Lucky Herb

Unexpectedly, as the adventurers and researcher continued delving deeper into the surroundings, sounds of flowing streams could be overheard in the seemingly docile environment. It felt nearly close by, prompting everyone to strain their ears.

"Is that--?" Judy tilted her head in the direction of the noise.

"It's a river," Brian confirmed Judy's suspicions. "This place also has a water system of its own, though much more natural than the one in the city. You see that over there?" He raised a hand and pointed to a spot on the underground area's ceiling. If one observed hard enough, they could witness bits of dense moisture leaking through its surface and dripping into a pile of wet puddles below. "On my first expedition here, I discovered that portions of the rain water within the swamp would get absorbed into the soil and slowly transfer over to this area."

In support of this statement, Leo and his friends noticed more spots above their heads where additional moisture could be seen leaking through.

"Actually, it's still pretty calm during this hour," Brian continued. "When this place had been first unearthed, the whole area was described to being in the midst of a raining season all on its own."

'Intriguing,' Leo analyzed. 'That would explain how another ecosystem was able to develop in such a remote location.

'And to think that only in modern times has this place finally been uncovered to the rest of the world. This expedition has the potential to become a historical moment.'

Brian slowly massaged his shoulders to relax his tense nerves. Even though this was not his first time coming here, he still couldn't help feeling a little jittery inside. Afterwards, Brian then carefully reached into a pocket within his robe and took out a coiled notebook.

"Alright, ahem," he cleared his throat after flipping to a marked page. "I have a list of certain things which I would like to study up on first. Since the location is still pretty calm, we should take advantage of this opportunity to explore as much as we can."

Without much rainwater permeating through the layers of soil, the majority of the earth in this area is still in a relatively dry state. Being in favorable conditions, the carrier sped forward smoothly for the sake of fulfilling Brian's research goals.

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Beneath the surface of Everrain, there lay a concealed location unbeknownst to most of the residents living above. Abundant in a variety of wildlife, and held up by numerous pillars of soil, it can be considered an entire world of its own, sealed off from most outsiders.

Since the history dating back to the Dawn of Magic, these two separate territories have had little contact with each other, save for the eternal supply of rain that continues to make its presence known to all living creatures thriving beneath it.

At this juncture in time, the barrier between the two worlds is now steadily crumbling, leading to an inevitable confrontation between the residents segregated by their natural habitats.

Presently, the oblivious adventurers had no idea they were currently being watched by the indigenous species dwelling in this bottom half of Everrain. Only a few moments after they had entered this region, their whereabouts were already exposed to the strongest predators lurking here.

Hidden in the water, behind the cover of plants, or submerged in soil, fish headed monsters were quietly studying the human beings that have trampled curiously into their home. A total of six of them were patiently readying themselves, prepared to make a move.

In this deceivingly calm environment, one of the humans started gleefully celebrating due to a glorious find.

"Oh my--! I can't believe this!" Brian gushed in delight whilst sitting in a kneeling position.

Cradled in his right hand, a light-blue clover with five leaves lay twinkling over his palm.

Beside him, Sarah was standing by showing an uncharacteristically shocked expression.

"Is there trouble?" Hearing the commotion from their employer's direction, Alex immediately responded with his arms held at his sides, expecting some kind of attack; he quickly rushed over with large, hurried steps.

"Ah!" Brian jumped up and turned around to display a plant the size of his thumb. "Look here, look at this wonderful little guy! I never dreamed that I would find something this incredible growing below Everrain!"

Determining that there wasn't anything threatening, Alex slowed his steps and frowned as he stared at the possession in Brian's hand.

"Er, what is it?" he asked whilst adjusting the visor of his helmet to get a clearer image.

Apart from Alex, Judy stayed a distance away to protect the group's rear. Leo, on the other hand, was sitting atop his carrier beside the team, overlooking the surroundings to keep an eye out for monsters.

Staying beside the researcher, Sarah took the opportunity to provide a description, "It's a rare medicinal herb with strong magical properties. It earned the name 'Lucky Star', as a reference to its five evenly-sized pointed leaves.

"When grinded with the right ingredients, it can be made into a powder that can grant amazing attributes to a person's body, though they'll only last for a limited time."

Her words trailed over to Leo's ears, unexpectedly garnering the latter's interest.

'Hm? Lucky Star? Sounds familiar... Did Gerald mention something similar during one of his classes?'

Based on his recollections, Leo believed his former teacher may have once given a brief overview about a special star-shaped plant, yet could only distinctly remember that it had something mainly related to warriors.

At this moment, Brian began to take over from Sarah's explanation.

"You see, once the powder has been successfully ingested, the body of the person will receive several physical enhancements." The excited researcher raised the blue clover to admire its appearance. "For an unspecified period, depending on the constitution of the user, their bodies will be able to rapidly recover from any non-fatal wounds. Their immune systems will be nearly incorruptible, freely adapting to almost any disease, and they can even increase the speed of development during training."

Alex became extremely curious at that last part, immediately expressing signs of rapt attention.

"Speed of development?"

Hearing the adventurer's inquiry, the corners of Brian's lips couldn't help slightly curving up, evidently aware of the latter's sudden enthusiasm.

Relaxing his gaze on the plant, Brian revealed, "The Lucky Star is most particularly sought after by individuals in the warrior profession. It has been estimated that people who take a small dosage of its powder during training will experience improvements tenfold their normal rate!

"It's because of all these impressive feats that knowledgeable people have referred to this plant as a 'lucky' find."

Alex was stunned at the researcher's words.

"That's incredible..."

If a normal warrior trained with such a rare commodity, who knows how many barriers they could rapidly break through. And if he could use this to reach a more notable level of strength, it might just be able to improve his chances of restoring his family's fallen nobility.

However, despite the growing longing filling his heart, Alex knew that the claim to this herb did not rightfully belong to him.

Brian giggled like a toddler, "Yes, yes, I know! It's simply astonishing!

"In my whole career, I never would've guessed that I'd one day lay my eyes on a genuine Lucky Star, much less in the middle of a research exploration! These things would sell for at least a hundred gold coins apiece on the market!"

Now, not just Alex, but Judy's interest was also awakened. Even though she herself pursued the mage's path, finding anything valuable would awaken her adventurous instincts. Of course, deep inside, there was also some consideration for her team.

"What are the natural conditions for these things to grow?" she asked Brian with anticipation.

Although she was not planning on taking the Lucky Star for herself, the herb would most certainly be quite precious for Alex. Having worked alongside him since her early days as an adventurer, she knew the difficulties her friend had been struggling with. If they could happen to find another one, then they might be able to obtain it for themselves.

"There aren't any known conditions." Surprisingly, it was Leo who came forward to answer Judy's question. Having also listened in on Brian's explanation, his memories suddenly rekindled. "These herbs are only known to pop up in random locations around the world. There isn't any consistent feature or pattern that could be relied upon to predict where they will next be growing. Not even divination magic can uncover this. That is another reason why they are considered 'lucky'."

Indeed, the Lucky Star can grow anywhere from a desert tundra to a tropical forest. Esteemed mages have once hypothesized that they form whenever a comet passes over the starry sky, their trajectory slightly influencing specks of mana on their planet to condense into light blue clovers.

Upon hearing Leo's interjection, Alex and Judy both stared imploringly at Brian, only to be disappointed when their employer responded with a sad remark.

"I'm afraid what Leo said is true. It is very unlikely that they will appear again in this area." As he stated this harsh truth, Brian's expression started brightening. "But don't get discouraged. I've heard some people say that finding a Lucky Star is often a good omen for more fortuitous encounters to come.

"Just you guys wait. If we're patient, this expedition will surely gift us a plentiful bounty!"