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 caretaker's warning faintly echoed in his ears. Taylor turned to look at the ever-shrinking entrance behind him, then faced forward and continued along a 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 fist-sized creatures, and 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 examine them closely. He found that the two rows of round stones embedded alongside the path were carved with tiny Wizard runes. Of those runes, he could only vaguely identify one meaning: burning.

Sure enough, in the world of Wizards, traces of knowledge and Wizard runes were everywhere.

Whoosh...

As Taylor crouched on the ground, studying the countless runes carved into the stones, a huge bird with a dog's head suddenly swooped down 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 line of rune-inscribed stones, its eyes trembled. As though it had lost control of its body, it fell to the ground. Its body weakly kicked its legs a few times before its eyes went dull.

Taylor, still facing away from the dog-headed bird, dispersed the fireball in his palm and turned around to look at the strange creature that had suddenly died.

"As expected. How could a passage through the botanical garden allow these nonhuman monsters to set foot on it?"

Though the dog-headed bird lay only a few steps away, Taylor had no intention of dragging its corpse back. Who knew whether the bird was deceiving him, or whether other monsters were lurking nearby and watching hungrily?

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

Not long after Taylor departed, a thick root suddenly spread up 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 filled with danger everywhere.

Following the directions provided by the botanical garden caretaker, Taylor soon arrived before a bizarre tree covered in spikes, its vines constantly writhing like tentacles—the Poison Vine Tree.

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

But for now, it was better to extract the sap and turn in the task.

Taylor took out two long tube-like instruments from the bag at his waist. A bottle was attached to the bottom of each instrument. The bottles had three markings; reaching one marking counted as one portion of sap, while three would fill an entire bottle.

If this task could be completed perfectly, the two instruments together could collect four portions of sap, which could be exchanged for 32 points.

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

The moment Taylor took out the two instruments, the bizarre tree before him, bristling with poisonous spikes and tangled in vines, seemed to come alive. It constantly lashed 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 slowly withdrawing, trying to lure him in by appearing obedient.

Taylor watched as one vine suddenly lashed at a seemingly ordinary tree nearby, leaving behind a deep whip mark. He felt that if such a blow landed on him, he would be crippled even if it did not kill him.

He looked at the rune-carved round stones beneath his feet, then at the round badge in his hand. Taylor hesitated.

He had personally witnessed how powerful those round stones carved with countless runes were, but he had far less confidence in the badge he was holding 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 protected range of the stone path.

The instant Taylor's right hand left that range, the vines immediately seemed to come alive. Sharp spikes suddenly grew from them, and they stabbed fiercely toward Taylor's right hand.

Taylor twisted his wrist and displayed his round badge. The vine covered in sharp spikes abruptly froze, as though afraid. It trembled slightly, hesitated for a moment, then slowly withdrew, though it continued circling Taylor's right hand.

"It really works."

After letting out a breath of relief, Taylor condensed 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 before him.

He stepped 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 farther away from Taylor. Still, they remained tightly coiled around him like venomous snakes.

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

After taking a few more steps, Taylor found several unusual holes among the Poison Vine Tree's roots. At a glance, they clearly matched the tube-like instruments hanging at his waist.

Since he had found where to draw the sap, Taylor dispersed the fireball in his left hand. When it vanished, the surrounding vines crept a little closer. But restrained by the round badge's deterrence, the Poison Vine Tree still did not dare attack Taylor directly while he held it.

Taylor transferred the round badge to his left hand and spun around once, forcing the poisonous, spiked vines back a little farther. Then he immediately took out one of the long tube-like instruments from his waist with his right hand and inserted its tip into one of the special holes.

The instrument 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 agony—agony visible to the naked eye. The entire tree began trembling, while its vines thrashed wildly, trying again and again to kill Taylor, yet still unable to get close to him.

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

Cold sweat gathered drop by drop on his forehead. Less than twenty centimeters in front of him, the vines writhed like mad, their attached spikes slashing past his eyes again and again.

After an unknown amount of time, the tubes connected to both instruments finally stopped dripping. Looking at the dark green liquid inside, Taylor estimated that there was barely more than two portions in total.

He reached out, retrieved the instruments, and carried them in his hand. Holding up the round badge, Taylor slowly backed away one step at a time.

When his feet once again stepped onto the path he had come from, Taylor's legs went weak, and he nearly collapsed onto the ground.

This was the first time he had faced such a dangerous situation. Though he knew the Poison Vine Tree would not attack him, he had still been extremely nervous—especially when those poisonous spikes had been swaying back and forth right in front of his face.