Might as Well

Bear deers were not the easiest opponents, but with a judicious application of force, magic, and his Mana Unraveling skill, he managed to not unleash the chain reaction that would attract all the bear deers to his location.

Thankfully, the monster’s spell they used to alert the others in their group was wholly instinctual, so when Sam reached into the spell construct and simply unraveled it, the monster was incapable of resisting, as it had never had to consciously use the spell.

Sam did not doubt that should he take the time and continuously disrupt a bear deer’s attempt to use the skill, the monster would eventually learn how to use the skill. The game’s AI was great like that…

Based on his experience, that would even induce some kind of evolution or mutation in the monster…

If he took the time and befriended the monster, he could even finagle a pet from it.

‘Well, I could if I needed one… However, the idea is worth some money…’ he mused as he took out some paper and wrote down the idea. Mostly, so that the system knew his plan and they couldn’t accuse him of cheating.

Thankfully, he knew it would work.

The Bear Deer Beer Militia was rather fun to watch whenever they decided to get out of their brewery (they used the pets for hauling cargo and taking naps).

After finishing with his notes, he put them away for later to sell to one of the pet guilds. Lucy would know which one would appreciate it the most.

Instead of wondering about the possibilities of riding a bear deer into battle, no matter how majestic, he picked up his meager loot (some antler remains, used for certain alchemical creations) and went further into the monsters’ territory.

On the way, he took out any bear deer that strayed farther than was wise from the main group while looking for his target, as he made it look like he was looking for the perfect hunting spot.

Then he was distracted in the middle of this trek when he heard raucous laughter coming from the distance.

Instantly, he used his skills to vanish into the underbrush and began sneaking toward the source of laughter as he used his mana sense to get a feel of the people making the sounds.

After a few minutes of navigating the hilly environment, bushes and trees, and a few overly curious monsters, he arrived at a copse of trees where he saw something very stupid.

Three guys, sitting on some freshly felled tree trunks, roaring with laughter as they toasted with digital beer – based on the opened barrels next to them – and watched as the fourth person was doing its best to climb on the neck of a giant bear deer, using its antlers as climbing holds.

The only reason the man was still alive was because the bear deer was very visibly drunk and was watching a very nice butterfly dance before its eyes.

Sam narrowed his eyes and focused on the butterfly.

‘Oh… it’s a spell from one of them… at least they’re not fully suicidal…’ he mused as he continued watching.

It took a few minutes, and a few restarts, but the man managed to get situated on the neck of the monster clinging to the antlers with one hand and drinking beer from a cup in his other hand.

The rest of the group just celebrated as they toasted the bravery of the man.

“HAHAHA… You showed him… who is the boss!”

“All hail the climber of bears! And beer! Don’t forget the beer!”

There were some more cheers and toast before one of the guys sitting on the trunk spoke up.

“Guys, guys, guys! I had just the best idea!”

The others turned to him, and even the drunk bear deer looked at the man.

“An army of bear deers!”

Silence filled the clearing.

“We could teach them Drunken Kung fu?”

The others looked at each other and then began roaring with approval.

Sam just shook his head, though inwardly glad to be present to see the formation of the Bear Deer Beer Militia.

‘Pity I won’t be able to sell my idea…’ he lamented as he retraced his steps away from the group. ‘But they did make good alcohol…hmmm, I should ask Lucy to keep an eye on them and then hire them. Or if not possible, direct them to Brightgarden…’

Congratulating himself for his ‘genius’ business decisions he continued his journey to look for his target while pretending to be seeking the perfect farming spot.

Leaving behind the hilarious people who were in the middle of getting a monster drunk, then either striking it rich or being mauled, he refocused on his task.

For a few hours, he wandered in the area, killing monsters and slowly accumulating experience points, vaguely in the direction where his target was.

Soon, his efforts were rewarded as his mana senses brushed against the outline of some serious magical defenses. Sam perked up, looking in the direction where he sensed the magical defenses then turned back to the monster he was fighting and finished it with a well-placed strike.

He picked up the small loot, not wanting to waste anything, even though he had no need for that paltry amount of money (standard loot goblin behavior, in other words), and headed directly to where the defenses began.

Cresting the last hill, he had to stop and take in the sight before him.

Even though he knew what he would find, it was still amazing to see.

Rolling fields of vegetables and fruits, dotted with the odd trees and other higher-reaching plants. And in the middle of everything was an abbey.

Made from stone and wood, reinforced with magic, the building stood as a lonely edifice to civilization in the middle of nothing. Surrounded by produce and bordered by monsters and mountains. And monsters on those mountains.

Which handily explained the magical defenses that surrounded the building.

In the distance, he could see people in simple robes going around and tending to the plants growing around the abbey. Unsurprisingly, he didn’t see any animal anywhere aside from the odd bird that flew down to rest on one of the expertly crafted scarecrows. Even then, none of the robed figures raised a hand to hurt those birds.

Sam smiled slightly, and with a decisive step, crossed the boundary of the magical defenses.

There was no great clamor as he began walking a well-trodden path, but he could sense that the mana in the defense reacted to him and somebody was notified. However, as he wasn’t here to cause trouble, he didn’t mind.

He was halfway to the abbey when he saw a group of three robed people approaching him from the direction of the building.

Sam slowed down a little, making sure that the approaching people weren’t feeling threatened, even though he had a feeling that the NPCs that populated this small part of the world were far from defenseless.

The three women, dressed in robes of different shades of brown – though the style was rather tasteful, it still showed off their feminity while radiating chastity – stopped in front of him, and bowed as one. The two women who stood on the side a little deeper than the one in the middle.

Not wanting to be seen as rude, Sam simply returned the bow. And as he saw the small smile on the woman’s face, he was glad he did so.

“Welcome, traveler, to our humble abode blessed by Anor,” came the welcoming greeting from the robed woman. Before Sam could answer, the woman continued. “I assume, good traveler, that you’re here for the fruits of our labor?” she asked with a tilt of her head and a spark in her eyes.

Sam, instead of correcting her, just nodded. “I thank you for this warm welcome!”

She nodded and turned around. “Then honored guest, please follow me!”

And Sam did so. The two women who accompanied the still-nameless woman fell back and followed them toward the abbey.

Sam was very glad they were followers of Anor. She (or he) was the god of nature, forests, and vegetation. Followers were strictly vegan and followed the three rules of nature set by their god. Work for what you consume, but never more than you need. Never attack first and the water was a holy place where no violence could be committed. Which is why there was a very nice lake behind the abbey. Sam could even see a few of the followers out on the water having a grand old time in small boats.

As long as a guest followed these simple rules, the followers of Anor would care nothing about their past actions.

Which also led to some issues…

Sam followed the leader of this group living in the abbey inside the building, where he was quickly led to one of the doors that looked like every other door, carved with reliefs of Anor and their deeds. Unsurprisingly, there were a lot of pictures of bear deers, though thanks to his skills highlighting them, he could spot several runes in the cavalcade of carved pictures.

The woman stepped forward, placed her hand on the doorknob, and Sam felt the mana imbued into the door stir a little before he heard a small click sound. The door swung open, and he was ushered in without words, the door closing behind him with a rather ominous sound.

Behind the door was a short corridor, maybe a few steps long, enough to get his bearings, then it was followed by a decently wide spiral staircase leading down.

Still silent, the four of them walked down the staircase, which was occasionally lit by a torch, until they arrived at the bottom.

There, Sam found himself once again in a small corridor and a door, enchanted similarly to the one topside.

The woman leading him stopped before opening the door and turned to him.

“Honored guest, as this is your first time visiting our abbey, I implore you to keep your hands to yourself and do not go off the beaten path as that could cause accidents.”

“Of course,” Sam replied while putting his hands into his pockets. No need to anger the plant lovers. And if what the other Sam heard was true then they sometimes loved those plants literally and sometimes physically.

The door was once again opened for him and he stepped through the threshold with a few simple steps, only to find himself in a great hall, illuminated by an enchanted artifact that cast the gentle glow of the sun on the countless rows of plants that were growing.

He saw members of the order walking around with robes and fabric masks on their faces, examining the plants, taking samples, and harvesting them. On the other side of the hall, there were even more people working on the harvested leaves of the plants resembling cabbages. They washed them, dried them, then ground them into a greenish-white powder.

The order of Anor. Biggest drug manufacturing order on the continent. The plant’s official name that they used for the drug was Anor’s Blessing, but most players would just call it the devil’s cabbage.

Despite manufacturing the drug all over the continent in enough quantities to choke giants to death, they were still allowed to survive by every government.

One reason was that Anor took a dim view of anyone who tried to take out any locally grown cabbage enthusiast by sending plagues and diseases the offenders’ way, and the other was that the drug, when properly purified of the addictive elements was an excellent ingredient for healing potions.

Bigger operations like this one, for these simple reasons, were hidden in places where most people wouldn’t find them.

Officially, the manufacturing of any drug was illegal in most countries, but if no government official saw the creation, then they couldn’t really go after the ‘perpetrators’. People in need of the drug would send someone over, and have them transport it back, where it would be processed and turned into health potions or sold as ingredients to other alchemists.

Oddly enough, the followers of Anor didn’t accept any monetary compensation for their work as they felt that everyone should experience Anor’s Blessing, and once everybody in the world felt their god’s touch, said God would descend and bring with him an everlasting paradise.

The woman leading him allowed him a few minutes of gawking before she cleared her throat.

“Esteemed guest. Would you like to experience Anor’s Blessing?”