CHAPTER 153 - DIVE-INE RIVER TREASURES
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The chief’s grandson laughed. “They just got fed. They won’t bother you.”
That was easy for him to say; he wasn’t the one who would be swimming with the piranhas!
Correctly interpreting my expression as one of doubt, he smiled and gestured upstream. “It won’t be too hard, you’ll see. I’ll show you where the bowl is.”
We walked further up the river, still followed by the chief and a bunch of villagers. I saw what he meant. The stone bowl was in the middle of the river, caught between two large rocks. It was difficult to judge how deep the rocks were, but the water seemed fairly shallow there, perhaps ten feet.
“Do I even need the magic item to breathe underwater?” I wondered aloud.
He shrugged. “You don’t have to do it. It’s just that if one of our villagers was allowed to swim there to retrieve the sacred item, he would probably want to search for treasures, too.”
“I see. One moment, please.” I gestured to my apprentices to follow me and we walked away from the crowd to get some privacy to talk.
“Teacher, are you really going to swim in the river?” Mo looked extremely worried.
Lari shook his head. “I think I should do it.”
“Or me. I’m a good swimmer,” said Kharli.
They hadn’t known how to swim last year, but they had taken lessons from some clan members. I hadn’t gotten a chance to test their skills yet.
“I want to try using that magic item,” said Lari.
“Are you sure? What about the piranhas?” Mo still looked worried.
“The villagers said they hardly ever attack humans,” said Kharli.
“Wait.” I held up my hand. “Let me think about it.”
On the one hand, it didn’t look dangerous. Adventure Incarnate always gave the players a warning if a quest involved combat.
On the other hand, would getting bitten by a fish count as “combat”?
While I was dithering, Mo took the initiative to pull me aside, away from the other two, and whisper her concerns to me. “Teacher, please promise me you won’t wear that ‘swimsuit’ when you look for the bowl.”
“What?” I gave her a questioning look. I knew that people here considered the normal Earth swimsuit to be scandalous, but surely she didn’t expect me to go into the water fully clothed. “I can’t possibly wear my robes and pants to swim. It would be a safety hazard.”
“Then Lari should do it.”
“I have some swimsuits that give more coverage.”
I was about to show them to Mo when she frantically grabbed my wrists to stop me and then used a jerk of her head to summon Kharli to join our whispered conversation.
“Teacher, please don’t let the public see those shocking things!” Mo gave me a pleading look.
“Okay, okay.” I walked them further away from the crowd and hid behind some trees before showing them an assortment of swim trunks, skirts, rash guards, and tops. “See, these tops are long-sleeved and the skirts go down to my knees. I can wear the trunks under them. Anyway, the people here are wearing less!”
The two girls exchanged a look of long-suffering tolerance.
Kharli was more diplomatic than Mo. “Teacher, we understand what you mean, but the bowl seems easy to get. Why don’t we let Lari do it?”
I threw my hands up. “Fine, you win! I’ll wear my robes and pants.”
After all, it’s not like I wanted to go diving in waters teeming with piranhas!
“Alright,” I said. “Lari can do it. I’ll go into the water too, in case he needs help. And yes, I’ll wear my regular clothes.”
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I rolled my eyes dramatically at their insistence that I maintain proper decorum at all times. On the other hand, did it matter? After all, as long as the quest was finished, it was fine if I wasn’t the one who dived into the water. If I recall correctly, the diving helmet was quite uncomfortable. So, if Lari wanted to do it himself, let him!
We walked back to where the others were and told them of our plans. The Chief's grandson helped Lari put on the magical helmet. I felt it was rather unfair when no one even blinked an eye when Lari took off his robes and rolled up his pants. I, of course, had to keep on all of my clothes. I took off my shoes and waded into the water at the shallow end of the river. There was no need to for me to equip my own diving helmet, since the sacred bowl happened to be nearby, and the water only went up to my waist. I watched as Lari, to the cheering of the crowd, walked into the river and dived right in. A few minutes later, he emerged with the requested item and more.
“Congratulations, you did it!” I said.
“Thank you, thank you!” said Lari.
The chief and her family were effusive in their thanks.
“Teacher, I also got these items,” Lari showed me a pearl ring and a piece of coral that had a small diamond-like faceted gem embedded in it.
I took them and smiled as the System’s quest information automatically updated itself. As expected, I only had to get the items, and it didn’t matter if Lari or I retrieved them.
[Recover the Sacred Offering Bowl:
Find the Sacred Offering Bowl that the chief’s youngest grandson dropped in the Enchanted River.
Sacred Offering Bowl: 1/1
Pearl Ring: 1/1
Coral Diamond: 1/1
Rewards:
1. Eight Mini Parasol Trees
2. ???]
“What are those?” I asked the chief.
The chief shrugged. “A lot of items have fallen into the river over the years. Sometimes, people throw in offerings to the fairies, especially when someone in their family is sick.”
“Oh, should we throw these back in?” I asked.
“Yes, I think you should,” she said.
I did as she suggested, and was quite pleased to see the System pop up.
[Recover the Sacred Offering Bowl: Quest Complete]
Now I only had to wait for the reward to be given. We walked back to the Chief's house, making my feet hurt even more.
While we were gone, some villagers had prepared the trade goods for us. The tree seedlings were given to me as a reward for finding the sacred offering bowl, along with a lovely little figurine carved out of sacred koa wood.
[Wooden Monkey King Figurine:
??????]
The item’s description was just a row of question marks, meaning I was too low-level to use the small wooden carving of a monkey with a fierce expression. He was wearing circlet on his head and standing on a cloud holding a mystic staff.
“What a great statue!” The kids and I made more admiring remarks before we moved on to examining the trade goods. I bought sacks of dried peaches, peach wine, bananas, mangoes, coconuts, and dried fish with a handful of silver. I explained that the fresh meat and ham were gifts.
“With your permission, ma’am, I’d like to visit again,” I said.
“All who are welcomed by the great turtle are our treasured guests,” she assured me. “Everyone here will treat you well and never harm you.”
“Are there any particular items that you would like me to bring next time?
“Since we’re close to land this time, we’ve sent some of our men to buy what we need from the Westerlands.”
“So there’s nothing in particular that you need?”
“Fresh meat is always welcome.”
That made sense. After all, I learned from the chief's son that they grew cassava, sweet potato, yam, taro, rice, and vegetables on the island, so they didn’t need more food, especially since the islanders were all skilled fishermen. However, since it was forbidden for them to raise large farm animals for meat due to the possible environmental effects it could have, the one thing they always wanted to buy was meat, specifically fresh red meat.
I could understand how they felt! Meat was life! Although fish was technically a type of meat, it didn’t satisfy my cravings the way that red meat did.
Before we parted, the people all pressed a variety of welcome gifts into my and my apprentice's hands. I received a lot of shell and wooden bead jewelry, flower bouquets, leis, and some coconut products, like coconut utensils, oil, vinegar, sugar, flower syrup, and so forth.
I summoned the ship once again, and we sailed back to the river, then up the river to the farm, waving our goodbyes to the turtle until it disappeared out of sight.
“What did you think about the village?” I asked my apprentices.
“I’d like to go fishing next time,” said Lari.
“They said I can’t go foraging because I'm an outsider,” said Mo.
“We should bring some more trade items next time,” said Kharli.
“Meat?” I asked.
“Milk, cheese, and tea,” suggested Kharli.
“Yes, I agree about the tea. They trade it a lot since they consider it a luxury item,” said Mo.
“I think we should all learn their fishing techniques. The men told me about spearfishing,” said Lari.
“Sounds like a plan!” I said. “I’ll tell our housekeeper to prepare more meat and other delicacies.”
I sped the ship up a little more, eager to return to the farm to complete the fairy quest. Fengying had sent someone to buy what I needed in Anwei this morning, so she should have the Evening Primrose Plants ready for me.
[Fairy Summoning:
Activate the Vineheart Fairy House by preparing a proper environment for the forest spirits.
Plant eight Mini Parasol Trees - 0/8
Plant three Evening Primrose Plants - 0/3
Place nine Spell Stones - 0/9
Reward: Magic Exp]