Lucas's fingers brushed against the golden petals of the Sunpetal. The world seemed to slow down, the enraged and weakened faces of his enemies fading into a muted background. He activated his [Herbalism] skill, a new interface appearing in his vision.
[Harvest Node: Sunpetal (Mature)]
[Options: Quick Harvest (5s) | Meticulous Harvest (30s)]
His [System Insight] flared, providing the crucial, hidden variable. [Meticulous Harvest has a 25% chance to yield a bonus rare reagent.] There was no choice at all. He selected "Meticulous Harvest."
For thirty agonizing seconds, he was completely vulnerable, his hands carefully working at the base of the plant, separating root from soil, pollen from stamen. Rive, still struggling against the crippling [Exhaustion] debuff, roared in frustration.
"Kill him! Don't just stand there, kill him now!" he screamed at his mercenaries.
The warrior, having finally climbed out of the pit, charged forward alongside the Ranger and the now-healed mage. But Kael, though injured, stood his ground. He met their charge with a furious snarl, a loyal, gray-furred wall between the world and his master. He couldn't defeat them, but he could delay them.
[Harvest Complete!]
[You have obtained: Mature Sunpetal x1]
[Bonus Loot! You have obtained: Sunpetal Pollen x3]
[Bonus Loot! You have obtained: Sunpetal Root x1]
Lucas stashed the precious materials in his inventory just as Kael was thrown back by a coordinated blow from the warrior. The three mercenaries were now just feet away from him, their weapons raised.
"You're not leaving here alive, Thorne," Rive hissed, staggering forward, his face a mask of pure venom.
"You're mistaken," Lucas said calmly, pulling another one of his clay pots from his satchel. "I was never planning on fighting you."
He smashed the pot on the ground at his feet. It wasn't Glimmercap powder this time. A thick, dark, choking smoke instantly billowed outwards, enveloping the small clearing in a blinding cloud.
[Choking Spore Bomb]
The mercenaries coughed, their vision completely obscured.
"He's trying to run! Spread out! Don't let him escape!" Jax, the Ranger, yelled into the smoke.
Lucas scooped up the injured Kael, whose whimpers were hidden by the chaos. He didn't run back into the forest. That was the predictable move. He ran towards the pit trap that had taken the warrior out of the fight.
Jax, using a skill that briefly cut through the smoke, saw Lucas's silhouette. "He's heading for the pit! He's trapped himself! Cut him off!"
Rive and the others, their eyes stinging, charged blindly toward the location, thinking they had him cornered. They burst through the smoke just as it began to thin, arriving at the edge of the deep pit. Lucas was nowhere to be seen.
"Did he jump in?" the mage asked, peering into the darkness.
It was then they heard a faint snap from above and across the chasm. They looked up. On the far side of the quarry ledge, fifty feet away, stood Lucas. He held a small knife, having just cut through a thick, fibrous rope that was now snaking its way down into the chasm below.
During his seven days of preparation, he had woven a rope from the toughest vines in the area and strung it across the narrowest point of the quarry, a hidden zipline for just this contingency. His escape route had been prepared before the first enemy ever arrived.
He gave Rive one last, cold, dismissive look from across the chasm, a silent testament to the absolute difference in their strategic depth. Then, he and Kael turned and vanished into the woods.
Rive stared at the empty space where his nemesis had stood, his body trembling with a mixture of exhaustion and impotent rage. He had been out-thought, out-planned, and utterly humiliated from start to finish.
Hours later, far from the Old Quarry, Lucas sat by a small, smokeless fire, tending to Kael's wounds with a healing salve. The wolf licked his hand, the bond between them stronger than ever.
Lucas opened his inventory and looked at the [Mature Sunpetal]. His quest log had already updated.
[Quest Update: A Daughter's Hope]
[Objective: Return to Baelin the Blacksmith in Whispering Pines Crossing.]
He now held the key to his first set of Blue-grade gear and the service of a Master Smith. The Scorch arc was over. His garden had been defended, its fruits harvested.
"Phase two is complete," Lucas murmured, looking out at the horizon as Arcadia's twin moons began their ascent. "Time to build."