Chapter 497 - 491 : Hunting For Herbs

Maldora Canyon was a large canyon with certain parts of it having their own ecological system. A good example were the region's close to the River Lorls and its distributary. Even though Maldora Canyon was mostly a dry and arid location with brown sand and hard rocks, the area close to the liver was lush green with plants and grasses, it was like a different story from the other parts of the canyon. Similarly, there other such parts, a good example being the cave Sato currently resided in.

After rescuing the young lady from the wreckage site, Sato had followed Milo in search of a safe zone to rest and take a breather, and at the same time, figure out what to do with the girl behind Sato. The end result was Milo leading Sato to a large cavern within the 'walls' of the canyon. 

Unlike the wet and stony environment filled with stalagmites and stalactites one would expect, the interior of the cavern was nothing like that. It was like a forest in the outside world, filled with greenery and trees as tall as 4 storey buildings. The ceiling of the cavern was very high, that even flying creatures were able to reside within the cavern with no fear of crashing into the ceiling. Sunlight shone in from a big hole at one part of the ceiling, illuminating the entire cavern. All in all, the entire cavern looked like a different place from the dry terrain Sato had witnessed in a majority of his stay in Maldora Canyon.

Truthfully, the first time he stepped into the cavern, Sato was on high alert as based on his intuition and experience, places like this that were in direct contrast to their respective exterior usually held great dangers. 

Luckily, Sato had Milo who was able to sense the dangerous monsters even before they got close to them. It was as if Milo's perception was greater than these monsters so it was able to spot them in time.

"Alright, here looks good enough." Sato headed into a cave within the cavern.

The cave wasn't big but it was isolated. Thanks to Milo, Sato was able to confirm that it wasn't a stronghold of any monster and barely do monsters move around there.

Sato gently dropped the young lady on the floor before checking her condition. Her breathing had stabilised long ago and with the HP potion acting, her physical injuries were mostly healed. However, she was still stuck in a coma and it would take some time for her to awaken. There was also the chance that she might not wake up unless proper treatment was carried out.

'If I were a [Paladin] or a [Cleric], this wouldn't be much of an issue.' Sato sighed. Nonetheless, he didn't regret his decision of being a [Swordsman]. 

Of all the classes, only the Specialists were a bit balanced and of all all the Specialist classes, the [Swordsman] was the most balanced in terms of attacking prowess and defensive abilities. [Assassin] only had a high attack power with high movement and attacking speed but their defences were pitiful and in some cases, below that of mages. [Rangers] had a similar situation but were a bit worse off. Their ability only laid in long range combat and once one closed up the gap, they were pretty much helpless. Only the [Swordsman] could hold up in a close range battle, have a pretty impressive movement and attack speed and better defence than the rest. 

Of course, while the factor of balance seemed to make the [Swordsman] look like the best class, this wasn't so. Every class had their own advantages. Even a [Swordsman] would lose out to an [Assassin] if they got caught in an ambush or a surprise attack. If a [Swordsman] couldn't close the gap, they would be nothing more than a play toy in the hands of a [Ranger] or mage. Even in close combat, their strength was still lacking to the Warrior classes much less defence. So while the [Swordsman] class had gone for a balanced arrangement in contrast to specialty, this happened to be both its advantage and disadvantage. A jack of all trades but master of none.

'Since I've brought her this far, I have to make sure she stays alive.' 

Sato immediately logged into the forums and began searching for adverts placed by information hunters. His plan was to buy information pertaining to NPCs and their healthcare. While Sato had a passable level of medical knowledge, it wasn't enough to treat someone in coma. Since he couldn't connect to the internet while in the game, the only option was to buy information from information hunters. 

Of course, whether or not he would find what he wanted was a different story.

While he was searching, Sato also thought of all the possible options he could take.

'The health potion could only help with her physical injuries. I'm not sure if giving her more would help with the internal ones. I'm also not an Alchemist or Apothecarist so I don't know what mixture of herbs could help in this scenario.'

"Ah wait, Fudo's an Alchemist." Sato facepalmed.

Sato then sent a message to Fudo asking for his help. The team was currently in the dungeon so Sato didn't want to disturb them by calling. Leaving a message for Fudo was the best option, even though Sato would most likely get a reply later.

After that, Sato returned to scrolling through the forums in search of any health-care information. 

One could say that his luck was good as 10 minutes later, Sato managed to find one. At the same time, Fudo also sent him a reply, detailing what he knew about awakening someone from a coma as well as the necessary herbs needed. Luckily for him, Sato had a stock of 1-star and 2-star materials which also included a few herbs but unluckily for him, they were not complete to form the drug. It couldn't be helped as Sato was a blacksmith; most of his attention would be on materials and not plants.

'These plants are low rank and could easily be found in these areas. Maybe I might luck out and find a few here.'

After getting the recipe from Fudo, Sato had immediately bought information relating to the plants he was missing. The information detailed not just the appearance but also the functions as well as the possible locations and growth spots for the plants. One could say that information hunters really took their jobs seriously in order to keep their customers and get a reputation. Such a detailed report wasn't easy to get or even compile so it was definitely worth the price.

However, this wasn't what Sato cared about. His priority now was finding the missing herbs.

'Guess I have to head out now. Hopefully, nothing untoward happens to her while I'm gone.' Sato sighed as he gave one glance at the injured beauty who seemed to be peacefully sleeping.

"Come on, Milo. Let's go now."

"Meow."