Having gone to the forest so many times with the gathering group, Enzo was more confident. The forest no longer looked like a monster ready to swallow him up. Whether it was because of his plant ability or his acceptance that he wasn’t going home, he felt more at ease.
So when he went off on his own, he didn’t notify anyone. His reason for entering the forest today was to use his plant appraisal to find more food. To make it easier, he had Nova and Zeli search on their own.
It took some convincing, but he finally got them to say yes.
He shook his head, thinking about Nova’s protest. He went from insulting Enzo to caring for him in a matter of days. He was a typical hard-mouthed, soft-hearted person. Still, Enzo enjoyed bickering with him.
On his journey, he went deeper into the forest than he had ever gone before. He knew it was past the usual scope of the gathering team. He hadn’t seen anyone for a few minutes now.
But his harvest was substantial. He found lemongrass, yam, and yuca. As soon as he found yuca, the first thing that came to mind was bubble tea. He rubbed his stomach and wondered whether he could find a cow or some other milk-producing animal.
Quickly, he shook the thought away; if he ever tried to make it and a certain person saw it, it would blow his cover.
"Maybe I should find a new tribe?" he mumbled. He was so caught up in whether to stay with the tribe that he didn’t notice the ditch right in front of him.
One wrong step and he went tumbling over the edge. He shrieked, an embarrassingly high-pitched sound that, if anyone heard it, would laugh at him.
When he came to a stop at the bottom, he was covered in mud. He reached out his hand, gripping the stalk close to him, before he could get up, his plant appraisal skill appeared.
[Name: Rice]
[Classification: Edible Plant]
[Grade: Common]
[Growth stage: Mature]
[Quality: Good]
[Properties]
[- Nutritious, energy-rich, easily digested, mildly restorative]
[Primary Uses]
[-Medicinal diets, preparation of flour, preparation of porridge, staple food]
Enzo giggled, gripping the rice stalk tightly, looking like a fool.
Finding sweet potatoes was one thing, but this was rice. Finding wheat was fine, but he had never been much of a ’noodles and pasta’ person. His diet mainly consisted of rice.
He saw the energy-rich option and thought about the mushroom that was still lying in the space. The content was different. In this one, the energy option was in the properties section, and the other had a separate section.
The two should be different, but he had no clue how.
With no one around, he began pulling out stalks. It was a bit hard to do, but he managed to pull out quite a bit.
He clapped his hands, satisfied with his harvest. Then he thought of the tribe. If they could find this, it would be another food type for them to last the winter. He didn’t remember Rin ever finding rice.
It was so close to the tribe, but he never saw it; Enzo couldn’t help wondering if the author was a pasta fan.
He looked up at the slope he had fallen down; luckily, he didn’t fall far. He saw there was no one around and went down on all fours. This was something he did in the privacy of his own home.
When he was lazy, he used to climb the stairs on all fours. It felt easier than walking regularly. Now, as a tiger sub-beast, he felt more justified in doing it, so that’s exactly what he did.
"Son of a..." he shouted.
Just as he reached the top, his hand touched something jagged. It wasn’t sharp, but pressing into his skin the way it did made him yelp.
He raised his hand to see what wanted to bury itself in his skin. It was a small, jagged, green crystal, about half the size of his finger. He held it up to the sunlight, and it shone.
"Looks like one of those health stones."
Enzo couldn’t be blamed for not knowing malachite, green opal, or bloodstone. He wasn’t an expert. He knew jade came from stone, and that was the extent of his knowledge about various crystals.
Though this stone was none of them, it reminded him of home, so he threw it in the space.
At the top, he brushed the dirt off his hands. He turned to look at the rice. He rubbed his chin, which had been smooth since he arrived.
"How do I let the tribe find it themselves? Should I frame it as another discovery? Maybe give the chance to Rin?"
He nodded. Yes, he should let Rin ’discover’ it.
With that in mind, he left the ditch and headed towards the gathering group. He avoided large groups and went in search of Rin. Before he could find him, Zeli and Nova found him instead.
"Where have you been?" Nova asked. "If we didn’t know any better, someone would think you went off to die."
"You’d love that, wouldn’t you? Too bad. Even if you die, I won’t die," Enzo grinned.
Nova pushed him, and Zeli shook his head, amused.
"Where were you?" Zeli asked.
"I was looking for some herbs for Gato, and I saw a gu-gu beast. Thought I could catch it, but I ended up in a ditch."
"Are you hurt?" Zeli asked, worriedly. He turned Enzo this way and that way.
"I’m fine, but I’m looking for Rin. Have you seen him?"
"Why?"
"I found something, and I’m wondering if it’s food." He opened his palm and produced the rice husks and rice he had taken from the space in advance.
He had already decided this was the excuse he would use. Even if Rin didn’t believe it, he would have to, because Enzo collected quite a few herbs before arriving at the gathering area.
"Only you can see a gugu beast and think it’s something special. Even falling over to catch it," Nova said disdainfully.
Enzo didn’t say much, just stuck out his tongue.
He wondered if becoming a cub in the beast world meant his mind regressed too. He had become much more playful.
Zeli ignored them. "I’ll take you to find him; he should be with Jarik and the others."
So, the three friends went to find their resident, top-notch forager.