Chapter 2152: Another Monster Root?!

Looking at Garan’s shocked face, Althea grinned proudly, like a little peacock trying (and failing) to be subtle. Garan couldn’t help but lean down and give her a peck on the cheek.

His wife is so adorable.

Althea was pleasantly surprised when she found out about the new skill. The system sent out a notification, and it had been added to her stats, so she knew it was official. That said, she could’ve felt it even without reading the system prompts.

This was because she could feel the healing quality as her body transformed, and she instinctively knew she could express it outwards, affecting others.

This healing ability was based on wood this time, signifying vitality, which differentiated it from the healing abilities that some water users awakened.

In her case, it was more like triggering the body’s latent regeneration while water actively guided, say, the flesh together.

They continued their fruit gathering and took the remaining four. She felt a bit guilty for eating one all of a sudden. Though Naia said they only needed one fruit, what if they needed more?

Garan chuckled and patted her head. "It should be alright. Anyway, it’s already done."

Althea nodded. There was indeed no point dwelling on the rightness of the decision. Besides, she could look at it as her testing the product for her kids. So far, it was safe to consume.

That said, even if only one was required, Garan chose not to consume the fruit until they reached home. Althea was out for a few days. They were not sure how long he would take, and the effects could also vary person to person, so he didn’t risk experimenting in the middle of nowhere.

The couple rested for another hour or so before packing up, ready to leave.

Althea looked back at the tree one more time before they truly departed.

"Thank you," she said, and the two of them disappeared from the cave.

...

The two walked back the way they went and, well, the thorns they had cut had already grown back, so they had to do things all over again.

"..."

Very annoying.

Fortunately, there was less effort because they had grown quite a bit stronger since then.

As they cleared the place, Althea told her husband about the experience.

It was rather ethereal, and it felt like she had a long, long dream, like she was floating in white space while being nourished by the aura around it.

Interestingly, she got a glimpse of the possible origin of the tree. She had the image in her mind, but it seemed more like passing impressions, like those when someone made her watch those old movies, except the edges were not defined and felt like floating in midair.

It really didn’t have anything to do with the orcs. The legend seemed like it started simply because it was located in what later became the orc territory. Further, it was eventually associated with the ’strengthening’ gravity zone. Of course, that gravity was likely caused by the tree itself, so it wasn’t entirely unrelated.

Rather, it was something of the elves, one of the survivors of their legacy.

When the elves died, the special plants nourished by their energy also perished. After all, the creation of the system consumed a very specific life force, and it so happened that many unusual plants were integrated with it.

The Urfrukt was likely the only survivor from those times, which was due to various factors mostly attributed to luck.

It was an old seed they nourished for a long time and planted where it would grow best. The fruit was something like an aether crystal...except they only worked for those with elf blood and had extra effects.

She felt that she had grown stronger and her abilities became even more comprehensive, though she was unsure about how much things had changed exactly, other than what she already knew.

Since coming to the orc territory, she had leveled up so much that she hadn’t had the time to properly absorb her current strength.

However, she was not worried. She could take her time with this. She knew it was not harmful anyway.

They still took a few days to get past the thorny forest, but they saved a few days due to their improvements. The elements were still being absorbed, and the gravity was still strong, despite them taking away the fruits. This was a good thing; this meant that the tree itself was protected.

During this time, they would take a few-hour break in the house every day, and sometimes Garan would work on a space bracelet.

It was a bracelet with more than one space stone for use. He would make one for her and make one for the kids each, though they’d probably give it to them when they were old enough to understand more things.

These accessories were naturally disguised. The space stones were covered with other things and embellishments to hide their nature. People had personal spaces, so they could just tell what they absorbed went to their personal spaces.

The bracelet for Althea had three space stones, one big and two small. This would give an accumulated large space.

The important thing was that it could be passed over, which also meant it could be inherited, unlike the personal space, which would die with the owner. The things in the personal space would be untouchable by others, but it was a fact that this space could not be transferred.

Even if Althea spent all her space stones to improve her space, in the end, once she died, it would also be gone.

A few days later, they arrived where they entered. It wasn’t the exact spot, but it wasn’t hard to find considering there were monster plants camping outside.

The mushroom and the sunflower were still rooted where they left them. During this time, there seemed to have been a few beasts that ventured in, judging by the hind leg and some bones on the ground.

When Althea arrived, the sunflower started swinging around, and the truffle hopped.

Very cute.

She wondered how sentient these were, but they seemed alive to her, so she’d treat them as such.

From there, they decided to change their path a little. Not too much, but they calculated that it should be closer to the area with the Feyun Tribe. This way, the chances of finding more interesting plants were higher because they hadn’t combed through the area yet.

They encountered several wild roots and beasts, but the plants handled them well, especially the beasts, which the plants happily added to their meals.

Speaking of which, how Truffles ate was also quite interesting. Whenever it was about to eat, mycelium would emerge from its body and wrap around the carcass it would be consuming, slowly absorbing it bit by bit.

This also meant that Truffles never got to finish a meal. After all, they couldn’t wait for it to finish its meal each mob they faced.

When something consumed an intelligent being, something also changed in the beast’s or plant’s makeup. For example, those intelligent beasts were full of this ’mark’. This would also indicate that they had killed a lot of intelligent beings. Wild roots were not like this.

Monster Plants, on the other hand, despite being a beast-killing machine, did not have this mark. It was either no orc had ventured and fallen here, or it simply wasn’t interested.

She trained well this time, mostly coordinating with the plants and helping them execute her commands properly. Since she was the only one who spoke, sometimes she’d look quite silly.

At some point, Althea didn’t even fight. The two plants did everything.

Sol shot sharp seeds, and its vine-like stems slapped enemies. Truffles preferred guerrilla warfare. It would create holes for the monsters to fall into. If its level wasn’t high, then it was unlikely to escape that hole. Even if it could get out, those couple seconds of fall and delay were already a great advantage.

Slap!

Crunch!

Clap, clap, clap~

Althea clapped her hands and cheered for the two plants, promising ’treats’ when they finished it well. By treats, it was just her wood abilities.

When it was done, she condensed a bit of energy, and they caught it like puppies with a tennis ball.

They swung and hopped, and it was obvious they were enjoying themselves. Better yet, it seemed like they were more excited with the current energy than before. Was it because they hadn’t tasted it in so long, or was it because the quality had increased so dramatically? Probably both.

Althea and Garan felt like they were watching kids. When her husband heard this, he looked at the two plants and nodded. "Very good helpers."

With her eyes on the plants, she absentmindedly blurted out her thoughts. "I wonder if we could take them with us somehow..."

...

On their way back to the periphery, they encountered a natural small lake, but it felt like a massive pond. There were even water lilies there.

They were beautiful giant lilies, and there was a big one in the midst of them.

It was a beautiful place, especially since there was a rare clearing in the hollow forest, so it was bright there.

Monsters also drink water. Water sources were natural places for things to hang out, and there were plenty at this time.

She saw something ripple from the water. She watched as a vine—no, a rhizome— from underwater emerged and grabbed one of the weaker monsters.

The monster was quickly pulled into the water, and then it was thrown into the flowers without even landing on the wide floating leaves underneath it.

Crunch!

Althea’s eyes sparkled. So it was another monster plant!

This time, it was a water-based one!