350 Zeros Plague Theory (1/2)
Zero wanted to cry. He never thought that riding a horse would be so scary. He'd seen the mercenaries do it and tried to replicate it so why did the horse run like it saw the devil? Zero actually fell off the horse after ten minutes simply because his muscles couldn't hold on any longer. The doctor broke a few bones but his body automatically started repairing the damage so by the time Truen and Camie caught up, he was looking a little dirty covered in dust but otherwise unharmed. The horse that went mad was found about five kilometres away and Zero hesitated to get back on it after he'd gotten used to riding with Truen.
”Don't worry, the horse won't' throw you off again if you do incorrectly this time,” Camie smiled encouragingly.
Zero looked at the beast and eyed it for a long time before getting off Truen's horse. The wood elf dismounted to hold the horse reins steady for Zero to climb onto its back before handing them to the doctor.
”Remember what we said, don't startle the horse and be gentle. This is a trained horse so it should follow instructions quite well. Use your back and thigh muscles to keep yourself righted on the horse and don't pull on the reins for balance, your steed will throw you off.”
Zero nodded and patted the horse's nose in apology before gently kicking the sides of the horse. The horse started in a gentle gallop and Truen mounted his horse to follow behind Zero. The doctor might not have ridden on a horse before but he was a fast learner. Within half a day of riding, Zero was now comfortable enough to ride the horse even when it galloped at its fastest speed on the straight path. Truen looked at Zero with pride and Camie smiled at the exuberant doctor who talked about the amazing feel of the wind going through his hair as the horse sped through the winding mountain path. In half a day, the party covered what would have taken them two days to walk.
”We will be at the borders in no time,” Zero beamed.
Truen nodded and heated a pot of water over a campfire. The merchants really did have everything they needed for adventurers who travelled a lot. From sleeping bags and tents to pots and cooking utensils, the wood elf could only blame himself for his lack of foresight when it came to travelling. Zero wouldn't have needed to spend so much buying all these things from the merchant who sold everything he could to them with his persuasiveness. Still, it was better to have them sooner rather than later. Zero stored everything they bought in his inventory for now and told Truen that he will create a separate party inventory for them when he has the time.
The young doctor found many things in his short foreign trip. The mini-map function was amazing and Zero wondered how much these precious ores and gems were worth. He thought that ores and gems could only be found in mines deep underneath the mountain's surface but who knew that they could be found on the rocky surface too? With the advanced appraisal skill, Zero identified these strange rocks as crystal geodes.
While the doctor didn't know what the crystals in the geodes could do or how much they were worth, he was able to estimate their rarity levels and crystal type using the appraisal skill. Of the twelve geodes he found, five were 1-star common geodes, three were 2-star uncommon geodes, three were 3-star rare geodes and one was a 4-star very rare geode.
”Truen, I found something!” Zero announced after he returned.
Lunch was cooking in the pot and it smelled delicious, making Zero drool a little.
”What did you find?” the wood elf asked and added more fuel to the fire. Due to the lack of trees in the area, the archer had to make use of the camping supplies that the merchants sold them. Who knew that the extra firewood they bought on impulse would be so handy? Then again, Truen wouldn't be surprised that the merchants sold it to them knowing that something like this would happen. The only thing they didn't buy from the merchants was the dimensional storage bags because Zero already had a far better inventory storage system.
Zero showed them the geodes that he found and Camie recognised them instantly. ”Nice find! If you sell this to my mother, you can make quite a neat profit.”