Starting from Zero

Book 3, Chapter 36

The Garden of Life

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The forest is not as thick as I expected. And the trees are mostly fruit trees, instead of those lush vegetations in the Lost Woods.

They got taller as I walked deeper inside.

Ah, bingo. That should be the maze. I saw the maze mentioned in the post. It's completely constructed out of plants. This is the first time I see such walls completely made of plants and thick vines.

The wall in front of me got no entrance to it, so I picked a direction and walked along it. There should be a single entrance somewhere.

There it is. An opening in the vines. When I entered the maze I noticed it even got a roof over it. Looks like flying is not an option.

I walked in the maze for a while without running into anything. Not a single monster. After about another 100 meters, I saw a fork ahead.

Yup, a minotaur, carrying a magic wand, is standing in front of it. It walked towards me when I got near.

"Young pursuer of knowledge. Tell me, what is the meaning to live?"

Pfff. Is that supposed to be a question? The meaning to live? Those philosophers have been working on it for centuries!

"You have 30 seconds left." It urged me.

"There is no meaning to live. I live because I am, no reason in it. Being alive is the meaning itself."

"Good. Go ahead." It moved out of the way.

I actually passed? I made that one up you know.

After some more exploring, I found that the maze is bigger than I expected. There are so many dead ends! I finally reached another "minotaur fork" after going back and forth for god knows how long. Yeah I just need to look out for these guys for the correct paths.

The question is more absurd this time. He wants to know what's the nature of magic. How should I know?? There's no fcking magic in my world.

"I don't know!"

The minotaur moved aside. "I was testing your honesty. You passed."

"...Thanks?"

I continued to scout for the signs of these ox-head creatures. If I didn't find one after passing two turns, I just go back and choose another path.

It's almost high noon when I finally got out the maze. I answered about fifty questions of all sorts. Ugh, my head hurts.

But the scenery in front of me instantly lifted my mood. I must be dreaming! I never witnessed such a place in any tourism advertisements. The river is almost transparent, the leaves are shining green, the flowers and the butterflies among them look like rainbows!

Wait. This is when that player said he got killed. It's not time for sightseeing.

I cast a magic barrier. I don't think anything's going to kill me in one shot with my full protection on.

I stepped ahead for a bit. Nothing's coming up.

I began to wonder if the author was just bluffing, because he doesn't want other people to come here and share whatever treasure he found. Then I dropped the idea. He wouldn't post the thread in the first place if that's the case.

When I'm considering my options, the ground below began to shift. Bong! I was knocked flying like a baseball!

I spread my blade wings and looked around. Who did that?!

"Arrrgh!"

A falling rock landed right on my back and smashed me to the ground. That must look really embarrassing.

When I'm trying to get up, the dirt cracked open, and a green snake rushed out and wrapped itself around one of my legs. I quickly cut the snake with my claw blades, then took off the remaining corpse tangling on my leg.

Wait, it's not a snake, just a tree vine.

"Ahhhh---"

Another vine came from my back and sent me flying. Then four more of them completely locked up my limbs. Oh come on, how do I fight something like this?

Before I can struggle, some more vines wrapped up my body like a mummy!

"Help me out!!"

I summoned my entire team. The Phantom Knights skillfully cut down all the vines, freeing me. While Lucky grabbed one of the vines in his maw and pulled on it. His strength is no joke, the vine was pulled out of the ground. Loong'er breathed something at the vine and shouted: "Petrify!"

We completely dragged the entire thing away from the ground, only to find it's just a piece of broken root or something. Whatever it's connected to must have abandoned it.

Can't be careless anymore. I asked the knights to stay in a circle around me and watch out for any more ambushes.

Phiona and Loong'er scouted the area in the air. We noticed that there is an arc shaped barrier above the place, completely isolating it from the outside. So even if I managed to bypass the maze by air, I wouldn't get in.

"Lucky, watch our six."

We carefully marched for some distance. I thought it's over when a vine broke the ground open right beneath me. We're prepared this time. Night Shade dodged the attack with a swift hop-away. None of the other assaults succeeded. The Phantom Knights are too strong to get caught by some petty vegetables, while Lucky would usually just drag the vines out instead of getting trapped.

I was hoping that Phiona and Loong'er can provide some air support, but it appears our enemy would just hide underground so they won't help much.

A vine managed to catch one of Phiona's claws. She only had time to let out a short cry before she was dragged into the ground! I jumped down from Night Shade and searched for her. That shouldn't be enough to kill her.

The vine soon came up again, with some blue flames burning on it. Then more of them showed up. Every hole they opened on the surface is now giving out fire beams like a flamethrower. Wow. Phiona really did it. She set fires under our feet and forced these things out.

The ground is shaking more and more violently. A giant bulge appeared not far from us, and a green round bud-like object emerged from it, with Phiona standing on its head. The thing got no legs but it somehow rushed into a nearby pool with extreme speed.

Fzzzzt!

That's a lot of steam. Looks like it really got "heated up".

Phiona seems still angry at getting dragged down. She threw a fire wave and burned the pool empty to the bottom.

The green bud is still running around trying to find water!

"Phantom, can you talk to it?"

"Sure!" Phantom is able to communicate with anything with a mind.

"What is this thing?"

Phantom paused for a bit. "He says he is a monster, level 600, the Flower Creeper."

I took out the "almond" I obtained from the trading center. "Ask if he knows this thing."

"It's a creeper seed."

"What is it used for?"

"Flower Creepers are a special species. They turn into seeds instead of eggs when captured. You can plant the seed near the Fountain of Life and water it using the water there, it will grow into a Creeper like him. But it will need to absorb fresh blood for it to become something that can move around freely. How strong it becomes depends on the amount and quality of blood."

"That's it? Then why is this one...so weak?"

"He says he's just a wild monster who happened to absorb some random passing-by monsters. That's all he can get."

"Where is the Fountain of Life?"

"He doesn't know how to direct us but he can lead us there."

"Let's do it then. Tell him to lead the way."

We followed the bud for quite a long way before we reached a vacant area among the woods. This time all my team was attracted by the view. A tall rock sits in the middle of a small pond, with a tiny spring stream flowing out of it. A miniature rainbow is giving out a bright color above the pond, catching everyone's eyes. There mere sight of this is worth the whole effort!

Phantom dragged me back into reality. "The creeper asks if he can leave now."

"Let him go."

The "bud" quickly dug a hole and vanished. It must be really terrified of Phiona.

I took out the rotten heart of that old man. So I just need to wash it clean here right? Seems easy enough. I crouched beside the pond and prepared to wash.

"Don't--"

That's a woman's voice. Gentle, but obviously scared for some reason. It didn't stop me in time though, I already put my hands and the heart into the water!