Flying visit

When Dominique left he thanked Daniel and apologised again, it seemed he was going to try to decide what to do next with Clair and the kids, there was no excitement, and he just seemed resigned to it.

Daniel was also not exactly happy, all of his equipment was now next to some kind of hypnotic flower who almost ate him. He had no way of knowing if this flower would eat or destroy his equipment, whether goblins or the like would come to steal it, he needed to get back, get re-equipped, and get back to work.

Right now though it was late, around 11, and heading back tonight would be pointless.

He fished the hidden key out from the hiding place he'd left it in for just this occasion and went inside. Heading up to his room he planned to let everyone know what the situation was via whatsapp before getting some sleep, he'd head back to Eden when it was light enough.

Turning on his bedroom light he saw Melissa asleep in his bed, her long black hair loose and her clothes strewn about.

She was waking up with the light and looked around confused, seeing him for the first time she looked even more confused.

"Hey. When you said you moved in…"

"When is it?"

"Heh, it's about 11pm, I thought you were in the other room?"

"Lumpy"

"Fair enough"

She seemed to suddenly realise what was happening and woke up fully.

"Wait, why are you back? It's only been a day"

"A plant tried to eat me, I had to transfer and ended up in the checkout girls house and had to explain the whole situation so that her husband, a cop btw, didn't try to arrest me. They were pretty bummed out"

"Even the plants? Can you stay here awhile?"

"I'll stay until morning then I need to get straight back, all my items will be near the murder plant, not to mention my dragon corpse, I want them back before anything happens"

"You killed a dragon?"

"Yeah, got a shield from it"

As Melissa moved and the covers shifted Daniel suddenly remembered they weren't a couple anymore and the situation she was in.

"No, it's okay, you stay here, I'll sleep in the other room tonight, you were already sleeping"

Before she could say anything he'd already backed out of the room and shouted his good nights.

"I'll be getting up and leaving at 7am"

"Okay, good night"

Left alone in the bed Melissa once again wondered how ridiculous it was God hadn't made a Perception stat.

"Idiot MC"

........

The next morning Melissa woke him with a fruit salad and toast.

As he wolfed it down she gave him a quick update on everyone's situation and promised to relay this new info to the others.

"You have a plan for the plant?"

"Fire."

"Inspired"

"It's a plant, I don't think I really need to outfox it. I saw lamp oil in the store before, now I know about it's powers it shouldn't take much effort"

"Just take it easy after this, simple quests, no dragons"

"This quest was called "Pick the Flower", I'd rather fight the dragon again, besides, soon you'll be there to choose my quests for my Bootylicious."

"I think I'll go with Eve btw, reinforce the idea I'm an authority in Eden you know"

"I never thought of that! This is why you're the public face of our tyrannical new world order"

"What?"

"What?"

"… Well anyway I'm guessing this pushed back my flight time?"

"Let me check, System, same question as always"

[1.87 days]

"A little, 1.87 days so… about 9PM day after tomorrow. You want to go straight away of wait until morning?"

"The sooner the better, I'll be ready by the morning just in case"

As they talked they walked up to the bedroom and he got ready to head over.

"Okay, remember, explain everything to the others and make sure the new guys don't get jittery, I think they're more depressed than anything but people can be stupid. They don't know I transfer from this room so don't mention it, just in case."

As he finished speaking he disappeared, his clothes dropping to the ground along with an assortment of fruit from the fridge from his storage space.

"I won't miss him doing that"

...…

Back on Eden the wind immediately cut through him and the rain soaked him. He cursed the sudden change as he turned to the store panel and bought some basic clothes, dashing to the cabin to get dried and dressed. The storm outside was raging coldly and he saw streaks of lightning in the mountains.

"Well I can't stay here, oil burns in the rain, I need my gear."

It was regrettable to be burning so much of it, he was sure the dragon corpse, spears, clothes, potions, even his boots of the wind would burn up along with the plant monster but he couldn't risk his life again.

"All that matters is killing that thing and getting my mace back, everything else can be replaced."

He bought 2 bottles of lamp oil, a few wooden spears and some cloth to wrap around them and his face. After a moment's hesitation he also bought another MP potion.

"I'll throw all my magic at killing this thing but I may need magic to get back here safely afterwards. No risks"

The rain was being whipped around by the wind and he already felt drenched, with nothing else for it he started his dash directly towards the plant, within an hour he'd be on it.

Taking this direct route he found himself crossing the river, it was high in its banks and moving quickly, he could see Crackbills further down huddling in the reeds.

After checking the water he made space for a run up and vaulted straight over, continuing on his direct route.

A crack of lighting nearby gave him pause, the wind was continuing to blow in and the visibility was getting low. He knew where he was heading because of the area uncovered in his map, it was as he was reorienting himself with this to make sure he didn't get too close he realised something crucial.

"Wait, where's the map marker?"

He'd been travelling here with such intent yet hadn't even realised the problem.

"Did the quest time out? Or reset when I left the planet. Shit did someone else complete it and take my gear?"

After judging the distance he continued on more cautiously, before long arriving close by and seeing the dragon corpse ahead.

He wrapped his face in the cloth and prepared the spears, he was looking for the first colourful flower to start a fire on but couldn't see anything, the lush vines and leaves that covered the ground previously seemed to be replaced by dried out twigs, leeched earth showing beneath.

He edged forward, ready to spray flames at the slightest scent or sight when he saw the withered shrivelled lumps that used to be the flower bulbs.

"Someone beat me to it?"

He could tell that wasn't the case though, from his distance he could see items poking out from beneath the dragon and scattered around it.

A shattered jar of honey, a broken spear, a couple of items of clothing having been picked up by the wind and being thrown around wildly.

"What happened? And where's the big bulb"

He edged around the dragon corpse, still at a distance when it finally clicked. He rushed forward still ready to throw flames if necessary and absorbed the giant body of the dragon.

The crushed body of the main bulb was colourless and inert, he felt a great deal of satisfaction from knowing his escape had killed the thing and could feel no shadow of the longing he had felt before when seeing it.

"I'll gather my stuff first and then it burns, I'm not taking any chances with this thing being inside my borders."

A lot of his clothes were already gone and most of the potions were broken but he still had his boots, weapons, axe and shield. He hadn't lost more than a dozen silvers worth of resources, it was the best possible outcome.

He smashed a bottle of lamp oil on the crushed bulb and set it ablaze from a distance, leaving it to burn as he ran back towards home.