Terrarium Adventure - Chapter 62

What is he talking about?

“And there are uses for Dandelion dryads other than combat. It would be nice to grow them a little and help them make panaceas. It wouldn’t be large amounts like master Jay has, but even small amounts might be able to help you. Some druids, who have visited the 28th terrarium in the past, deliberately wanted to pick out a dryad that could become a medicinal herb. I think Dandelion was on that list. If that person had visited that Dandelion colony, he might have pulled them all out… maybe!”

“Wait a minute. Why are you talking like the 28th terrarium and my artifact are the same thing?”

“Master Jay’s artifact is now connected to the 28th terrarium, right? The 28th terrarium will be your artifact now.”

It is…? Why didn’t you tell me any earlier?!

“Mesquite, did you know about this?”

“No, I didn’t. It’s my first time being a dryad for an administrative officer after all.”

She said with a light smile. Well, if Mesquite knew, she would have told me right away. It’s all Daisy 2’s fault!

“The water from here only restores someone’s Bark, and not internal vitality or debuffs, so it would be very helpful if those children come and awaken their recovery power. There would be no need for a healer to reside here. Travelers passing by would definitely stop by the 28th terrarium. As the number of visitors increases, the commercial district will become active and…”

Daisy dryad had no time to rest his mouth as he painted the little Dandelion children in his picture of the very distant future.

“… Are you trying to use them to clear the terrarium? You sound overly excited.”

“Oh no, never! You see, I’ve gained a lot of muscle while moving around these things… so…”

He blurred the end of his sentence as if I had found out his true motivation.

Dandelion and I discussed sending these two children to the 28th terrarium. I also asked Mesquite if my soul was wide enough to bear those children. She told me that my soul was big enough to do so. However, in a small voice, she also asked if it was worth it to use the space for such little children, as Dandelion had said.

Of course. I think of this game as collecting flowers!

Although the children had to live in the 28th terrarium, it would be wider and safer than the colony.

I also thought that the Dandelion children could later support Daisy 2 since he is an offensive type of dryad. The children’s role model would be him, who was the same species as our Daisy.

“The kids are still young, so you can’t expect them to become the king of the forest anytime soon.”

Dandelion gave me the opportunity to dismiss my proposal by eagerly addressing situations that I should be aware of. It seemed she was worried about my willingness to take on these two children who are not very helpful yet.

“If they grow up, I’m sure they will become the king of the forest!”

Since there is already a colony nearby, if one of the two becomes ready… that means I will be able to get a Dandelion dryad! This is a good deal!

Dandelion changed her attitude when she saw that I had a firm mind on taking the two children. She changed the course of the conversation by telling me how they could help me.

“The Monkshood child has similar characteristics as these children, so maybe when they awaken their strength, he will be able to see and follow them. Do you know what you need to connect your soul to wild dryads?”

“Yup! I need unripe fruit! I don’t have any right now, but I’m on my way to the 26th terrarium. I’ll buy a lot, in case I need more in the future. Anyway, I think I will stop by here again on my way to the 18th terrarium, so I can connect my soul to them then.”

“Then I will be teaching these children as many things as possible until you come back. Thank you for making the tough decision for my children’s future.”

Oh, shucks. It wasn’t a tough decision at all! 

When the children heard the news that they could leave the colony, they showed off all kinds of charms to me since they knew I would be their owner of the future. It was cute to see them, although there was no bond between us yet.

I tried to go to bed with the desire to leave early in the morning when I saw Dandelion taking out a blue diamond from her pocket and looking at it with quietly sunken eyes.

I turned my body so that I couldn’t see her and closed my eyes. I wonder what she’s thinking about.

***

It felt like I was back home.

As I approached the 26th terrarium, which was my first village, it felt like the air that touched my skin was somewhat different. It felt like I was touching the blessings of the 26th branch of the World Tree.

Starting from the 26th terrarium’s boundary, I could see the blessing proving its existence in various ways when I looked around. The fires, pushed down by the blessings, rolled around weakly. They looked like flat soccer balls left behind in a playground.

I could see the fires moving around, pretending not to notice us. It was just like when a first-strike mob did not act like one anymore in front of a high-level player.

I could not get used to this because I knew what they had been like in the beginning, when they wanted to burn everything they could see.

If the fires are supposed to be that size in the beginning… I was someone who played the hard mode of this game. Not just hard, maybe hell mode?

They look like the size after Daisy had cut the original one-two times! That’s so unfair.

Mesquite stopped us when she noticed there was something going on near us. Looking at her expression, it wasn’t anything dangerous.

Maybe it was her caring for me who liked snooping around. She looked down at me as if asking me, ‘are you curious about what’s going on over there?’ Her eyes seemed to be asking that. Of course, I am!

As we got closer to the noise, I found out what all the fuss was about.

”Good! You’re doing great!”

I heard a high-toned girl’s voice. Her voice was so bouncy that I could infer she had a cheerful personality. After that, I heard a sharp sound breaking through the wind.

Wow, she looks like a druid! My heart was pounding because it was my first time meeting a druid outside a terrarium after Seedling. She’s even a girl! Maybe that’s why I’m so excited! Is she fighting with a fire?

“Good! Tear it into pieces! Crush the little bastard! Don’t let it go!”

I could see Elder’s expression harden slightly at her language. When we approached the vacant lot where the battle was taking place, we could see a dryad struggling with fire the size of a rugby ball.

A little further away, a druid was shouting at the dryad and pumping her fist. The dryad, with purple hair, was fighting the fire very seriously, wielding a saw that was as big as its body. It was a menacing weapon that looked like the blade part of a chainsaw.

The fire was weak that Daisy could probably throw a sword and kill it, but the druid who was fighting it acted as if she were fighting a boss.

“Hah…”

“What’s wrong?”

Daisy asked me anxiously, as I covered my mouth and tried not to laugh.

“It’s a newbie… a newbie…”

Of course, I was also a user who was only a few days old, but this didn’t have anything to do with pride. It was this strange feeling that most game players had.

The subject of emotion is the player who is behind in the game progress. This emotion is maximized if people tend to like sticking their nose in other people’s business. This feeling explodes if it’s a game where novice users are rare.

For example, there was a game where existing users would give away all kinds of goods such as money and equipment to a new user. As if doing that is not enough, they act as if they are going to donate their organs to them.

This behavior is sometimes referred to as ‘sleeving.’ Of course, there is no need for the new user to pay back. It was just a ritual to get them to stay in the game.

However, this game wasn’t that old, and I wasn’t thirsty for the influx of newbies, so my feelings were different.

I was just thinking, I used to be like that, too. I was also reminded of how Daisy used to be, seeing the dryad eagerly wielding the saw against a small fire.

It was nice to look at a team working hard. Should I give them some diamonds to cheer them up? What if they get offended? Still, it would take quite a lot of money to nurture dryads…

The battle was over while I was thinking about what to do. Unlike Daisy, who used a strategy of splitting the fire into halves, this dryad struck the fire at random and eventually retired it.

“Amazing! You are so strong, aren’t you? If we catch a little more here, I have a feeling that our intimacy will increase even more! Get stronger quickly and we will travel to the 27th terrarium. There are rumors that fruit is being harvested there for free. Shall we make more friends and go to the lower terrariums?”

I was thinking about when to introduce myself, but it didn’t matter anymore. Mesquite and Elder were quickly spotted by the druid and she opened her mouth with a big O.

“That’s a weak dryad.”

Elder mocked without fail. Mouth, his mouth! This guy’s pretty mouth! It’s pretty, but the words that come out are so bad!

When I glared at him, the predictable words of, ‘why? It’s a normal grade’ popped out.

“You should excuse yourself for that. If you say that in front of that druid… you are no different from Seedling.”

At my words, Elder’s pretty face became wrinkled and he shut his mouth. I guess that worked pretty well.

“Hello!”

Nice to meet you! I waved my hands with a harmless smile. Hey, I’m just user 1 passing by. I’m not those kinds of people that try to duel you as soon as I see you.

“Wow, your dryads… there are four of them. That’s so amazing… you’re so cool!”

Then she said to her dryad, “you can do it too!” Good mindset. I was happy to see a druid who treated a normal dryad so well after seeing so many druids neglecting them. You’re a druid who realizes the essence of helping a dryad grow!

“It’s been a long time since I saw a druid outside the terrarium.”

You are the second, to be exact.

“Oh really? There are more druids around here besides me. Originally, they rarely come out here alone, and three or more people come out as a party. They usually avoid the direction of the 27th terrarium completely.”

She spoke with her hand pointing to where other druids were.

“Recently, the surrounding environment has changed, and the size and the power of the fire have decreased, so the situation has improved. Everyone said it was the right time to go on an adventure, so I ran out here!”

As expected, the 28th terrarium was restored, and the surroundings found its balance. By the way, people usually come out as a party? I came out alone, was I being fearless or just plain dumb…?