Haven Online 169 Brimree Grove

The party of four walked through the hilly terrain passing by all sorts of interesting items, like the gigantic purplish rocks near them that glowed. Sadly, with how much of a hurry they were in, they had no time to take in their surroundings, if they did they would have seen all of the wondrous sights around them.

Such as the forest that was a couple of feet away from where they were walking. If they were looking they would have seen that underneath the sun, the forest looked tremendous, light, and thriving. 

Its canopy being eclipsed by the lovely periwinkle leaves of the Wisteria tree. However, plenty of light still passed through their crowns for all sorts of shrubs to make use of and grow on the ground below.

Bundled branches grasped most of the trees, and the apricot flower, which was common to this area only, stuck out against the otherwise dark forest grounds. There were also a hodgepodge of monster and animal sounds, most of which were fleeing animals, resonated through the air, and overpowered the rustling of the leaves and branches of the treetops in the wind.

However all of this went over the head of the group, in their rush, they were only focused on going forward. Not to say that their journey was a solemn one, that would be far from the truth. 

The truth was even though Xinya and his party were hastily trying to get to their destination, the trip there was a harmonious one. If someone were listening to them they would hear a lively and light-hearted conversation between close friends. 

Cheerful laughter could be heard all throughout their expedition, making the long trip feel shorter than it actually was. As time flew by, and the group came closer and closer to their desired destination until Brimree Grove was right in front of them.

"We finally made it!" Melting Snow exclaimed. Looking at the magical looking grove in wonder.    

Xinya couldn't believe how quickly they made it here, checking the time he saw that it was only 3 pm. Not only did they make it to Brimree Grove, but they also arrived in less time than what he had calculated.

"We did," Xinya said happily while looking around the area. "With 3 hours to spare until nightfall comes."

Looking thoughtful, Wandering Sound asks, "Do you think we should look around for a bit before setting up camp for the night?" 

"I think we should since we don't know how long it will take us to find the fairy ring," Xinya replied.  

"Should we split up?" Wei asked. "We would be able to cover more ground  that way."

Xinya knew that Wei was right, if they split up they would be able to find the fairy ring quicker, but seeing how the grove has level 26-35 monsters inside of it, he doesn't think that would be a good idea. Who knows what would happen if they met one of those high-level monsters on their own. 

Shaking his head, Xinya said, "I don't think that's a good idea. We should stay together, or we might die if we come across one of the monsters in there."

"Drifting Cloud is right," Melting Snow said in agreement. "If one of us dies, then none of us would be able to go to the fairy store."  

After listening to Xinya and Melting Snow, Wei realized that they made sense. Sticking together as they looked would be the best way to go about it. "You're right, let's start looking then."

"Hold up!" exclaimed Wandering Sound, stopping the others when they began to make their way into the Grove. "Do anyone of you even know what the fairy ring looks like?"

Rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, Xinya realized that he indeed did not know how a fairy ring looked. Feeling a little stupid for not asking earlier turned a to Wandering Sound with a questioning gaze.

Looking at the bewildered eyes of his party, Wandering Sound let out a sigh, before starting to explain, "A fairy ring, also known as fair' ie rin', is a naturally occurring ring or arc of mushrooms. Not any type of mushrooms, but  Amanita muscaria. They are medium-size red mushrooms with white spots. They basically look like it was plucked straight from an Alice in Wonderland book."

"I never read that book," Melting Snow told him with a grin. "But I get it, I just need to look for some weird looking red and white mushrooms."

"Well if you must simplify what I said,'' huffed Wandering Sound, watching as Drifting Cloud and Melting Snow headed into the grove.

Laughing at the pouting man, Wei grabbed his hand pulling him along into the grove after the others.

~

As the group disappeared into Brimree Grove, Blooming Flower who was about ten feet from where Xinya's party was standing, crept out from behind a tree. Reapplying her camouflage she headed in after them.

Once the group was back in her sight, she continued to follow them from a distance. She wanted to get closer so she could hear what they were talking about, but since her camouflage skill only lasts for 30 minutes, she couldn't risk it. 

Blooming Flower really wanted to though, she wanted to know why her idol came to this place. However, after seeing the monster level in this grove, she just assumed that they came here to gain experience. 

She had already guessed from the video's that Melting Snow was a newish player, and this would be a great place for him to gain some experience. Thinking that she might have a chance to see her idol fight in real-time, made her smile widely.  

Suddenly she had a thought, she could revise her plan so that they could meet sooner. She thought that she could go with the old gimmick of aggroing a monster and pretend to need saving. However, she axed that idea after realizing how ridiculous it was. 

No one would believe that a level 55 spiritualist, who was number 60 on the worldwide rankings like herself would need someone to save her. She decided to just stick with her first plan.

After following the group for another half an hour or so, Blooming Flower came to the realization that they weren't in this grove to level themselves up. To her, it seemed as if they were looking for something.

She was really curious as to what they were looking for, because as far as she knew there weren't any rare items in this place. Thinking about it for a while, Blooming Flower looked at the dryad that 'her' Melting snow was always with and remembered something.  

When she was following the two of them in Mirstone Village, she overheard them talking about food, and Melting Snow was asking the man to make him something. That must mean that he has the cooking skill. Knowing that, Blooming Flower came to the conclusion that they were looking for some kind of edible item. 

After coming to that conclusion, she smiled to herself while thinking about getting the cooking skill. It seems that her idol was a foodie, and everyone knows that the best way to a man's heart was through his stomach.

Blushing at the thought of Melting Snow eating her food, she started making plans as she continued to follow them through the grove.

Chapter end