A Quest For 1000 Soul Points

"I hope it's not a scavenger camp," Arthur said to himself before climbing down from the statue. Once he was down, he quickly scanned the land and noticed several holes and bumps in the ground, reminding him of the buried undead.

So he began to rush out of the land and head toward the direction of the smoke. As he was walking, he found a mini tree about three feet in height. It had the characteristics of a tree, except it was miniature. In addition, there was a fruit, a shiny red fruit that looked like an apple.

"What is that?" Arthur focused on the tree, activating his Scavenging Eyes to study it.

[Activating Scavenging Eyes…]

As soon as he activated the skill, the status window for the flora appeared before his sight.

Category: Flora

Name: Bloater Apple

Properties: When consumed raw, the fruit will enhance its consumer's strength, speed, and stamina for an extended period. Used in concocting potions when combined with other organic materials.

"Bloater apple?" Although its properties raised Arthur's interest, the name irked him somehow.

"Why is it called Bloater apple?" Arthur asked as he cautiously made his way toward the miniature tree. But when he stepped closer to the tree, he felt the ground beneath him feel squishy. He looked down and saw no difference. However, when he looked closer at the tree, he noticed a tiny hole in the ground. Since he already knew there were undead buried themselves in the ground to avoid direct sunlight, he had a bad feeling in his guts.

But Arthur always loved the thrill of a challenge as he considered himself an adrenaline junkie. So his curiosity and thrill of challenge got the better of him. Thus, he bent down and looked into the hole in the ground.

The moment he looked into the ground, he felt a chill as he saw a row of yellowish teeth and glowing bulbs in the ground.

"What the fuck?" Arthur took a step back immediately. He recalled those glowing bulbs; they weren't some luminescent mushrooms, no…they were the bloaters he saw in the bloated zombie's body last night. This meant only one thing: the Bloater apple tree had grown above the bloated zombie slumbering in the ground he was standing on.

"Arthur, calm down and pick the apple," he said to himself. Then, he slowly reached out to grab the apple. However, the moment he touched the apple, he heard a gluttonous growl, and the ground beneath him began to crack.

Arthur immediately let go of the fruit and realized picking the fruit would bring the zombie above. These unintelligent zombies might be vulnerable to sunlight, but Arthur still hadn't known much about them and their behaviors. Thus, he didn't risk picking the fruit, which could bring out the Bloated Zombie from the ground. If that happened, Arthur knew for sure he would die.

"Nope, not going to pick it… for now," Arthur said, slowly backing away from the tempting but dangerous Bloater apple tree. He made a mental note to return and harvest these fruits once he had gathered enough resources and powers.

As he retreated, the tremors beneath the ground calmed. Deciding not to risk touching the fruit for now, Arthur continued his journey westward. Along the way, he scanned several other floras, taking mental notes of their locations. He harvested some Snake Grass, Dotted Queen Mushrooms, and green leaves that provided a minuscule amount of calories.

"I need to make bags to carry these," Arthur muttered to himself, before tying his harvest into his torn robes.

After munching on a bunch of green leaves that grew in the ground like a goat would, Arthur noticed the smoke getting closer. In addition, he saw a clothing line with some robes drying in the air.

"I never thought I'd be happy to see someone's trousers drying on the line," he said to himself with a relieved chuckle.

Still cautious, Arthur kept his dagger and makeshift spear at the ready in case this small settlement turned out to be a scavenger camp. But deep down, he had a feeling that wasn't the case.

The camp before him was small. Whoever occupied it had fixed broken and ruined buildings to take shelter. Thousands of years ago, this must have been a thriving village, as evident in the wooden ruins and remnants of pavement. The small settlement was surrounded by a makeshift fence using broken wood and metal bars.

After all these years, only ten or twenty buildings had withstood the test of time, but Arthur was glad to see them. As he approached, he saw the first man who wasn't a scavenger or an undead. To his surprise, the man had pointy ears, a tall stature, and silver hair that shimmered like metal.

"An elf," Arthur said, both surprised and shocked, seeing an elf for the first time. As a human from Earth, he had only known elves as a fictional race, seen only in movies. But seeing one in person felt entirely different.

But Arthur's shock was short-lived as the elf noticed him and immediately raised a makeshift bow in his hand.

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" the elf commanded, nocking an arrow.

At the elf's command, several others rushed out of the ruined buildings. Arthur saw a couple of humans, a human lady holding a baby in her arms, a short, burly man with a long beard, and several elves of both genders.

Arthur stopped in his tracks, not due to the elf's command, but in shock and surprise. "A dwarf… wow," he said, looking at the short, burly man with a long, messy brown beard and hair.

"Is he a scavenger?" the young woman holding the baby tightly in her arms asked the elf.

"If one scavenger's here, his cronies won't be too far," said the dwarf in a gruff accent that seemed to roll and tumble like stones in a quarry.

"Mommy, I'm scared," a little boy said.

"Who are you?!" The elf, ignoring the others, shouted at Arthur.

"I am not a scavenger," Arthur slowly raised his arms and tossed the makeshift spear to the ground to show he wasn't hostile.

"Your black robes say otherwise," the elf countered.

"Look, I'm just a normal guy trying to survive in this messed-up world," Arthur said, sounding as sincere as possible.

"What are ye doin' here?" the dwarf asked.

"I'm trying to find a place to settle and to warn you," Arthur, recalling how the scavengers had talked about heading west before he killed them, decided to play his card.

"Warn us? Warn us about what?" asked the silver-haired elf. His blue eyes pierced Arthur from top to bottom. Any movement would definitely make the elf release the arrow, which was obvious to Arthur.

"I came across some scavengers, and they were talking about heading toward the west. They were mapping the surroundings and talking about settlements. I have a map I took from the scavengers to prove this," Arthur said, slowly lowering his hand to the parchment rolled up and stuck in his waist.

"Make any sudden move, and this arrow will go right through your head," the elf warned, to which Arthur simply nodded.

Arthur then slowly retrieved the map and tossed it over the fence toward the dwarf. The dwarf caught the parchment, opened it, and observed a partially completed map of the surroundings, stained with blood drops. He also noticed a few known landmarks and an arrow pointing in the direction of their current camp.

"Shite," the dwarf grumbled.

"It's either this lad's drawn the map himself for some elaborate scheme, or he's tellin' the truth," the dwarf commented.

"How can we know you are not a scavenger and this map isn't drawn by you?" the elf asked.

"If I were a scavenger, I wouldn't have come alone, trekking through a field where the undead, or zombies, or whatever you call them, have buried themselves in," Arthur reasoned.

As the elf considered his words, a sudden loud bell rang, reverberating through the area. They all turned to see a group of riders mounted atop hyenas heading in their direction, banging metal plates together. To Arthur's dismay, they wore the same black robes as him...

"SCAVENGERS!" the elf shouted. In that moment, he also released the arrow, thinking Arthur was one of them.

The arrow whooshed through the air. Arthur, exhausted from the long walk, moved slowly, and the arrow grazed his thigh. "Fuck!" he cursed, dropping to one knee from the pain of the crude arrow's graze.

"KILL THEM ALL!" Arthur heard one of the scavengers riding a hyena shout, pointing his crude sword at the camp and ordering his men.

Suddenly, the system god gave Arthur chimed inside his head like a bell.

[Ding! System Quest function has been unlocked!]

Quest: Save the camp without any lives lost

Rewards: Minor Healing Recipe and 1000 Soul Points

Penalty for failing to complete the quest: The Host will get 50% fewer Soul Points from killing for two weeks.