Chapter 143: Getting Two Fragments I

Adrian logged out as his best friend, Marlon, had yet to come back to him about the location of the crown fragment. Even Adrian was not sure it was hidden in a treasury. Adrian then searched for his mother.

When Adrian went downstairs, her mother and sister was having a chat. He was surprised because Mina became addicted with playing Pandemonium. She usually only comes out to eat or sleep. She has been reborn thanks to his brother.

"Oh! Son, come and joys us. We are having juice and some bread as snacks." Adrian's mom said.

"He probably wants to ask you something. He rarely comes out of his game pod." Mina teased.

"I could say the same about you. You almost never get out. You even forgot to bathe one time. Stanky." Adrian teased back.

Mina did an exaggerated death animation and their mother just chuckled. Adrian then proceeded to chug down the juice that was made from the lemons in their lemon tree. Adrian basically stuffed himself with Spanish rolls and Pan de Coco.

"So mom, I was wondering what to do if a part of a tree is dying from poison?" Adrian said while chewing and was spilling crumbs everywhere.

"Do not talk while food is in your mouth. It is bad manners." Adrian's mom said while looking at Adrian with a glare.

"If it's plant you are talking about, I have an idea." Mina stated.

"Your sister is more knowledgeable than me about trees. I only grow flowers and some fruit trees as a hobby." Adrian's mom replied.

Adrian looked at his sister and asked, "So care to answer my question?"

"Information is expensive. So I need to get paid." Mina replied.

"It depends. I do not even know if what you provide me is effective so the value would be cheap." Adrian retorted.

"I see that you drive a hard bargain. I will settle for 1000 gold coins then." Mina retorted back.

"300" Adrian replied.

"950" Mina replied.

"450. That is my last offer." Adrian stated.

"Give me 700 and I will pay you for the 200 gold coins. Ten per cent lesser than the market price as we are family after all." Mina stated with a serious expression.

"Deal" Adrian answered.

"When I was spelunking in the Amazon rainforest, we had a biologist there. He told me that trees expel poison differently. Some just die when exposed to the poison while some adapt. There are cases where trees need external help to get rid of the poison. I witnessed her carve the poisoned area out and graft it with a piece of another one like it." Mina said and Adrian listened intently.

"If the poison is surface level then doing that might work. If the tree absorbed the poison then that is another story and I do not know the answer. I expect my payment when you log in back okay." Mina said.

Adrian nodded and said, "If you want gold that badly then why not just buy it from the trading site."

"I tried to but apparently it was all bought out." Mina replied

"Bought out by whom?" Adrian asked.

"I looked for the reason and I saw that one of the top merchant guild is hosting a player auction. There are even NPCs that are rumored to join the auction. It is rumored that a mythical item is going to be auctioned along with other high tier items. So the gold trading site is out of stock right now." Mina replied.

"I see. Top players would want to have a piece of that mythical item. No wonder the price of gold coins suddenly spiked to five dollars. Send me the nine hundred dollars okay. I would need that because I will start streaming soon. I need a hundred dollars just to have my own streaming IP on Pandemonium's streaming site. It is true what they say. If you want to make money then you have to spend money." Adrian exclaimed.

Adrian then returned to his room after he stuffed himself with juice and bread. He hurried because Marlon already found the location of the fragments. Adrian did not want to keep him waiting for too long. He logged back in the game.

====

Adrian was back inside the restaurant and so was his best friend.

"Finally, I thought you bailed on me or something." Levin Cloud stated.

"Sorry about that. I got carried away eating. Anyways I got something interesting to tell you." Adrian said and then told Levin Cloud of all that happened.

"Shut up! Someone actually poisoned the tree. No wonder I felt like something was in pain while I was staying at Neo Alfheim." Levin Cloud remarked.

Adrian then remembered that he needed to send 700 gold coins to his sister. He did that while Levin Cloud was discussing where the fragments were held.

"Here's the thing. The two fragments are actually not in the same room. One is being studied by some priests and mages. The other one is kept in the treasury which is inside the mouth of a man-eating plant." Levin Cloud said and handed over the crown fragment given to him by Adrian.

"The last one is doable while the first one would be tricky. What is this about you feeling something is in pain?" Adrian asked.

"I got a cool passive called Whisper of Life and Death from the job class chain mission. It lets me detect living things and it is more effective to those who are near death. It is very useful for a priest like me so that I would not be assassinated." Levin Cloud said while doing what looks to him as a cool pose but Adrian just think he was over-acting.

"I hope you heard what he said then Makiling." Adrian said and the elf server once again closed the door. The rowdy atmosphere became calm which baffled Levin Cloud.

Vines sprouted below the tree floor and a beautiful woman with a green skin tone appeared.

"You have called Champion?" Makiling said.

Levin Cloud had a look of disbelief. He knew there was a dryad somewhere in Neo Alfheim but it is said to be very elusive. There was a story in the forums that it gave a random someone a useful skill and that someone became a top ranker. It is all rumors so no one really believe it was true.

"Oh right. I forgot to introduce you. Makiling, this is Levin Cloud. He is my best friend and a Child of Gaea. Marlon, this is Makiling a dryad. So where is the shard with the man-eating plant?" Adrian said in a friendly tone.

"Um..Uh..It is located at the lower part of the church where they keep unidentified treasure that are deemed destructive. It is the forbidden treasury." Levin Cloud stated while still in disbelief.

"Can you transport us there?" Adrian asked.

"Certainly. It is but a menial task." Makiling said and she clapped her hands. The flowers with sharp teeth arose below the tree. Adrian was now a bit used to it while Marlon was wondering what was happening.

A few moments later, three were spat out at what seems to be an overgrown garden. It was filled with vines and flowers of all shapes and sizes. Some plants were even bigger than Adrian.

"Strange. Why are the Killer Vines or the Man-eating plants not rowdy?" Levin Cloud remarked.

"They are calm because you are with me. Dryads or Leshies are considered to be the royalty to plant creatures. They would not dare to be rowdy when I am in their presence." Makiling stated as she radiated an aura of dignity.

"Neat. So where is the fragment?" Adrian asked.

"I actually did not enter the room all the way and just stopped at the entrance. It was very dangerous. A plant even launched spikes at me." Levin Cloud said as he shivered a little because he remembered the experience.

"So Makiling, can you also talk to plants? If so. Why not ask which one is holding the fragment?" Adrian asked.

"I can do that Champion. Wait a moment." Makiling answered and started speaking to a budded flower the size of her face.

A few moments later, a giant fruit with vines started crawling towards them. Adrian looked in wonder on what was happening because a fruit was walking per se.

"So the man-eating plant is a Peach. Well, you do not see that every day." Adrian remarked.

When the fruit arrived near Makiling, it opened up its mouth. Rows of sharp thorny teeth was inside and at the bottom was the crown fragment. Makiling then gestured to Adrian to take the crown fragment. Adrian carefully bent over to not get pricked as there was a nectary substance dripping from its spike like teeth.

The Man-eating plant was five feet tall and it could swallow a person whole if it wanted to. Adrian safely got the fragment. Adrian then told Makiling that they should go to the next place but she swung her head sideways.

"I am afraid that I cannot transport you to the next location. If the elves see that I am helping you steal the fragment then they might demonize me. Excuse me for the term. I do not want them to accuse me of helping outsiders steal their stuff." Makiling said with a disappointed tone.

"I understand. Can we return to the restaurant then? We would think of what to do from there." Adrian stated.