2 Just Two Adventurers and Some Ruins (M)

Hidden by trees, a peculiar building could be found. The building was part of a set of ruins - a relic of the past that had survived into the future. The roof of the building was completely destroyed by the passage of time. Sunlight often shone through the canopy and reached the inside of the building.

What made this building unique among the rest was that the soil there was darker and richer. Springing out of the soil, numerous species of flora had invaded the building. Thick vines sprouted from the soil and latched onto whatever they could touch. Finding home in the tiny cracks of the walls, the vines reached from the floor and covered almost the entirety of the building walls. Remarkably, carpet of rare flowers and herbs had sprouted from the rich soil. Their large leaves and ability to leech nutrients from the soil more quickly allowed them to compete with the vines that were everywhere.

What made this ruined building quite eye-catching wasn't the rarity of the plants, nor was it the soil. It was that despite having plants covering almost the entirety of the building, one spot was clear of plants. In the back corner of the building, a circle with a diameter of five meters lacked vegetation. This was weird considering that the darkest soil or most nutritious soil was located there.

When it comes to unexplored ruins, there are those look for them. Ruins are full of rare herbs, tomes, research materials that had been lost in the past and many other treasures such as weapons and armor. Attracted to the treasures, adventurers are those that explore them...

***

Braving through the wilderness, a pair of adventurers had already found and explored parts of the ruins hidden in the trees. To their surprise, the ruin had not been found before.

The early morning sunlight cast light onto the pair. The adventurer in the lead was young, energetic, and human. Streams of sunlight shown through the canopy and reflected off his face. His skin had tanned from what it as a few months before and smile appeared on his face. He was thinking about the profits that he was going to make when their expedition was over.

Pushing through trees nearby, the second adventurer followed the first. His stature and physical appearance completely differed when compared with the first adventurer. Instead of skin, he was covered in fur. He was a beastkin. The beastkin's body and face resembled that of a wolf except, he walked on two legs. Grey fur was setting in amongst his brown hair giving him an aura of experience that came with age. Both adventurers were carrying large packs on their backs and wore clothes that blended into the underbrush of the forest.

They had just collected a large amount of treasure from the days before and the human was eager to find more. The human pushed ahead through the thick branches of trees moving towards a new ruined building.

Without the enthusiasm that the human had, the older beastkin appeared to have other thoughts. Using his fur covered claws, he grabbed the humans arm and pulled him back.

"Sim, we are heading back now. That way, we will make it out of the most dangerous part of the forest before nighttime. We leave now." whispered the beastkin. His voice was quite stern and powerful. The beastkin then whipped his head. He signaled the direction towards a trail that would allow them to leave the forest.

"There's more treasure Hans. I can feel it!" The human seemed irritated. With gusto, he tore off the firm grip of his mentor and moved in the opposite direction. He didn't make it far before the beastkin grabbed onto his arm once more. Unable to fight against the beastkin's strength, he stopped moving.

"We are heading back and sell our treasure NOW! We can come back in a few weeks and find whatever you are feeling then." said Hans. His tone was even more stern now.

"Why don't you listen to me for a change? I'm always listening to you. When to go back, when to take a shower, even when to take a piss! Will you let me make choices for myself?"

"I'm only tell you what to do for your own good. Who's the mentor here and who's the student? If we followed everything you said until now, we wouldn't even be here. We would have died months ago. Come on, let's go."

Hans turned in the opposite direction. For Hans who was experienced adventure, he knew his limits. Adventuring was a dangerous occupation. Although rewards were often plentiful, it is very dangerous. Often death was only one mistake or a choice away. Being in the line of work for most of his life, he knew when it was time to leave and cash in the spoils. Why risk losing your life for 20% more profit?

Instead of whispering, Sim turned and yelled back.

"What if someone else finds this ruin!? My innate ability let's me find treasure, you're lucky the guild placed me under your tutelage! I can feel it! The riches are calling for me!"

With that, Sim walked into the opposite direction. He ignored the exclamations that followed his statement from Hans.

Staring at Sim's back while he walked away, Hans could only shake his head. 'This idiot. He hasn't experienced true danger yet. We have only ran into a few beasts and disarmed a few traps to get what we got so far. And yelling of all things, does he want to get us killed?'

Hans sighed.

'Maybe he needs to learn a lesson? Should I leave him here?'

Grinning while shaking his head, Hans gave up on that thought. He was a mentor for Sim as declared by the Adventurer's guild. He knew that there were dire consequences if his guild ever found out that he just left a newbie to fend for himself.

Instead of leaving Sim behind, Hans quietly closed his eyes. Soon a mirage-like, orb-shaped alteration appeared in the air. It widened slowly and covered over Hans's body. In the areas were the orb had touched him, his body disappeared. Slowly his entire body blended with the foliage behind him. He had disappeared from sight.

Han had made it this far in his occupation because of this art that he had found in a tomb during his younger years. It had saved him many times. Luckily he had an affinity with the wind element that allowed him to use it.

Being lucky was an unspoken attribute required for adventurers. Those who were unlucky never made successful adventurers. Luck played a huge role in finding ruins and tombs that have not been looted or completely missing traps and monsters. Luck also played a role during dangerous situations when a single step in the wrong direction would lead to an adventurer's death.

'I'll follow him from a distance.' thought Hans. 'I'll observe and see if he had learned anything from me these few months.'

With his camouflaged body, Han moved and followed Sim. But from Sim's point of view, his senior had completed deserted him.

'Well, that saves a lot of time. Now I don't need to deal with him anymore.' Sim thought.

Unknown by his senior Hans, Sim had long since planned to kill Hans in an "accident" for his share of treasure. Unlike normal mentor-student relationships, those held by the adventurers guild were often unfair to the student. The pay rate was 10% to 90%. In most cases the students were the ones in great danger as they were the ones who were told to disarm traps or test out corridors for said traps. And yet, they only earned a measly 10% of the profit. The 40% disparity from inequality was considered to be a "tuition fee" which was paid for mentorship. In Sim's mind the "tuition fee" was completely bullshit. The rules favored the mentor way to much. Sim had heard from another newbie that in the case that the student had died, and there was sufficient proof that the student had made a mistake and killed themselves, the mentor takes 100% of the profit and didn't have any penalties.

'Good now I can keep my 50%.' Sim thought as he affirmed himself to his decision. He patted the pack on his back that contained half of loot they had already collected.

'The only reason we were able to find all this treasure was because of my ability to sense them anyways so it's not like he did much.'

Carefully stepping through the brush Sim approached the set of ruins that was ahead of him. Turning a corner, he felt his sixth sense kick in. Suddenly, his heart began pounding violently and he felt his skin burn. The time between his breaths shortened and began to hyperventilate. He felt as if something invisible was pulling him and he almost fell over.

'I need to calm down.' Sim told himself as he tried to control his breathing.

This had never happened to him before. Normally, Sim would feel his heart rate increase a bit and his body would feel like it something was pulling him towards a certain location. The pull was always gentle. Increasing his pace, he followed sense and pushed through a thicket of bushes. In the distance, he could see the remains of a broken down building.

In front of him, numerous rare herbs and plants basked in the sunlight. Large, multicolored flowers bloomed and basked in the sunlight. A breeze picked up and Sim could smell their scents as they wafted towards him.

'Sweet and tart. The flowers are definitely high in quality.'

From afar Sim also noticed that within the "garden" of flower and herbs and the peculiarity of the plantless circle of dirt that was present in the corner of the building. Noticing this peculiarity, Sim began staring at the circle with great concentration. 'Why is there a circle free of plants? The dirt doesn't seem to be special. I can only see some lighter colored pieces of rock or dirt poking out of it but that's it.'

Weary of the circle, Sim found a spot nearby and hid in the forest brush. His adventurer mentorship had not been fruitless. Han had taught Sim well and as a result, he habitually began to treat every situation with vigilance.

From among the numerous tips that Han had told him about, Sim had remembered that most herb patches were guarded by strong monsters who ate them or used them to attract prey. Ultimately, the herbs and flowers would be used to strengthen themselves. Given the size of this particular herb garden, the monster was probably quite powerful and large.

Sim remained still in his bush. He knew that there was something unusual about the plant-less circle. Perhaps the monster was hiding there? So, instead of blindly rushing in, Sim waited. He waited for whatever was hiding in the corner to surface to appear. He waited for something to get close to the are instead of him. He waited to see if a beast would appear so that he could learn its patterns and take the plants when it leaves.

Behind him, branches broke as Hans hid his body inside a bush. His invisibility could only last a short while as his stamina could only hold for so long. Fatigued his body faded back into view. He pushed his body forward and he peered at his student who was hiding a bush in front of him.

'Good. He has learned well. He's waiting while observing the ruin. I'm glad he isn't that much of an idiot and some of my words had stuck in his head.' Feeling proud of his teaching ability, Hans remained hidden and observed the ruin. He readied himself to rush in to save his student in the case of danger.

Over the months of being together, he had become slightly attached to the inexperienced newbie in front of him and he definitely wouldn't leave Sim to fend for himself.

With his excellent eyesight, Hans did not overlook the herb garden within the ruins that his student had been attracted to. 'This is a great find. There are numerous herbs and flowers that will sell immediate on the market! Although, I don't agree with bringing the spoils from the garden with us this time, we can observe to see how strong the guardian of the garden is first.'

Just like Sim, his eyes were especially drawn to the plant-less region of dark soil in the corner. During his first observation he made an insight that Sim had not.

'There appears to be a corpse sticking out of the dirt. From here, parts of its face, chest, and its skin has been dried out by the sun and browned. Clearly it has been here for a quite a long time, but not that long since it hasn't rotten to the bone.'

Thinking to himself, Hans became confused.

'That doesn't make any sense. Considering the age of this ruin, there shouldn't be a body. Not only have scavengers not dug it up, why person bury a body here and not collect all of the herbs?

'Maybe the herb garden's guardian is herbivorous and doesn't eat meat... it killed an adventurer and buried it instead?'

Still confused, Hans decided to observe the ruins further.

...

As a beastkin, Hans had much better observation skills than Sim. His sight and hearing was superb and his sense of smell was even better. Sim tilted his ears and focused his sense of smell on on the soil circle.

After hours of observing Sim and the ruin, Hans had come to many conclusions.

'If you observe long enough, there is something living in dark soil looked almost like it was moving. It rises up and down slowly. It periodically moves in the same pattern once every hour. Something is alive under that soil. The corpse is probably a decoy.'

'This pattern and noise, the soil rises up and down because whatever it is, it's breathing. There are even cracks in the ground around the corpse that suggest so.'

Observing some more, Hans came up with more conclusions.

'The face and parts of the head of the corpse is definitely masculine and humanoid in nature. Without the distinct scaled skin of the draconids, nor the tufts of fur of the beastkin, it was probably human when it was alive.'

Suddenly, Hans was snapped out of his thoughts as he heard movement in front of him. It as Sim. He had begun to move.

Sim had run out of patience. It had been hours since he first came across these the flower gardens and his ability had been urging him to pickup the treasure the whole time. For all the time he spent observing the garden, he only came to one further conclusion: the herb garden appeared to be safe. During the whole time, large insects had landed onto the flowers. Using their long proboscises, they had drawn out sweet nutritious nectar and flew off into the distance straight after. Nothing had stopped the insects nor attacked them. 'The guardian probably isn't present.'

Seeing part of his profits drop as herb nectar could be used in expensive medicines, Sim felt the pull of treasure from his ability weaken with ever insect that visited and left. Soon, he couldn't take it any longer and he decided to move. Gingerly he approached the garden from the side furthest away from the circle of soil that was int he corner of the building. He was still weary of the patch of dirt, but after observing the insects, the herb garden appeared to be safe and the garden guardian was probably not present.

Observing his student move, Hans shook his head. He was disappointed in his student's impatience. Sighing, Hans began to move as well, for he knew that he needed to get closer to Sim to save him if needed. The long break allowed Hans to used his skill once more. Summoning the illusionary orb again, Hans disappeared into the background.

In front of Hans, Sim approached the garden. Sweat built up on his face, as Sim knew he was entering a dangerous area. His heart was pounding and his body was on high alert as he was ready to dash away the moment he sensed danger approach him.

'Five more meters.' Sim thought.

Nothing had happened yet, nothing has stirred from within the garden in response to Sims movement. Sim was now in the open and could be seen perfectly.

Shaking his head again, Hans became even more disappointed. 'The kids too focused on the prize. If I was a predator, he'll be dead. I would have walked around and used the wall of the building as cover... At least he still maintaining a sense of vigilance and isn't running in like a hooligan.'

'Three more meters.' Sim thought.

Sim slowly got closer. He could smell the flowers more clearly now. Faint scents of expensive herbs that had aged mixed with the scent of flowers and began to enter his nostrils. Flashes of stacks of money and all the privileges that he would get with it began to fill his mind and finally. Upon reaching the herb garden, his sixth sense went onto overdrive as another wave of symptoms hit him.

Click. It was as if something that had been holding back his enthusiasm had been broken. Sim lost control. The thoughts of riches, the intoxicating smell of the flowers and herbs, and his ability was corrupting his senses. Unable to control himself, he sprinted and dove straight into the middle of the flower garden.

Sim laughed he rolled on the blanket of flowers and herbs. Many were crushed as he flattened them with his body and pack he carried. With his hands, he maniacally as he ripped herbs and flowers out of the herb garden. An expensive rainbow flower which was highly decorated by the nobles and many expensive medicinal herbs were destroyed in the process.

Normally these herbs and flowers had to be carefully picked and dried and finally stored, but Sim ignored his training. He didn't care, nor notice that he had ruined perfectly good flowers and herbs. Instead, Sim grabbed at the herbs and flowers and crushed them as he stuck them into his bag.

Viewing Sim's rampage from afar, Hans couldn't sit on the sidelines anymore. He decided to step in and pull his junior out of it. Removing his invisibility, Hans yelled at Sim.

"Sim get a hold of yourself!"

Sim, who had lost his mind, didn't notice Hans who called out to him.

Upon seeing that Sim had no reaction, Hans knew he had to act fast. Digging his claws into the ground, Hans charged into the center of the flower garden.

Although Hans was now charging towards Sim, Sim hadn't noticed Hans at all. Instead he kept grabbing more and more herbs and flowers which he stuffed into his bag.

When San reached Sim, he didn't pause at all. Hans pushed his heels into the ground and begin to slide. After sliding to a halt, Hans immediately grabbed onto Sims torso with his two claw-tipped hands. With brute, physical strength, Hans lifted Sim off the ground. Sim struggled while he was raised in the air. He struggled to get free of Hans's grip, but it was too tight.

Hans rotated his body and used the torque generated by his muscular stature and threw Sim out of herb patch.

Thump. Sim had landed over ten meters way in the dirt outside of the garden.

Having thrown Sim, Hans now stood within the flowers. Since his sense of smell was much stronger than Sim, the effect almost hit him immediately. He felt the intoxicating effects of the herbs and flowers.

Instead of succumbing to the scents, he immediately he dug his claws into his arm. Hans winced from the pain as his claws dug deep into his fur covered skin. His arm burned and it helped him keep his sanity as he began to walk out of the garden.

'The herb garden was a trap in of itself.' Hans thought. He knew he had to get out of the garden quickly.

Meters away, Sim struggled to stand up. His face and arms were raw from tumbling through over the dirt. The pain had shocked him out of his madness, but the shock of the fall had also made him confused. In his memory, he was walking towards to garden and now, he was injured and outside of the garden.

Sim glanced back at the herb garden from his position. Standing within the garden was Hans. In the heat of the moment, Sim hadn't noticed that Hans had endangered himself to save Sim. Instead, Sim had other thoughts. 'Hans didn't leave! He followed me to steal my treasure!'

'Hans you piece of shit, don't lay your hands on my stuff!'

Violent thoughts began entering Sim's mind as he began sprinting madly at Hans. Sim was tired of Hans. 'First he said he was leaving and now he's here! I'm going to kill him right here and now!'

In one swift motion, Sim pulled his dagger that was hanging out of its sheathe. This was a motion he had practiced many times under the direction of Hans as drawing a weapon quickly in a dangerous situation was crucial to an adventurers survival. Instead of using his weapon to save himself, Sim chose to turn his weapon on his mentor.

Unaware of Sim's reaction, Hans tried hard to control himself as he walked slowly out of the center of the garden. He knew that he had to maintain his focus or he wouldn't be able to get out. He would instead be trapped forever by the sweet scent caused by the flowers, until he died of hunger and became plant fertilizer.