Axl stood in line to enter the southern gate, behind a large covered cart that [Mana Shroud] showed held various dried herbs and plant samples. He'd used Terrania's quest to precisely time passing under the gate at exactly the time Aria required, needing to time it by varying his approach, to reveal his high Agility or undershoot it.

  He was surprised how dense the traffic was, mostly kobolds and elves making their way in and out, but there were also various other types of people as well, but Axl tried hard not to stare, doing his best not to stand out. He'd replaced his sheersilk armor with a simpler garb covering his backup armor, and instead of [Webcutter] he had one of the dead orc's F-Grade shortswords on his hilt. He still had his dimensional pouch on, but covered the ring on his left hand by wearing a pair of gloves.

  Moxlin was still in the pack behind him, but peeking out over his shoulder, as a test if anybody would react negatively to her presence, but nobody seemed to care. It was also quite reassuring that most people around were G-Grade as well, and seemed to also have the Geas of the Weak active, the system not bothering to notify each instance of it unless Axl willed it to. Hopefully, most others would as well and not notice the kind of rewards that were offered for killing him, which Axl expected would be more substantial than for doing in the average G-Grade cultivator.

  Just as the cart in front of them was about to be inspected by the half dozen or so armored elves that guarded the town entrance, the cart's wheel broke, its covered canvas tore open, and a mess of bottles and vials rolled out. Seamlessly, the guards surrounded the cart, weapons to the ready and in high alert, as the merchant kobolds leading the cart tried frantically to re-order their fallen goods and placate the riled-up guards.

  After several minutes of this, the situation escalated as a higher-ranked guard in the early F-Grade approached the cart from within the town, a small escort in tow. The line having grown a bit longer, a soldier to the side motioned for Axl and the rest of the line to keep approaching.

  The small kobold was clearly frazzled, the seamless process of vetting incoming entrants thrown into disarray. Before, one guard would question the entrant, clearly using a Charismatic Skill, while another pair would stand aside, weapons discreetly to the ready.

  Instead, the small kobold in front of Axl shuffled a pair of papers, his claws digging into the material. "Uhhh, name and reason for visit?"

  "I am Rasen of Meft," Axl seamlessly lied, maximally focusing on Charisma with his will and [Mana Shroud]. "Here to trade one crystal-based natural treasure and potions."

  Axl had seen previous entrants produce the goods they wanted to trade, so Axl took out his least impressive natural treasure and a few of his G-Grade healing potions.

  The kobold nodded once, flipping to the back of the second page, accidentally tearing off a corner in his hurry. "Good enough for entrance. First time in Treeheart?"

  Axl nodded.

  The kobold reached to a set of vials to the side on a small table, another thing that he'd observed from further back in the line, an introductory drink offered to first timers, to be taken as one crossed into the city. But the kobold overreached and knocked a few of the vials over, one rolling over the edge and crashing into the ground.

  The kobold hurried to brush the glass under the table, frantically looking around at the other guards, afraid of being caught at the mistake.

  Flexing his Charisma, Axl placed a reassuring hand on the kobold's shoulder. "Thanks for the refreshing drink." The kobold looked up at him, and Axl winked. "A pleasure to enter your fine city."

  The kobold nodded, clearly relieved, and waved him through, turning to the next group, a mixed party of elves and kobolds that continued being distracted by the commotion still unfolding at the tipped-over cart.

  Focusing ahead, Axl slowly made his way into Treeheart, letting his pace match that of the crowd walking through the wide central road, one of the few that were actually paved with an even film of rock, almost as even as concrete. Criers to the side of the road loudly advertised various inns and shops, and Axl curiously peered into some of the windows, straining his Perception to see if any of the gear was worth checking out, but all of it was in the G-Grade, and none of it seemed particularly well put together. Disappointing, but he figured the F-Grade shops were probably a bit more secluded than in this central artery, and not what he was here to do anyhow.

  Suddenly, the din of a commotion came up from ahead, as a crier mounted on a bird-like creature yelled, the crowd parting in his wake. "Your lady protector and her regal forces approach! Make way and ready for the honor of her visage!"

  He then repeated the message, the suddenly still and cleared road behind him paused in its hubbub, the elves and kobolds that previously hurried about now packed to the sides, some making their way to side streets, many looking on with anticipation.

  Axl felt a seam of dread, not wanting to be caught looking at the dryad, as Aria had warned, so he ducked into the closest inn, one that was very elaborately decorated with gaudy colors across a flimsy wooden front.

  Inside, he passed a nearly empty restaurant seating area, towards an aging water-elf behind the bar.

  "I would like a room, please," Axl said, willing his tone to be as neutral as possible, bored even, despite his underlying hurry.

  The elf looked aside as the few restaurant patrons made their way to the large windows, looking outside with idle curiosity. "Oh, the lady's heading out again to quest, what an opportunity. You would get a good show from our highest regal suite, unfortunately, our only available room."

  The swindle was so obvious it almost made Axl groan, but he pretended not to notice. "Fine, fine. Might as well, since it's my first time here—but include one of those lovely drinks I was given at the entrance, what was it called, Brosia?"

  The innkeeper smiled widely with unvarnished greed. "Of course, our fair city's most popular refreshment, the drink of only the most esteemed vale champions! All for the low price of ten thumbnails a night."

  It was, of course, an utter rip-off, each thumbnail referring to a fixed amount of a green ore that was used as a middling denomination of currency, one of the rarer ores mined nearby, and from what his kobold prisoner told him, a room in this place certainly wasn't worth even a third of that, at best. Axl took one of his F-Grade healing potions and gently set it on the table, his Charisma making his body treat the vial as a high treasure.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  "I offer this potion for three nights, including three meals a day and the Brosia. It's an F-Grade healing potion produced by a famed alchemist of my homeland, so I hope you appreciate its value in trade."

  The elf failed to restrain a wicked, self-indulgent smile. "In the spirit of generosity to a new arrival, I accept your offer, good sir."

  Axl took the room key and the intricate goblet of Brosia and hurried up the steps, stopping only when he was inside the room, door locked behind him. He had started to sense a substantial Mana density approaching down the street, the procession closing in on the inn's entrance.

  He crouched behind the large bed, as far away from the long windows at the far side of the room, and placed the Brosia on the nightstand, having unfortunately spilled a third of the light green liquid in his hurry. He focused the entirety of his Perception and [Mana Shroud] on the forces steadily making their way just outside. Clearly, they were flaring the output of their Cultivator Cores to impress the crowd, an unruly mix of Mana types overcoming the sanctuary's usual ambient mixture.

  They were just outside now, passing the street below, the crowds clapping or cheering, most with polite deference, but many with legitimate enthusiasm. He thought about Aria's warning, that he should only glance at the metal dryad for ten seconds. He wondered if this encounter was also something she had foreseen, since it would certainly happen if he timed his entrance as she suggested. Does this mean I should take a look? This might be a very unique chance to scope out a possible enemy ahead of time.

  Feeling like this would indeed be too good to pass up, Axl crept towards the pair of floor-to-ceiling windows, then looked out when the procession had largely passed by, expecting a look from the back to be less noticeable.

  There were nearly fifty warriors, mages, and archers, an even mixture of elves and kobolds, all of them at least in the middle of F-Grade. They were each riding a lion-like creature with dense green fur and vines mixed into their mane and flesh. The kobold had mentioned these beasts, called valents, were the mounts of the city's elite, creatures tamed through the metal dryad’s superb challenge rift accomplishments, apparently.

  The biggest of these creatures was in the middle, towering at nearly double the size of the others, and had a pair of wings folded to its side. On top of this one was a slender being with shiny, silvery skin, brighter than even Helkan Silver, wearing no clothing, in the general shape of an elven body, but with bark-like protrusions and limbs like branches covering every edge and angle of their form.

  Axl focused hard on his Perception and [Mana Shroud] as he observed the metal dryad, then quickly retreated back, not even two breaths in. He was sweating, eyes wide and heart racing at what he saw. The Mana in the dryad felt like a roaring river, powerful and untouchable, the feeling he got looking at her closer to what he felt looking at the massive wolf that cursed him with a hunt or even Nox. Her veritable army of F-Grade fighters that could rival Suliana and Soffal were already a challenge greater than he'd have expected to find at his most pessimistic, but the dryad herself was an even further cliff than that.

  "Could she already be in the E-Grade?" he muttered to Moxlin, who had retreated to the bottom of her pack in fear after only a glance.

  "Not quite, little boy," an even, cold voice responded to the side.

  Axl looked up, and the dryad was there, looming over him, her bark-encrusted features glistening in luminous silver, her Mana a burning torch.

  "Apologies, great lady," Axl muttered, looking to his feet, blocking the sight of her with an outstretched arm. "I meant no offense. I'm new to your grand city."

  "Ah, yes, my grandness here," her voice had the subtle inflections of contempt, obvious to Axl's Charisma. "I seek to help all those who join my forces, of course."

  She gazed at him, Axl feeling the probe of her searing Mana. "You are an unusually powerful groundling, and I smell precious metals about your form, do you pursue a path of metallic purity?"

  Axl brought out his shard of Helkan Silver, figuring this was the metal most attuned to the dryad, what she was most likely to have detected.

  "I am attempting to form a Cultivator's Core based on this metal," he said. "I do not know about metallic purity. Clearly, your wisdom on heaven's secrets is greater than mine."

  She stared at his cowering form, as if thinking for a moment, then her eyes drifted upwards, and a smile bloomed on her lips. "Then I look forward to seeing your progress within my lands, groundling. May your cultivation till the soil for us all."

  The presence was gone, utterly eliminated, and Axl kept still, focusing on his Charisma to keep himself small and non-threatening, [Mana Shroud] amplifying the social Attribute as much as he could. Slowly, he unfurled his Perception, noticing the procession outside was much further down the road, apparently the dryad's detour into his room not affecting the march at all.

  He kept his crouch and Charismatic focus until the group was beyond his range, then waited another hour. Finally, he got up and looked back at the nightstand, at what Venva Livir had stared at before deciding to spare him and even leave the Helkan Silver behind. To the partially filled goblet of Brosia.

  Clearly, the metal dryad had seen the quest notification offering special rewards for killing him, and she must have noticed the shard of Helkan Silver was of unusually high quality. So why the slit was he still alive? He felt the answer was in that drink. Perhaps the metal dryad thought he had drunk some of it already, and maybe the whole timing at the entrance gate was to get him past the guards without being offered an introductory drink when coming in? Was this the "most insidious trap" that Aria had mentioned?

  "Moxlin," Axl whispered. "Are you alright?"

  Moxlin crawled out, slow and apprehensive, and then leaned heavily on his neck, not saying a word. A welcome warning—he had to assume the dryad could still listen in, or perhaps had sent agents to keep tabs on him before leaving.

  Sitting cross-legged, Axl took the goblet and placed it between his legs, focusing on it with [Mana Shroud], but saw nothing unusual other than dense nature and life-attuned Mana, unsurprising for an expensive drink meant for cultivators. He wished he'd bought some of Folom's talismans focused on detecting poison or other chemical traps when he was still at the longhouse, but he was confident of his various means of dealing with the poisons. Now, however, the sheer power of the metal dryad gave him pause.

  Tentatively, he dipped the very edge of a finger into the liquid and brought it up to one of his gills, where his poison-absorbing gland would be able to most effectively work. Quickly, a warmth flooded the organ, and Axl rushed a burst of his internal Mana into the overworking body modification, the drink's surge of Mana trying to escape into his body, like a rabid beast let loose.

  After a few moments of struggle, the foreign Mana was dragged into his storage gland, the liquid was refined into a far more sinister-looking dark green slurry. For barely a drop, it was quite powerful, but having seen it once, Axl could focus his organ and Bilesong to deal with it better, so he took a larger few drops of the liquid and placed them on his gills on the other side.

  Again, the rush surged forward, at first looking like a huge boon to cultivation and vitality, the promise of a deep pleasure in the Mana's resonant taste to [Mana Shroud]. But Axl took hold of the rampaging force, not letting it escape his poison-collecting organ, and soon it joined the rest of the subdued liquid.

  He repeated this a few more times, until his organ's storage gland was full, and then channeled the liquid to [Gastric Cauldron], letting it be taken apart in the refinement corona, studying the dense strands of meticulously interwoven Mana and its subtle effects hidden within.

  Within barely an hour of study, Axl felt he was finally understanding what this was—an addictive substance that fed into your internal Mana itself, infusing it with a yearning for more, tying one's cultivation to the expensive drink, and something else, a deeper effect he couldn't quite detect. And he got a sense this would be even more effective if the drink made its way before one managed to make a Cultivator's Core.

  That was why the metal dryad was so confident simply leaving him behind. She thought he had drunk some already, so she had her hooks in him. Axl shook his head, silently wondering if he'd have been able to deal with the drink if he was compelled to take a full dose of it at the entrance gate, and wasn't quite so confident about his odds.