[Shrubley, the Monster Adventurer] Chapter 49 – Doctor Shrub, M.D.

Reunited once more, Shrubley tended to the wounds of his friends. He made good use of his [Recovery] essence ability, fixing Slyrox, Smudge, and himself up.

He was afraid to use it on either the Countess or Cal, considering their undead nature. He had reached out to ready the essence ability, feeling an instinctive urge to help them, but stopped himself in time.

He doubted it would heal, and instead would more than likely hurt to a devastating degree, considering how effective [Recovery] had been against the [Skeletal Beast] and its undead brethren.

Healing Sose was simple enough, but by placing his hands on him, it was clear that the poison was taking its toll. Even Shrubley could sense there was a connection between the oppa and his poisoned mistress.

There was only so much he could do for the small ferret-like creature. He held some hope that by using [Recovery] on Sose, it might help the Countess.

Unfortunately, that did not appear to be the case.

When Shrubley touched the Countess’ forehead, he was surprised at how hot she was. Normally, she was cool as marble, but she was burning up now.

I have to help her! But how?

Shrubley had a nasty dose of the [Serpentii Assassin’s] poisonous bite as well. But it was clear that his adversary had relied heavily on the poison to do much of its work.

Instead, it had barely made a dent in Shrubley’s health and he was only now feeling the effects, muted as they were. He imagined the poison wasn’t designed for plant-based races and instead the more common mammalian ones.

If even the Countess was taken out by their poison, it must be potent indeed.

An idea came to him, and so while Smudge, Slyrox, and Sose were recovering their health, Shrubley dropped into a cross-legged pose and began to meditate.

The last time he had an idea like this, to operate on his instinct alone, it had turned out well for him.

He hoped to replicate that again here, but in order to do so, he needed to completely focus his body and mind as one.

Cal looked over, clearly wanting to talk to him, but he saw how intently Shrubley was focusing and decided to leave it. He focused on looting any valuables off the assassin that had nearly wiped them out.

Shrubley focused his nascent mana swirling throughout his body. He envisioned the poison in his system as a dark purple wherever the bite marks had pierced his bark.

There it is.

By using his mana, he was able to encapsulate the poison and move it away into the tips of his branches, where he continued to channel and sequester the poison. It was a bit like using [Garden Cultivation], but on a whole different level.

He didn’t think it would be possible to do without his Copper abilities awakening his mind and spirit to new heights.

Slowly, minute by minute, with every ounce of Shrubley’s will pouring into it, a small black berry grew on one of his branches. At first it was the size of a pinhead, but as Shrubley pushed all the poison into it, the berry doubled again and again until it was the size of a grape.

Shrubley opened his eyes and plucked the berry. Black, swirled with purple. It looked different from any berry he had ever seen in his life.

Going entirely on instinct, Shrubley consumed the berry in its entirety, knowing full well it contained a heavy dose of poison. This was the risky part.

“Shrubley?” Cal asked, watching him with a worried expression. “Are you–”

Whatever it was that Cal was saying was washed out by a sound like a waterfall roaring in his head. Shrubley struggled to stay upright. His hands flew out to the ground to brace himself as the poison infiltrated his system.

But just as fast, something in his body recognized the mana from the berry mixed with the poison and neutralized it.

His body felt like a war zone, the poison and antidote battling it out, while his body and spirit bore the brunt of the strain.

Shrubley lost all sense of time and place. He felt Cal’s hands shake him, but he couldn’t formulate a response.

It could have been a few minutes or days before Shrubley finally came back to himself. Cal was pacing back and forth in front of him, watching him and nervously chewing on the tips of his finger bones.

“I am… well,” Shrubley said with great effort. He sagged but would not allow himself to fall down completely.

You gain the essence ability, [Counteract].

[Counteract (Light)]

Cost: Very High Mana

Cooldown: 1 hour

What doesn’t kill you, only serves to make you stronger.

Imprint: Once you gain an affliction, you can utilize your natural ability to cultivate materials to create a counteracting agent.

It had not been Shrubley’s intention to create a new essence ability, but he wasn’t about to argue with it. The cooldown was high, but already he could feel more berries budding on his branches.

The ability took more than a two-thirds of his mana, but that was a small price to pay to be able to heal people. Shrubley plucked two black-and-purple swirled berries and gave one each to the Countess and to Sose.

Shrubley watched as the effects took place almost immediately. The poisoned wounds on the Countess steamed as each wound closed. The purple stains on her skin vanished.

Sose twitched as the poison was removed from his system. He opened one eye, dooked quite softly, and then fell into a deep restful slumber.

“What did you do?” Cal asked in amazement.

“I healed them,” Shrubley said proudly. He rather liked the feeling of helping people this way.

Perhaps there are more ways than I thought to be a great Hero, he thought to himself. Everybody had heard tales of the brave warrior who slew a whole deadly cult on their own, but what of the great healers who removed illness and disease from the land?

What role did they have in the great epics of the age?

A pulse of energy radiated out, near the oppa and the Countess. An opal jewel manifested in the air, and shortly fell to the ground.

Shrubley scooped it up, surprised by the suddenly appearing [Light Essence Gem]. It was just like his curiosity gems, in that it offered experience for an already bound essence.

Did my healing create this? But how?

***

A little while after being healed, Slyrox awoke. The koblin jolted in surprise, seeing who was present amongst them.

Shrubley was not just alive, but changed. He had grown.

She jumped up and attached herself with all four limbs to Shrubley’s larger, four-foot-tall body. “Shrubley!” she cried with disbelief and relief at once. “Slyrox always knew you were alive. Shrubley is Greatest Hero like the Havior. Cannot be dying, I say!”

Shrubley patted her gently on the back as he laughed. “Your faith is superior to my own,” he told her, setting her down on the ground.

Slyrox looked from Shrubley to Cal, who was examining something in his hand.

“What do you have there?” Shrubley asked, coming over to take a peek.

Cal held a citrine jewel in his hand, the deep orange glow of the essence gem shining through the gaps in his soot smeared bones. The item had dropped from the defeated [Serpentii Assassin].

[Mirror Essence]

(Orange Essence)

(Copper Rank) (★★★ Rare)

A rough orange jewel with a faint inner glow.

Imprint: Upon use, grants the user the [Mirror Essence], provided they have free essence slots.

You have 2 out of 3 essence slots remaining. Bind to a free essence slot?

Slyrox looked on with interest at Cal’s find. “The essence of this realm?” she asked him, as if he was any kind of expert.

Technically, he was. More so than the koblin, at any rate. And out of all of them, he was the most studious. “Yes, it would seem.”

“Muchly useful?”

Cal stared into the jewel’s scintillating depths, mulling over the impending decision. A part of him recoiled at the thought of wielding the essence that created this twisted reflection of his home.

Another part of the skeleton yearned to use the serpentii’s power against them. There were a lot of things that mirror essence might be capable of in his hands.

But those possibilities were only theories. And optimistic ones at that.

There was also the question, a superstition really, that this essence was evil in some way.

In certain corners of the world, some people believed such things. It was easy to hold such beliefs when one witnessed the destruction that Blood, Darkness and Death essences sowed. And in the case of essences like Carnage and Sacrifice, the intent was plain. It was in the name, after all.

But Cal’s concern was about this mirror realm, not philosophical questions about essences hailing from the true Worldshard.

What if this Mirror essence was a corrupting force in some way?

Slyrox placed a mitt gently on Cal’s arm. For being a creature of flesh and blood, she never so much as mistrusted him once. In that way, she was a lot like Shrubley.

“Is essence,” she said simply. “No different from any other Orange type.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Shardscript doesn’t lie.”

“No essence is truly evil on its own,” Shrubley said. “It is all in how you use them. Even the most evil-seeming ability can be put to the forces of good.”

Cal held out the gem to him. “Don’t you want it? You did kill the serpentii.”

Shrubley scuffed the dirt with his foot. “I already have a full set,” he said very quietly.

“A full set?” Slyrox whispered, mitts going to her muzzle in surprise.

Shrubley nodded. “I am Copper Rank now.” He remembered the essence gem in his inventory. “In fact,” he added, “I have an extra essence gem for anybody who might want it.”

“Just like the Havior indeed,” she intoned reverently.

“I thought it would be best for Smudge, but seeing as I already have a full set, it wouldn’t be right for me to choose.” Shrubley held out the orange-colored [Hunger Essence] in the palm of his hand.

Cal stared at the offered essence. It made him feel immediately uneasy. Too much like being around the Rattle Rousers again.

Smudge bounced onto Slyrox’s head to get a better look. “Pyuu?”

The skeleton mage looked at the slime. He wasn’t sure how he understood its strange noises, but he felt like he did. It was all in the inflection and tone.

Slimes were highly contextual creatures.

“Are you sure?” Cal said, reaching his hand toward the gem.

“Pyuu.”

“I can’t say I disagree,” he said slowly. “This would bring me to a full set. But taking two essences that we’ve managed to find so far? And so hard won at that feels wrong.”

“Pyuu!”

Cal sighed. It was tempting.

With both essences, he would have Elemental, Mirror, and Hunger. He wondered what abilities he might get from them. “You truly do have a way with words, Smudge.”

The slime nodded to itself, which was little more than its floating face bobbing up and down. “Pyuu, pyuu,” he said sagely.