“Gallop faster!” I urged Yusa. “We’re nearly out of the forest!” Through the gaps in the trees, I could see the sharpened tops of the log walls of Kurghal Village.

After leaving the area with Peely plants, Yusa led the way escaping the forest. The path I had taken was filled with furious monkeys, so we couldn’t go through there. Luckily, she had passed by a different and less dangerous route, marking the trees along the way.

We hunted for trees with scratches on their trunks as the horde of Feral Frost Macaques scampered across the canopies to chase us. And then the hailstorm resumed.

I intentionally lagged far behind Yusa—keeping her in my sight to know where to go next—so the monkeys would target me instead of her. [Enraging Call] only affected a small radius around me; there was no way I could taunt the hairy primates high up in the trees.

But some of the ice balls did hit Yusa.

Whenever her health fell below half, I galloped faster to catch up and heal her. I also plopped Totems on the trees ahead of us to distract the monkeys for a moment, allowing Yusa to pass safely. Surprisingly, Totems could be planted on any surface, including tree trunks.

The monkey troops thinned the further we were from the Peely plants. And, at last, our hooves left the forest grounds.

“Woohoo! Herald Stone is the Greatest Rescue—Ow!” The monkeys had a parting gift of one last shot. “Let’s hurry back to the village, Yusa.”

“But the Peely fruits,” she said, reluctantly following me. “I need to make Peely Fruit Wine for my beloved Gibil.”

“It’s ‘beloved Gibil’ now, it is? Last time, you told me you were in love with a blacksmith.”

“After searching my deepest hearts, I realized Hazi wasn’t the one for me. I should mend my mistake and be with my fated love—Pathfinder Gibil. I have done him wrong by rejecting his love.”

“If only you thought of that before I delivered those letters.”

She clasped her hands in front of her chest. “It’s now up to me to mend the bridge connecting our hearts. I will make a bottle of Peely Fruit Wine with the best fruits and show it to him. As the fruits ferment into alcohol, and the wine ages, so will I show my love to Gibil over the months and years. In time, I hope that he’ll forgive me, and we will drink the matured wine as our hearts become one.”

I slowly clapped. “Divine dung from outer space. I bet Nelly would enjoy reading a plot like that in a romance novel. I must say that I like your plan a lot, and I think it’ll work.”

“And for that, I require the—”

“The Peely fruits, yes. Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten my promise. But I need to prepare for that dangerous mission, so I must return to the village to buy supplies.”

“Supplies?”

“A lot of supplies.”

[Lvl 36 Mardukryon|Shopkeeper: Arakmad] cupped his hand around his mouth and whispered. “A customer told me that Yusa had rejected Gibil. Youngling, do you know if it’s true?” After dropping off Yusa at her house, I headed to my first stop—Arakmad’s shop. “Poor Pathfinder Gibil. That must be why he hasn’t passed by here.”

“It’s true… it was, anyway,” I said. “I heard straight from Yusa that she intends to patch things up with Gibil.”

“That indecisive girl.” Arakmad shook his head. The trinkets hanging from the ceiling got entangled with his horns like the vines in the forest had trapped Yusa. “I wouldn’t be surprised if she changes her mind again. The next thing you know, she’ll say she’s in love with a Mirdabon.”

“I think the previous guy she liked had fallen for a Mirdabon. But I’m not here to gossip about the villagers’ preferences.”

Arakmad wistfully sighed. “Stuck behind this counter for the foreseeable future, gossip is my only entertainment. Don’t deny me this, youngling.”

“I’ll bring you more gossip! I need something from you now. I have proven myself to you by doing your chores—errands. Perhaps I can buy your more exotic wares like the Majalis?”

“You’re in luck! A Pathfinder had delivered Majalis to me a few hours ago. Tell me more about Yusa and Gibil, and I’ll gladly sell them to you.”

“Deal. And I’ll also need poison bottles.”

“Tell your tale first, youngling.”

I groaned. At least he wasn’t asking me to dance like the crimson goat. “Get this—Yusa ran away from her house…”

Ten minutes later, I left Arakmad’s store with five hundred pieces of [Majalis] that I bought for six hundred and seventy Artas each. Arakmad wouldn’t allow me to buy more—I wasn’t a ‘preferred’ customer yet, in his eyes. Which was also why he quoted me a higher price for the [Majalis] than Gibil had.

Next, I went to the Miners to buy [Amberite] and then to the auction house to buy [Limerian Toad Skin]. It would’ve been much cheaper to farm the Toad Skins myself—I got them for a hundred and twenty-five Artas apiece—but I was buying time with money. The monkeys were calling my name; I didn’t want to hang out with toads.

No offense to toads and other amphibians.

I spent a bit over a million Artas for the ingredients, enough for two hundred and fifty bottles of [Morabodry]. The expensive life of a beginner crafter.

Of course, this didn’t mean I’d end up with two hundred and fifty [Morabodry]. Given the success rate of [Research Akhos Poison], I should expect around sixtyish bottles.

Last on my shopping list were meal buffs.

Another expense? Yes. Though necessary for what I planned to do.

“What do you need, my good friend?” Clementropy28 said from behind the counter of his food stall.

This guy was one of the Contractors working for SpartanDonkey. We weren’t good friends or even friends at all. However, among the players selling food, he was the only one offering lower-starred meals, which meant lower prices. The others had high-level foods on display because most buyers were three to four times my level.

“Do you have Peely Fruit Juice?” I asked.

All this talk of the Peely fruit reminded me that there was a meal buff with it as an ingredient. Still trying to determine whether a juice drink is considered a meal. Chimi had given me [Peely Fruit Juice] during one of our meetings, and so did Megan before we hunted the Rotted Cedarlyon.

“Sure, I have it.” Clement was one of the newer Mardukryon players. His cooking Ocadules probably didn’t have that high of a Rank, explaining his food offerings.

“I’ll take ten. Do you have other cheap meal buffs that improve tankiness?”

“Roasted Swineling and Craboreling Meat Salad good enough for you?”

“Thanks,” I said. Those were the same meal buffs I bought for the Zoar Elab fight. I still had a couple of each left, but best replenish them too. “Ten of each as well, please.”

[Peely Fruit Juice: +15 Spirit, +15 Vigor, and +1,000 Health for 30 Minutes] ★★☆☆☆

[Roasted Swineling: +75 Armor, +10% Healing Increase for 20 Minutes] ★★☆☆☆

[Craboreling Meat Salad: +18 HP per Second, +3% Physical and Magical Damage Reduction for 20 Minutes] ★★☆☆☆

“Enjoy your meals! Come back when you’re hungry for more!” Clement covered his face with a palm and snorted. “Bah, that doesn’t sound too good of a slogan. I suck at this business thing. But do return if you run out of food. I’ll think of a better slogan by then.”

I chuckled. “I will. This food isn’t going to last me for long.”

“Youngling, there you are.” Yusa had returned to the western gate. She blocked me as I neared the exit. “Are you going to gather the Peely fruits now?”

“I’m heading to the Golden Forest to have a friendly chat with the ice monkeys. Gathering the fruits? That will certainly happen… at an undetermined point in the future.”

“Thank you so much. I should start making Peely Fruit Wine so I can show the bottle to Gibil as a sign of reconciliation.”

“Leave it to me,” I said. “You should return to your house before someone thinks you’re missing. Do something to keep yourself entertained, maybe watch HTV, though we don’t have that on this mountain. Before you know it, you’ll get the fruits.” Maybe tomorrow… or the day after that, I added in my head.

Finishing the quest might end the monkey’s infinite spawn—they were an obstacle to saving Yusa and gathering the fruits. The player wasn’t supposed to try to wipe them out. Like when I was tasked to protect the Weavers picking flowers, the baby monkeys kept coming until the quest was completed.

If not for this quest, the Frost Macaques, both adult and babies, would spawn randomly in their designated part of the forest like the Mirdabons, Snowy Swinelings, Craborelings, and other monsters.

I can’t let this opportunity pass. Farming the Feral Frost Macaques was very suitable for my build.

The monsters flocked to me in such great numbers that it increased my farming speed as if I were a DPS character, not a pitiful tank slow leveling on my own. Even if the blast of my [Greater Pyro Shell] couldn’t reach them, they still quickly died to my other sources of damage. More importantly, they didn’t have any bullshit mechanics, like healing, that’d make them harder to kill.

Tiny blurs swooped from branch to branch as I entered the forest, shadowing my movements. The baby monkeys spotted me. They were going to call the adults soon enough.

I opened my Akashic Configuration. The three large hexagons—slots of Cidules—were surrounded by six smaller hexagons—the spaces for Ocadules. I opened my lone Compressed Integral Data Module holding the data for the base Mardukryon race and finally unlocked [Cleansing Flames].

Lvl 1 Cleansing Flames: Purify yourself from ailments with the flames of the Mardukryon ancestors—70% chance to remove one (1) negative status. Let suffering give you strength, be resolute amidst adversity, and gain courage from the knowledge that you are never truly alone. Stand resolute until aid comes.

(Passive) For every negative status you have (Max stacks [3]):

+10 Armor and Magic Resilience

Cost: 15 Ancestral Shroud

Cooldown: 12 Seconds

I placed the Greater Skill Point I got at level fifteen on my new skill.

Lvl 2 Cleansing Flames: Purify yourself from ailments with the flames of the Mardukryon ancestors—75% chance to remove two (2) negative statuses. Let suffering give you strength, be resolute amidst adversity, and gain courage from the knowledge that you are never truly alone. Stand resolute until aid comes.

(Passive) For every negative status you have (Max stacks [4]):

+25 Armor and Magic Resilience, 3% Healing Increase and Received

Cost: 22 Ancestral Shroud

Cooldown: 11 Seconds

The Frost Feral Macaques were beginning to arrive. I coated my retribution gear with my last bottle of [Morabodry]—I’d have more soon.

Morabodry | Item Level: 10

Rare | Consumable | No Requirement

A mild poison brewed from the extract of choice herbs and infused with toxic effects by arcane magic. It causes the poisoned unit to lose (1% of Max Health+24) per second. It also hinders the senses and induces sluggishness, reducing Accuracy and Attack Speed by (7%). (If applied to equipment, it has a 10% (+2%) chance of poisoning the enemy per damage instance. Poisoned Status lasts for 4(+3) seconds.)

Duration: 15 Minutes

Uses: 5/5

The poison duration bonus of [Research Akhos Poison] didn’t appear to apply to the full fifteen-minute duration of Morabodry, only if the status was inflicted by normal means.

Next, I slotted [Cloak of the Plaguespreader] into my [Band of Loamy Renewal].

Lvl. 1 Cloak of the Plaguespreader: Chosen as a servant of a sealed carrion lord, you increase your resistance to diseases while spreading them to those who dare touch you. Negative status resistance (+4%) and a 10% chance to inflict any negative status you have on an attacker.

Cost: 45 Energy

Duration: 40 Seconds

Cooldown: 10 Seconds

The monkeys took their positions on the branches. I opened my inventory and retrieved the [Nam-Go Poison Bottle] that Bawu had given me as a reward for killing some Blighted monsters. It had four uses left after I had drunk once from it to show Bawu that poisons couldn’t kill me.

Nam-go Poison Bottle | Item Level: 15

Epic | Consumable | No Requirement

A potent poison carefully extracted from the Nam-go serpent and distilled to its most concentrated form over a fortnight. This modestly difficult-to-prepare concoction reduces a poisoned unit’s Armor and Health Regeneration by 10% and causes a loss of 2% of Max Health per second. (If applied to equipment, it has a 12%(+2%) chance of poisoning the enemy per damage instance. Poisoned Status lasts for 6(+3) seconds)

Duration: 10 Minutes

Uses: 4/5

“First dry run of my… Plaguetank build. That has a nice ring to it.” I raised the Nam-Go bottle as a toast. “Cheers, monkeys! Let’s all get poisoned together!”

[ Status | Nam-Go Poisoning: Lose 2% of Max Health every second, Reduced Armor and Health Regeneration by 10% for 10 minutes ]

The monkeys launched the first volley of ice balls.