For this next expedition, I decided to focus my efforts on gathering a bunch of those two plants I now knew for certain had an effect, as well as some new ones I hadn’t brought back last time.
I was pleased that I’d managed to find some species that would improve my HP and vitality, but the stat I most wanted to improve was my strength.
Based on what I’d learned from this experiment and my ability assessments thus far, I was confident there was at least one species I’d eaten in Patia Forest that improved my strength, so this time, I wanted to pin it down.
Feeling hopeful and motivated, I left the hotel and headed for the city gate at a brisk pace.
There wouldn’t be anyone staying in our room for the next few days, but since I’d paid up our room and board (plus a little extra), I wouldn’t need to worry about us getting kicked out.
It did feel like a bit of a waste, but at least this way, we’d have somewhere to keep all our stuff. Plus, I didn’t like the idea of someone else taking over our room while we were gone. So, I got over my misgivings and decided to cough up the money.
Not long after leaving Realzahd, I arrived at the edge of Patia Forest.
The sweet scent of nature flooded my nostrils. I breathed it in deep, filling up my lungs, and felt the tension I’d been carrying ease just a little.
I felt no trace of the fear I’d experienced when I’d visited the forest previously, so it felt safe to assume that my last expedition had helped me overcome the trauma of my first visit.
I entered the forest and began my journey by making my way to the spring, where I rehydrated as usual and filled up my waterskin before setting off down the trackless path toward my usual base.
I considered briefly that it might be time to find a new campsite, but my old one still had plenty of plants to gather, so I figured I might be better off for now continuing to set up somewhere familiar.
I didn’t totally have the lay of the land yet or anything, but I must have developed some muscle memory of the way there, because I made it to my shelter between the boulders in only a few hours.
As expected, there wasn’t a single sign of people, wild animals, or monsters in the area. Once I’d confirmed that everything was pretty much in the state I’d left it in, I began to scatter leaves and branches on the ground like always. And with that, my simple shelter was complete.
Now that I’d set up my campsite to my satisfaction, I didn’t waste a moment heading out to do some foraging.
My first priority was to find more of the two species that improved HP and vitality.
The one that improved HP had dainty purple flowers. At a glance, you would have probably never guessed that it was toxic, but I knew from my first visit to the woods that it was. There’d been signs that the creature I’d gotten the rotten meat from had died from ingesting it, so it seemed safe to assume that it must have been lethally toxic.
The second species—the one that improved vitality—was a mushroom. It had a white cap speckled with bright red dots, and this one had “toxic” written all over it. I hadn’t confirmed it definitively yet that it was, but that color combination was such a textbook example of a poison mushroom that it seemed only reasonable to assume.
I named the two species “ghost grass” and “speckled shrooms.” I decided to gather a bunch of them, but I knew I’d have to be careful to avoid over-gathering, since I wanted to leave some growing for the future.
As I gathered the ghost grass and speckled shrooms, I made note of where I’d found them. Once I figured out their preferred growing conditions, I’d be able to gather even more.
Eventually, my goal was to plant some in a garden, but I couldn’t exactly grow poisonous plants while I was staying at a hotel.
I considered renting a field, but I knew I’d probably be arrested the moment anyone figured out what I was growing.
That left me with only one realistic option: I’d have to buy a house and cultivate a secret garden on my own property. For the time being, though, that would have to be a distant goal.
I was already trying to set aside money for my Patia Forest expeditions, my ability assessments, Ralph’s surgery, and Hester’s grimoire. Once I’d secured all of the coin I needed for those, then I could start thinking about saving up for a house.
Right now, though, I didn’t really have enough money for anything.
As I brainstormed more effective ways to make money, I kept on foraging until the sun began to set.
I made my way back to camp before nightfall and lit a fire. Then I got out my paper and made some detailed notes about ghost grass and speckled shrooms.
After that, I set aside rations for my dinner and put the rest into the woven basket I’d brought, before making some preparations to start cooking.
My dinner tonight was bread and stew, which I’d brought with me from Realzahd.
Speckled shrooms were actually pretty tasty, so I just threw them in the stew. The ghost grass, on the other hand, needed a little help if it was going to taste edible. I’d have to use my secret weapon to cover up the bitterness.
I pulled a paper-thin, translucent sheet called a “wafer” out of my bag. Hester had told me that wrapping things in it covered up their taste, and that the wafer would just dissolve once you ate it.
Apparently it was a pretty new product, and they’d only just started selling it on the market. Not knowing anything about it made me a little nervous to give it a try, but I decided to go for it. I rolled the ghost grass up into a little ball, covered it in the wafer, popped the whole thing in my mouth, and washed it down with water.
Hmm... Not bad.
The whole experience was a little weird, but sure enough, covering the ghost grass in the wafer had allowed me to eat it without even having to taste it.
I’d bought these wafers yesterday, and they actually weren’t even that expensive. Next time, I decided that I’d stock up and just buy a whole bunch since they were such a success.
Once I’d finished off my bread and stew, I wrapped the rest of the ghost grass in the wafers bit by bit and ate it up.
This marked the first time I’d actually enjoyed eating poisonous plants.
Not only had I gathered a bunch of ghost grass and speckled mushrooms, but I’d even found a good way to eat them too.
It had been a remarkably successful first day of my expedition. As I listened to the sounds of nature all around me, I drifted off to sleep.
Five days had passed since I’d entered the woods.
The foraging had been going well. In addition to all the ghost grass and speckled shrooms I’d been picking, I’d also managed to gather twenty new species of plants too.
This expedition was shaping up to be an especially fruitful one.
I hung my basket of new plant species up to dry out in the sun, praying that at least one of them would improve my strength stat.
I didn’t really have much else to do while I waited for them to dry, so I decided to just wander around and look for some plants to eat for dinner.
I strolled around, like I always did, on the lookout for anything promising. I was so absorbed in my foraging that I didn’t even notice anything amiss.
But all of a sudden, the feeling hit me like a ton of bricks.
A chill came over me, and my whole body started to tremble.
I had no idea what had set me so on edge, but I knew that whatever it was, it was dangerous—and it was closing in on me at breakneck speed.
I took in a deep breath and tried to compose myself.
I could tell that whatever it was was coming from behind me, so I hurriedly climbed up a tree in an attempt to hide.
Covering my mouth with both hands, I stifled even the sound of my breathing as much as possible as I scanned the forest below, trying to figure out what was after me.
Then I saw it.
Crashing through the trees with a terrifying force, barreling straight toward me, was a ridiculously huge bearlike monster.
I’d done a little research into Patia Forest while I’d been living in Realzahd, so I had an inkling about what this monster was.
Apparently, the whole reason Patia Forest was so quiet was because a guardian spirit had made its home here—a guardian spirit so monstrously powerful that no other monsters would dare go near it.
I’d chalked that up to being a mere rumor, since, in all my long stays in the forest, I’d never once encountered it. Turned out, it was real after all.
If memory served, it was called the Ducalursus.
It was a gigantic monster, covered all over in thick fur just like a bear. Everything in its sight looked like prey to the spirit. Its claws were sharp enough to shred you to pieces, and its powerful teeth and jaws could devour you with ease.
The Ducalursus was powerful, sturdy, and fast. The minute it identified you as prey, you were a goner. According to the legends, it would follow you to the ends of the earth.
Beyond that, though, I didn’t have all that much information on the Ducalursus, so I couldn’t say for sure if the creature below me was really the guardian spirit I’d read about. Still...there seemed to be too many similarities for it to be a coincidence.
The Ducalursus approached and stopped where I’d just been standing. It looked around, sniffing the air as though trying to figure out where I’d gone.