After walking through the forest for quite a long time, they finally decided to take a short break. Shaan tried to figure out how long they had been walking, but he realized he had forgotten something important. He wasn’t the kind of person who liked wearing a watch when traveling. He glanced at Nalira and Chelsie, hoping at least one of them wore a watch, but it seemed they were just like him.
"We’ll rest here today," Nalira said. "The sky is getting dark, and it will be very dangerous if we continue traveling in this forest."
"Yeah, I agree," Chelsie nodded. "In that case, it’s time for us to..." Her expression stiffened for a moment. "Oh no. I forgot that I finished my protein bar back on the train." Chelsie slowly turned to Nalira. "Lira, do you still have any protein bars left?
"I’ll check." Nalira reached into her pocket, but unfortunately found nothing. "I’m also out of food stocks."
"S-so, what are we going to do now?" Chelsie’s face tensed. "We have no food left, and there’s nothing around here we can eat."
"The day is getting darker, and if we don’t find something to eat soon, we’ll end up skipping dinner," Nalira said as she looked at Shaan. "Do you have any ideas on how we can get food?"
Shaan nodded. "Yeah. Maybe we can try finding some fruit trees. While we were walking through the forest earlier, I saw a few trees that seemed to bear fruit. Maybe we can eat them."
"Uhmm... Shaan, but are you sure that the fruit isn’t poisonous?" Chelsie asked hesitantly. "There are many poisonous plants in the dark realm, and what if the fruit we eat comes from one of the poisonous trees?"
"... In the Dark Realm, you can usually tell if a tree is poisonous just by looking at it," Nalira replied.
"Nalira was right, Chelsie," Shaan said, nodding again. Poisonous fruits usually have bright, flashy colors to attract dark creatures. But safe fruits tend to have darker colors and give off a sweet smell that those creatures hate."
"Wow, Shaan. That’s amazing." Chelsie’s amazed look was clear on her face. "I don’t expect you to know this at all."
Shaan laughed. "Haha, it’s nothing special. I just remembered it from a book Miss Khaya recommended during our training."
"Oh... alright." Chelsie scratched her head. "It seems that after returning to the human world, I’ll probably start reading a lot."
"In that case, Chelsie and I will gather wood and look for water together. Shaan will look for fruit to eat today?" Nalira suggested. "What do you think, Shaan? Are you okay with that?"
Shaan shook his head. "Yes. I don’t mind at all."
"Uhmmm... Shaan, maybe you should use this." Chelsie handed him a cloth pouch from her bag. "You can use it to carry whatever fruit you find."
"Okay, thank you, Chelsei." Shaan took the cloth bag and put it in one of his pockets.
"...Well, then it’s time for us to move on and we’ll gather back at this place, before the sky gets darker."
[Shaan, are you sure you see any fruit-bearing trees around here?] Robin Hood asked. [We’ve walked quite far, but I don’t see anything yet.]"
"I’m pretty sure, I can’t be wrong," Shaan replied confidently. "I think, around here, I should have seen something- Ah, there it is. That’s the tree I’ve been looking for." Without wasting a moment, Shaan ran toward the tree.
After a few minutes of walking, Shaan finally stood in front of the tree he had spotted earlier. At first glance, it looked almost identical to the surrounding trees—same height, same reddish-purple bark—but one thing set it apart: its leaves were round, blood-red like moons, and it was the only tree bearing fruit.
"Okay, now we need to take the fruit and examine it. Whether this fruit is safe to eat or not," Shaan said. "Robin Hood, use your arrow to knock the fruit down."
[Easy. That’s a piece of cake for me.]
He raised his bow, aimed upward, and in seconds, the fruits began raining down from the branches. Fortunately, with Robin Hood around, Shaan didn’t need to climb the tree himself.
"Nice shot, Robin Hood."
[Oh, of course. I’m an expert shooter.] Robin Hood replied proudly, puffing out his chest with a grin. "So, how’s the fruit? Is it safe to eat?"
"Hmm... wait. I’ll check."
Shaan picked up one of the fruits and examined it closely. Its appearance wasn’t flashy at all. It had a round shape with a dark red color. The skin felt smooth and soft, and there were no sharp thorns—something that most poisonous fruits usually had. A sweet, pleasant aroma also rose from it, which matched one of the main traits of edible fruit in the Dark Realm.
[So, how is it? A curious look appeared on Robin Hood’s face. Is it safe to eat?]
Shaan nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, thankfully, it’s safe to eat," he said, pulling out the cloth pouch Chelsie had given him. "Come on, let’s gather all of them and bring them back to Nalira and Chelsie. They must be waiting for us."
[You collected x20 Red Moon Berries]
Once they had collected all the fallen fruits
Shaan and Robin Hood immediately walked back to their rallying point. However, just as he took a step, Shaan accidentally stepped on something, causing his steps to stop for a moment.
[Shaan, what’s wrong?]
Once they finished gathering the fallen fruits, Shaan and Robin Hood immediately started heading back toward the meeting point. But just as they took their first steps, Shaan suddenly stopped after his foot stepped on something unexpected.
"Shaan, what’s wrong?" Robin asked, turning around.
"I think I just stepped on something... and the sound came from..."
Shaan slowly turned his gaze behind him and spotted a stone lying on the ground. He crouched down and picked it up. At first glance, nothing about it seemed unusual. However, the stone suddenly emitted a light that made Shaan immediately rounded his eyes.
’Oh my... what... what’s going on?’