Fate Online: Shadow

Chapter 554: Anomaly at the Garden

'The process of achieving this was really mind bending, and most importantly, monotonous. I don't even remember how many identical armors and weapons I had made just to reach this' she grimaced when she thought of the experiences she had to endure to reach her current achievement.

'Three more days' she thought as she took a glance at the remaining time of her Quest, which she could have finished a couple of days ago if she didn't go and meet Shadow.

'I wonder who she is? Should I take note of her throughout the journey? I might be able to glimpse who she is, hmm..'

The previous player from earlier who questioned her earlier still couldn't get over her and kept glancing at Solitary Tempest who was busy with something in her hands.

'I wonder if she's from one of the major guilds? But when I checked, there's no matching characteristics about this person in any of my data, and what she showed us earlier is valuable and I could probably sold it for a lot if I manage to get a hold of this information'

Meanwhile,

"Count, you're finally back! Something happened! Come quick!"

Shadow had just walked out of his cabin and hadn't gotten far when he saw Old Buck, the Village Head sprinting towards him from the opposite direction while shouting.

"What happened, old man?"

Seeing how frantic the old man is, Shadow hurriedly went over to him and inquired about what happened while holding the old man by his shoulders to prevent him getting into any accidents due to his old age.

Old Buck didn't immediately answer him as he wanted to regulate his breathing first due to him running all the way to the Lord's Abode, and though it wasn't that far, his old bones don't seem to agree.

"My lord! Old Buck, I told you to not run, you're already old!"

This time, the head of the village militia came over and gave his respects to Shadow before he started reprimanding the old village head.

"I'm fine. My lord, come quick! Something happened in the garden!"

Not wanting to waste anymore time, Old Buck hurriedly pulled Shadow towards the direction of the garden, his face brimming with excitement, while Shadow on the other hand, just allowed himself to be towed along.

'What's got this old man so worked up?'

Carter, the head of the village militia just shook his head at the old man's actions before hurriedly following after the two.

"My Lord!"

"M'lord!"

"Lord Shadow, you're finally here!"

"My lord, look at this! We've been planting in this garden for so long, but this is the first time this has happened!"

Arriving at the garden, his subjects who were crowding around the garden quickly made a path for him while saluting their respects. On the other hand, Old Buck was still pulling on Shadow before coming to an abrupt stop and pointed at a very peculiar plant that was vastly different compared to the others of the same variety.

In fact, Shadow had already noticed the peculiar plant the moment they arrived. After all, this plant just stands out too much with its vast difference compared to the other plants in the surrounding area.

'Interesting, I wonder what made this plant mutate to have this color?'

It was one of the cabbages that had its silique, the fruit of the cabbage, turned dark red, and this piqued Shadow's curiosity, so he tried to pluck the fruit.

You have successfully harvested a vegetable containing the energy of the Fire Element!

'What the!'

[Magical Cabbage]

Imbued with Fire Elemental Energy

A cabbage grown in the harsh climate of Neverwinter, but thanks to the Fire Elements circulating in the surroundings even in such dire conditions, it had mutated and became even more nutritious and tasty.

A rare resource from the land of Neverwinter.

When consumed, it permanently increases Mana by 20.

Type: Vegetable, Harb, Cooking Ingredient

Shelf Life: 35 Days

Rank: Rare++

As an effect of Harvest Level 3, You have harvested a crop that is one level higher.

Class Experience has increased greatly!

Class Experience has increased greatly!

Class Experience has increased greatly!

As an effect of Proficiency increase, the Proficiency of Harvest Level 2 has increased additionally by 7%!

'What the heck is this? Is this even a cabbage at this point? It actually increased my Class Experience by a huge margin!'

Feeling amazed and confused at the same time, Shadow could only stare blankly at the basketball size cabbage on his hands. This was the first time he was encountering something like this, he had harvested several kinds of herbs before, including a variety of vegetables, but an ingredient containing elemental energy was a first.

'I wonder if I can sell it on the Auction Market?' The first thought that came to Shadow was not to use it for himself, but to actually sell such a never before seen item to other players on the Auction site since it would certainly send the people in frenzy after they read its information.

Though it only lasted for a moment when he realized the countless eyes staring at the huge vegetable in his hands, as someone who had come from hell and back, even he couldn't help but feel apprehensive looking at those eyes.

"Wanna eat this for dinner tonight?" with a forced smile, Shadow asked them with a crumpled expression on his face, like he's in the toilet and having a hard time getting rid of that persistent doo-doo who just refused to leave him!

"My lord! Is that true?!"

"Would you really be willing to share such a rare item with us?!"

"Thank you, my lord!"

The eyes of the surrounding villagers lit up at his words as all of them couldn't hide the joy in their faces as all of them have been wanting to have a taste of that unique looking cabbage ever since a while ago, they just didn't dare to voice out their thoughts to their Lord.

'Yeah, maybe once in a while ain't that bad'

Looking at those smiles on their faces, Shadow couldn't help but also smile, and before long, he also got infected by the joyous atmosphere and started dancing with them.

Sometimes, the game just blurs what reality is and what is not because of how realistic it is and sometimes players forget that the people they are interacting with are not even real.