After the thornknight bramble made his one last shake and dropped down, me and my little crew let out our held breath.
A thunderous thud echoed through the cavern as the monster's massive body slumped. Petals drooped, vines unraveled, and the scorched air suddenly felt lighter, like the mountain had exhaled with us.
And then, there was silence.
"…I-is it over?" I asked, still holding my breath.
My knees were shaking. My hands clenched around the half-scorched sponge spore. Every part of me braced for another roar, another fireball, another death scene.
Burn, covered in ash and sweat, looked up weakly from where he'd been crouched.
"I-I think so," he said and then collapsed flat on the cold lava floor like discarded dry leaves.
That's when I heard it:
Ding-ding!
A soft chime, completely out of place here in the half-melted death cave. A glowing screen blinked into existence in front of me.
And there it was:
[QUEST COMPLETE: "Trial of the Thornknight Bramble"]
Status: SUCCESS
Congratulations, Survivor!
You have defeated one of the rarest volcanic flora bosses in this region.
Reward received: Thornknight Bramble seed (Fire type)
Shiv's Note:
"Well, well, John boy. You actually did it.
Honestly, I gave you a 50/50 shot: 50% chance you'd be fried, 50% chance you'd trip and fall in lava. But hey, look at you!
You're still breathing and mostly not on fire. I'm impressed."
I blinked then I laughed.
Just once, half delirious, half insulted.
"Smug jerk."
Barry groaned somewhere behind me. Blaze limped over, still smoldering slightly, but wagging his tail-vines like a happy little fire demon. I looked at the steaming carcass of the Thornknight Bramble, still sizzling but unmistakably dead.
"We're alive," I whispered. "We actually did it."
I stared at the massive seed, as big as a watermelon and pulsing with faint warmth. It looked more like a glowing fruit from hell than a plant relic. Carefully, I placed it into my inventory box, half-expecting it to explode. It didn't.
The second it clicked into the system, Shiv materialized with a dramatic puff of green spores and glitter as always, of course.
"You survived, didn't die, and didn't pee yourself, that's amazing!" he grinned, tossing me a pouch. It hit my chest with a wet splat and spilled a flask of cold water and something that looked like a sandwich but smelled like ambrosia.
I gulped it down before he even finished talking.
"Now for the big stuff," Shiv continued, floating lazily upside down while inspecting his fingernails. "Floro, your patron is pleased. Which, frankly, never happens since all his past chosens were all eaten by plants. You're the first one to survive and finish the Bramble challenge."
I raised a brow, still chewing.
"Really?"
"Anyway," he brushed past it, "your patron gifted you this." He snapped his fingers.
A glowing green orb appeared and exploded into a beautiful floating interface. My jaw dropped.
[UNLOCKED: Interdimensional Store: Botanist Corner]
Administrated by: The Botanist God Himself.
Information: Buy anything from food, clothes, tools, to rare seeds, magical gear, potions, medicine and emergency fertilizer.
Currency: Verdants
"What the hell are verdants?"
Shiv floated beside me with a smug expression.
"Yes. Verdants. That's your new money, bud, a plant-based economy. Every time you complete a quest, harvest a rare item, or even help a dying plant grow again, you get Verdants."
I blinked at the store's glowing interface. It looked like a greenhouse mated with an online store catalog.
He clapped once. "And now, thanks to completing a major trial, you can finally view your full status too, nothing fancy, just what you have earned. You're no longer just the weird guy sweating in the desert but you're the weird guy with options!"
He waved a hand. Another screen popped up.
[STATUS]
Name: John
Class:Botanist
Sub-class: (empty)
"Subclass? What the hell is a subclass?"
Shiv spun mid-air.
"Oh that would be available when you collected all the elemental plants."
I gulped.
"Is that bad news?"
Shiv smirked.
"Maybe or Maybe not."
Shiv's smirk was suspicious, I ignored it and read my inventory.
Inventory:
Pod lily seed ×1
Bramble Seed ×1
Spongapore Spores x2 (I didn't knew multiplied when injected water)
Thornata Bloomdrake bud x1
Devitulus seed x1 (turn out seed can be harvested after defeat without me picking it up)
Spikynog seed x1
Verdants: 640 (currency)
640?
I didn't even know I was earning anything. All those times I saved weird talking plants or almost got eaten by cabbage-things, that actually paid?
Shiv tapped the side of my head.
"Start using your tools, John. This world's brutal, but with a little green, red and blue on your side, you might just not die horribly."
"My little crew?"
"Yes."
I looked at my little crew, small but their impact is huge. Barry, the glow at night that protects us from nocturnal ambush from creep monster plants, Blaze, my brave, gremlin warrior ready to slice anything that pisses him off and then Burn, the newly additional to my crew, red, small, spit fire but he talks and I'm glad he's there to talk with me.
Shiv winked.
"Unless you mess up."
"Nope. I'll try not to mess up
"Alright, jungle boy," Shiv said, floating backward. "Time to move on to your second Target, Blightcap Mycospore."
I blinked.
"Why does that name sound like very bad news," I said.
Shiv smirked.
"Oh it is. Very very bad news, indeed," he replied as he adjusted my Bota watch and my map. "The new location will be Verdantgrave Wilds, a place where Earth Elements thrive, where real green plants live. And well, parasitic spores lived as well too."
"Parasitic spores?"
Shiv shifted.
"Yep, parasitic spores produced by a small mushroom called Verdact Shroom, very black, very small and very deadly. You see one, run or else the spores it produces will hijack your brain and make you a walking zombie human plant."
"Ugh, that's great," I muttered. "From burning oven zone to sci-fi zone huh?'"
Shiv floated backward and saluted playfully.
"May your roots stay strong and your spores stay optional. Good luck out there, Jungle Knight."