What surprised Lotus the most was just how weak Dawn could be. It wasn’t just her level, which had risen substantially during the week they trained in the forest together, but all her actions and attacks seemed to lack impact, like she was holding herself back without meaning to. That she didn’t seem even close to noticing it was a quality that Lotus found endearing. Within the first hour together, Dawn’s pride gave in and she asked Lotus to teach her the skills she wanted, admitting that she had wanted to sneakily steal them; a request Lotus had no problems with at all. What Lotus found most strange about that, was that there wasn’t much of a difference between when she was pretending to be meek and her normal behaviour. Until she realised it herself, Lotus wasn’t going to point it out. No point cutting off a source of amusement.
What Lotus quickly noticed, but Dawn seemed oblivious to, was that the attack Dawn used least, seemed to be her most effective. Her voice skill was really powerful. From what she had read on the forums, it could even be used to command lower level monsters to simply die. The exact conditions for that command to work didn’t seem to be known, but as a general rule, the greater the level gap the higher the success rate. Despite that ability being so powerful, Dawn seemed to only use it to make slivers of material for crystal casting. While they trained and fought, Lotus was sure to point out any plants that contained energy that Dawn could syphon. Dawn's own related skill worked fine for animal parts and minerals, but didn't give any reaction to plants, even though the energy could be transferred to crystals. The majority of what she gained from fights, she used immediately, in other fights, resulting in little energy actually gained. Her proficiency at magic had grown, however, and she was able to more naturally integrate it into combat.
One day, as they were traveling near the town side of the forest, they saw a brown haired knight fighting a naked red giant. Through inspect, Lotus could see there were a lot of unique things about that player. They had the unique class, gallant knight, and two titles, Hero of the First Wave and Favoured of the 12th World. Furthermore he was a slightly higher level than Lotus, and was completely equipped with quality items. His armour in particular, a leather piece with bolted on sheets that were engraved with elaborate runes, was more expensive looking then anything she had seen anyone use. Even without his name being displayed she would have recognised him as Roland Five. There were fan-pages on the forum dedicated to him, and anyone who ever fought at the frontline would tell everyone about the time they fought alongside him. There weren't many players that were even remotely as popular.
The pair hid nearby and watched the fight progress, Lotus nodding to herself at Dawn successfully implementing of teachings. When the ground collapsed, they were disappointed that they couldn’t see the outcome. Peering down the hole, they could see the situation he found himself in, but shrugged it off as not their problem. That was until Lotus noticed the blood the giant had left behind. That thick, jell-like ooze, her skills instantly told her that it could only be a fire type elemental blood. Elemental blood was a high demand item, since it was needed as a base in nearly all advanced level crafting. For potions it replaced water as the base, for weapons it could treat wood and temper metal. It was even needed for ink in higher level books and scrolls. On top of which, it had a higher mana concentration then crystals, meaning a geomancer could cast with it without converting it to a crystal first. It was a powerful item and the giant had litters of it.
As the tiger-bear started to wear itself out, after they watched for an hour or so, Lotus threw seeds down to it, and used the druid spells rapid growth and strengthen plant to bind it. She could have likewise used fast growing potions, like she had when she saved the young fox, but she found the effects were better, both stronger and faster, if she used magic. She didn't use SP often, instead relying on poisons and skills, so she didn't mind using it wastefully. Following that, Dawn used voice to create a strong updraft that let them jump down safely. As they fell, Dawn used some of her electric crystals to stun the creature, a remanent of her revenge against the static rats, she had prepared more than enough to also throw them out freely. While it was both stunned and restrained, Lotus gave it a quick stab to the neck, and let her poisons finish it off.
After confirming that the creature was dead, the pair went to check on the fainted Roland. Seeing that his injuries were treatable by Dawn’s clone of herb lore, Lotus went to collect as much of the elemental blood as she could. When she filled a dozen vials and water skins with the thick liquid, she stored them carefully in her bag, and wrapped them up in soft leaves. Since Dawn was taking some time with her treatment, Lotus decided to make lunch. She quickly checking the forum for the best way to cook tiger-bears, and while she didn't find anything for that specific creature, she guessed that the meat turned tender in soups. Following that, she took utensils and vegetables from Dawn’s bag, and started chopping. With them in small pieces she placed a few nearby logs together and got Dawn to use voice to ignite them. With a strong fire instantly burning, she set a pot over it and browned the tiger-bear meat on it. She then filled it with water and a small amount of elemental blood. The vegetables were then added and the dish was left to cook.
Seeing that the meal was underway, and her patient had been treated, Dawn started to carve the tiger-bear’s claws into daggers. They were a strong material, and ones that resisted any kind of working, and thus it seemed a waste not to do anything with them. They also took the creature’s pelt, since it looked like it would make a good blanket at the least. After lunch was done and they had eaten, the pair cleaned the nearby resurrection shrine. While Dawn didn’t really care about them, Lotus felt like keeping them clean was something that the 13th world would like her to do, and the power she had gained from the world was useful enough that she was happy to keep the world happy.
Using the skill Communicate: Plant, and the rapid growth spell, Lotus convinced a nearby vine to grow into the shape of a ladder, perfect for Lotus to then strengthen. She found, as she progressed through the skill levels, that plants really wanted to be talked to, and were very receptive to people that took care of them. Despite never having actually conversed with the world, the Communicate: World skill gradually went up levels as she used magic or cleaned natural shrines. As they left, they placed a couple daggers and a bit of the leftover soup with Roland, making sure they were covered and no insects would get into it. Lotus hoped that he would take helping him as payment for the elemental blood, though she also knew that she was getting the better end of that deal. Better yet, she hoped he didn’t notice it. Having a high level player hunting them seemed troublesome, so she thought it was time to start leaving the forest.
For the remainder of that week, they gathered whatever plants would still be useful when dried, or had a long storage life, and prepared more potent poisons, using the elemental blood as a component. As they left the forest, at about midday, they saw a pair of suspicious brothers in a carriage. As they looked so seedy, Lotus and Dawn moved closer together and tried to avoid eye contact. When they passed safely, and thought they had made it, one of them suddenly called out to them. Thankful he just seemed to want to know about some angels that were apparently living in the forest. Having no idea about that they told him and were thanked with a bottle of what seemed to be alcohol. Since alcohol was a useful crafting component, as well as a drink that could provide some combat bonuses, they had no reason to turn it down.
That night as they camped between a mountain and a desert, they drank the drink with diner, having used the spell detect poison to confirm it was safe. It was a lot stronger then Lotus thought it would be and she quickly drank more than she could handle. The next morning she woke up next to her bed with a hangover and a new scythe. Dawn, who was in her own bed near her, gave her a sly smile and passed her some water.
Before she could get any answers about what happened, they could hear the sound of people approaching.
