Lukas spent the rest of that day recovering from his fight with the swipe?swatter and was elated to discover that the extra vitality he’d gained from his new title helped him recover faster than he had anticipated. Before, he had only theorized this would be the case, and he was glad to be proven right. Of course, it made sense in his mind that it would work this way; otherwise, Lukas couldn’t even imagine how long it would take to regenerate if he had a hundred thousand health points. Granted, the increase he’d just gained was marginal and barely noticeable. Even so, it was still better than the slow natural healing he’d had to rely on just days ago.

  When he woke up the next morning, Lukas felt significantly better. He no longer felt like a steak that had been tenderized by a toddler with a hammer. That said, just below the surface he still felt some discomfort. Sure, his swollen lip had gone away, but with all the purple bruises covering his body, he looked like Grimace. It could have been worse, though; Lukas would take bruises and a busted lip over deep gashes any day. That didn’t mean he enjoyed walking around as one giant bruise, nor did he like the constant soreness.

  Up and at it early in the morning, Lukas had a new goal in mind: flowers. Sure, he wanted to fight, but he knew it would be wiser to avoid conflict for the moment. If something attacked him, then he’d deal with it, but he wouldn’t go looking for trouble. With his increase in stats, Lukas felt slightly more confident in his ability to survive and avoid dying like an over?eager child who had gotten in over his head. Besides, no matter what he found out there, Lukas was certain it would be useful in one way or another.

  He had seen plenty of wildflowers and other plants while tracking down the swipe?swatter the day before, and the likelihood of some of them being magical in nature seemed high. Naturally, Lukas wanted to find something that could help heal him like the blood moon lily, but he was also on the lookout for something that could restore his stamina.

  He hadn’t run out of stamina in either of his fights so far, but both times he had come close. If he had been forced into another fight immediately after, he would’ve been in serious trouble. Lukas also wanted to explore and find different varieties of useful magical plants.

  So, a few hours past sunrise, Lukas set off into the woods with a casual stroll, mentally planning out his day. He’d scour the area around his little valley for flowers, and, considering the complete lack of monster activity since he’d stumbled into the area half?dead, he assumed it was relatively safe. The day would be spent collecting whatever resources he could find and then, in the evening, he would try to start a fire to cook the meat he had gotten from the swipe?swatter.

  He’d been in this new world for some time now, and Lukas still hadn’t eaten anything. It was only now that he was beginning to feel a bit peckish. He suspected he could go for another week before experiencing true hunger, but there was no need to push it that far. Thankfully, he felt no need for water. He still hadn’t found any streams or rivers nearby, despite his recent exploration. If it rained, he could drink that, but even with his steel gut ability, he wasn’t too keen on the idea of drinking from muddy puddles. That concern, however, was something for later.

  It didn’t take long for Lukas to find his first flowers. They were part of a small bush growing at the base of a tree, their petals a deep royal purple adorned with red and gold spots. The moment he spotted them, Lukas excitedly scurried over to examine and identify them:

  Imperial Ebligons

  Without hesitation, Lukas crouched down and inhaled the scent of the flowers, but after taking a deep breath, he frowned. They smelled as lovely as they looked, but he didn’t feel any effect. Glancing inward, Lukas did a quick mental check to see if anything had changed or if there was any impact on his stats. He found nothing.

  Lukas’ frown deepened as he glanced at the identification tag again. The blood moon lily had a rarity tag next to its name, but these Imperial Ebligons didn’t. He guessed they were just regular flowers, though he wouldn’t skip over any plant without a rarity tag until he was absolutely certain.

  Standing back up, Lukas continued on his way in search of the next magical plant. He knew the likelihood of every plant being magical was low, but he had hoped the first one would be useful. Still, he wasn’t disheartened; he had the entire day to find something amazing.

  For the next hour, Lukas wandered through the forest, stumbling upon nothing but non?magical plants. This confirmed his theory that only plants with a rarity tag were special, much to his displeasure. But eventually, he found what he was looking for. Lukas stumbled upon a rather large flower that grew only a few inches off the ground, standing alone without any other shrubs or bushes around it.

  The stem was unnervingly thick, and its petals were wide and large, similar to flowers found in humid rainforests. The flower’s two shades of orange swirled together in multiple places. One whiff told Lukas all he needed to know—this flower was for stamina. It smelled extremely sweet and sugary, like an energy drink with a hint of mango, and with just one breath, Lukas felt like he could run a marathon before fighting an army.

  Lukas quickly identified the flower:

  Vigor Bloom Iclum (Uncommon)

  Taking out his sword, Lukas cut through the disturbingly thick stem and stored the flower in his inventory. With a smile on his face, he continued his search, pleased with his progress.

  It wasn’t long before he found more plants. The next one he encountered, named mana tulip, was a light blue flower that appeared flamboyantly magical. Its long stem had a loop in it, bright blue specks of light drifted from its center, and the long petals bobbed up and down as though the flower were breathing. It smelled cool and refreshing, like refrigerated blueberries on a hot summer day, and filled him with a wave of mental clarity.

  Lukas also discovered a small light?pink flower growing in a lush bush with a few other non?magical flowers. This one was a re’in carnation. It didn’t look particularly special, blending in with its surroundings, but it couldn’t hide from Lukas’ identification ability. It smelled like freshly cut strawberries, and as soon as he inhaled, a cool wave of relief passed through him, soothing his aching bruises.

  Lukas knew right away that this flower was similar to the pink potion he had looted from one of the wolves. He wasted no time harvesting it. That potion had saved his life, and although Lukas wasn’t sure exactly what the flower did, he was going to treasure it. That raised a new question in his mind, though: could these flowers be used to create potions? That was a question he had no way to answer at the moment. It was unfortunate, but it, along with many other things, would have to wait until he could get answers to his bigger and more important questions.

  The next flower Lukas found was another blood moon lily, though this one was of a lower rarity. Like the previous one, it was blood?red and smelled warm, sweet, and faintly of iron. Lukas eagerly harvested the flower, thinking he might eat it with his dinner later.

  Another flower, this one a yellow?gray color, reminded Lukas of sandy stone. After inhaling its scent, his skin stiffened and he felt harder, tougher. A bright orange flower caused Lukas’ heart to race with adrenaline, leaving him feeling as though he could outrun a car.

  After discovering a few more magical flowers with effects Lukas couldn’t immediately identify, he came across a strange green flower in the middle of a small clearing. Its drooping petals were a mix of light and dark green, and its black stem looked withered.

  Frowning, Lukas bent down and gave the flower a cautious sniff. He immediately regretted it. The smell of rotting corpses festering in a hot landfill assaulted his nose. He fell backward, dry heaving uncontrollably, thankful that his stomach was empty. The stench was so overpowering that his eyes watered and his nostrils filled with mucus. Wiping it all away, he was horrified to find that it wasn’t mucus or tears—it was blood. His vision was tinged red, and his mouth filled with the taste of iron as blood dripped from his nose to his lips. The flower had made him bleed just by smelling it?

  “What the actual fuck!?” Lukas blurted out.

  Horrified by what had just happened, Lukas wiped more blood from his eyes and looked at the abomination in front of him:

  Life’s Bane (Epic)

  “Sounds about right,” he muttered angrily.

  Standing, Lukas was about to leave behind the living nightmare when he stopped and looked back at the monstrous flower. If he had had such an extreme reaction to just a small whiff, how would a beast react if it were smacked in the face with this thing? Could it be used in a fight?

  Lukas could see it working. If he pulled the flower out mid?fight and exposed a beast to its scent, it would likely have a strong reaction, giving Lukas an opening to strike. Then there was the fact that he had a poison resistance ability—if that worked on this godforsaken flower, who knew how powerful Life’s Bane could be?

  As much as he hated the idea of going anywhere near the flower, even with his poison resistance, Lukas couldn’t shake the thought of using it in battle. So, after taking a deep breath, he reluctantly went over to collect the foul plant. He didn’t even need to cut the stem—it snapped like a stalk of dry grass. Another wave of the stench washed over Lukas, but he held his breath, refusing to inhale. Instead, the smell seemed to attack his skin, making it burn and itch as though something were trying to dissolve it.

  Pinching the stem between his thumb and forefinger, Lukas quickly threw the flower into his inventory before hurrying away as fast as he could. Only when he was at least twenty meters away did he feel safe enough to take a breath, and he was relieved to inhale nothing but the fresh scent of the forest. His skin still burned, and when he looked down at his arms and chest, he saw they were bright red, beyond the bruises he had. That flower had to be some kind of plant?based war crime.

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  Lukas tried not to give it any more thought as he continued through the forest, but he would definitely be much more cautious with the things he found in the future. Fortunately, the next few hours were filled with the discovery of magical flowers that didn’t seem to violate the Geneva Convention, and Lukas happily harvested them. He completely forgot the need for caution when he stumbled upon the first magical plant that wasn’t a flower.

  While climbing his way up a particularly tall hill, Lukas reached a small plateau at the top, where he noticed a bush that looked like any other he had seen among the trees. The only difference was the berries it bore. Lukas had seen a few berry bushes before, but none had been magical. These berries were larger than most—almost the size of fat, crunchy grapes. They were such a deep shade of purple that they were nearly black, and they looked so plump and juicy that Lukas knew biting into one would be incredibly satisfying. Just looking at the bunches hanging from the bush, he felt a strong urge to rush over and start eating them.

  The only problem was the level 8 vipercat that had beaten him to the bush and was eating the berries with the same enthusiasm Lukas felt. He considered fighting the beast—after all, he had gotten a significant boost in his stats. But the vipercat was obviously an apex predator of the forest. It looked fast, it had claws and fangs, and its tail likely carried a poisonous stinger. A fight with the creature would almost certainly end in death. Still, the vipercat was eating his berries.

  Lukas readied his sword and was about to charge at the creature to stop it from eating any more of his berries when he froze in his tracks as the vipercat suddenly stopped eating and began to growl. Lukas thought it had sensed him and realized he was there, but then the vipercat toppled over.

  Lukas stared at the vipercat’s body for a moment, his anger at the creature dissipating, replaced by confusion and curiosity. What had just happened? He watched the vipercat for a few more minutes, and when nothing changed, he cautiously approached the creature’s body. It was still lying right where it had fallen. Had it really died? Were those berries poisonous? That would explain the strong urge to eat them—they could be a trap.

  Lukas poked the body with his sword and got no reaction. But something was off. The vipercat’s eyes were still moving, staring at him with anger and the desire to tear him apart. Was it paralyzed? Could that be the effect of the berries?

  Whatever the case, the vipercat was in no condition to fight back. Lukas didn’t need to be told to take advantage of the situation. He drove the tip of his sword into the creature’s scaled throat, unsurprised to find that its skin was tough to cut through. That didn’t stop him, though, and soon his blade plunged deep, causing blood to pour out of the creature’s neck and onto the ground.

  Less than a minute later, Lukas received his kill notification and looted the corpse:

  You have slain [Vipercat – lvl 8]. Bonus experience gained for killing an enemy above your level.

  8 [Copper Mana Coins] have been added to your inventory.

  Lukas scowled at the notifications. How many creatures would he have to kill to gain even one level? He had killed a level 3, a level 4, a level 6, and now a level 8, and he still hadn’t gained a single level. Just where was all that experience going? He had even earned a title for killing something at level 5 or above while still at level 0, indicating that such a feat was rare. Now, he had done it twice. And what in the world were Copper Mana Coins for?

  Closing his eyes, Lukas took a deep breath to calm himself. After he got his emotions under control, he turned toward the berries again. Once more, he felt the urge to eat one, but he quickly suppressed it with his annoyance and identified the berries:

  Gorgon Berries (Rare)

  Plucking a firm berry from the bush, Lukas sniffed it but didn’t detect any particular scent. However, holding it this close made the temptation to eat it even harder to ignore. He wasn’t entirely sure what the berries did, but it seemed like they caused some sort of paralysis, judging by what had happened to the vipercat. Lukas was glad he hadn’t gotten to the berries first. Still, he carefully gathered all the berries from the bush, ending up with a total of 53. He wasn’t entirely sure what they could be used for, but they might make excellent bait, drawing in beasts that he could paralyze and then kill while they were incapacitated.

  That’s assuming it’s even worth killing them anymore. “I could just be stuck at level 0 forever,” Lukas thought darkly as he placed the last few berries in his inventory.

  He shook his head, clearing the negative thoughts. He just needed to get some more kills—perhaps even kill stronger enemies. If that didn’t get him levels, then he could at least try to gain more titles. Hell, maybe he’d get one for killing something at level 10.

  That was a problem for another day, though. For now, Lukas focused on finding and collecting magical plants. He spent the next few hours doing exactly that, gathering more flowers and even discovering some other types of berries, though these seemed to have a cooling effect that helped combat the heat of the late afternoon sun.

  When Lukas finally started heading back toward his valley, he was returning with a rather good haul. He had found a total of seven blood moon lilies, though none were above common rarity. He had also found five flowers that seemed similar to the pink potion he had used—the re’in carnations. Then there were a handful of other flowers with various effects.

  Once back at his hidey?hole, Lukas wasted no time trying to get a fire started. He could have used a stone and his sword to try to create some sparks, but the last thing he needed was to break his sword or make its edge any duller. Besides, he didn’t need to use his sword anyway. Lukas had lived in the wild completely on his own, and he knew how to start a fire with nothing but some sticks.

  Before long, Lukas had a small fire crackling away just outside his hole. He placed a large, relatively flat rock in the middle of the fire to use as a cooking surface for the swipe?swatter meat.

  Lukas lay naked on his bloody wolf pelt, watching the dancing flames as the sun began to set, occasionally tossing more wood onto the fire. He was waiting for the fire to get hot enough before tossing the meat onto the stone to cook.

  While he waited, Lukas took out two flowers: one was a blood?red flower, the other a light?pink one. He looked between the two, smelling each in turn. They both seemed to have healing properties, but they had different effects. The blood moon lily had a warming effect, while the re’in carnation was cooling.

  Lukas considered the difference between the two. The blood moon lily had given him a direct injection of health points, some of which were used to heal his injuries. He couldn’t remember much about what had happened after the wolves had attacked him, let alone the exact effect of the strange pink potion. What he did remember was that the potion had been pink, had tasted faintly of strawberries, and had stopped him from bleeding to death. He could deduce that the potion hadn’t given him a bunch of health points since that’s what the red flowers did. But what had the pink potion done instead?

  Staring intently at the pink flower, Lukas decided he would eat that one tonight. He had originally planned to eat one of the health?restoring flowers to help heal his bruised body, but the pink flower seemed to have some kind of healing effect as well. This way, he could observe its effect and, hopefully, heal his battered body.

  With the fire finally reaching the desired heat, Lukas set the flowers aside and pulled out the swipe?swatter meat. When he had stored it in his inventory, it had appeared as a simple icon of a slab of meat, and now that he pulled it out, that’s exactly what it was. What surprised him, though, was that the meat was still warm, as though it had just been butchered. Frowning, Lukas wondered if this was an effect of his inventory. Did it keep things fresh, or put them in some kind of stasis when he stored them? Did that mean the flowers hadn’t lost their effectiveness because he smelled them, but rather because they had been cut? Was his inventory keeping them fresh?

  “More things to test and experiment with,” Lukas muttered as he readied the meat for cooking.

  Before placing the meat on the hot stone, Lukas paused, glancing at the pink flower he had set beside him. He remembered forcing himself to eat the blood moon lily and how unpleasant it had been. He wanted to avoid that this time. He also realized that the slab of meat he was holding was completely unseasoned. While Lukas wasn’t a gourmet chef, he liked his food with some flavor, and he wasn’t the kind of psycho who ate plain, unseasoned meat. He had a herb garden back at his cabin for a reason.

  Looking uncertainly at the meat in his hand, Lukas stashed it back in his inventory. He got up and searched the area until he found two relatively flat stones, each about the size of his hand. His plan was to grind the pink flower into a paste and rub it onto the swipe?swatter meat. He had no idea what the result would be, but it was worth a try. Lukas just hoped this wouldn’t turn into him eating something worse than if he’d eaten the flower and the meat separately.

  Sitting back down on his cloak, Lukas crossed his legs and placed the pink flower on one of the stones in his lap. Using the other stone, he began grinding the flower down. Almost immediately, the scent filled the air. It was much stronger than just smelling the flower, and the effect was equally intense. It was likely that the flower’s effect would have been even more potent if Lukas had eaten it whole, but that was what he had been trying to avoid.

  Lukas continued grinding for a few more minutes, the cloud of soothing strawberry scent growing stronger around him. The more he ground the flower, the more intense the scent became. Eventually, though, the strength of the scent stopped increasing, and Lukas guessed he was done. He separated the two grinding stones, and the scent hit him like a wave. The smell of sweet strawberries was so strong that Lukas’ mouth watered, and for a moment he forgot about his injuries entirely. The resulting paste didn’t look particularly appetizing—it was just a sticky pink mush stuck to both stones—but Lukas hoped it would taste as good as it smelled.

  For the last time, Lukas took out the swipe?swatter meat. In one hand, he held the slab of meat, and with the other, he scraped the pink paste off the stones and rubbed it into the meat. Once he was sure the meat was thoroughly coated, he placed it on the hot stone to cook.

  The sound of searing meat filled the air, mixing with the cool, sweet scent of strawberries. Using a stick, Lukas flipped the meat, doing his best to make sure it cooked evenly on both sides. After just a few short minutes, the meat was done.

  Lukas pulled it from the fire and set it on the two smaller stones he had used to grind the flower. After waiting for the meat to cool slightly, he took his first bite. The result was, frankly, disappointing. Granted, it could have been much worse, but the meat was dry and tough, like chewing on a piece of leather. The flavor wasn’t bad, with a nice char, but it was hard to tell if swipe?swatter meat was actually any good. The slight hint of strawberry from the flower didn’t quite fit, either, making it a strange combination.

  Still, Lukas ate half the slab of meat in just a few minutes. He stored the rest in his inventory, planning to pull it out the next morning to see if it was still warm and fresh. That was something for tomorrow, though. For now, Lukas stashed the two grinding stones in his inventory as well, hoping to do more experimenting with flowers later.

  The test he had just performed was already showing promising results, though. Normally, the rate at which Lukas gained health points was mind?numbingly slow, but it had improved since his increase in vitality. Currently, he was gaining one health point every ten to fifteen minutes. Lukas wasn’t sure if eating food helped to regenerate health, but even if it did, it couldn’t be responsible for this much recovery. This had to be the pink flower—it seemed to have some sort of recovery and regeneration property.