6 The Curse Of A Nature Spirit

Sydra's eyes were bright as he looked around the room, each potion on the shelves shimmering as it called out to him. There were different sections in the store to make it easier for people to find what potions they were looking for.

'I should probably get high-quality health potions or ones that will increase my regeneration aura,' Sydra thought as he made his way over to the section with green potion bottles.

The back of the potion had labels that explained their uses, and Sydra quickly found the potions and pill bottles he was looking for. The only downside was that pills could only increase his regeneration aura to a certain degree before their effects wore out.

'I don't need all fifteen to be health-related, so let's see what other potions there are,' Sydra thought, grabbing only five pill bottles, and five potions. Sydra spent the next few minutes strolling around the store, reading the backs of different potions as he went.

...

Outside of the alchemist hall was an old man making his way up to the door. He was wearing fine grey silk with white trimming, and he had a pouch of gold in his hands.

'The Life Fulfillment Potion costs five-hundred gold coins, and I've finally saved up enough to buy one,' The old man thought as he walked up to the doors of the Alchemist Hall. The Life Fulfillment Potion was one of the few potions that could increase a human's lifespan, but it only worked four times, and people could only gain an extra hundred years.

The old man pushed open the doors and made his way into the Alchemist Hall, only to find Sydra making several potions disappear. It would have been awkward to carry all of the potions in his arms, so Sydra had been sending the ones he wanted into his Arbor Sanctum.

'That man is stealing potions and pills from the Alchemist Hall!' The old man thought as Sydra sent his fourteenth bottle into the Arbor Sanctum. Seeing this, the old man was shocked at Sydra's open display of robbery.

'I should stop him before he takes anymore... I might even be rewarded a free bottle of pills,' The old man thought, rushing to stand in the way of Sydra, "Stop, thief! I won't allow you to leave this Alchemist Hall until you return the potions you have stolen!"

'What's this old man doing?' Sydra wondered, his path to the next section blocked off by the old man. Frowning, Sydra turned around to go a different way, but he soon found himself being lifted into the air by a pair of robust arms.

"Let go of me, you old man!" Sydra shouted, trying to break free of the old man's tight grip, "I haven't stolen anything, and I don't like being grabbed like this!"

"Haven't stolen anything?! Do you believe I am blind?" The old man shouted, carrying Sydra to the counter before hammering on the runic bell, "I saw you taking those potions with my very own eyes, and I plan on letting the Alchemist Master know of what you have done,"

"Who is ringing my bell so much?!" The young alchemist roared as he stormed out of the pill refining room, causing the door to slam against the wall. Seeing the old man carrying Sydra in the air, the young alchemist's face becomes even redder, "What is the meaning of this?"

"Ah, Master Orlow," The old man says, smiling when he sees the young alchemist, "I have caught this thief attempting to steal potions from your hall, and I wanted to let you know about it,"

"Oh?" the young alchemist said, his face becoming cold, "So the reason you interrupted my breakthrough to the Artisan Rank was because you caught the person I permitted to take potions... taking potions? I suggest you let him go, and immediately leave the Alchemist Hall,"

Hearing what the young alchemist said, and in such a cold tone as well, the old man instantly dropped Sydra, "Wait, I think there has been some type of misunderstanding, I wasn't aware that he had permission to..."

The old man is cut off from saying any more by the icy glare the young alchemist is giving him. As he turned around, the old man looked apologetically at Sydra before leaving the Alchemist Hall. While the old man was walking out, Sydra noticed him glance longingly towards the Life Fulfillment Potions, before the door shut behind him.

"Sorry about that," the young alchemist said before returning to the pill refining room. Left alone once more, Sydra looked around the Alchemist Hall before deciding what his fifteenth bottle would be.

Leaving the Alchemist Hall, Sydra searched for the old man, who he found walking dejectedly away, "Hey, old man! I think you forgot this!"

The old man turned around to find Sydra waving the Life Fulfillment Potion in the air, "That? Isn't that the Life Fulfillment potion?"

"Yeah, I know you were only trying to help out the Master Alchemist by capturing me, and I felt bad that you couldn't buy the potion you wanted before you left," Sydra said as he handed the potion over to the old man, "I didn't really need any more potions, so I thought I would get you this,"

The old man looked at the potion in his hand in a daze, uncertain of how to respond to Sydra's generosity. Putting the potion away, the old man looked up, but Sydra was already gone, 'I owe that boy a favor now, after all, he saved me the money that even people living in large towns won't see for several years,'

...

Sydra pushed open the door to the Masto Pub and walked inside, his eyes darting around to see if Robert was there yet. The pub had a forest-like appearance, as the walls were decorated with roots, and there was a stream running through the middle. Lanterns filled with Gloslugs hung from the ceiling, and there were Magma Bursts swimming in the stream, giving the place an enchanting appearance.

"Sydra!" Someone called out from the other side of the stream, "Over here, I already got us a place to sit,"

The person who called Sydra was none other than Robert, who had removed his suit of armor from earlier, and was now in a more casual outfit. Sydra walked over the root bridge that connected the two sides of the stream and sat down across from Robert, who handed him a menu.

"Order whatever you want, I'll be paying for your food tonight," Robert said, his eyes scanning his own menu. Looking at his own menu, Sydra was curious what the food of Phisloke would taste like and ended up deciding on several different dishes.

'If I don't like it, I'll just make sure to not eat it again in the future,' Sydra thought as he called over a waiter, "Excuse me, I was hoping to get these five dishes,"

Writing down the items that Sydra was pointing at, the waiter then turned to Robert, who ordered a few dishes of his own. After taking their orders, the waiter returned to the kitchen, and Robert looked at Sydra funnily.

"What is it?" Sydra asked, wiping his face in case there was something on it.

"Sorry if this comes across as rude, but I thought that Nature Spirits didn't eat anything containing meat. You know, being part of nature and all," Robert said, causing Sydra to realize his mistake. Checking the Nature Spirits memories, Sydra realized that what Robert said was true, and the Nature Spirit had never eaten meat.

"Haha, is that what you thought?" Sydra asked, his brain racing for an excuse, "Well, let me ask you this then, what happens when an animal dies in the forest? If no other creature comes by to eat it, then the body will be used as nutrients by the plants around it. It's just nature's way of recycling things,"

The explanation Sydra gave made sense to Robert, who nodded his head and apologized. Afterward, the two of them discussed where Sydra managed to find all of the Sunset Fortunes while they waited for their food. Robert had thought that Sydra might have robbed an Alchemist Carraige on its way to restock a shop, but he was relieved when Sydra explained that he had found them in the Emerald Sea Forest.

"Wow, that's quite the luck you have there," Robert said, enthralled by Sydra's tale. By the time Sydra had finished describing how he had defeated the Bone-Tree Golem, the waiter had come back, carrying several platters of food.

"That was fast," Sydra said, his mouth watering from all the delicacies being placed on the table. The food he had ordered came from several unique sounding animals, and it seemed that the chef had managed to bring out their full flavor.

"Indeed, this pub is quite well known for its food preparation. Here, I got this drink for you as well." Robert said as he handed Sydra a drink regarded as Mountain Rum. "Let us drink to our newfound friendship." He said lifting his glass and taking a swig. Sydra followed suit before digging into his food.

"This tastes amazing! The way the chef put the different ingredients together is better than I expected" Sydra commented, his mouth full of Flame Espail ribs.

The two men talked, drank, and ate for several more hours before Sydra said that he had to head off to sleep. Leaving the pub, Sydra walked down the road until he stopped in front of an Inn he had seen earlier. The Inn was called The Seedlings Inn, and when Sydra entered he was greeted by a pathway surrounded by plants.

'This town really is run by elves, all the buildings have something that relates to plants in some way,' Sydra thought as he made his way up to the counter, where a male elf was waiting for him.

"I need a room for the night, any will do," Sydra said. The elf nodded and pulled a key off the wall behind him.

"Alright, it will be one silver coin a night, how many nights are you planning on staying?" The elf asked.

"How many nights will this gold coin get me?" Sydra asked, pulling a gold coin out of his pouch. The elf looked at Sydra strangely before taking the coin.

"This will get you ten nights, please follow me." The elf responded, as he handed Sydra the key. Leading Sydra down the hall, the elf stopped in front of the thirteenth door.

"Here we are," the elf said while opening the door.

The room resrmbled the rest of the Inn,, with floral decorations everywhere, and the bed made from roots grown in a circle. Opening the door to the bathroom, Sydra found it tobe much like everything else,, except the toilet had runes on it to allow for indoor plumbing.

Stepping into the bathroom, Sydra slammed the door shut behind him and ran over to the toilet, 'Oh god, i've been waiting for this all night! Maybe this is the real reason Nature Spirits don't eat meat,'

The elf stood outside the room as loud grunts could be heard coming from the bathroom. Deciding to leave Sydra to his business, the elf began to close the door, but not before he heard Sydra calling out for a lumberjack.

Hesitating to shut the door, the elf peered back inside the darkroom. 'What's going on in there that he is calling out for a lumberjack?'