Chapter 23: Magic Fruit

"I also don't want to use this Master Lucas, but you also know that if those Magic beasts decide to attack us, they would first send their lowest minions to tire us all out, before their leader make its move, and I hope that I won't have the need for it either. But those roars are very close to us. It means that danger is near us, and this potion could greatly help me to buy more time for our people if they need to leave the city." Michael seriously said as he showed me the bottle of potion containing the golden liquid.

"You seem to be willing to sacrifice yourself for the good of others, which is admirable but may also be reckless. Even if you are able to hold off the attackers for a while, how much time would that give others to evacuate the city on foot? The nearest human settlement is too far away for people to reach safely within the time frame you could buy, and the only way out of the city is through a dangerous forest. It's unlikely that anyone would be able to make it out alive by the time they reached the settlement." I solemnly replied.

"If worse comes to worst, I'm willing to risk it all and activate the magic formation of the city. Although other people may know about this secret, our chances of survival are higher if we rely on the magic formation rather than just relying on the soldiers and walls to protect us." I said calmly as I weakly followed him outside the room.

When I exited my room, I noticed that most of our staff and servants had collapsed, except for Gaspar who seemed weaker than usual but was still able to move around as if nothing had happened him.

And James our old butler although he is already past his prime, he can still sit weakly on the chair compared to others who is slumped on the floor.

"Young Master, it's terrible. Those roars have affected everyone living in the city, and all our staff is now weakly lying on the floor. I'm afraid that with their current condition, they can't assist you at all." Gaspar said excitedly while helping out the others by placing them in a comfortable position.

"I already know about that issue but what I want to know is how were you able to resist the influence of the pressure coming from those powerful magic beast?" I intriguingly ask.

"I'm not sure, young master. I didn't feel much pressure at all. I just saw everyone lying weakly on the floor after a loud roar and realized that I was the only one who wasn't affected." He said timidly.

"That can't be! Everyone here feels a heavy pressure weighing on their body and soul, but you don't?" I exclaimed in disbelief.

"Maybe it's because I have a stronger stomach and heart than them. In the past month alone, I have visited the potion master several times for consuming wild things in the enchanted forest." Gaspar said defensively.

"Hold on, you've been going to the enchanted forest alone just to eat?" I said in surprise.

"Yes, yes but I didn't do anything at all, I just picked up several weird plants and fruits that I could get to include them in my recipe." He said quickly.

"But my father have strictly forbade anyone to go there after the earthquake hit. All the creatures inside that forest are agitated and we don't want to make them madder for a reason." I exclaimed in anger, he dared to break the rules that my father set to keep everyone safe, all for his desire to find new ingredients.

"However, the Magic beasts in the forest haven't paid any attention to me as long as I made an offering to them. I often shared some of my new dishes with them and they were always eaten by one of the Magic beasts who seemed to be their leader." Gaspar said as he narrates his past endeavors.

"You've been feeding them? Are you insane, Gaspar? Those are Magic beasts who could easily tear you into pieces in seconds" I said while staring at him unbelievably.

"But Master Lucas, that Magic beast really enjoys what I make. It always comes to me for food and even protects me while I'm in the forest, allowing me to take whatever I want" Gaspar said in his defense.

"Have you gone nuts Gaspar? You are willing to risk your life just to get new ingredients? We already have a lot of it here in the city. We no longer need to venture outside to look out for more. I already put a stop to it, didn't I?" I said in perplex.

Since the expansion of our farmland, I sent out an order to our knights to bring us some samples of plants that can be found from the edges of the enchanted forest. At that time, the situation regarding the magic beasts wasn't that serious at all, and those ventures were proven to be successful as we finally have more access to variety of edible plants.

While it is true that we have discovered many edible plants in the enchanted forest, we have also learned how dangerous that place is. Because every time the knights brought something back from there, we always tested it on animals first, and we found it to be a wise decision as more than half of what they gathered was deemed as not safe for human consumption

Most of the plants and fruits they brought back to them are actually poisonous, although they looked normal on the surface once it was eaten, it might result in certain death. And hundreds of experimental animals that looked like a cat-sized squirrel were sacrificed in order to look for the perfect plant that was safe to consume.

Those cat-size squirrels are called as Gamster. They are considered as pests here in the Florentine city. They always eat and destroy the crops that farmers work for, at the same time they look terrible, as they don't have any fur on their bodies except for their tail. Can you imagine a hairless squirrel with size that is big as a cat with no hair on its body? They all look like a naked rat with skin disease.

I was brought back to reality when Gaspar suddenly said something while handing me a type of fruit that had a certain familiar aura to me.

"But we don't have anything like this." I heard him say before I blankly stare at the fruit in my hand.

"A magic fruit? it allows you to pick up a magic fruit?" I asked in shock.

"That's right, and it also brings me more of this fruit. In fact, I have eaten a lot of it." He boasted as he looked at me with a smug face.

"YOU WHAT?" I loudly asked in shock.

Magic fruits are one of the known rare resources here on the continent of Vreachland continent and a lot of people are clamoring to buy just one of this fruit but it was always in a short supply.

Although it was known to many that the enchanted forest has plenty of magical resources. Since a quarter of the entire continent is occupied by the enchanted forest itself, it is understandable why this place is thriving in wealth. Without the presence of humans to plunder all of these magical plants have allows them to grow in this forest freely without any intervention. But only a small number of people have tried to venture in the depths of it. 

But beware, as all magical plants have their own guardian. Usually a powerful magic beasts in that area guards the plant for it's magical fruit.

Because magic fruit are known for its role as a tonic for everyone. It can greatly help someone who is stuck at his level to breakthrough to the next rank, and even magic beasts themselves love eating it.

That's why it is very popular whether to a wizard or a knight.

It is also known that magic fruits have the ability to extend the lifespan of mortals, making them highly sought after by the rich folks of every kingdom.

"Is there a problem with this fruit, Master Lucas?" asked by Gaspar in a confused voice as he noticed me staring on it in daze.

Although magic fruit is highly sought after by people, it was not popular for ordinary civilians. Since this is something that can rarely be seen on the public market. Much more, this kind of product is often sold in places for the rich or special market that ordinary people can't enter.

"Yes, there is. How are you still alive?" I ask in a bewildered voice as I look at him in amazement. 

Man, this cook sure does have a lot of surprises. At first, he managed to create the most horrible food culture I have ever seen in my life. And now, he's telling me that he befriended a magic beasts.

"What do you mean Master Lucas, do you want me to die?" he asked with a voice filled with fear.

"NO!" I can't help but shout in frustration.

"God damn, Gaspar, no ordinary human should be able to survive consuming a magical fruit without processing it first. Even wizards and knights must find a good potion master before they can eat this." I said as I angrily held the magic fruit in front of his face.

"But Master Lucas, I did not feel anything wrong with my body after eating it. In fact, my entire body felt so warm and comfortable. So, I ate more." He said before pausing for a moment as if he realizes something important. "Maybe this is the reason why the magic beasts is giving me some strange look when it saw me eating it. But it also brought me a lot more of this, and this  also this." as he pull out more magic fruit out of his pocket and presented it to me. 3 more different magic fruits with different shapes and colors.

"How did you even manage to take this out from that place? And how many do you have?"

"Not a lot. I've already eaten most of it. Currently, I only have a small bag of it." He slowly said as he pointed at the small bag in the corner.

"Wait...what...…WHAT?" I stammeredly asked in shocked.

"A-All o-of this is m-ma-magic fru-fruit.?" I said while stammering.

You must know that a piece of magic fruit alone would cost thousands of gold coins to acquire, but here we are with our cook having an entire bag of it.

"How, Why … When did you even brought that here?" I said as I slowly walked towards it and opened it slowly with my shaking hands.

This is the first time I have got excited about anything here in this world. You should know that it takes us years before we even got one of this fruit from that forest, but here in front of me is an entire bag of it.

"This is incredible!"

"Such a huge amount of magic fruit is enough for us to make another army of knights. If we can process all of this, I'm sure father would be beyond glad." I said in astonishment. Because as a city full of soldiers, a lot of our people actually qualifies to be a knight, but due to limited resources, their chances for breakthrough is small and limited. 

"MAGIC FRUIT. ALL OF THESE ARE MAGIC FRUIT," said by Michael in shocked, as he quickly walked towards me and violently pulled the bag.

I almost forgot that Michael was standing behind me when Gaspar pull out a magic fruit on his pocket, and since the time he has seen it, his eyes, had never let it go. He only stare on it with a slack jaw the entire time.

For a junior rank knight, magic fruit is a huge temptation for us.

One piece of this fruit can be made into several vials of potions, depending on how talented the potion master is. But it is also a huge fact that potions made from magic fruit have fewer side effects compared to others. At the same time, potions made from this can greatly speed up our progress in increasing our powers.

"Never mind that Michael, we have more important things to do, and Gaspar, we have a lot of things to talk about after this I'm sure father would also like to know how did this happened. But for now, let's not waste any more time here. A lot of people are still in shock due to the effect of those powerful roars. Michael, you should go out and check the situation outside, while I stay here and help out the other servant." I said to both of them.

"I can also help you master Lucas, aside from being frighten I don't seem to be affected by it terrifying roars." Gaspar said as he immediately went back to James and assist him to stand up.

"Then I'm going Master Lucas, but please keep this safe for me." Michael said hurriedly as he handed me the bag of Magic fruit before running off.

I immediately went to my father's room and hid this bag in his private drawer and only two of us have keys to it. We use it to hide some gold coins or important documents. The material for this drawer is also made from an unknown metal, that even with the full power of my father, he can only make a very narrow gush on its surface using his sword. This is also one of the relics of the first founder of the Beaufort house and has been passed down to us for a long time.