Chapter 116 - A hot spring that looks very a-peeling

🙞❤︎🙜

The next day, we had an early breakfast, and I exited my [Courtyard House] as the last golden rays of dawn were lighting up the eastern sky. Just like when I first got out of The Chitinous Caverns and returned to the forest, I reveled in the fresh, sweet air that smelled of smoke, pine, earth, water, and wildflowers. Sunlight, filtered through the lattice of leaves and branches of the tree canopy, cast a warm glow on the forest floor where insects and tiny animals scurried here and there. I heard the croaking of frogs and the melody of bird calls mingling with the buzzing of a nearby bee.

Today we decided to work individually on separate fields. Though I was glad to be back home with my apprentices, I didn’t always want them peering over my shoulder at what I was doing. Making my way to the farthest field that was planted with red rice, I inspected the seedlings.

It had rained last night, which meant that we wouldn't need to water the plants, but we still needed to check them for weeds and disease.

I knelt on the ground and gently touched the tender green leaves of a seedling. Though my favorite time of the season was when the crops were ready to harvest, the time when the seeds sprouted was also very special. Seeing the new growth after the cold, barren winter made me think of new beginnings.

Wasn’t that just like me?

Back on earth, I had a very unsatisfying life after my parents died. Now, things were so much better after I started a new life in this world.

Smiling, I plucked out a few stray weeds. The crops were growing well, and I was in a great mood.

When I finished inspecting the field, I went to the [Slime House] to get my pet. The day was far too nice to spend indoors, so I got a packed lunch from the kitchen and walked to the forest. My sensible walking boots were made of buttery soft leather, and I enjoyed the feel of my feet sinking into the soft carpet of leaves covering the forest floor.

This was Cutie’s first time outside of the farm, and she was very excited about it. She bounced along beside me noisily and I almost fancied I could see a “boing boing boing!” sound effect overhead. As she bounced, she kept making delighted “Chu” sounds and using the slime strand on top of her head to touch random things like large rocks, grass, tree trunks, and especially wildflowers. She must have spent her entire life in the Chitinous Caverns, so everything here was new to her.

Once I was well out of sight of the house, I made Mr. Bear grow larger and then climbed up to sit on his shoulders. Then I put Cutie on his head. This was my puppet’s [Travel Mode]. He levitated two feet off the ground and flew off to the destination I chose using the System map. This way of traveling looked weird, but I was past caring. Everyone already thought I was a weirdo and a witch, so I didn’t really need to take care of my image anymore.

I’d told my apprentices that I was going foraging, but the truth was I was just going to reacquaint myself with the forest’s interesting spots.

My first stop was the vernal pond. For most of the year, the pond was just a hole in the ground, with maybe a little bit of water at the bottom, but during the spring, right after the snow melted, it filled up with water. I smiled nostalgically as I remembered how this had been the place where I had caught my first fish.

I never would have thought that a pond that was dry for most of the year would be teeming with life in the spring, but this one was full of tiny shrimp, crustaceans, tadpoles, and the like. Mr. Bear shrunk until my feet touched the ground, and Cutie hopped down from my puppet’s head. I sat down on a large rock at the edge of the water and took out my fishing rod. This was the only place in the game where one could catch [Killifish].

[Killifish:

The killifish is a small, freshwater fish that is found in many parts of the world. The name killifish comes from the fact that they are often found in small, stagnant pools of water that are about to dry up, and they are able to survive in these conditions by burying themselves in the mud at the bottom of the pool.]

Fishing was a very relaxing activity. When a player started, they normally caught a dozen fish before there was a short lull. This was explained as the time it took for the fish to respawn in the game. Thanks to the [Easy Fishing Hack], all I had to do was slowly and steadily lift the fishing rod above the water when I got the fishing notification pop-up. The fish was automatically stored in my inventory.

During the quiet times, I watched the leaves from the trees gently floating down to land softly on the water's surface and the dragonflies darting gracefully here and there, their iridescent wings shimmering in the sunlight.

After an hour, I put my fishing rod back in my inventory. It was time to move on, but before leaving I circled the pond to check if there was anything I could forage. To my surprise, it was actually my pet who found something interesting.

Cutie bounced over to an insignificant-looking plant with small yellow flowers. The slime strand on top of its head then formed itself into the shape of a spade and started digging around the plant’s roots. I knelt and checked the plant’s information.

[Sunshine Glue-Flower:

One of the very first flowers to bloom in spring, the Sunshine Glue-Flower plant has small yellow flowers that ooze a white glue-like fluid that contains its pollen. When the stem is wet it becomes sticky.]

When my pet finished digging the plant up, she used her slime strand to offer it up to me. I obligingly took out a plant pot from my inventory and placed the [Sunshine Glue-Flower] in it. Golden Angel Slimes ate flowers, so I guessed she wanted me to bring this back to her house for her to eat later. She dug up half a dozen more plants before she was satisfied.

“Hmm, it makes sense that a slime likes sticky plants,” I said.

With that, we continued exploring. Seated on Mr. Bear’s shoulders, I had a nicely elevated view of the forest, and our speed was much faster than I could have managed on foot. Even stopping every few minutes to gather berries, nuts, mushrooms, herbs, and spring vegetables, we made such good time that by noon we were already at a northern part of the Ancient Hill Forest that I had never been to.

The sun was already high in the sky, and I was hungry. Checking the System map, I chose the nearby Ripplewood Creek as a destination since it sounded like a good place to settle down to eat my lunch.

As we near the creek, a yellow dot appeared at a certain spot in the System map.

“Wow, I discovered a new spot!” I said.

[Golden Harvest Banana Grove:

Wild banana trees are growing haphazardly in this corner of the forest. The tropical microclimate here is caused by a magical hot spring.]

When we got there, I got down from my puppet and marveled at the sight of a mini jungle. The tall, slender trees with yellow trunks and vibrantly green leaves were hung with large clusters made up of dozens of golden bananas growing in tiers, at the bottom of which grew the banana flowers, which were also edible. I mean, the banana plant was called a tree, but I knew from my biology lessons in school that they were actually gigantic herbaceous plants. The “trunk” wasn’t made of wood. It was a giant stem!

[Banana:

Rich in vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber, the banana grows year-round in tropical climates. The golden peel hides soft, creamy flesh that is sweet without being cloying. Finely chopped banana peels can be placed at the base of a plant to repel aphids.]

“Incredible! This is like my own mini banana plantation…” I walked among the plants, marveling at the lush landscape. Under the shade of the banana plants grew edible [Vegetable Fern] and [Ginger] that I gathered with a smile though the big prize for today was definitely the bananas themselves. I quickly used the System to harvest the bananas. There were so many ripe fruits that I could’ve filled a truck with them, and I leveled up my Foraging.

[Player Name: Violet

Farming Skills:

Farming Level 19, Fishing Level 12, Woodcutting Level 19, Cooking Level 5, Herblaw Level 15, Foraging Level 6→7, Hunting Level 3, Mining Level 4]

I made my way to the center of the grove, with Cutie bouncing beside me until I found a small pool of water that warmed the air around it. This must be the source of the energy of the grove. I dipped my hand in the water to test the temperature. Cutie imitated me using her slime strand.

“Hot!” I blew on my fingers to cool them.

Beside me, Cutie turned bright red and made a “Chuuuu” sound like air escaping from the spout of a water kettle. Her slime strand formed the shape of a flame and she keeled over, her eyes rolling back as if suffering from a heat stroke.

Oh no! I got a bucket of water from the System inventory and poured it over her. When that didn’t work I used a small bucket of ice.

“Chu.” This time, my pet sounded tired rather than in distress. I picked her up and found a reasonably soft patch of grass to spread my picnic blanket on. She bounced down from my arms and lay on the blanket quietly, with her eyes closed. I waited a few moments to make sure she was fine before I started eating.

My packed lunch today was vinegared rice with pickled ginger, red braised pork, sauteed spring vegetables, and fresh sliced strawberries in honey.

There was so much food that I really should have eaten only half of it, but I couldn’t resist the Demon Chef’s delicious cooking. By the time I finished, I felt almost uncomfortably full and sleepy. I took out a [Mosquito Net] from my inventory and set it up above the picnic blanket.

Time for a nap.

***

An hour later, I was awoken by the sound of someone laughing. I bolted upright and then scooted backward in alarm when I saw the source of the noise. The [Mosquito Net] fell and I got tangled up in it. As I was flailing around with the netting, Cutie woke up and screamed a high-pitched “Chu! Chu!” at the intruder and looked like she was ready to attack. I grabbed her and retreated, dragging the [Mosquito Net] with us. My heart was pounding wildly in alarm as I mentally called up the System menu, navigated to the Equipment tab, and put on my [Lunarite Plate Armor] for protection.

Mr. Bear was on [Guard Mode] but stood inert. Nor had he warned me that an enemy was approaching. Why? How was this creature not a threat?!

LinMeili

• A monkey in a zoo spat on my mom once.
• The Sunshine Glue-Flower is based on the Blennosperma nanum, a plant in the daisy family that has oozes a sticky fluid.
• Advanced chapters on my Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/linmeili
• Thank you very much for reading.
• Did you spot an error? Please leave a comment so I can fix it!

No hot spring, so here's a consolation prize image!