Chapter 287 - The Orchard 4
Chapter 287 – The Orchard 4
The orchard was split into zones! It wasn't like a line marked them, but Draco noticed that every 'zone' had different kinds of trees as well as different types of beasts living next to those trees.
The monsters in the next 'zone' could see them, yet they didn't bother to attack. It was clear that they would not aggro on enemies that were not within their current 'zone'.
Draco ran out of bloodline energy after a minute or two, so he went back down to the ground and retracted his wings. He then walked up to Qiong Qi and Clarent who had started munching on some of the fruits happily.
"Sigh, those fellows were really enjoying life. Just look at how sumptuous these fruits are! I can feel my whole body vibrating with glee with each one I chew!" Qiong Qi said with a content burp.
"To think that they were so selfish that they abhorred the idea of sharing with just us three! It is a good thing we were able to calmly and fairly negotiate with them, haha." Clarent added as he tossed a fruit that looked like an apple down his gullet.
"It seems like this whole Orchard is demarcated into rectangular zones. Monsters of each zone appear not attack us until we enter their area, so for now, this area can be considered a safe zone for us." Draco informed the duo who were happily munching on Epic fruits.
"Hahaha, my awesome roar and sharp claws must have scared them shitless. My prowess during that fight was truly inspiring."
"Hahaha, my flame and my superior form have truly given them something to think about. I cannot blame them for hiding away in these so-called zones to avoid me."
Clarent and Qiong Qi patting each other on the shoulder laughed as if Draco had said the funniest thing. If one didn't know any better, it was like they thought Draco was making excuses on behalf of those fellows.
Draco's lips twitched. It seemed like winning that battle had significantly reduced the tension these two had felt and their true characters returned to the surface. However, Draco didn't mind, as it was fine.
Since they were technically in a safe area, they could relax and be carefree. Of course, that would only last until they had to move on, as time was not on Draco's side.
Unlike them, he didn't laze around and chew fruits, but observed the Orchard in its entirety. Draco pondered how he was going to collect the fruits into his inventory.
Even clearing out this whole zone would take him days at his quickest, so how was he supposed to collect them all? Draco ran through his inventory, his skills and techniques, but he couldn't find anything that would help.
After all, his talent lay in combat, not gathering. Even in his harveey days, he had focused more on combat and exploration mission over the gathering type.
Draco then checked over his equipment skills, yet Dragorugio offered little help in this situation, limited to 10 seconds via Rapid Hands or Rapid Legs. Obviously, Fragarach, the Seal of Camelot, etc were not made for this purpose at all.
However, thinking about Rapid Legs reminded Draco of something. He checked his Herald's Cloak and saw an effect he had switched off long ago during the Flora and Fauna quest because it was frankly troublesome.
｢Heralds cloak – Unique item
Effects (scale with tier):
Appearance deception: 9 forms
Movement speed out of combat: 5,000%
Blink: 500,000 feet, cooldown 30 seconds
Total Invisibility: 1 hour, cooldown 3 seconds｣
Appearance Deception had become useless to him as he no longer needed to hide his features due to his foundation, but it might have some use in the future.
Blink he used all the time and Total Invisibility he had never used before since it was quite frankly useless for a combat class.
However, he had relied on the movement speed boost in the early game because it had made his speed skyrocket to obscene levels. He could move around without relying on Portals or Blink if he had the time.
Before Update 1, stamina out of combat was unlimited, so he naturally enjoyed himself with this ability, but Update 1 changed this mechanic, so he had quickly switched it off. Moving at such a speed would drain his stamina in a few seconds.
However… he now had the Demonic Might passive skill that canceled out his stamina costs. No matter what Draco did, his stamina bar would never empty, so now was the best time to use this ability.
Even more so now that his stats, the most important one in this situation being Dexterity, had broken through the second threshold before the average player base broke through the first. In essence, the System treated him as having 200 points in Dexterity!
Draco switched it on and gingerly took a step forward. He was stunned to see that this one step had almost teleported him into the next zone.
How could this be? He was only taking a step, not a slew of them. Boundless might be a game, but it was too much of a stretch for just raising his leg and putting it down to send him for far away.
Draco then realized a pressing issue, which constituted another reason why he had turned it off back then. His movement speed was so high that it was hard to control.
He would need to adapt to the increased speed the cloak brought him, otherwise he would only end up hurting himself. If just a single step was enough to send him hurtling forward like this, then what would happen if he were to run?
As such, Draco spent the next few hours acclimating himself to his impossible movement speed out of combat. He ended up crashing into many trees and even entered other zones many times, but he was able to blink back quickly before he was ripped to shreds.
Qiong Qi and Clarent treated this an entertainment while snacking, and they slapped their thighs as they pointed at Draco while laughing uproariously.
Their laughter was obnoxious, loud and sharp, making it very painful to hear for the party being laughed at. Draco had thick skin, so he could ignore it, but he gave the two a casual look that practically screamed 'remember this moment later on'.
The Lion and the Dragon were unbothered by this. After all, what was the worst the fellow could do to them? Hadn't he already practically enslaved them against their will? Why should they stifle their enjoyment on his behalf?
In fact, this even made them more rampant with their mocking. Nothing made trolls happier than giving them attention or showing that you actually cared.
After a day passed, Draco was still unable to largely adapt to the speed. The jump was just too high. His Dexterity was at hundred and its effect were boosted.
The multiplier from the cloak wasn't 50% or even 500%, but 5,000%. Such an increase was beyond anything a human could claim to manage, regardless of talent.
Draco stopped and frowned. Was there really no way? He didn't want to pick some fruits and leave the others, this dog fellow wanted everything! If he had a chance, he would even uproot the trees!
Suddenly, Draco's eyes lit up. That was it, all he had to do was uproot the trees themselves and not just take the fruits! He had prepared for something like this from the onset, but his conservative thinking had limited him!
Realizing this, Draco naturally took out the item that would carry out his greedy and evil plans. It was the Advanced Spatial Creation Device!
That's right, Draco was going to 'snip' this zone away into the natural world created by the Advanced Spatial Creation Device and stuff it away into his inventory!
How would this work? Well, it was simple. The Advanced Spatial Creation Device was able to create a super mini small world that was organic in nature, meaning that humans could live there, animals would be born and it could expand.
It could also be used on items to create superior spatial pockets for various purposes. For example, using it on any kind of storage bag/pouch would create a Bag of Holding that was of the Rare category.
This Bag of Holding could not expand, but it could store living things and preserve them, so the trees could go in, but the problem would still be the same, as Draco would have to go to each individual tree and 'collect' it.
Only by creating a wholly stable space could he take everything away. When the space was formed, it would be like compressing an item. The space would but cut away into its own world, but on the outside world, that patch would become a 'white' zone with nothing on it.
Naturally, this white zone was temporary and the system would restore it over time, but the small world that was created could be taken away by its creator, though they would have to situate it somewhere proper, otherwise it ran the risk of being stolen.
Thinking this, Draco was grateful that he had prepared extensively ahead of time. He had other plans for the Advanced Spatial Creation Devices initially, but this purpose would not be bad.
Luckily, he had also bought every single Void Stone he could acquire, so he could easily make more in here when he ran out. Of course, he did not have an infinite number of them, which brought Draco to his next problem.
How could he waste one device on just a single zone? If he decided to collect each zone in the orchard alone, it might take him more than 120 devices to do so.
Then, when he wanted to check out the herb garden as well as the pasture, how could he collect the things there? What if he discovered other resource rich areas in the Treasury and wanted to take the stuff away?
He could not be so wasteful.
As such, Draco identified only one way to go about things. He would have to clear out each zone within the orchard without harming the trees, and then collect the whole orchard together with one or two Advanced Spatial Creation Devices!
He could replicate this method for the other resource areas, thereby acquiring the things he wanted while minimizing his expenditure. With this in mind, Draco walked over to Qiong Qi and Clarent who were still laughing happily.
"Haha, did you see the fellow run into a tree? His body left a mark on it like some cartoon character, hahaha!" Clarent shouted out while bellowing.
"Haha, I have no idea what a cartoon is, but I shall laugh because it sounds funny! Hahaha!" Qiong Qi replied while gripping his stomach in mirth.
When Draco approached them, their laughter cut and they became alert.
"Bitch boy Draco, there is no need for violence. Us Brothers were just releasing stress through comedy." Qiong Qi stated worriedly.
"F.u.c.kboy Draco, stay back. We can communicate easily with five meters between us and there is no need to come closer." Clarent added while sweating.
Clearly, their bl.u.s.ter when laughing at him was just a show. When they saw him approaching them with a neutral expression, they immediately began to fear and throw out threats.
When he still came closer despite this, the fellows began to panic.
"It was Clarent's idea! This wretched flame spitter tricked me into doing such things. How could I, your best buddy, ever mock you?"
"It was Qiong Qi's idea! This bastard p.u.s.s.y cat tricked me into laughing at you. It is impossible for me to plot against you my dear brother-in-law."
Clarent and Qiong Qi laid the blame on each other immediately and without hesitation. Even though they both decided to partake in this spot of fun, they had chosen to forget this and only remembered that the other was the source.
When Draco finally reached them, he spoke. Let's go and clear out the other zones so that we can move on. We've stayed here long enough."
After casually saying his piece, he began walking towards the next area steadily, leaving the Dragon and Lion there speechless. They looked at each other, then at Draco's back, and followed along silently.