Chapter 57: Chapter 55 Sumo Fruit Core
"The answer is Spirit Energy!"
Ian had no intention of hiding anymore; now that the farm and surrounding villages had been attacked, the Natives were definitely plotting something unknown to everyone, yet extremely dangerous.
It made more sense for him to show his potential rather than feign incompetence, as doing so might allow him to secure some resources as a safeguard before danger arrived.
"So, you did awaken your Spirit Energy then..."
Brin was a bit shocked, but more envious. He had been observing Ian and had already confirmed that he was a Spirit Energy User, so the novelty of such a revelation had worn off.
What truly astounded him was that the other party would use Sober Sleep Powder as a hidden weapon against the Natives, who found it difficult to collect, without a momentâs hesitation. "Such a waste... If you really wanted to use Sleep Powder as a concealed weapon, you could mix in some insect-repelling grass seeds and the dregs of varnish tree bark. The effect would be just as good, but the cost would be only a tenth!"
Even a bag of that distracting powder, capable of causing confusion for five or six seconds, would cost several Talles, but in comparison, as a concealed weapon, the cost-performance was far better.
"Thatâs all for the future; life is the most important thing right now."
After settling Brin and letting him rest for a while, Ian walked into the forest and returned with a barely breathing, distorted human form that was hanging on to its last breath.
It was the Native Hunter who had been hit by the full force of a water bucket thrown by Ian, with a broken arm and even spinal damage, now in shock.
Ian was actually not as tall as the Native Hunter and was more on the slender side, with a handsome face that seemed better suited for a polite gentleman likely to appear at a ball.
Yet he demonstrated strength far beyond his own physique, easily lifting and tossing the Native Hunterâwho probably weighed more than himâin front of Brin.
"Whatâs going on?"
Brin, who had been resting with his eyes closed, was startled, but as soon as he opened his eyes and saw the foaming-at-the-mouth Native, he understood immediately: "You want to bring back a live captive for interrogation? Thatâs difficult, as we canât run fast with this guy, and if we get caught by another Native Hunter squad..."
"No."
Ianâs response was brief and decisive, and Brin, thinking of the otherâs ability to easily detect both him and the Natives, and to target precisely even in the dark, refrained from further comment: "Alright, but I still need more time to recover, let the wound stop bleeding first."
"So soon?" Ian looked up in surprise, no longer concealing his ability; a water-colored halo swirled in his pupils as he gazed at Brinâs wound.
In Foresight View, Brin was a dense white figure with a faint layer of red indicating blood, as if he had just shed a darker shade of color.
The place where the blood was most concentrated was where a Hunter had stabbed him in the lower lungs.
However, while Ian was bringing the Hunter back, Brin had applied medicine to himself, and now the bleeding in the wound was visibly fading, eventually turning into a slightly deeper red than the rest of his body.
"Itâs good now."
Brin got to his feet shakily, the tall herb collector said breathily, "Thereâs still internal bleeding, but it wonât affect movement until tomorrow... Iâll take care of this Hunter."
With that, he grabbed the twisted body of the Native Hunter with one hand and tucked it under his armpit.
"Terra People really have an unimaginably resilient physical constitution, Brin is like this, and so are the Natives, suffering fractures all over the body from my water bucket hit, yet still struggling not to die."
Seeing this scene, Ian couldnât help but marvel to himself. Although this wasnât the first time he had witnessed the Terra Peopleâs abnormal injury resistance and healing ability, he still found it incredible: "If I hadnât dissected them, I might really believe that they were only human in appearance."
"Letâs not rush." Setting aside his thoughts, Ian signaled for Brin to continue resting: "I want to search the bodies of those Natives for anything they might have on them. Perhaps there will be clues to their attack, or maybe there will be something to gain."
"Iâm all ears."
Brin noddedâafter the recent fight, he had fully realized that Ian, the boy, was stronger, smarter... and even more mature than he had thought.
His plans and opinions were definitely better than his own.
Ian turned his head, did not close Foresight View, and continued to look at the other two Nativesâ bodies.
To defeat the Natives in a short time, he had used the Origin Quality stored in his Virtual Primordial Seed to enhance his physical constitution.
The pale blue halo was the manifestation of the Origin Quality Crystal Chips in his body, surging through the capillaries and muscles in his limbs with the flow of his blood.
Since the fight ended quickly, he didnât consume much Origin Quality; for the sake of survival, there was no question of loss or gain, but he felt he could still recover some of the losses from the enemyâs body.
Surprisingly, there were wisps of blue mist flowing from their corpses.
"Thereâs indeed a harvest."
Stepping forward, Ian saw that the blue mist was located in a small pouch on the waist of a Native Hunter. He opened it directly and found a few large, light brown seeds inside.
The seeds, similar to almonds, emitted a rich fragrance and had regular, spiral patterns on their surface, about the size of the thumb of this eight-year-old boy.
The seeds gave him a sense of intense pulsation and danger. Just smelling the scent, the boy felt a bit stimulatedâperfume is fragrant, but if itâs too strong, it becomes repulsive, and itâs the same principle; it wouldnât taste good if consumed.
Crisis and reward existed side by side.
Then, Brinâs surprised words confirmed Ianâs premonition, "Sumo Tree fruit cores? Lucky they didnât have time to eat this stuff, otherwise, we probably wouldnât be able to leave alive!"
"Sumo Tree? Oh, the wine tree."
When he first heard the scientific name Sumo Tree, Ian didnât react immediately, but his recent lessons from Hiliard were useful, and he promptly recalled the Sublimation Plant commonly known as the wine tree among the many marvelous plants in the Bison Mountain Range.
As the name suggests, the sap of the wine tree contains natural wood alcohol, and its fruit is a prized ingredient in crafting fruit wine, containing natural, easily absorbed Origin Quality, and can also be used as a stimulant without side effects.
Inside Harrison Port, there was a high-end distillery that specialized in selling Sumo Wine, catering to wealthy merchants and Nobles, because it was rumored that Sumo Wine had a stimulating effect in certain aspects, hence it was always in short supply.
However, the fruit core of the Sumo Tree was different. It contained too much stimulating substance and impurities to the point of being poisonous. If chewed and swallowed, it would cause death by âintoxicationâ within minutesâthe massive amount of Origin Quality and stimulants would seep into the bloodstream through mucous membranes, causing the brain to suffocate and necrotize. Yet, at the same time, the consumer would unleash their bodyâs ultimate strength for a short period, fearless of pain, and even a blown-off head couldnât stop these âintoxicatedâ people from dying again.
Even so, the refined extract from the Sumo fruit cores was still a key ingredient for the True Form Heritage âSelfless Warriorâ.
It was precisely a heritage where one could burn their own life in a time of need, placing themselves in slow destruction but swiftly annihilating the enemy.
"Some kind of homemade suicide frenzy potion."
After a quip, Ian collected these fruit cores, his brow furrowed, "The Natives actually let the hunting team carry these types of do-or-die, even mutually assured destruction items... what exactly are they planning to do?"
Although the Native tribes had a significant population, hunters were not disposable at will, especially these key hunters that were the backbone of a tribe. The only thing that could drive them to this extreme... could only be the âGreat Shamanâ revered by the Redwood Forest Natives!
Shaking his head, Ian stopped pondering these issues.
Apart from the Sumo fruit cores, the only thing of some value on the Natives were the Blow Darts coated with Arrow Poison Wood Toxin, but these were too dangerous. A layperson could easily poison themselves by accident, and since Ian didnât plan to use them, he smashed and destroyed them with a rock on the spot.
There were nine Sumo fruit cores from the three Native Hunters, and Ian handed three to Brin.
After all, without Brin drawing attention and restraining the enemies, he wouldnât have been able to easily take down all of the hunters.
Out of pride and for the sake of keeping up appearances, the medicine gatherer wanted to refuseâthe manâs life was saved by Ian, how could he have the face to accept it? Moreover, taking spoils of war from a child seemed too strange; he couldnât accept it!
But Ian was offering too much.