesitation, he began a rhythm of harvesting and eating, figuring it was better to consu them than leave them unused.
Ding!
[Congratulations! You've reached Level 16.]
Ethan did so quick math. He had eaten at least 1,500 blooms by now and was relieved to find that he didn't feel even slightly full. With his worries put to rest, he returned to his harvesting and snacking routine.
Ding!
[Congratulations! You've reached Level 17.]
Ding!
[Congratulations! You've reached Level 18.]
…
Ding!
[Congratulations! You've reached Level 21.]
He had no idea how much ti had passed. The constant system notifications had dulled his excitent into monotony.
"What the hell are you doing?"
The voice caught him off guard.
"Harvesting flowers," Ethan replied instinctively, not bothering to look up.
A mont later, he froze. Slowly standing, he scanned the area, but there was no one in sight.
Was he hallucinating?
"You fool, you've been harvesting flowers in the Underworld! Don't you value your life?"
Just as Ethan bent down to continue, the voice ca again, sharp and furious.
His eyes widened. That voice…
"Old man? What, are you here to cause trouble again?" Ethan snapped, annoyance bubbling to the surface. "First, you force into this class, then you ss with my stat allocation, and now you're interrupting my leveling? Seriously, find soone else to bother!"
In the swirling chaos of Ethereal, the old man stared blankly, montarily stunned by Ethan's outburst.
He took a deep breath to steady his patience. It had been eons since anyone dared speak to him like this. Still, he knew Ethan's personality too well, this kid thrived on defiance. Push too hard, and he'd dig in like a stubborn mule.
"Well, uh, listen, I intervened those last two tis to keep you from screwing up your progression. But…"
"But what?" Ethan interrupted, glaring at the empty air. "Spit it out. I've got flowers to pick and levels to grind."
The old man sighed audibly, deciding to get straight to the point. "Do you even know how long you've been in the Underworld?"
Pausing, Ethan shoved another Ethereal Bloom into his mouth. He glanced at the in-ga clock and mumbled, "The tir hasn't moved. How should I know?"
"You've been here for three days," the old man said, keeping his tone calm. "Did you know that?"
"Three days? So what?" Ethan muttered, waving him off.
The old man's voice grew sharper. "You have four days left. If you don't leave by then, your body in the real world will be sent to the mortuary."
Ethan froze mid-chew.
"What the hell? You're joking, right?" he asked, his voice unsteady as a sinking feeling crept over him.
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