Monstrous Compendium Ch1 bit – Argo Bulletin

Bite and leaves shattered and vanished, leaving unmarked skin behind.

“What’s going on over there?” Thinker came through the gathering crowd, a contingent of relieved Army guys behind him. “Is something wrong?”

Thinker, not Kibaou. Good. Klein was in a mood to hit someone, and if it’d been the idiot loudmouth he wouldn’t have had the will to hold back. “Nothing’s wrong. Now.” I hope. “Issin?”

“It worked.” The shaman sagged in relief. “Kunimittz. You’re okay.” Black ears perked up. “What was that stuff?”

Kirito paled. “You didn’t hear Argo’s shout?”

“She has a new bulletin,” Thinker nodded, as Fuurinkazan looked at each other. “It came in just before the boss fight. I checked for keywords, there was nothing on this level’s boss-”

Kirito buried his face in his hands. “Read it.”

Klein eyed his solitary buddy, and flipped through his own menu until he got to his messages. That was the kind of tone that usually came with sharp edges piercing you somewhere painful.

Argo Alert – New Bulletin, read the simple message header. The bulletin itself was a good ten pages. No wonder people had skipped reading it right way, if there wasn’t anything on the boss-

A screen capture of familiar dark leaves. <<Shaman’s Fingerprints.>> Must be found with Magesight. Bonus on save vs. infection. Augment for Heal spells, vs. infection.

Oh. Oops.

Thinker’s eyes went wide. “There’s a cure?”

“There’s a treatment.” Kirito lifted his head, hands dropping to his sides. “Shaman’s Fingerprints isn’t powerful, but it’s easy to activate. You don’t need magic to use it. Though using it to augment a Heal makes the save better.” He materialized more leaves out of his inventory, handing them to the astonished guild leader. “Argo has seeds. The last I heard, she’d found a farmer on level 10 who’s going to try growing them.”

Thinker took the herbs, eyebrows almost brushing curly hair. “A second chance… how did anyone find this?”

Kirito shrugged. “Ask Argo. The herb likes woodland glades. She said something about the developers having a ginseng fixation.”

Klein blinked, and did his best not to let surprise show on his face. Ask Argo, my foot. This was rare info, the kind that could change the whole game. Argo wasn’t going to sell who found it in case Kibaou and other morons started screaming about Beaters keeping life-saving secrets again-

Oh. I’m an idiot.

Rare, game-changing info. And Kirito had been gone for days. On a quest.

Damn it, no wonder he’s being shifty. If people know it’s him – ouch.