Stage 25: A Difficult Climb
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Lixin only had to use Rósastóll one more time on the Meinless before they were finally vanquished. However, the creatures only gave him 20 EXP points each, causing him to sigh in disappointment: if there were two more monsters, he could have leveled up.

'Oh, well, at least they weren't difficult to kill,' Lixin thought to himself as he walked over to the now-defeated bodies of the monsters.

As he approached them closer he could see the manifestation of his skill in more detail. He was filled with awe. The Bleeding Heart flowers were actually beating as if they were real hearts.

They were pumping blood out of the creatures' corpses, continuing to grow and flourish even after the Meinless death. If these monsters were real, rather than just digital data, he might have felt a bit sympathetic for them. But instead, all he could do was admire the sight before him.

Shaking his head he wondered how to reap the rewards of his victory. That's when he remembered a 'Let's Play' video he and Zeyu had watched together in preparation for this game.

Following what he saw in the video, he placed a hand above one of the deceased Meinless bodies. Instantly, a notification appeared.

[Cora:] [Notice: To gather items from deceased monsters you need to say Collect!*You can also use a gathering pet. 

Lixin almost jumped when the notification popped up. His adrenaline was still high, so he was a little on edge. 'These darn notifications. At least they don't pop up like this when I'm in battle.'

Despite ignoring it before, he thought it was great that the notification switched to voice while he was fighting. He wondered if there was a way to keep it like that all the time. That way he wouldn't have to suffer from jump scares of notifications appearing randomly.

Deciding to investigate it once he was no longer inside the game, Lixin said, "Collect!"

Sadly, he got nothing worth mentioning other than money and potions from the creatures. Nevertheless, he didn't expect much from these low-level monsters.

~

As he turned back toward the tree, he approached it with determination. Now that he had eliminated the monsters that had been guarding the Mucuna Prurien tree, it was time to climb this behemoth.

'All right, let's do this,' Lixin said to himself as he began scaling the tree. Using the knots and footholds formed in the tree, he pushed against it and pulled himself higher with a grunt.

With each stretch, Lixin could feel his stamina waning. However, he kept moving until ten minutes later when he was one-quarter up the trunk. Glancing at his timer, he saw he only had a little more than an hour left. He needed to pick up the pace.

As if the system heard his plea a ding sounded in his ear followed by a notification appearing in front of him.

[Cora:] [You have gained the Climbing skill!]

Climbing LVL 1/10: With this talent, players can climb and scale various objects and terrain in the world (such as ladders and rock faces), as well as move along ledges. * +5 SPEED, -5 STA PER MINUTE

"That's cool," Lixin cheered as he exited the screen. "Climbing will be faster now."

The next thirty minutes flew by as Lixin maneuvered his way up the tree using his newly found climbing skill. When he finally reached the branches, it was time to take a breather and admire the fruits of his labor.

Sitting on one of the branches, he opened his inventory and took out one of the STA Potions, and drank it. However, as soon as the liquid touched his tongue he almost gagged. It tasted unbearably bitter in his mouth. 

'I know it's sort of like medicine, but geez,' Lixin thought, scrunching up his face as he watched the potion bottle dissipate into nothingness. He really wished he had something on him to get rid of the taste.

Trying to ignore the bitter flavor in his mouth, he glanced at the timer only to notice he only had forty-five minutes left before he had to return the leaves to Peter. Without delay, he leapt across the branch and collected ten of them, stashing them away in his inventory. But then, something caught his eye - a strange bean pod unlike any of the others around it.

He thought that since he was already here, he might as well grab it for good measure in case it was special. As soon as he placed it in his inventory, he hastened back down the tree. Surprisingly enough, it took him less time to descend than to climb up earlier - ten minutes flat. 

Once he was on the ground he glanced around the area to check if any Meinless had respawned. Since they were so easy to kill he hoped he could get some easy experience points before he left. Unfortunately, they didn't, to Lixin's dismay.

"Well, once I turn in the quest I will level up anyway," he muttered as he opened his map.

Learning his lesson from the last time, Lixin located the forest path and quickly made his way to it. There was no way he would become a creature's prey again. Once was enough.

In order to avoid alerting anything, he carefully navigated his way to it, taking care not to make any large noises. It was only when he reached it that he started running back to town in earnest.

~

As his footsteps stomped across the path, the only sound he could hear was the crunching of leaves and twigs below his feet. Well, that and his heavy breathing from his waning stamina.

Lixin was confused by this since it hadn't happened before when he ran. Why was his endurance so low now? He knew it couldn't be his STA since he drank the potion not too long ago.

Suddenly a familiar ding sounded in his ear followed by a notification screen. It was a red screen instead of the blue he was accustomed to.

[Cora:] [Warning: Your Fullness is below 50%! Your speed will decrease by 10% and your stamina will decrease by 20%! Make sure to eat soon or dire consequences will ensue!]

'Crap!'

Name: Fortuitous Fish              Race: Koi

Title: N/A                                  

Level: 2    Exp: 170/200   Skill Points: 0 ←-- (+5 each Lvl)

HP: 105/110      MP: 70/110         SP: 75/88 ←- (- 10%)

Char: 6      Str: 5             Int: 8        Dex: 5   Mental: 6

Fullness: 49 % 

Special

Luck: 10 

Coins: 0 Gold 0 Silver 193 Bronze

~

Author Says:

MomoCatt: I bet you're hungry.

Lixin: Starving is more like it. If I don’t know if I will make it to town.

MomoCatt: If you don’t then you really will be prey.

Lixin:

MomoCatt: Here eat some Roasted Sweet Potatoes. It will help with your Stamina.

Lixin: Thanks. 

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