Chapter 335: A Gift from a Friend

Chapter 335

A Gift from a Friend

After collecting the spiritual Merlo fruit, Ellie immediately planted it in her 2nd secret dimension. Initially, she intended to use the fermented water on the Spirit Camouflage Apple, the Spirit Night Java Apple, and the Spirit Thousand-Handed Orchid. However, after the little rabbit transformed the Merlo fruit into a spiritual one, Ellie’s plans changed.

She brought the new spiritual fruit to the 2nd dimension and began cultivating it, using a significant amount of her botanic magic power to help it grow quickly. Ellie wasn’t sure if the fermented water she had would be enough, but considering that it had previously awakened the spirits of the 3 fruits, and this time it was already a spiritual fruit, she hoped it might at least grant some level of awareness to one or two plants this time.

However, it was a pity that the 15 spiritual fruits she planted and watered with the fermented water only grew rapidly and produced many fruits. Despite her efforts to infuse more of her magic power, they merely advanced from level 0 to level 1 spiritual fruits. Not understanding what went wrong, she spent over half a day trying before finally giving up and coming out of the dimension.

It turned out that the Merlo fruit refused to transform into a sentient spiritual fruit. Nonetheless, Ellie wasn’t too disappointed. Using the fermented water and magic power wasn’t a total loss; she had obtained many spiritual fruits, enough to generate significant income.

After Ellie left, the Merlo fruits, that were not awakened yet, remained in the dimension. There was a reason why the Merlo fruit was the only fruit carefully tended by the Komodo tribe, and why they all remained at level 0 without spirits, despite being ancient fruits.

This was because they were true sacrifices. Unlike other fruits that hoard all the energy and elevate themselves, the Merlo fruit absorbed energy and then released a significant amount back into nature. It wasn’t surprising that any city with Merlo fruits was fertile and prosperous; this was their doing.

The second dimension, which had previously lagged behind the first, might reveal significant changes if Ellie were to enter it again now. The dedication to the Merlo fruits hadn’t shown immediate results but required a detailed inspection.

Level 4 herbs now grew the fastest. Initially, they took over 10 hours to harvest, but after they received the purer energy from the help of the Merlo, they had already started to bloom. Level 5 and 6 herbs also exhibited rapid growth; this speed was even faster than in the 1st secret dimension.

While the 1st secret dimension had the care of the 3 spiritual plants, the 2nd dimension truly benefited from the attention of the Merlo!

After leaving the dimension, Ellie spent her time gathering life force and reading texts to expand her knowledge. Actually, she wanted to purchase more knowledge from the 7th floor, but acquiring such information wasn’t easy. Each race had its own secrets, fiercely guarded even unto death. Therefore, Ellie had to find ways to develop her understanding based on what she already possessed.

She had read all the medicinal texts available to her and realized that the development of medicine had its limitations. All the initial knowledge of potion concocting came from high-level species. It wasn’t surprising that Professor Medik was extremely busy, being the only one actively seeking alternative solutions for humanity.

Professor Nico was also someone to be respected, but she wouldn’t see him anymore since he had joined the Central Association. She had no idea what that association was like.

While Ellie was training and seeking knowledge on her own, the Central Association had already begun taking action.

They had also heard that after 10 years, city ownership would no longer be possible. If the current owners wanted to transfer their cities, they could only do so through transactions at the Central Service, which required high fees. However, if someone died without transferring their city, it would be seized by the central authority and made available for new races to challenge.

In other words...the cities humans saw now were only a small portion. Most of the cities once owned by elves and sold to other races were not shown here.

Given that the Central Association was known for their rigorous training and fiercely guarding their knowledge, it’s surprising that they have started taking action. From the 1st floor onward, they didn’t even care which kingdom a city belonged to; they simply declared war to seize the city if they took interest in it. The challengers were among their own people who had been called up.

Those individuals couldn’t remain in the Central Association without achievements, so they end up turning against their own kind. Their ruthless actions had caused many to face hardships. The Hunter’s Association was also rallying its people. Fortunately, most hunters did not accept the invitation to join the Central Association, otherwise they would have lost many forces.

Ellie received information from one of the eldest young lord’s people, who was tasked with monitoring the movements of various kingdoms and related events. It turned out that as a high-level hunter, she too was called up. Currently, the 3rd-floor city of the Hunter’s Association was being challenged by the Central Association called the "Central Light Magic Association." They claimed to be interested in the resources on the 3rd floor and demanded the Hunter’s Association to hand it over obediently. However, who would willingly give up their possessions? In the end, the Hunter’s Association accepted the challenge.

The girl immediately agreed to join the battle, hoping that these skilled "light magicians" would provide some fun. Besides, didn’t the little Black Fairy have something it desperately needed? And what better source of magic power than war?

The land was ablaze, with wars erupting everywhere, causing chaos. The Hunter’s Association, which initially took on missions from the Central Association to exchange resources, and the royal family’s missions could no longer lend a helping hand. Now, every kingdom faced wars with the Central Association while also fighting against the demonic toxin users.

Except for the Setter family, no one dared to mess with them. Even the demonic toxin users avoided them, knowing that the Setter family was a selling source of demonic toxin-countering weapons. Using demonic toxin against them would be wasteful, so they wreaked havoc elsewhere instead.

This was truly a dark age. The pressure to gather resources was already immense, and now it was compounded by the selfishness of others!

When Ellie appeared at the Hunter’s Association, many people had to make way for her.

"The Demon Frog Warrior is here!!"

"Awesome! This increases our chances of victory."

"The Demon Frog Warrior came in person? It seems the association is determined not to let go of the 3rd-floor city!"

"Let’s fight alongside the Demon Frog Warrior!" People cheered when they saw "Luke," the young man who had become a legend, appear. Ellie nodded to them politely and walked past everyone directly to the association leader’s reception room. However, before Ellie could meet the association leader, she was stopped.

Swish!

The sound of a sword being drawn made the crowd scatter. They prepared to defend themselves, but the person who drew the sword had no intention of doing anything else; he was just swinging it playfully at Hunter Luke.

"The response is so quick. As expected of the Demon Frog Warrior," a teasing voice said. His eyes were fixed on the small young man with a curious look. Behind him stood a large hunter. Ellie had seen him before when she fought against the soldiers of the Rhea Kingdom. However, since he was just a low-level hunter, she hadn’t paid much attention to him.

Ellie looked calmly at the mischievous Prince Jason. She instinctively dodged the sword swings. Her body, trained in the Soft Jade technique repeatedly, was unfazed by his random swings. Nevertheless, wasn’t this behavior a bit impolite?

Prince Jason, dressed in hunter attire, laughed heartily. He was supposed to help the kingdom gather resources. The Jarlon family had volunteered for that mission, so Jason had to rush to gather his people and controlled the city before graduating from the fourth year.

If he really succeeded, he would gain more than half of the royal power. Then he could use that force to seize more cities for himself. Previously, he had done everything calmly, but now he wouldn’t allow that anymore. Seizing cities in his name was truly crucial. He feared that if he delayed any longer, the Fernal family and his elder brother might do something even more drastic.

Currently, the Fernal family had become much less significant, but they had many tricks up their sleeves. If the kingdom were left without a prince to be the crown prince other than his elder brother, perhaps the Setter family might have to yield to him. This was because he would be the future leader of the humans in the Ares Kingdom.

The Setter family’s desire was not to rule over many people. It’s clear that they were tired of such things. Otherwise, instead of occupying all the cities and using their power as the only hope to oppress people, they wouldn’t have shown such disinterest. They even stated that they would return the cities if given half the purchase price in return!

Everyone now shared the same perspective: the Fernal family would definitely make a move. The life of the fifth prince, Jason, was already in danger if he didn’t take some action!

Prince Jason wasn’t gathering resources; he wanted trustworthy allies, to train his own strength, gain comrades, and seize cities together. His key target was still the strong Hunter Luke!

Ellie had heard that the power within the palace was now divided into two factions. Prince Jason probably didn’t have the vile intention of assassinating Prince Joseph, but the other side might. However, all of this had nothing to do with her. Whether it was the first storyline or the new one, Ellie didn’t want to be involved in the annoying Prince Jason’s affairs.

"Sorry for the rude greeting, but it’s the way a swordsman like me greets. I hope you won’t take offense,"

"Mmm," Ellie easily parried the sword and intended to walk past, but Prince Jason stopped her like this, he surely had other reason to continue talking to her. He reached into his shirt and pulled something out, handing it to Luke.

“What is this?”

“I heard from your sister that you raise beasts, so I used my power to find a beast suitable for you. Your sister helped me a lot before, so I’m giving you this as a token of thanks. If you have this, I believe your sister will worry less.” Ellie looked at the black egg with a steady gaze.

She felt that this prince was eager to reveal his relationship with her sister. No! He was eager to reveal his relationship with Ellie herself. Even though Ellie was actually her!

"You know my sister?" She felt it was amusing, so she pretended to ask curiously. Jason, unaware of her true identity, thought he had successfully lured her.

"Of course, she and I are good friends."

"Hmm? Are you from a noble family?"

"Oh, why do you think that?" Prince Jason feigned ignorance, but his demeanor was laughable to Ellie.

"My sister attends an institution exclusively for nobles. She faces many challenges there. So, if you claim to be her friend, you must be a noble too."

"Oh, you got it right. However, I’ve never had any issues with your sister. On the contrary...I’ve helped her a lot because I consider you a friend. A friend’s sister is my sister too."

"Hmm? How have you helped her?" Ellie waited to hear his lie. The prince chuckled slightly.

"I can’t tell you; otherwise, my identity would be revealed. But I assure you, I’ve been very kind to her."

"............" Ellie looked at the shameless liar and shook her head. She didn’t want to accept this strange black egg, so she thought of walking away.

"Do you want your sister to worry? The current situation is unusual. I believe this unhatched beast will be useful to you. It wasn’t easy for me to acquire it, so please take care of it." Ellie looked at the beast egg. Did this prince think she would believe him? After the Rhea Kingdom lost the war, it was no surprise they had to send tributes. She remembered that a noble family from the Rhea Kingdom had sent many gifts to apologize to the prince, as they once intended to take him hostage. Among those gifts was likely this beast egg.

"Please accept it. It will be beneficial to you." Ellie looked at the beast egg once more and reluctantly accepted it.Currently, her only beast was the little Nocturnal Rabbit. Having a high-level beast would be a great help. Besides, she had another egg she hadn’t used yet. Perhaps this egg might benefit from it...