章 31: Escape

While Stefan was busy dodging the attacks from the tree demon, he heard a notification sound ring in his mind.

But, he had no time to pay attention to it now.

As he ran towards the tree demon, before the tree demon could attack, he bypassed it and drank a Level-2 Strengthening Potion that instantly increased his physical strength and gave a boost to his speed.

The tree demon had probably never dealt with this kind of situation and stopped in a daze. It never knew why, even though the happiness came too suddenly, it disappeared before he could enjoy it!

After coming to its senses, it immediately became very angry and followed the bloody smell to take revenge.

There was the sound of sudden footsteps followed by a heavy thump.

Stefan increased his speed and tried to widen the distance between them.

While running from the tree demon, Stefan accidentally slipped and fell into an underground hole.

''WAAAAAAHHH....'', he slid down continuously and landed on the ground with a thud.

After landing, Stefan peeked and saw that it was dark around him. He got up from the ground and took small steps cautiously.

As he kept walking for some distance, he saw something shining in the depths of the cave. He assumed it was a cave, as there was no source of light inside, despite it being afternoon.

After walking near the source of light, he realized, there were small beautiful flowers presenting a path. He followed the path and came to a big pool. In the middle of the pool, there was a gorgeous tree adorned with those small flowers.

Stefan asked Heli if he knew something about it. Heli replied, ''Host, this is not a flower. It is a herb which the Princess was searching for. I don't have any more information about this herb in my system database. But, it is written in the task, that Princess Esha needs this herb for curing her Grandfather''.

''Do you have any idea about how her grandpa was injured?'', Stefan asked inquiringly.

''No, Host. There is only this much information available in the database regarding the task''.

''I see. Let's take some herbs in case we require them. Anyway, it is also my luck to encounter such a treasure''.

''Host, how are you so sure that this herb is a treasure?'', Heli asked, confused by Stefan's confident words.

''Since Esha had to go through so much trouble for this herb, then this means that the herb must be very precious''.

''That's cool, host! We obtained this treasure so easily!'', Heli exclaimed.

Stefan agreed with Heli's thoughts on this. He still couldn't believe that the herb, which took Princess Esha so much time, could easily be found by him.

He tried his best to take the herb carefully and put it in his space bracelet. But, he couldn't keep it. No matter how he concentrated his consciousness, he couldn't take the herb inside his storage bracelet.

Seeing how the host was trying again and again to keep the herb, Heli decided to help Stefan, ''Host, how about you try to keep it in system storage?''

Stefan opened the system storage in his consciousness and saw that there were still three slots that were empty. The gold coins and newbie gift package occupy two slots.

This time, Stefan successfully put the herb. He collected some more and put it together in the system's inventory.

Afterward, he started to search for an exit in the cave.

1 hour later...

''Ahh...!!'', Stefan grabbed his hair in frustration and shouted.

''How the hell do I get out of this place?!'', He walked around the pond and asked Heli.

''Host, there must be a secret passage to get out of here'', Heli guessed.

''YES! Why didn't I think of that? I am always trying to go back from the door which isn't even opening!''.

Half an hour ago, Stefan found a door. But no matter how he tried, the door, wouldn't budge at all.

While searching for the secret passage, his feet slipped, and he fell into the pond.

He subconsciously tried to grab something. But, how was it possible to grab something in the water?

Gradually he fell deeper and deeper. He was wondering just how deep this pond was. His body started lacking oxygen...

As he was in desperate need of oxygen, he suddenly saw something in his peripheral vision. It was a shining door.

It looked the same as the door present above the pond. The only difference between them was that this door shone with golden light, while the one present on the ground did not.

He swam towards the door, and just as he touched the handle, he was thrown out of the cave.

When he regained consciousness, he found himself lying beside the ground hole with his clothes soaked in water. He desperately took large breaths and finally felt stable.

'I almost died by drowning....', Stefan thought fearfully.

He looked around alertly and searched for the tree demon. But the tree demon was nowhere in his sight. Just as he breathed a sigh of relief. He heard the system ask.

'Host, are you okay? Can you walk? Should I help you?', Heli asked a series of questions to Stefan.

'I am fine, Heli. It was just a very bad experience. It's just, I would probably stay far away from ponds, rivers, or lakes in the future.', Stefan patted his chest to calm himself down.

Heli felt distressed, unable to see his host in such an embarrassing situation any longer, he pleaded, 'Host, let us just go back. We have already picked up Princess Esha and the herb which is important to her'.

Stefan hesitated, on one side Esha had to be given proper treatment and on the other side Li was waiting for him.

It was dark when Stefan came out of the cave, so, Stefan decided to go home directly.

'Fine', let's go home. But, I don't remember the way back. Do you remember it?'

'Of course, Host! Heli is a system and can remember the coordinates once you have registered it', Heli said confidently.

Then he remembered that the coordinates were not exact, so he told Stefan, feeling guilty, 'Host, I can only guide you to the place from where you set the coordinates of the target's location.