Sunlight streamed between the curtains to slowly fill the room with light. Synexus opened his eyes when he felt the warmth on his skin. The soft, decadent bedding was almost a trap, but he was able to free himself with the excitement of seeing more of the city.

  Downstairs, breakfast was being served to all the guests at the inn. Kumo was already sitting down eating when Synexus walked in. He sat in the chair across from her and looked down at her plate. She was eating scrambled eggs with some strips of meat.

  “It’s called bacon. It’s really good. Do you want to try some?” She asked while handing out a strip to him.

  He grabbed it and bit a piece off. His eyes immediately lit up. “Wow, this is delicious! It’s kind of greasy though. Thanks!”

  Kumo laughed a little, she would always enjoy Synexus’ reactions to things that seemed so small to her. “That reminds me, we need to go to the markets today and figure out food for the trip. I know you don’t need to eat because of your sunlight thing or whatever, but I definitely need food. We can split up if you want, however, I can’t see you being great at haggling.”

  “I have dealt with merchants before, you know. You’re right that I don’t need to eat, which will make this trip much less expensive for us. I was thinking about something last night though about our food issue.”

  “What would that be? I was thinking of just getting some easy things to keep fresh. Plenty of jerky and I could get a fishing pole since we will have access to fresh fish on the voyage.”

  “Well, you’re welcome to do all that. I was going to go to the plant market and get some fruit tree seeds to grow in my nature dimension bag. Then you could have fresh fruit right off the tree whenever you want since plants can’t decay in there. I could use my Accelerated Growth skill to grow more fruit whenever”.

  Kumo’s eyes went wide, “Why have you not already done this?! All those days in the forest when we were hunting for my food. This is brilliant!”

  “I honestly didn’t think about it until last night. I guess not having to eat makes me forget all about food sometimes. I’ll get a whole assortment of trees too, so we can help feed the others too if need be. I’m sure I have the room in my bag. I don’t know how much it can hold. It looks like a whole world in there when I peer into it. I still don’t exactly know how it works. I focus on the plant I want, and it comes into reach.”

  “That’s how all dimensional bags work. They really are handy. If I can find one, that I can afford then I might buy one. Keep an eye out for me, will you?

  “Of course I will. Is that our plan for today then? I’ll go to the plant market to get set up. You shop for jerky, a fishing pole, and a dimensional bag?”

  “That sounds good to me, unless you don’t feel comfortable being out in the city alone. I would understand if that’s the case.” She smiled and paused so he could respond.

  “Thanks, but if I’m going to learn then I need to face it alone. I’ll come find you if I run into any trouble.”

  “Please don’t run into trouble.” She laughed and then continued, “We should stick together tomorrow and shop for clothes. We need a few outfits if the voyage is going to take a couple of months.”

  Synexus looked at her blankly before responding, “You know, I’ve never had more than this outfit. I didn’t even think about getting more. This city really is full of new experiences for me.”

  “It is, which is why I need to tell you to be careful today. Not everyone will be friendly, and some may even try to steal your things. We will meet back here at sundown.” With that she got up and left the inn.

  ***

  The market district was massive, so it was split up by what you were shopping for. There was a clothes market, a weapons market, a food market, a tools market, and many more. Synexus’ destination was the plant market, and he couldn’t be any more excited.

  Plants lined the street and were decorating every store front to show off what they specialized in. He immediately spotted the fruit trees and went into the shop. It smelled sweet on the inside and there were signs everywhere with packets full of seeds.

  Two steps into the store and the shop owner was already approaching him. “Hi, what can I help you find today?”

  “Hello, I wasn’t expecting so many variations of fruit trees. Are all these really edible?”

  The shop keeper smiled and said, “Why yes, they are. You must be new to the city. Most of these are imported from different parts of the world. We only sell the most delicious fruit trees. Is there any kind you are searching for specifically?”

  “Well, how much is it per seed?”

  “That depends on the tree, but most are one copper guin. Some are one silver though depending on the rarity.”

  “How many different kinds do you have here in total?”

  “Wow, you’re really putting me on the spot. Let me think for a moment.” She put her hand onto her chin and looked up like she was deep in thought. After a few seconds she said, “I can’t be sure without counting, but I believe we roughly have 110 different fruit trees.”

  “I’d like to take one of each seed then please.”

  Her mouth dropped open. “Sir, are you sure?

  “Yes, I’m quite sure thank you.”

  Synexus had learned back in the Branch settlement that ten bronze guins equaled one silver guin and then ten silver guins equaled one gold guin. Ahae had been generous with his payment to bring Kumo along. After collecting one of each seed, the shopkeeper totaled it all up to eleven silver guins. He happily paid and thanked her.

  His funds weren’t infinite, but he should be able to stock up on enough seeds to feed his Gene Library skill. There were some plants out in the ocean, but he doubted the chance would arise for him to touch every single one.

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  He walked along the plant-lined pathway looking at the different shops before deciding which one he wanted to check out next. Down at the end of the pathway was a shop surrounded by different species of bamboo. Right above the doorway was the words “The Grove” written in bamboo.

  When the door opened inward, Synexus heard the little chime of a bell above him. He figured it was to let the shopkeeper know when a customer entered.

  A short man with dark black hair came around the shelf with a friendly smile on his face. “Welcome to The Grove! My name is Ecclo. Let me know if I can help you with any specific type.”

  “Thank you. My name is Synexus, and I was hoping to get a seed of every species of bamboo you have depending on how much each seed is of course.”

  Ecclo’s eyes widened before he looked Synexus up and down suspiciously. “I can accommodate that. We have seeds ranging from one copper to ten silvers. May I ask what you need them for?”

  “I like to keep seeds on hand to help level up my class. I’m not looking to grow them as decoration or anything.”

  “Ah, that makes sense. Some type of druid then? Well, I can help you out, but it will be pricey. Most are one copper guin like I said. We have two species that are ten silver guins. I believe we have four that are one silver a piece. With all that totaled up in my head, I would say 28 silver guins.”

  Synexus handed him thirty silver guins and told him the other two were for some information. As they walked around collecting one of each seed, he pulled out his sword and held it up to the shopkeeper.

  “I was wondering if you could tell me what kind of bamboo this is made of. It’s indestructible and I was hoping to find a living specimen for my collection.”

  The shopkeeper looked at the sword and then ran his hand along it like he was checking for something specific. “This is interesting. It’s made from ancient bamboo which is regular bamboo that has grown for centuries. You can tell by the way it feels. The indestructible aspect must come with some high-powered imbuement. Ancient bamboo is stronger than most, but not to that extent.”

  This disappointed Synexus because he had wanted the indestructible in his Gene Library, but if it is an imbuement then he wouldn’t be able to copy it. “Well, thank you. I was hoping it was an inherent property of the bamboo itself.”

  “If you ever found bamboo like that, then I would be a rich man.” The shopkeeper laughed at his own joke before continuing to pick out the seeds.

  “I saw all the different colored bamboo plants you had outside. They look decorative. The bright yellow one and the mirrored one were especially captivating.”

  “Ah yes, the mirrored one is popular, so we had to raise the price. The bright colored ones are always the best sellers. My family has been farming bamboo for years and we are proud to say we have every color there is.”

  “I didn’t see any pink out there.”

  “Pink?! There is no such thing, my friend. I have had so many requests over the years though. Imagine a bright pink bamboo standing thirty feet tall. That would be a sight to see.”

  He finished his thought and turned to Synexus who was holding his plipio bamboo. It was bright pink with the sweetest scent. The man’s jaw dropped like he had just seen someone do the impossible.

  “What is that? I have never seen something so beautiful. The color and the scent are incredible. This can’t be real. Did you paint some bamboo or something? Is it a trick?” He was holding it now, looking at it from every angle.

  “It’s no trick and I didn’t have to paint it. I simply edited the genes of a regular bamboo plant to hold some of the properties of the plipio flower. It’s called plipio bamboo.”

  “You made this? Like a hybrid? How long did that take?”

  “It took about ten minutes or so while I was walking to the city. This was a relatively simple creation.”

  “Ten minutes. My friend, do you know how much money this specimen can make me? People will want to make so much with it. How about I give you your thirty silver guins back and we make a new deal?”

  “A new deal? What did you have in mind?”

  “I’d like to commission you to make some new types of bamboo for me. My family will be thrilled. In exchange, you can have all your seeds, and I’ll let you in on 10% of the profits made from hybrids you create.”

  Synexus thought for a moment. What would Kumo do? “Well, I’m only in the city for 5 more days before boarding a ship to cross the sea. So, how about we say 50% and then you can keep all profits once I leave?

  Ecclo looked at him with eager eyes, “Normally I would counter down to 25%, but since you are leaving and I like you then I will say we have a deal.”

  They shook hands on it and went into details about what Ecclo was looking for. He wanted any new colors. That was it. Synexus couldn’t believe that he had just gotten all these seeds for free and all the guy wanted in return was for him to do some easy edits to the genes of regular bamboo. He then grabbed 100 seeds of regular bamboo and promised to be back by the end of the day.

  Synexus started going around to look at all the plants in the market to find any interesting patterns or colors. The first place he started was the flower shop which was massive. It must have had ten thousand different species of flowers.

  There were a lot of people in this shop, and he did his best to avoid them. All he had to do was touch the flowers to gain their genes, so he could edit the bamboo. Some had actual attributes which could be helpful to Synexus, but most were just for decoration or gift giving.

  Night Sky: A flower resembling the starlit sky. Many get lost with the movement of the specs of light on its night blue petals.

  Crystal Skin Flower: This flower is known for the appearance of crystal petals. They are not actual crystals.

  Firelight Rose: A rose that looks like it’s burning endlessly. It gives off the faint, flickering glow of a fire. Popular flower for a first date.

  Void Sunflower: A sunflower that looks like it is made of the void itself. This deep black is captivating and can accentuate the more colorful plants in the garden.

  Thermochromic Tulip: A beautiful addition to the year-round garden. The special properties of the petals allow it to change colors with the temperature.

  Lava Petal: A flower that looks like molten lava. Gives off a little heat, but nothing dangerous.

  Those were just a few of the standouts he had found. There was one that looked like the sparking ocean he saw yesterday. One that looked like clouds which Kumo would like. There was one that looked like it was made of lightning. One that looked like gold and another of pure jade. It was fascinating and he wasn’t sure how easy it would be to edit the genes of these into bamboo, but he added most of the interesting ones he saw to his Gene Library. He then bought one seed of each flower in the place, which was pricey, but not as bad as Synexus thought. It was a flat one copper guin for 20 seeds which came out to 50 silver guins. They apparently make the most of their money from people buying bouquets of flowers.

  Synexus now had roughly 10,000 seeds to add to his library, but first he would edit the bamboo while he checked out the other plant stores. He had about 40 silvers left if he put aside the amount for the inn. He also had 3 gold guin but wanted to save those.

  The herb shop had a lot of helpful plants, from some with healing properties to some that helped you float in the water easier. There were only about 80 seeds to grab here, and the shopkeeper gave him a discount for buying so many. It only cost him 10 silver guin. One herb he was excited for was one that gave of an aura that made you want it more. It was bizarre how it caught your eye. The aura made you feel like you needed it but only went out an inch or two from the plant. He was hoping to add that to some of the bamboo to have it sell more.

  On his way to what looked like a shop selling different kinds of vegetables, Synexus was able to use Gene Editing on quite a few of the bamboo seeds. The more he did it for bamboo, the faster he got. The easier he understands where to edit the genes in at directly increased his efficiency. He already had crystal bamboo, void bamboo, firelight bamboo, and about twenty more.

  He wanted level seven and Gene Editing was the only thing holding him back. After bamboo number 38, he finally got it.

  Gene Editing has leveled up!

  You have leveled up!

  30 skill points available