บท 26: Herbs
Adam having just left the town of Walcon headed to Marshlin Forest.
He had already started to reminiscence about his experience in the forest, and how he had nearly died.
Since then, he had changed a lot.
The falling light of the sun greeted Adam as he got farther away from the town.
The air becoming increasingly fresh as Adam made his way out of Walcon.
A handful of hours, with some wrangling of directions with the map later, he was at the entrance of Marshlin Forest.
While not certain he could kill a bear, nearly anything else he could defend himself from.
He examined himself and his armored legs, arms, chest, and hands.
Adam had adjusted fairly well to the additional weight of the armor.
Fixing the helmet on his head, he descended into the canopy of darkness, that Marshlin Forest was spreading, with the changing sky.
The trees standing tall around him, he looked around.
Darkness that wrapped and wrangled the grass and dirt, akin to a growing mass, encroached Adam's feet.
The last of the sunlight dying out, he swiftly made camp.
He kept watch for a few hours.
No howling, only the chirping of crickets.
Having heard nothing worrying, he slowly laid himself flat, taking his helm off.
Gently, and gradually, Adam fell asleep.
The sun breaking through the trees eased him awake.
Sunlight now accompanying him, he started his search for the herbs the quest required.
Finding a bunch of nothing, he groaned, the armor stiffening his joints.
After stretching, he got back to looking for herbs.
His luck turning around for the better his eyes locked onto some herbs.
Confirming they are what he was looking for, with a quick gaze at the quest sheet, he started plucking the herbs from the ground.
He threw the collected herbs into the bag.
Adam's mind wandered as he continued to collect herbs.
Every so often, he took a look around his proximity, his focus not completely absent.
He was curious as to how lively the forest would be, as months had passed, allowing for changes in the ecosystem to have been adjusted to.
As he reached down to pluck another herb, he saw a deer in his line of sight.
Its gaze was inquisitive, watching from a few feet away from Adam.
Adam mused: 'Watching me are you?'
His focus and gaze settling back onto the task at hand, Adam's gathering of herbs proceeded.
Not much later, he had plucked all the sought herbs in that section.
He patrolled Marshlin Forest, in search for more herbs.
Thankfully, he had found some more.
It did not take long, the middle of the new day already starting to pass over, that Adam had collected a considerable amount of herbs.
Having seen that a limit or goal, for the amount of herbs for the quest was not listed, he worked to gather more.
The first quest's results were much like giving your first impression to others.
By submitting lots of herbs, he would draw more attention, but, it would feel silly if Adam did just the bare minimum.
Looking at the sky, and having inhaled the air that was extremely refreshing, he decided that he would stay for a few days.
Determined to do so, his pace slightly picked up, finding more herbs to collect.
As the satchel that Adam acquired from the castle was large, that could hold a ton, he was not worried about it getting overfilled.
He would likely be empty handed soon enough anyway.
That did not turn out to be the case, as dense sections of herbs were located.
Gathering them, he threw them onto the large pile of herbs in one of the satchel's main pockets.
Adam laid on the cold grass, the sky a keen purple, the air similarly chilly, and a smile gracing his lips.
Adam had many things that he wanted to do.
Before the nine months were up, he wanted to establish himself in Erustus.
He would do quests for a while then look for interesting things that caught his eye.
As he was in a fantasy world, he should enjoy it to his utmost.
He was sure he would find something that would make his heart beat wildly.
That said, the number of options left him speechless.
Adam could focus on fighting, on exploring, on so many things.
He should devote some time to finding limits of his to break, and milestones in his life to reach.
Adam paused as this train of thought struck him.
Yeah, what could he overcome, pursue, chase after...?
The fear of death? Letting go? Opening up?
No, even without doing so, not that he felt the need, he would be fine.
If he refined his skills, and tempered his body and mind further, he no longer would dread fighting the Demon King.
Leveling up wouldn't hurt nevertheless.
Yeah, he should gain experience.
Getting back on his feet, he should since he was here, look for some enemies.
Soon enough, he found goblins scampering in the distance.
Anticipating the encounter mentally, he headed over, his halberd by his side.
When he was a few feet from them, he took a deep breath, and charged.
Surprised, the goblins flung out their weapons, shakily holding them and pointing them at Adam.
Nearing them, he thrust the halberd out.
The goblins attempted to counter, but, Adam overwhelming their strength, pushed their arms back as they tried, but failed to resist the impact.
Grunting in pain as their arms strained, they were knocked back.
The goblins swiftly turned the other direction, sensing the danger they were in, and screamed, retreating.
Adam pondered: 'I was able to win, with some difficulty before.'
Strengthening his grip on the halberd, he dashed towards them, slashing with all his might.
The goblins, whose backs were turned smashed into the ground, the halberd piercing their hide armor, creating large gashes.
Their face barely raised off the ground, groaning, the goblins tried to pull away.
Their strength depriving them of all but the subtlest movements.
Noticing their inability to escape, and pained expressions, Adam's gaze hardened.
He had things he wanted to do, and that required growing.
To grow, the goblins had to die.
For Erustus's safety, for Randail's, he needed the power to defeat the Demon King.
For his goals, they had to be slain.
His halberd crashed down, their shrieks withering to silence.
Pulling back his blood-soaked halberd, his eyes fell on the dead goblins.
Sighing, his gaze rising back up to the forest, Adam eyes softened.
Walking into the inner depth's of the forest, the wetness in his eyes dried.
He murmured, the shadows of the trees falling over his shoulders: "It is my duty as a hero."
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