Chapter 23

The first battle was very successful. Since no dryad had to retire, it was fine.

I felt proud yet a bit sad seeing the burn marks all over Daisy's clothes. Can't I buy her new ones? As I fiddled with the sleeve that had burned particularly badly, Daisy said, "Oh! It burned badly!" which made me feel even worse.

Elder Healing can't restore clothes, can it? We just left the village, and it's a bit awkward to go back... We can't return to the village every time her clothes get burned, can we?

"Jay, are you worried about Daisy's clothes?"

Mesquite took my hand away from the clothes. He held my hand in his large one and looked even more distressed than I did when I was looking at Daisy's clothes. My hand was full of crescent-shaped marks from where I had pressed my nails into it, unable to contain my anxiety.

"It's fine. It's just a habit. Really! I don't have much muscle elsewhere, but I have a strong grip. I can even break chopsticks with one hand! I was just clenching my hand tightly because I was tense!"

Mesquite's expression grew increasingly gloomy, making me feel guilty.

I'm sorry! I won't touch my body so carelessly next time! It doesn't even hurt, but it feels like my heart is being torn apart seeing you in pain on my behalf!

Mesquite watched me silently until Elder, with his glowing hand, took my hand.

"Use a potion. You have plenty."

While the white light meticulously scanned my palm, Elder pointed at Daisy with his chin. Use a potion now? You already restored her health, didn't you?

I hesitantly took out a potion with my free hand. To be honest, I had felt something was off when I received the potion.

In most games, potion colors are red, blue, yellow, and various others, right? You can tell what they restore just by looking at the color: red for health, blue for mana, and so on.

But this potion is transparent. I brought the long bottle in front of me and shook it. Even in the light, it remained transparent. Tiny bubbles floated up.

"Why use a potion when you healed everything?"

"Weren't you upset about the kid's clothes?"

"So why use a potion?"

The knowledge of a basic RPG player like me and the knowledge of Elder, who was born in the game world, clashed.

It's like when you learn in elementary school that zero is the smallest number, but in middle school, you find out that numbers can have a minus sign in front of them.

Mesquite, perhaps feeling sorry for me trying to show off my limited knowledge to someone born in the game world, explained with a kind smile.

"This is called a potion by humans, but it's actually called sap by dryads. Specifically, it's the sap of the World Tree."

The potion I was holding suddenly seemed like a high-end ginseng sap being advertised on a home shopping channel with five-star ratings.

This is even better, right? Crazy, sap from the World Tree. Does it have health benefits if you drink it? When I was a student, my parents bought a box of ginseng sap to improve my brain function... It was only interesting at first...

"To dryads, clothes and armor are like bark that protects their insides. When the bark is injured, sap flows out to prevent infection and heal the wound. The World Tree is like the mother of all dryads. The sap of the World Tree, preserved with magical power, is what humans call a potion."

"Right... You came out wearing armor when you bloomed from the fruit..."

Can you drink it, or do you apply it? I handed the potion bottle to Daisy. She'll know how to use it.

Daisy looked at the potion bottle with curious eyes and opened the cap. What happened next was completely unexpected.

As soon as the cap was opened, the liquid vaporized instantly, enveloping Daisy's body. She looked like she was wrapped in white mist. The mist quickly erased the remaining battle scars on her.

"Wow... That's amazing."

"Jay, do you feel better now?"

"This method is better! I still have 47 more of these potions I won as prizes!"

"Amazing!"

Excited, I shouted, and Daisy chimed in from the side. Elder clicked his tongue, saying that I was the only druid who would use a potion for such minor damage.

Overuse! This is not overuse by my standards! I wanted to use it again because the liquid vaporizing was so fascinating, but I held back for the next battle. I'll buy all the potions I can when I find someone selling them.

As soon as Elder finished healing, Mesquite carefully examined my hand again. Daisy, being short, couldn't see what was happening and looked up at us with wide eyes.

"Are you hurt...?"

"No, no. It's nothing. Really, it's nothing."

I showed her my hand, which Elder had already healed, to reassure her. If you can survive a fire, a hand with some nail marks is nothing.

Suddenly, Mesquite let go of my hand and lifted Daisy up. I thought she would hang from Mesquite's waist as usual, but surprisingly, she stopped mid-air.

Daisy had quickly extended a vine from her arm, attached a dagger to it, and plunged it into the ground to anchor herself. Like a ship anchored to a pier, she withstood Mesquite's sudden movement. However, it was a makeshift solution, not using the power of her roots.

Mesquite looked a bit surprised but smiled happily. He praised Daisy's quick reflexes. However, when Mesquite applied more force, the dagger was pulled out helplessly.

No matter how hard Daisy tried to anchor herself... she still couldn't withstand Mesquite lifting her up casually...

We continued our momentum and looked for new prey before the excitement from the first battle wore off. The fires were lurking around, so we didn't have to go far to find them. It was a real beginner's hunting ground.

After gaining some experience, Daisy became much more confident. She used techniques like the red petal wind cutter, which she had only used sparingly at the end, while running. It was as if she struck first to gain the upper hand before the monsters could even react.

The fires, which had been reduced in size, were quickly extinguished by Daisy's attacks.

Watching Daisy's combat, I felt that she was specialized in single-target, 1:1 combat.

She might seem lacking against multiple monsters, but such characters shine in boss battles like raids. Her focused, powerful attacks were impressive.

Daisy's confident attacks were so fierce that from a distance, it looked like the wind pressure from her dagger strikes was extinguishing the fires.

Mesquite, seeing another fire approaching, said that fire attracts fire.

While Daisy had to split and deal with the fire multiple times, Mesquite could subdue it with a single thrust of his lance. Daisy looked at him with great admiration. After that, her attack patterns became more refined.

As Daisy's attacks became more precise and she took less damage from the fires, Elder became more relaxed.

Come to think of it, doesn't he attack too? Branches just pop out! I tapped my staff subtly to give him a hint.

In games, healers sometimes deal damage when their hands are free. In some extreme cases, healers even top the damage meter, which usually results in a public shaming on community forums.

"I can't attack fire directly because I use the World Tree's power."

Elder, sensing my expectations, said with a serious face that his attacks would only fuel the fire.

He can easily pierce through other things but not fire. But it's okay. Elder was a great healer and very handsome. He was already 100 points for being a great healer, and with his good looks, he was 200 points.

After Daisy had defeated a certain number of fires, we took a break as no more fires approached.

While I was generously using potions, Daisy suddenly pointed at her legs. Green vines wrapped around her legs, blooming red flowers and green leaves. The blooms glowed white and disappeared, replaced by dark green boots that matched her gloves.

This meant that my level had increased, breaking Daisy's limits. There was no system message, sound effect, or visual effect, so I didn't realize my level had gone up.

I had felt a strange, refreshing sensation and a lightness in my body at times, but could that have been a level-up?

"Mesquite, did something change about me?"

"Hmm... The more I look, the more lovable my master Jay seems?"

Mesquite said with a playful smile, making my face heat up. I'm going to go crazy, stars... My heart was pounding so hard I clutched my chest.

"Hehe... Just kidding, Jay. Your soul's limit has increased. You're growing steadily."

If he keeps joking, I might die of a heart attack.

Mesquite verified my level-up. I wonder what level I am now? I'm so curious. I wish I could use the diamonds overflowing in my phone to level up.

If love can be bought with money, why can't levels?