Vina hurried to the sound of water and soon saw a wide stream. It couldn't have been more than ten feet wide, but it was moving quickly. She paused as she approached it, “It’s… glittering?” She said. She bent down and tried to examine the stream. She was disappointed when nothing happened. “How do I know if it is safe?” she wondered. She had no means currently to make the water clean. She checked her status page for any hints. All she found was her hydration level.
Hydration Level: Normal
She would wait until she had a way to make the water safe. Meanwhile she pulled out her canteen and filled it up. She used to have a 32oz wide mouth plastic bottle, but the universe or whatever replaced it with a canteen. However, the canteen appeared to be the same size anyway, so she wasn’t too upset over the loss. She knew from experience she would drink 64 oz of water each day on average. This canteen would only last half a day for her. "I shouldn't stray too far from this stream if I can help it." She said to herself. With that she turned back to the quest marker. The quest marker pointed roughly upstream, and she couldn't believe her luck. She could walk toward the quest marker and still follow the stream.
The stream she followed had long ago developed a rocky beach from the prior year floods. It made for trickier, but faster walking. Her agility seemed to help her step lighter on the rocks and they shifted less under her feet. With a greater sight distance and more consistent walking conditions, she felt she could really get a good walking rhythm going. “Still…” she mused, “I need to solve the food situation too.” As she walked, she began looking around to the sides of the rocky bank. The bushes there grew thickly, and she began checking every bush she could.
Plant: Caton Reed Bush Common This is a Caton Reed Bush.
Plant: Sour Sap Bush Common This is a Sour Sap Bush
She paused when reading that second one. Sour Sap Bush? Didn’t that sound familiar? She moved closer to the plant to get a better view. It was shaped like a fern plant with wide fanning leaves that changed colors from a deep blue in the middle to a vibrant pink at the tip. The stems holding the plant were especially strong though. Far stronger than any fern bush. She didn’t see any fruit, but then she recalled why the name Sour Sap sounded so familiar. In an asian market she had once drank a beverage called Soursop. This plant looked quite different from what she had seen on the can though. She continued onward, stopping every now and then to examine more plants and soon she had a skill window pop open.
New Skill Learned: Observe. Observe is an active skill. You can see what others miss. Observe does not gain levels. Quest updated: Learn Skills 2 6/25
“Another active skill?” Vina thought to herself. She tried activating it, “Activate Observe”. Her vision suddenly changed. The world got darker, but every movement around her was suddenly even more vibrantly colored. In a forest where everything was already florescently colored and moving all at once, the effect was dizzying and overwhelming. It was like looking through a kaleidoscope. She noticed her stamina was draining at a visible rate. She tried to focus her attention to a small area. The skill suddenly highlighted small blue circles. She deactivated the skill and walked over to the circles. In front of her was a bush with little pink berries. "Hm.. how did I miss this before?" She mused to herself. Already Observe seemed very valuable albeit somewhat tiring. She examined the pink berries.
Fruit: Rolm Berry Common This is a Rolm Berry.
“Examine… I just want to know if it is edible.” she groaned. Nonetheless, she pulled out the leather pouch containing the coins and dumped them into her backpack. She started picking and placing berries into the leather pouch. She had no idea if these were poisonous, but would keep them until she was desperate. She turned Observe back on again and found another bush behind her with more of the same pink fruits. She picked everything on this bush too and had a popup.
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New Skill Learned: Forage. Progress to next skill level 67%. You can now forage for food in the wilderness. Forage is an active skill. Quest updated: Learn Skills 2 7/25
Vina excitedly activated Forage with her voice. Similar to Observe, her vision changed. Instead of a shifting kaleidoscope of colors, various shapes appeared in yellow. Some were long and thin, others were thick like a rope, even more were small dots like berries or seeds. She ran over to where a lot of dots were clustered together and she examined them.
Nut: Riloin Seed Common This is a Riloin Seed Forage: Eaten raw, Riloin Seeds are known to cause vomiting. Roasting Riloin seeds can make for a tasty snack.
Vina was overjoyed. Not about the vomiting thing, but because she had a way to determine what might be safe. She soon grew contemplative. It seemed a combination of Examine and Forage could generate new information. “What other skills could be combined?” she asked herself. She chose to examine the pink Rolm Berries again.
Fruit: Rolm Berry Common This is a Rolm Berry. Forage: Rolm Berries are a common edible fruit found in the wilderness. In order to make fruit each year, a Rolm plant must experience a hard freeze each winter.
Excited once again, she popped a few berries into her mouth. She experienced instant regret. The berries were bitter and sour at the same time. She cringed and spit them out. “I guess edible does not mean tasty”, she thought as she was spitting out the remnants to clear the taste from her mouth. Once she finished being disgusted, she bent down and used her Forage skill to pick up a handful of Riloin Seeds. After she was done, she was greeted by another notification window.
Skill Level Up: Forage has reached level 2. Items foraged from the wilderness are 2% bigger and foraged items will taste 5% better. You have gained 35 experience from leveling a skill.
“Bigger?” questioned Vina. She picked a nearby berry and it abruptly grew in size ever so slightly. “Wow!” she exclaimed. Vina took a few more minutes foraging for all the berries and seeds she could find. Priya told her to survive, and this skill was necessary to do that. She only finished after Forage had reached level four.
Skill Level Up: Forage has reached level 4. Items foraged from the wilderness are 6% bigger and foraged items will taste 15% better. You have gained 70 experience from leveling a skill.
She reluctantly tasted another berry again. Fifteen percent better taste didn’t seem significant, but it took the berries from intolerable to tolerable. She ate a handful of berries as she returned back to the river. To her surprise the river itself was also highlighted in yellow. She took a moment to examine it.
Forage: Unnamed Stream. This unnamed fresh water stream is likely fed from glacial flow from a nearby mountain range. The glittering effect is generated by the natural minerals produced by the nearby mountain. Status: Safe to drink.
Vina immediately pulled out her canteen and began drinking. Although her hydration status showed as normal, she was feeling thirsty. She soon found out why. As she drank, her hydration status moved from Normal to Hydrated and finally to Well Hydrated. She refilled her canteen, feeling quite a bit better. With access to fresh water and the ability to find food, she was ready to tackle this quest. When she looked at the quest marker, it now displayed 64 miles. She was determined to get it below 60 miles before nightfall.