Chapter 149 [Bonus ]Black Root Hemlock
"Seems like I\'m on the right path." Having found the White Flower Hemlock Arthur knew his actual target should be far.
He continued on while looking for the White Flower Hemlocks. There were several of them every few meters. In some places, they became sparse while in some places they were closer.
He went picked the directions where the White Flower Hemlocks were more concentrated until he finally reached a boulder with a few collapsed rocks around it.
There, he saw more white flowers growing there. But these ones were different. Instead of one white flower among multiple different colored flowers, there were several of them bunched together!
Looking at it, Arthur knew he had found his target.
"And here it is!"
>Dragon\'s Insight has been activated!<
~DING~
——
Target: Black Root Hemlock
Info: A Poisonous Herb that has transformed after a long time of accumulating toxicity. Its concentration of poison has reached the maximum, letting it transform into a new species. It can now spread poison from a mere touch.
It is also rumored that the poison of this herb can be transformed into certain hallucinogenic drugs.
Effects: 1 Consuming roots of this herb would inflict the player with High Grade poison, making them lose 10% HP every second.
2. Touching this Herb would inflict the player with Low grade poison, making them lose 0.5% Hp every second.
Uses: Used in poisons and some elixirs.
——
"Sure enough. It\'s exactly as stated." Arthur read the information. "If players didn\'t know about its details, they would get poisoned merely from touch. And since they probably wouldn\'t be prepared with an antidote, death would be decided for them."
Though Arthur didn\'t have to worry about touching part of the poisonous herb, as he had gloves for it.
\'Not everyone would have gloves as an equipment piece right now. And even if they did, they would have something weak like cloth gloves which aren\'t really effective against this plant.
They need thick gloves that are impermeable for it to work.\' Arthur knew.
He carefully dug around the base of the herb, clearing out the soil and slowly pulling out the roots so as to not damage it. After all, the roots were the main part of the herb that had most of the poison. It was also the part that the Alchemist had needed.
>Player Arzhur has obtained Black Root Hemlock!<
"There we go…" Arthur safely harvested the herb and stored it in the bag.
>Quest Updated<
~DING~
——
Quest: Obtain Black Root Hemlock.
Info: 1. You\'ve found the Black Root Hemlock. Bring it back to the Alchemist for your reward.
2. Find more Black Root Hemlocks for an additional reward.
Reward: 10 silver coins per root, Reputation.
——
Arthur wasn\'t going to end his quest this early, after all.
"This is just one. I need more of them." Arthur muttered.
He knew that when quests had the option to obtain more than a single item; it was usually a hint for the next quest.
In the case of the current quest where the Alchemist needed to prepare a drug needed to interrogate the infiltrators, Arthur had a hunch that the number of herbs would decide the success rate of the next quest or perhaps even the events that would take place.
\'Best to have more herbs, so that the outcome is favorable,\' Arthur thought to himself.
He had done several quests like this in his past life and knew very well how things could turn out.
And on the offside that the next quest wasn\'t dependent on the Black Root Hemlock, it would still be a bonus for him as he would get more coins from it.
As such, he continued his search and looked around for more of the Black Root Hemlock.
Though after about half an hour, a look of frustration appeared on Arthur\'s face.
"Where\'s the grove that is supposed to be here?" Arthur wondered if the information on the forums was wrong.
"Krrrr~" Just as he was getting tired of it though, Brambles called out to him.
"What is it?" Through the blessing, Arthur could tell that the beast wanted to tell him something.
"Krrrr~" The beast let out a chittering sound before turning his head in a particular direction.
"You smell them?" Arthur asked, to which the beast nodded. "Great! Show me where they are."
~thud~thud~thud~
Brambles started walking, each of its steps leaving imprints on the ground. Since this was a clearing in the forest, the soil here was soft. The beetle brought Arthur to the edge of the clearing that was surrounded by trees.
"Further from here?" Arthur asked.
"Krrrr~" Brambles responded before using his horn to push the trees apart.
~CRACK~
He pushed them enough that the trees simply snapped, making enough space for the beetle to continue.
~CRACK~
~CRACK~
~CRACK~
Brambles was like a bulldozer, breaking all the trees that stood in its path. This path was densely covered with trees such that even Arthur would have a hard time running, not to mention a large beast like Brambles.
Thankfully, the trees here might be dense in numbers, but they weren\'t that thick. They could be easily broken by the Dragon Horn beetle with a little effort.
Brambles ended up making a straight path that was over a hundred meters long before they finally reached a new location.
"No wonder I didn\'t find it… I the grove hadn\'t expanded." Arthur compared the distance between the clearing and the grove, realizing that it would have changed in the future.
The trees between them would be removed over time before the soil would be exposed to the sun, allowing more flowers to grow. This might be due to the natural activities of the beasts or perhaps even players, but it had served to hide the Black Root Hemlocks.
The Grove that Arthur had been searching for was unlike the clearing, as it was surrounded by thick and tall trees. Even Brambles was unable to break them easily and Arthur simply unsummoned him so that he could squeeze through.