Poison Vine Tree

"You newcomers had better remember this: keep your round badge safe. Otherwise, if you die in the Botanical Garden, no one will clean up after you."

The Botanical Garden steward's warning faintly echoed in his ears. Taylor looked back at the increasingly distant entrance before turning around and continuing down a small path toward the Poison Vine Tree.

Both sides of the path were shrouded in thick white mist. Taylor could only vaguely make out motionless tentacles waving through the air, mysterious creatures the size of fists, and tree roots and vines trying to creep onto the path.

But whenever those roots and vines were about to touch the round stones lining the path, they recoiled as if electrocuted. Faint wails could be heard.

Taylor could not help crouching down to study them carefully. He found that the two rows of round stones embedded beside the path were carved with tiny witchcraft runes. Of the runes within them, he could only vaguely discern the meaning of scorching.

Sure enough, in the world of wizards, traces of knowledge and witchcraft runes were everywhere.

Whoosh...

As Taylor crouched on the ground, studying the countless runes carved into the stones, a large bird with a dog's head suddenly lunged at him from behind. Drool dripped from the corners of its beak, and its crimson eyes were filled with hunger for food.

Thud!

Just as the dog-headed bird was about to cross the long strip of rune-covered stones, its eyes trembled. As though it had lost control of its body, it crashed to the ground, weakly kicked its legs a few times, and then lost the light in its eyes.

With his back to the dog-headed bird, Taylor dispersed the fireball in his palm and turned to look at the strange creature that had suddenly died.

"Just as I thought. As a passage through the Botanical Garden, how could it allow these nonhuman monsters to set foot on it?"

Though the dog-headed bird was only a few steps away from Taylor, he had no intention of dragging its corpse back. Who knew whether the bird was trying to trick him, or whether other monsters were lurking in the shadows and watching greedily?

After giving it another glance, Taylor turned and left. He still had to complete his task.

Not long after Taylor left, a thick root suddenly extended from beneath the ground, wrapped around the dog-headed bird's corpse, and dragged it underground to become nourishment.

If Taylor had seen that scene, he could only have sighed that even the White Wizards' Botanical Garden was full of danger.

Following the directions given by the Botanical Garden steward, Taylor soon arrived before a strange tree covered in thorns, its vines constantly writhing like tentacles.

Looking at the transparent liquid dripping from each thorn, Taylor inexplicably wanted to study the venom carefully—to see how toxic and potent it was, how it could be recombined, and how its toxicity could be maximized.

But for now, he should extract the sap and submit the task first.

Taylor took two long tubular devices from the pouch at his waist. A bottle was attached beneath each device, and each bottle had three markings. Reaching one marking counted as one portion of sap, while three markings would fill the entire bottle.

If he could complete this task perfectly, the two devices would collect four portions of sap, which could be exchanged for thirty-two points.

But judging by the situation, he probably would not be able to complete it perfectly.

The moment Taylor took out the two devices, the strange tree before him, bristling with poisonous thorns and entwined vines, seemed to come alive. It continuously whipped its vines about, repeatedly trying to attack Taylor.

Yet because of the path beneath Taylor's feet, the vines could only keep probing. They even began to slowly withdraw, attempting to lure him in by pretending to be docile.

Taylor watched as one vine suddenly lashed a seemingly ordinary tree beside it, leaving a deep whip mark in the trunk. He felt that if he took that blow, he would be crippled even if it did not kill him.

He looked at the round stones engraved with witchcraft runes beneath his feet, then at the round badge clenched in his hand. Taylor hesitated.

He had seen with his own eyes just how powerful those round stones engraved with countless runes were. Yet he had far less confidence in the badge he held now.

The White Wizards would not casually disregard human lives and deliberately send apprentices to their deaths, would they?

With that thought in mind, Taylor first held his round badge in one hand and slowly extended it beyond the protection of the stone path.

The instant Taylor's right hand left that range, the vines immediately seemed to come alive. Sharp thorns suddenly sprouted from them and viciously stabbed toward his right hand.

Taylor twisted his wrist and revealed his round badge. The thorn-covered vines suddenly froze, as if afraid. They trembled slightly, hesitated for a moment, then slowly withdrew, though they still circled Taylor's right hand.

"Just as I thought, it works."

After letting out a breath of relief, Taylor formed a fireball in his left hand. Although his current magic power could not sustain the fireball for long, it was still a deterrent against the Poison Vine Tree.

He took a step forward, holding the round badge in one hand and a small fireball in the other. Sure enough, once the vines sensed the heat radiating from the fireball, they moved even farther away from Taylor. Still, they remained tightly coiled around him like venomous snakes.

The moment the round badge slipped from his hand, the Poison Vine Tree would strangle Taylor to death, even if it had to endure the fireball's burns, and turn his blood and the magic power in his body into its food.

After taking a few more steps, Taylor found several special holes among the Poison Vine Tree's roots. At a glance, they clearly matched the tubular devices hanging at his waist.

Now that he had found where to draw the sap, Taylor dispersed the fireball in his left hand. As the fireball vanished, the surrounding vines edged closer again. But restrained by the round badge's deterrence, the Poison Vine Tree still did not dare attack Taylor directly.

Taylor transferred the round badge to his left hand and turned in a circle, forcing the thorn-covered vines back a little farther. Then he immediately took out one of the tubular devices from his waist with his right hand and inserted its nozzle into one of the special holes.

The device immediately began working. Drop after drop of dark green liquid flowed through the tube into the container below.

The Poison Vine Tree, meanwhile, displayed extreme pain—pain visible to the naked eye. The entire tree began trembling, and its vines flailed wildly, trying again and again to kill Taylor, yet they still could not get close to him.

Taylor's heart climbed into his throat. He could only grip the round badge tightly, not daring to relax for even a moment.

Cold sweat beaded on his forehead. Less than twenty centimeters in front of him, the vines thrashed like mad, their thorns slashing past his eyes again and again.

He did not know how much time had passed before the tubes connected to both devices stopped dripping. Looking at the dark green liquid inside, Taylor estimated that there were only a little more than two portions at most.

He reached out, retrieved the devices, and carried them in his hand. Holding up the round badge, Taylor slowly backed away step by step.

When his feet stepped onto the path he had taken here once more, Taylor's legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed onto the ground.

This was the first time he had faced such a dangerous situation. Although he knew the Poison Vine Tree would not attack him, he had still been incredibly nervous—especially when those poisonous thorns had drifted back and forth before his face.