As he put on his glasses and stopped his alarm, he checked to make sure his stats hadn’t changed from the day before.


    6:00 am


    Since they were essentially doing one large job over the course of several weeks, adventurers on Journey Quests received experience once a week instead of when the job is done.Jordan stared at the peculiar skill for an extra beat before gathering his equipment together.He was still annoyed he had never pursued investigating it further since the previous incident, but it couldn’t be helped.


    He looked up from the book he was reading, examining Jordan for slightly too long as he made his way down the stairs.It had been 2 days since the incident at Dreg Draughts, and Bryn still clearly had his concerns.Maive assured the both of them that Jordan’s exposure to the Toad Slime in the pink potion had caused the hallucinations, while his and Bryn’s tolerance to alchemical fumes had spared them from a similar experience.


    Though he had felt fine for the past day, Jordan could still feel Bryn examining his every move.


    “You just wanted to know how it felt to trip off that stuff.I can see you looking at me like a lab rat, trying to see if there’s any leftover weirdness.You’re a sick nerd freak, my friend” he said, pointing his finger at Bryn.


    A toad can you make you believe you’re some sort of cactus god, it’s insane!How would I not want to know everything about it?” He said, his feigned sympathy dropping away completely.


    I don’t know most things, and I’m very happy and incredibly flexible, watch” Jordan said, touching his toes with ease as he spoke. Bryn knew not to push the issue any further, and was also slightly distracted at how flexible Jordanindeed was.The pair left the inn, waving goodbye to Regina as they left.


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    They both nodded awkwardly and waved again, the pair having already realized that it would be better to get on Regina’s good side if at all possible.Exiting through the creaky door, the two of them made their way to the town center, passing the fountain that was still stained with the elf barbarian’s blood.


    This area housed the local government buildings, and was the town’s geographical center.Jordan stopped in front of town hall, and began preparing to cast Nature’s Credit.Bryn stood to the side, organizing several bottles of pink and blue potions.


    That assumption appeared to be correct, and Jordan began feeling the den flow through his body as his skill took hold.


    The range of it had been more than quadrupled, with Jordan absorbing the knowledge of the environment within a mile of where he stood.He could feel the presence of both the toads and the rapidly growing plant life, fortunately though they were on different paths that led out of town in opposite directions, so they could handle the threats one at a time.


    I can feel it continuing to grow and it’s worse than Vince or Reggie said it was” Jordan said as stood up from the ground, the roots his spell had created being left behind.


    “ I have no clue, I figured we could deal with the toads and bandits while I tried to figure it out, any ideas nature boy?” He asked sarcastically.


    The plant life itself isn’t dangerous, so if the villagers keep on top of its maintenance it won’t get out of control.But I was able to track the source to about 3/4 of a mile to the northeast, so we’ll have to get rid of whatever’s up there I assume.” Jordan said.The pair walked around the perimeter of the town, doing their daily security checks.The toads and bandits had relatively consistent patterns of attacking the town, and Bryn had begun leaving Convergence Circles at the paths leading in from the marshlands.


    After finishing the perimeter checks, the pair made their way to the southwest, where Jordan had felt the presence of the toads from.The town being as small as it was, they had gotten to the dirt road leading to the marshlands within a few minutes.


    The dirt path quickly turned to a muddy slop, and the slightly sweet smell of rotting vegetation filled Bryn’s beak as he followed behind Jordan.


    While he had a feel for the area already, Nature’s Credit gave him a snapshot of the environment upon the usage of the skill.Any change to the environment afterwards would not be known to Jordan, and he kept this in mind as they moved forward.


    As he paused, Bryn heard a sound that indicated why they stopped: croaking, a lot of croaking.


    As he stared forward silently at the small marsh they were about to cross, Bryn took the hint that he should also remain silent.After a moment, 3 dark figures emerged from behind the rotting trees further down the path.These trip toads were horse sized, and dripped with a viscus yellow fluid.Their green skin was splotched with purple, and the bulging eyes in their skulls appeared to be looking in every direction at once.


    Jordan reached his hand over to Bryn, who had already pulled out a pink potion to hand to him.After removing the top and chugging the contents of the bottle, Jordan grimaced at the bizzare texture as he handed the empty glass back to Bryn.


    Though he hesitated for a moment, Bryn acknowledged that Jordan needed real life practice with this skill.“Just don’t let it get below 50%” he said, with Jordan smiling widely as Bryn handed over the two swords he had been carrying.


    Rangers were known to duel wield on occasion, and Jordan loved the aesthetic of the style, though the reality of it was impractical for someone with his skills.That is, until recently.


    The toads took note of him and began hopping toward him, the distance of each hop covering at least 10 feet.As they approached, Jordan activated his newest skill: Environmental Symbiosis.


    First his arms, then his legs, and eventually his entire body became covered in a cloak of thick, grey fog.His mouth and nose became covered as well, until the only part of his body exposed were his piercing green eyes.As the fog enveloped the swords as well, Jordan could feel the power of Dregmoor flowing through his muscles.In the right corner of his vision he saw what Bryn had mentioned before.


    A sword raised in each hand, Jordan charged forward with unnatural speed.