Chapter 90: Mend Stem Sprig
The bear lowered itself back onto all fours, red smoke spilling from its nose like some fantasy bull about to charge. Its burning eyes locked onto Zac as if he had personally stolen the salmon from its mouth.
Zac narrowed his eyes at the creature. "System, scan it." A translucent panel appeared before his eyes.
Name: Unidentified
Race: Unidentified
Origin: Visage of #### Flame
Rank: D-rank
Additional Information: A lack of true soul has been identified.
His gaze paused on the last line. "A lack of true soul?" Zac frowned. "Do you mean it’s only half alive?"
[As bizarre as it sounds, yes. This creature is alive and not alive at the same time. As real as this bear looks, it is not a true living being.]
Zac started thinking, but the bear clearly had no intention of giving him more time.
It slammed its paw into the crimson snow and launched forward, its massive body tearing through the frozen wasteland.
Instantly, a sword appeared in Zac’s hand from his inventory.
The moment the bear reached him, it swung its paw down with enough force to crush a boulder. Zac stepped aside by a hair’s breadth, and the claw scraped past his shoulder before smashing into the ground.
Crack!
The crimson snow exploded.
Lightning flickered around Zac’s body. In the next instant, he was already at the bear’s side. His sword left its sheath in a silver arc, lightning crackling around the blade like restless veins.
He slashed across the bear’s front leg, cutting through its black fur and the glowing cracks beneath.
The beast roared and snapped its head toward him. A stream of crimson flame burst from its mouth. Zac bent his knees and shot backward, lightning flashing beneath his feet.
"Just what kind of creature are you?" Zac muttered. "You look like you bathed in magma, and you breathe fire like a dragon, but everything about you is colder than an iceberg."
The bear charged again, but this time, Zac did not dodge.
He sheathed his sword and waited as the beast thundered toward him. Just as the bear’s paw was about to reach his face, Zac moved with his lightning element and drove a serious punch straight into its jaw.
Boom!
The bear’s massive body flew across the wasteland before crashing into the crimson snow and black stone.
Zac waited for it to get up, but even after a moment, the beast did not move. "Is it dead already?"
[Only one way to find out.]
Zac walked over to the bear and looked down at it. Its entire head was almost smashed in. "I should have controlled my strength."
[Yeah, you should have. After all this time, I finally got to enjoy a fight, and you ended it before it could even start.]
Zac let out a breath and glanced around the wasteland.
"Don’t worry. I don’t think this is the only opportunity I’ll get to fight here." His eyes returned to the bear. "But more importantly, why didn’t I get a notification about its death?"
[Because, as I said, the bear is not a real being. Only real beings give you XP.]
Suddenly, the beast’s body began to glow. It broke apart into tiny particles of brilliant light, rising from the ground before vanishing into the air.
Zac stared at the empty spot where the body had disappeared. "This is disturbing."
[Why?]
"Because I can understand the part where it doesn’t have a full soul, but what is this?" Zac frowned. "It’s almost like it was a clone, not a real body. What the hell is really going on in this place?"
[Do you really want to know?]
"Of course I want to know. What is it?"
[You need one thousand info points.]
Zac’s expression went flat. "Just what I thought you’d say. You only ask me whether I want to know or not when you’re sure I don’t have enough info points, right?"
[Took you long enough to figure it out.]
Suddenly, Zac felt the wind around him grow stronger. The snowfall also became heavier, blurring the crimson wasteland ahead.
He looked around, then glanced up at the dark sky.
"Is there a storm coming?"
[Is that a question I need to answer?]
"No. Don’t. You’ll probably steal another five or ten points for an obvious answer."
He looked around and soon spotted a small cave behind a slope of crimson ice and black stone. It was barely visible through the drifting snow.
"Let’s go there for now." Saying that, Zac started walking toward the cave.
"You know," he said, "even though it was only a D-rank, it felt stronger than the other D-rank beasts I’ve faced before."
[Maybe because this one was made special.]
Zac glanced sideways. "How can you speak like you don’t know anything when you literally know everything?"
[Because if I start speaking like an omniscient being all the time, you’ll get bored of me and only talk to me when you want a real answer.]
The system paused for a second.
[Plus, I want to be entertained. So I only speak like my true self when needed. The rest of the time, I choose to be as ignorant as you are.]
"I’m glad you’re considering things from my perspective," Zac said dryly. "But at the same time, why did you have to call me ignorant?"
[Not only you. Every single being on this planet is ignorant.]
"Yeah. Thought you’d say that."
When Zac reached the cave, he saw that the entrance was large enough for the bear he had killed to enter. "So that’s where the bear came from, huh?"
Before going inside, he stopped a short distance from the entrance and observed it carefully. After confirming that there was no movement inside the cave, he stepped in.
The inside of the cave was much colder and darker than outside. Zac took out a lamp from his inventory, lit it, and started walking deeper into the cave.
The cave was just like the wasteland outside, completely red. From the crystals and rocks to even the smallest pebbles, everything looked as if it had been carved out of fire, yet every surface carried a biting cold when touched.
Suddenly, Zac noticed a rich scent drifting from the depths of the cave.
It was soft, pleasant, and strangely alluring. The unusual fragrance immediately made him curious about its source.
Zac followed the scent deeper and deeper. When he finally reached the end of the cave, he saw a small green plant growing at the center.
It had no flowers, only a thin stem with several tiny leaves spread around it. Compared to the crimson cave surrounding it, the plant looked almost unreal, as if it did not belong in this place at all.
Zac walked closer and crouched down to examine it. "This is the first color other than red I’ve seen since coming here," he muttered. "Why is it different?"
He slowly reached out and touched one of the leaves.
Warmth.
Zac’s eyes narrowed slightly. "Wow, it’s not cold. It almost feels like I’m touching a leaf from the garden back at the academy."
He glanced around the cave, then looked back at the plant. "So what? Was the bear cultivating this or just guarding it?"
[Why don’t you scan it and see?]
Zac clicked his tongue. "Okay, so since you’re always so talkative, why is it that whenever this kind of information comes up, you suddenly want me to scan it instead of just saying it out loud?"
[Because everything has a procedure. Me talking to you is different from the obvious functions of the System.]
"Well, whatever. Just scan it."
Name: Mend Stem Sprig
Grade: Minor Spirit Herb
Description: A medicinal herb used by those attempting to open meridians.
History: A medicinal herb only grown by the ice elves of planet Elysia.
Usage: Chewing the stem while attempting to open a meridian can reduce the damage and strain the body receives during the process. Boiling the leaves in water until they turn black, then filtering and drinking the water, can help stabilize newly opened meridians.
Zac stared at the information with his mouth slightly open. "What’s with all this crap about an elven planet and everything?"
[I know, shocking. Did you think Earth was the only planet that existed?]
"Of course not. I know other planets and other beings exist." Zac frowned. "But this is Earth, right? How can an herb that only grows on some elven planet be here?"
[You forgot that you are inside a secret realm.]
"Yeah... well, that’s true." Zac looked back at the plant. "But how could the timing be this perfect?"
He stared at the small herb for a moment. "Wait... unless it isn’t."
His eyes narrowed. "Is this why Matilda threw all of us into this place? But why didn’t she tell us openly?"
[Then it wouldn’t be an actual test.]
Zac paused. "Well, that’s a point."
Matilda had already said that everything in the academy would be a test. Now that he thought about it, even punishments were probably just training exercises wearing a cruel coat.
Zac crouched lower and carefully uprooted the small plant without damaging its stem or leaves. "Tell me, System. Do the roots also have any value?"
[Don’t be greedy. The roots are useless. All useful medicinal properties are contained in the stem and leaves. The roots hold no value for your current needs.]
"Good." Zac took out a small knife and cleanly cut away the roots. Then he carefully stored the stem and leaves separately in his inventory.
***
Somewhere else in the fiery frozen wasteland, Sabrina stood in front of a pack of fallen wolves.
Their bodies were covered in dark red fur, with magma-like crimson lines running across them. A few seconds later, their bodies scattered into brilliant particles of light and vanished.
Kelly stood behind Sabrina, breathing heavily. "What... what were they?"
Sabrina glanced at the empty ground where the wolves had disappeared. "Magma wolves, probably."
"Is that really their name?"
"No. I just made it up based on how they looked."
Kelly looked at Sabrina for a moment. Then she thought about it seriously. "I think magma ice wolves would be better, since they breathe fire, but the fire doesn’t burn us. Instead, it freezes us."
Only then did Kelly notice that the wolves’ fiery breath had frozen a small part of her shoe. She touched the ice and shivered slightly.
"They’re even more bone-freezing than what you can create," Kelly said. "Not that I’m comparing or anything."
Sabrina gave her a calm glance.
"What? I’m just saying."
Sabrina turned her attention toward the direction the wolves had come from. Their tracks were still visible in the crimson snow, leading away from the river beside them.
She started following them, and Kelly quickly caught up. "Is it really a smart idea to follow the tracks of beasts?"
Without turning around, Sabrina said, "In secret realms like this, beasts usually guard treasures."
Kelly’s eyes instantly lit up. "That’s right. Then we need to hurry before someone else gets there first."
After a few minutes of walking, they reached a cluster of dens hidden beneath a ridge of crimson ice. Several small openings led into the ground, each one large enough for the wolves to pass through.
"It looks like a nesting ground," Kelly said.
But Sabrina’s attention had already shifted elsewhere. At the center of the ground, a small green plant was visible.
Sabrina slowly walked toward it. The moment she saw it clearly, her eyes widened in surprise.
Kelly noticed her reaction and quickly followed. "What? What is it?"
Sabrina stared at the plant. "It can’t be..."
Kelly immediately turned around and searched the area. "What? What can’t be? What did I miss?"
Sabrina crouched in front of the plant and touched one of its leaves. The moment warmth spread through her skin, her expression completely changed.
"I knew it."
Kelly blinked. "You know what?"
Sabrina’s voice became quieter. "These are Mend Stem Sprigs."
Kelly looked at the small plant. "Great. But what are they? It just looks like a normal shrub to me."
"It’s not, Kelly."
"Of course it isn’t. It’s growing from ice." Kelly looked around at the crimson ground. "And not just any ice. Fairy ice? Ice fire? Honestly, I don’t even know what this place wants from me anymore."
Sabrina carefully uprooted the plant while keeping the stem and leaves separate.
"Mend stem sprigs are used by people attempting to open meridians," she said. "They’re rare. Very rare. As far as I know, only the ice elves from Elysia grow them."
Kelly’s eyes widened in surprise. "If they’re really that rare, how did you recognize them?"
Sabrina paused for a moment. Then she immediately answered, "I read about them in an old book."
"Of course you did." Kelly nodded as if everything suddenly made sense. "Normal people read romance stories, and you read extinct plant manuals."
She leaned closer to Sabrina. "So, you said this helps people open meridians, right? What does it actually do?"
Sabrina let out a small sigh. "The stem helps reduce the damage to the body while opening a meridian. The leaves can be boiled in water to make a medicinal soup that helps stabilize newly opened meridians."
Kelly’s face brightened. "That’s great. I mean, really great." She looked around the frozen crimson wasteland again. "So the academy didn’t just throw us here to suffer."