How do you cultivate a bunch of dryads? If you planted them in any random spot, they should be good, in theory. Except, that's not possible here. The other dryads are hogging the best territory and these guys are going to be killed if they're anywhere near them.

Anyways, how do I even plant them? Do I just bury them in the ground and they grow into a new tree again. There are too many unknowns here.

These dryads won't be able to leave this spot anytime soon but I need to find out what to do. I decide to log out and check out some forums.

I grab another protein bar. There are only two left in the box. I need to get more. This is all my diet consists of, protein bars and water. No mineral water for this bugger here.

I go and order a bunch. It's the 13th today and in 12 to 15 days, I have to pay the hospital bills. Those are going to be a pain.

I can't spend too much time on these dryads, I should try my best for now, though.

I scroll through a bunch of forums. There is some info about abandoned dryad's but it's not useful. A lot of players are posting about trying to save them and all that but they end up dying anyway. Water and sunlight are crucial including, whatever kind of soil the dryad's revolve around.

However, there's still something missing. There are lots of theories floating around but nothing concrete.

I decide to try a different route, there have to be herbalists and people who specialize in taming plant monsters. I go through a bunch of different feeds. It's annoying and not about what I want but there's one thing that keeps on coming up.

"I tried to cultivate a Hydrangea Crawler but it died. No rhyme or reason. I got the alert [Insufficient Essence]."

"Same, every time one of my plant monsters dies, this is the message."

"It's referring to [Sunlight Essence], there are pockets of regions where it's very high in Magical Frontier. Every time I cultivate a plant there, I have an eighty percent success rate. Problem is you have to be a high-level player. I'm 65 btw."

That's it, that's the problem. It's the reason why dryad's cluster around that singular patch of earth. I don't know what to do about this.

I rub my eyes and pace around the room. Saving these dryads and securing their combat power would be a boon, to say the least.

There are two options. One is to buy an item that stores [Sunlight Essence]. I can sneak it in, 'charge' it up, and bring it back. The other is to commission an item from a blacksmith.

A wave of bitterness flows through my body. I still go on more than a few auction house sites to check for any such item.

Anything even having to do with essence is bid up to the high heavens. I decide to go on the blacksmith's forum and make a post.

[Item Comission Request]

[A storage device for Sunlight Essence. That's it. PM me with your quotes.]

It's going to take a while for these to come back and I'm going to be disappointed if I expect the prices to be low.

There's only one option. I need to contact someone with a plant-related class. During this research stint, I've found out that there's a particular skill, [Hibernate Plant]. It's weird and not that useful but I can put the dryad to sleep using this.

I log back in and head down to the quest lobby and issue a quest. The quest is simple, I need a herbalist class with the [Hibernate Plant] skill. This is going to take some time as well. This is annoying me to high heels. Every single option here is taking time, precious time that I don't have.

I decided to flip through that notebook I filled up with scribbles about skills. I go through it. There's one skill that might be able to help me.

[Preserve Plant-Life]

It's useless for most combat-oriented people and it's not as good as [Hibernate Plant]. Fuck!

I go through how much money I have, it's not enough. I scroll through the quest windows and stop. Why do I care about this so much? Why am I being so side-tracked by this? My main goal is to get money. Enough money where I can pay the hospital bills and not die in the process.

A blaring headache tears through my head. I'm trying to save him, if I can't do it in the real world I'm trying to do it in-game. An incurable disease and no way to help themselves, the parallels are there.

I need to avoid this, I can't be side-tracked like this. So what? They're just a bunch of in-game npc's. They're not stand-ins. I need to keep real-world emotions out of this.

I move out of the way and accept a wolf-hunting quest.

[Hunt 12 Grey-Wolves]

[Bring back their hearts, don't destroy the core in the process. Dismantling skills are required.]

I don't have any dismantling skills but a newbie issued this quest. Who's going to check if I have the dismantling skill.

I trudge back into the forest. I have somewhat of an idea where the grey wolves' territory is. I need to find a somewhat smaller pack. I stalk through the woods and I spot a pack. It's only got 5.

I'm not sure if I can pick them out. I use the higher ground to come rushing down and smack the first wolf with my pickaxe. I try to pull it out but it's stuck.

[Equip Common Short-Sword]

A short word appears in my hand and I rush to the second one and stab its eye in. This one is more tenacious, it leaps up and its maw envelops my field of vision.

Ding!

[Quest Accepted]