It’s a Big World Out There

After Sol discovered the cave which had mysterious stones on the hill the previous day, Sol went to Dr. Nomu's house to find what those stones were. If those stones were useful to him he would mine them if not there was no need for him to go to the cave again.

Dr. Nomu Grobug, was a herbalist, a herb doctor. His house was in the center of a village with a large greenhouse and small cropland. He was a young man living with his parents who were also herbalists. They made medicine and potions from plants for treating diseases and others.

Sol knocked at the door of Dr. Nomu's two-story medieval house. When he wasn't hunting he would wear normal clothes. This time he wore a white t-shirt, black pants, and a slipper.

A tall brown man, with short black hair, wearing a blue shirt and black pants opened the door. Sol greeted, "Hello Dr. Nomu."

"Oh! It's Sol, Come in," Dr. Nomu welcomed Sol. Both went to the living room and talked for a bit over a cup of tea.

After talking about other stuff Sol asked, "Dr. Nomu! Is it okay if I go through some of your books?" Sol particularly came to Dr. Nomu's house because in the whole village only his family had many books.

"It's fine! You can read as much as you want," said Nomu, "But I don't think there are any books that might fascinate you. Most of them are about plants and medicine not about the beasts, that you like."

Sol thought while taking a sip of tea, "I can't ask him directly about the stones and say that I found it in the cave…Then," "Then what about stones, ores, or mana stones? Something like that?!" asked Sol.

"Hmm!…ores and mana stones?" Dr. Nomu tried to remember if there are such books. "There is one. But there are only about a few stones and minerals. You see we only work with plants, especially medicinal plants  so we don't have that many books related to such things."

"Only a few, huh! I hope it has what I am looking for," thought Sol. He replied, "I'm fine with it."

Dr. Nomu smiled at ten-year-old Sol and asked, "Do you like reading?"

"Not that much," said Sol, "I only like to read about things that I am interested in or things that fascinate me!" He remembered the school life from his past life. He thought, "Besides I have enough studying in my previous life and I don't want to do it again." He was happy that he didn't have to go through it again.

Dr. Nomu laughed at Sol's answer, "Is that so?" "Then let's head to the lab." They went to the lab that was behind the house and beyond that was a large herb farm.

The lab was big. It had a lot of equipment on one side of the room and opposite to it was bookshelves on the wall.

From the bottom of the bookshelves, Nomu took out the book he mentioned earlier. "Here, this is the one." He gave the book to Sol. "I'll be on the farm. Take your time. If you want you can also read other books," he said and went to the greenhouse behind the lab.

Sol sat down on the chair, put the book on the table. He then started searching in the book.

The book was thin and old. The content in the book was hand-written and the pictures were hand-drawn. There were signs of correction, mistakes, and crossed sentences. It was as if it wasn't a book but a notebook.

Sol didn't bother to read about the other stuff. He turned the pages looking for the page that would tell him about the stones he found.

While searching Sol stopped at the middle page of the book. "Found it," said Sol. The page had hand-drawn pictures of stone and handwritten notes.

"Flora mana stone," read Sol.

The 'Flora mana stone', a rare, green non-glowing, small stone with two to three thick brown curve lines on it. It was a mana stone that could only be consumed after making a potion and had various uses. It refilled mana slowly, increased mana capacity in person if consumed frequently, and some healing properties: instantly heal fatigue, headache, dizziness, reduce pain, sensory problem. Besides these, it could also be used as mana for plants which made plants grow faster and healthier. These mana stones could only be found in some cave of hills and always comes in pair with 'Terra Mana Stone'. Wherever there was a 'Terra Mana Stone' there would always be 'Flora Mana Stone'.

'Terra Mana Stone?' thought Sol. He then turned the page. The next page was about the brownstone, it also had hand-drawn pictures and handwritten notes.

'So the brownstone is called 'Terra Mana Stone,' said Sol and started to read.

'Terra Mana Stone' was also a rare, green non-glowing, small stone with two to three thick green curve lines on it. It was also a mana stone and had to be consumed after making a potion. Similar to 'Flora Mana Stone' it also refilled mana but slowly. When consumed it would instantly strengthen the body and give large energy for a certain period of time. If consumed frequently it would increase strength and make the body strong. These stones could also be used as fertilizer to enhance the quality of the soil. Wherever there was a 'Flora Mana Stone' there would always be 'Terra Mana Stone'. It could only be found in a hill cave with 'Flora Mana Stone'.

"So those were mana stones! Then…that means I don't have to worry about collecting mana stones." Sol was delighted and relieved. He put the book back in its place and went to Dr. Nomu who was at the greenhouse.

Inside the greenhouse, Dr. Nomu was checking the plants. There were various rows of plants that were being cultivated. He saw Sol coming towards him. He asked, "Did you finish reading the book already?"

"I just gave a quick look that's all," Sol answered with a smile.

"Haha," Dr. Nomu laughed.

Sol looked at the plants around. He remembered the giant plant that tried to eat him in the cave. He asked, "Dr. Nomu, are there any plants that harm or eat beasts and people?"

"There are plants like that. Why? Did you find something like that?" asked Dr. Nomu.

"No, I was just curious if there were plants like that?" Sol smiled.

"Well, there are such carnivore plants that are capable of devouring large beasts. They are dangerous. It is best to stay away from those. But such plants can only be found in dense forests and caves." said D.r Nomu, "But, I think the ones that we should really be careful of are plants that give out fragrant."

"Fragrant?" Sol said.

Dr. Nomu answered, "You see there are plants that release some kind of fragrance. These fragrances are sweet but very dangerous. Depending upon the plant it can create an illusion in the mind, make people drunk, make it hard to breathe which sometimes leads to death and some of these fragrances are pure poison. The scary part is that they are small which makes it difficult to spot them and it can also grow anywhere in the land if the conditions are right for it."

Sol thought, "Should I be relieved that I wear a cloth mask while hunting in the forest?" He said, "Looks like there are many things…many dangerous things out there."

"You're right but there are also amazing things that make you think they were created for doing something good you know," said Dr. Nomu, "Like how there is' King of Plant' and 'Queen of Plant'"

"King and Queen of Plants?" Sol got curious.

"My parents said there are two plants that are considered as King and Queen of plants. 'Nile' a King Plant, a large magical tree. It is said that many small streams flow from within it. The water that flows from it can make barren land fertile. It is said that it can also make dessert a fertile land."

Sol found it interesting. He stood there listening to Dr. Nomu's words carefully. "What about the 'Queen'?" Sol asked.

Dr. Nomu continued, "The queen is called 'Great Mother Plant'. Unlike 'The Nile', which is a tree, the Queen plant is small. From what I have heard it has a large fibrous root and if you give the seed of any plant to it, the root of it connects itself to the seed and raises the seed. This Queen Plant doesn't need soil to live and the other plant that it raises also doesn't require soil. The Queen Plant can raise any plant from its roots. That's why it is called 'Great Mother Plant'.

"Whoa!! Are they some sort of magical plants," asked Sol.

"My parents did tell me they were magical plants." Dr. Nomu answered.

"I would love to see one of those," said Sol.

"It's my wish to see one of those too. I have heard about the Desert Kingdom having one 'King Plant' and about the "Queen Plant' I don't know where it can be found," said Dr. Nomu, "You need to get out of this village and travel around the world, you know."

"If I could I would do it! Isn't that a wish of every person? Traveling around the world," said Sol.

"I would also love to do it!" Dr. Nomu agreed with Sol. "I have only heard about how big and great the world is since I have never been to cities or towns but, I can tell this though, there is a big world out there with many greater things than here, especially the Royal Cities."

Sol agreed to Dr. Nomu's words. He knew what Dr. Nomu was talking about. From stories, rumors, and conversations of people Sol knew how big the world was. The Widefield village which he was living in was a small village far from the reach of such great things.

That day Sol and Dr. Nomu talked about many things. Sol also read about the 'Giant Venus Flytrap' that he encountered the previous day in the cave.

It was evening when Sol left Dr. Nomu's house. The sky and cloud were orange with the sun slowly setting down.

"Thank God! Dr. Nomu had what I was looking for. Visiting him was a good idea," thought Sol. He was satisfied with his findings. "Then tomorrow let's go to that cave again, beat that Giant Carnivore Plant, and get all that mana stones."

"With all mana stones of that cave, I think…I'll be able to summon Adam," Sol was thrilled with the thought of it.