The woodlands east of the Grahall Mountains grew along the gentle slopes, lush and dense like a carpet. A thin winter mist shrouded the mountainside, with smoke-like wisps drifting through it. Brando, Hainf, Ling, and Lian advanced along the river valley. Mountain streams murmured as they flowed between the pebbles on the riverbank. When they waded across, Lian mischievously lifted her shoes and dipped her snow-white bare feet into the icy water, making a grimace that showed all her teeth.
Brando smiled as he looked at the sisters, then lifted one in each hand.
Hainf crossed first, and the moment he reached the other side, he let out an astonished cry. Amid the sisters' startled exclamations, Brando carried them across as well, only to discover that the shallows on the opposite bank were covered by a dense "red carpet." It was Dragon Blood Moss, and Hainf stood in the middle of it, utterly astonished.
Dragon Blood Moss had originally been nothing more than an obscure plant found in the Black Forest. However, ever since Tonigell's alchemists began extracting lesser Dragon Blood Potions from it, this once-common plant had become worth a hundred times more among adventurers almost overnight. Moreover, Roman's Seven Seas Merchant Guild and the Eluin Royal Family purchased Dragon Blood Moss as an alchemical ingredient without limit. The craze had even influenced other nations, which sent spies and envoys to Tonigell to seek the recipe for lesser Dragon Blood Potions and purchase the herb.
Because of this, Dragon Blood Moss in the Black Forest, especially around its fringes in southern Eluin, was rapidly declining. The price of the herb had also been rising steadily. In recent months, unless one ventured deep into the Black Forest, it had become rare to see Dragon Blood Moss growing on such a