[NR] Chapter 357 - Not A Tree, But A Herb (Patreon)

The problem Jason had with naming the gloom weed however was that none of the names he could think of quite fit and he had a good few. Null, Void, and Guiding herb to name a few. That last one in particular floated up when he discovered the most recent use for the plant. Sure, anyone of those names would work, but Jason felt it needed something better.

‘What is the core of a gloom weed? A lack of power, a redirection of power, or even just an imbalance. The plant acted in a way so different from all the other supernatural plants that he knows of. All the others grow by pulling in whatever its power of choice is. The gloom weed, on the other hand, allows the powers to flow around it and whatever stumbles into it is shifted away.

‘Actually, now that I think about it the plant is sort of the reverse of an Energy spring. Those bring up the planet’s Energy and spread it above. The gloom weed, on the other hand, takes the power and directs it back into the earth. On a much smaller scale, of course. In fact, it does about the opposite of what Jason figured a world tree would do.’

Jason pauses, why did he think of a world tree? ‘What would a world tree be, anyway? Well, it would be. It would be a tree of the world? A tree hooked into the ley lines, dragon veins, or whatever you call it. A direct connection into the planet’s Energy that would allow it to enrich the environment around it.

‘The gloom weed goes in the opposite direction. It takes from the environment and puts the power back into the earth. While this wouldn’t do much, there must be a reason. These things are all over NeoRealm, being one of the basic plants any newb adventurer will be tasked with harvesting and a new alchemist would use. No matter the environment, you will find them, even more widespread than Energy herbs.

‘World herbs’ “World herbs”

{Discovery Bonus Earned

+2% success rate when using a World Herb or growing one}

{Knowledge Bonus Earned

+2% success rate when using a World Herb as an ingredient or growing one}

“Though I’m guessing the berries are going to be called void berries.”

“Void berries”

‘Guess I’m not going to get any extra bonuses.’

Jason shrugs and goes back to working with the plants. The sugar water soaked towel is used to cover the roots so they stay damp while he manipulates them. For the ginseng, it was simple enough. Most of the roots were spread out evenly while two main branches of the roots are directed towards the lingzhi and the tea.

From there, it was just a matter of digging up each plant and arranging the roots to help channel the various powers. The result looked like some strange being’s circulatory system. Only the outer edge broke away from the design.

There, the roots of the Energy herbs were formed into a wall with evenly spaced gates. Not just gaps, but actual openings with a special design. It took some time but Jason figured out the exact distance an Energy herb’s roots need to be from a World herb’s roots to allow Mana and Qi to flow freely.

Happy with how it looks, Jason places the last bits of dirt back into the planter and waters it heavily with more sugar water. Then comes the painful part. The plants had been growing decently, especially with the ever-increasing quality of the soil. Now, though, he reaches for his sealed silver snips and with a heavy heart, begins to trim all the plants back.

From everything he had read, trimming back the plants by a third would greatly increase the chances of them all living. Besides that, though, all he can do at this point is keep it well watered and wait. About the only good news is that while not quite mature yet, the tea bush clippings gave him a chance to test it.

Not right away, of course. That would be too easy. No, lacking the proper skills Jason has to wait for the leaves to dry out the normal way. So, with a sigh, Jason packs everything up and continues on his journey.

As luck would have it, or not depending on your view of it, things didn’t stay peaceful. Jason isn’t sure which side to take as it was just a monster attack. Not even an exciting monster. Just a bog standard goblin ambush.

Suffice it to say, Jason did not have a problem with this. He didn’t even wait for them to scream their presence. No, he jumped right into the mini horde of about thirty of the green nuisances.

The fight wasn’t hard but it was oh so satisfying for him. Even when the goblins stopped trying to fight back, likely in response to his slightly unhinged laughter, he continued. It just felt good to move freely without having to think about it. The goblins all had only two eyes and so, despite being humanoid, were free game.

In the end, he might have taken it a little too far. Only a trio of goblins ended up escaping from Jason’s little side adventure in stress relief. Even then, it was only because he caught himself. This wasn’t like him at all. Not now, not when growing up, and not in his last life. Something was wrong.

Jason crouched down as those three goblins ran. All around him, things seemed normal enough but there was a feeling about it. Then he started to see it. Most of the trees and many of the bushes showed signs of violence in the recent past. Others might be willing to just shrug and chalk it up to the goblins.

There was more to it, though. Sure, goblins tend to have a less than positive effect on their territory, but not like this. There were markings of combat from the ground all the way up to the canopy of the trees, and not goblin specific ones either. No, it seemed as if everything was fighting everything else.