“So how did your class advancement go?”

  “Good. Other than the fact that I got punched through a door and can still feel it.”

  “Geez, that seems extreme. That is a lot worse than mine.”

  “What did you have to do?”

  “Study.”

  “Nah, mine was better. I’d take getting punched over studying any day.”

  “Fair.”

  Wren and Javi chatted as they made their way through town. Bella had told them to meet her by the west gate as she had a job for them to do. They both were trying to get used to how they felt in the meantime.

  Wren was playing with Aether. Making his fingers glow, extending the Aether, and trying to imitate the Aether beam.

  Javi was carefully rubbing his equipment. It seemed like he could tell how much stronger he was and was trying to be careful about learning to control it.

  Despite their odd fidgeting, they made it to the gate undisturbed. Walking out of town, they could see Bella sitting in the grass nearby. It seems she was napping while waiting. As they approached, she sprung to her feet like she knew they were coming close. “Look at you two. Proper fighters now. You could hold your own. You two are really something. The way you advance is astounding, and with the pace you’re moving at you’ll be on my level soon enough. Now, I’m glad you both kept your Locate skill as it will be vitally important for this mission.”

  “Locate will be?”

  She nodded in approval, “That’s right! Today, we are going to be finding some plants that are quite useful for alchemy. It is an open ended job and we’ll basically be paid based on whatever we find and bring back. I’ve got a book here that talks about some plants and I’ve picked out the ones we are going to be hunting for.”

  She grabbed a book from her bag and proudly showed it to the boys. It looked like she had marked three pages in it. She flipped to the first one, “This first one is the most common and the cheapest but is widely useful. The Irrwurz. It is a plant known for its repellent properties. In the wild, it can make the unsuspecting lose their way. When used as an ingredient in alchemy, it will create an effect that keeps others away from you.” She showed a picture in the book. It looked just like a common fern. This might be hard to find just based on it looking the same as everything else.

  She flipped through to the next one, “Now this will be the real prize if we can find it. It is highly coveted but nearly impossible to find in the wild. The Peaches of Immortality. Despite the name they don’t give immortality. They can be used to create a mixture that will de-age you temporarily. It is very popular among the rich.” She showed a picture of what seemed to be a normal peach tree, except the illustration seemed to denote that the peaches were glowing.

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  Finally she flipped to the final plant. And it seemed oddly familiar looking, “This is a plant that while common, is consumed in such quantity that there is always demand for it. It’s called Mary Jane. It helps to relax the user and while many use it recreationally, it actually has fantastic medicinal uses.” She showed the picture and it is exactly what it sounded like. It was straight up just marijuana. What the fuck.

  She shut the book and looked eagerly at the two boys, “So are you ready? We find enough of this stuff and we’ll be rich. Rich enough to get you proper gear at least. And then we’ll be flat broke. So you ready?”

  Wren and Javi gave each other a knowing glance. It was time to get to work and they weren’t going to let weird thoughts about drugs distract them from that. ““Let’s go.””

  As they headed into the Westfall, both Wren and Javi activated their Locate skill. They first tried to designate Peaches of Immortality as a target but got nothing back. They then tried designating Mary Jane and got lots of hits. With their guidance, the three quickly made their way through the forest and got batches of Mary Jane. Occasionally, they would switch their target to the other two plants. They managed to gather a little bit of Irrwurz but the peaches continued to not show.

  Finally, Bella called them to stop, “Alright you two. That’s probably enough. It’s not exactly a windfall, but it should do. Do one final scan and then we’ll head back.”

  Wren got ready to scan but then he heard Javi beside him, “Peaches! I got a result for the peaches!” Both Wren and Bella whipped their heads towards him. Wren followed suit and searched for Peaches of Immortality and sure enough, he found them.

  “We’re going to go get them right? That’ll get us the money we need.”

  Bella looked at the two hesitantly, “Well, I didn’t tell you everything about Peaches of Immortality cause I really didn’t think we’d find any. But wild Peaches of Immortality always have a guardian. And I’m not entirely sure if we can take it.”

  “Let’s at least take a look. It can’t be any worse than a Steel Wolf right?”

  Bella did not look comforted at all and spoke with no conviction, “Right.”

  As they approached where the peaches were, the surroundings began to change. The forest grew dark as countless limbs crossed above them. All animal and insect life seemed to disappear and even the wind didn’t dare to make a noise. Within the lack of noise, they continued onwards and soon enough, found a noise. A gentle trickle of a stream, bubbling ahead of them. Then, they could see it. A small stream passing around a green island. The island held a large tree that seemed to glow with moonlight. Except there was no moon out. It was still the afternoon and they were in the darkness of the endless branches.

  What then glowed? What caused this space, buried under countless tree branches, to be bathed in light? What was nestled in the leaves of this great tree that made all around it clear? Wren thought back to the book and the peaches it showed. He looked at the tree and saw them. While most were deep in the tree, some hung low. Peaches of Immortality. They shone with power that was unlike anything he had seen.

  He then noticed a figure. Sitting quietly under the tree was something not quite human. Cross legged, and perfectly still. Like a statue it sat there. Except it wasn’t just like a statue. It was made of stone and seemed to have features not quite detailed enough to be real. A stone monkey sat underneath the tree.

  Wren was unconcerned. If this was all the guardian was then it wasn’t an issue. A statue was just a little something to scare off the unknowing. He took a step forward to enter the clearing. And not paying attention, he saw nothing as he stepped into the light. He was not watching when the monkey’s eyes snapped open.