Chapter 21: CH21 Aspen Grove

Around midday the group decided to take a break. Alex walked through the aspen grove looking for anything that might be dangerous to them. Fufi was flying overhead letting out her own bird calls in answer to the birds in the area. Merumeru was following Alex along taking in the view with a smile on her face. "Merumeru, this is an aspen tree. We have these in my world too. Want to know something interesting about aspen trees?" Alex asked the slime girl with a smile. Merumeru nodded happily. "They spread by extending their roots out and sprouting another tree." Alex gestures to the white barked trees all around them. "So, it is hard to tell without looking at the tree's genes but all of these trees could be the same organism. These trees really like light. Even if they don't have any leaves, the bark still collects energy from the sun."

Merumerue's mouth made an 'O' shape.

Alex continued, "It also means it is impossible to tell how old an aspen grove is by counting the tree rings. I read an article about an aspen grove in Utah that experts were saying is tens of thousands of years old. How old do you think this grove is Merumeru?"

The slime girl held up three fingers.

"Could it be thirty, three hundred, or three thousand. We can't talk to trees so we might not ever know." Alex guessed.

Merumeru's eyes grew wide and she started to giggle.

"That's a pretty good guess. You'd have to ask a druid or a dryad to know for sure though." Fufi added, swooping down out of the sky.

"Oh? They have things like that in this world?" Alex asked.

"Of course. There are a lot of different types of magic users. Some can heal, others can curse people, and a few have special skills." Fufi explained.

"It sounds like I still have a lot to learn. I wish I would have known that the first people we met were going to be hostile. I dreamed that maybe one day we could finish rebuilding the adventurer's guild and the playing adventurer with Merumeru could turn into reality. There could be quests and people would slowly come back to the town and we could bring it back to life." Alex stated with a faraway look in his eyes.

"How are you feeling Alex? You've only been in this world for a couple weeks. From what you told me of your old world something like this would never happen." Fufi said gently.

"I'm sorry Fufi. I just feel so helpless." Alex said sadly.

"Don't be too hard on yourself Alex. We all got out of that encounter without getting hurt." Fufi stated in an encouraging voice.

"I know. It was stupid of me to let myself get captured. But it was still a shock when I found out what was happening. It just reminded me of a self defense class I took as a boy. The instructor had someone come at him with a knife. He said he would show us what to do if that happened. The student he had helping him pointed the knife at him and he just ran out of the room. It was funny but not something I would ever forget. The next thing he showed us was what to do if someone pointed a gun at you and demanded your money. He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and handed it to the student holding the toy gun. I don't know why something from my childhood popped into my head then but I just went with it." Alex explained.

"Alex, I think I understand. I've seen you fight before. I knew you had a plan and I trusted you to make it work. I was just worried because you didn't seem to want to use your power. I figured you must have a reason." Fufi said.

"Well, I am not exactly comfortable with using my powers yet. What if they were quicker than me and decided to just attack? It seemed foolish to risk a fight."Alex sighed.

"I think it is good that you think that way. If you were more reckless, you probably wouldn't be alive right now. A more experienced magical girl would have been able to defeat that group but we still need to get you more training." Fufi replied.

"When Luna offered to turn me into a girl I declined. I get that it makes thing tougher for me but I'm not giving up. Some day we'll be able to stand against injustice. Right now we have a bigger problem." Alex said.

"What is that?" Fufi asked.

"We have just a few fish and we have a long walk ahead of us. Actually, we don't even have a real next destination either." Alex voiced his worries aloud. The mention of fish made Alex's stomach growl. This cave man diet was starting to get old. He really missed things like bread and cheese. The fish wouldn't last long because they had no way to preserve them. So he figured they might as well eat them up right away. While the knives that they had were gone, Alex still had his repair kit for the dolls. He used some of those small tools to prepare fish for everyone. Merumeru and Fufi left for a little bit and came back with enough berries for everyone to share.

"I miss chocolate. Please tell me it is something that exists in this world." Alex grumbled.

"Chocolate isn't really something you can find easily in this world." Fufi said apologetically.

"Yes, if it did exist in the same way it would likely be in a tropical climate. We are halfway into the mountains here." Alex groaned.

"But there are other sweets that taste similar." Fufi said.

"Like what?" Alex asked curiously.

"I'll give you a hint. It starts with a 'C'."

"Candy?" Alex asked.

"No, not candy."

"Cookies?"

"No, not cookies."

"Cake?"

"Yes! Cake!"

"Oh, cake. How I miss you cake." Alex pined.

As they cleaned up Alex considered how to make a cake. They would need flower, sugar and eggs. Also, a cake needs to be baked. They would also need an oven. He imagined a chocolate cake coming hot out of the oven, "Ugh, it sucks knowing how to make a cake but everything to bake one is out of reach. I miss civilization."

"Alex, we should get moving again soon. We still have quite the distance to go today." Fufi said in an attempt to cheer him up.

Alex nodded and they packed up and headed off in the direction of the sun. The forest floor was covered with fallen leaves and branches. The air smelled fresh and clean. Eventually the sun started to hang low in the sky and they decided to make camp.

"Fufi, can you fly around the area?" Alex asked.

"Sure." Fufi took off into the sky flying circles around the tops of the aspen trees.

"Can you help me test something Merumeru?" Alex asked.

"Meru!" the slime girl cheerfully agreed.

Alex turned the cart back into a card. He handed it to the slime girl.

"I want you to throw the card in a flat spot and see if it turns into a cart." Alex requested.

Merumeru threw the card. The card landed on the ground and with a similar magical flash it turned back into a cart.

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"Good job! Now I want you to touch it like this and see if it turns back into a card." The little slime girl did as asked and the cart turned back into a card.

"Okay, now summon it again. I want to try sitting on it when it turns back into a card to see what happens." Alex requested. He was a bit worried that this might get him trapped or transported to a realm with no air. But he wanted to know how the cart reacted to living things. He didn't want to do a test like this on his companions.

"Ru?" Merumeru hesitated to touch the cart while Alex was in it. He waved a hand to encourage her and let her know that it was okay.

The cart vanished as it took on the card form. However, Alex was left floating in midair for a moment before he fell on his butt into the ground. "Well, I guess it doesn't work on humans. That is good to know." Alex said while rubbing his sore bottom.

"Anyway let's check and see what supplies we have." Alex went up to the cart and unloaded it. He used his feather duster to clean everything off while he did so.

[2x water barrels]

[2x empty lantern]

[1x Brazier]

[10x empty potion bottles (missing lids) ]

[4x iron cylinder]

[150x lumps of coal]

[1 doll repair kit]

[1 sewing kit]

[A pile of stuffed animals]

[3x clockwork dolls]

[A pile of assorted metal pipes]

[12x bolts of assorted cloth]

[10x blankets of various colors]

[2x quartz and steel fire starting kits]

Alex put all of this away and checked the brazier. He put some dry grass, sticks and coal in it to start a fire. It took a bit of effort but they eventually had fight and light as the night set in. Sadly, the only thing they had to eat was berries.

"Should we keep watch through the night? I don't want those guys to sneak up on us again if they decide that they haven't taken enough stuff from us. It really irks me that they were able to just have their way with us. Man, I wish we could have done something to get even a little payback." Alex said with frustration in his voice.

"Alex, I'm sorry. I couldn't stop them. I should have seen them coming." Fufi said.

"Meru! ru ruuu, meee!" Merumeru waved her hands about and exclaimed loudly. Neither Fufi or Alex knew what she was trying to say though.

"I think that she wants to sleep." Alex guessed.

"I think you're right. I'll take the first watch and can you take the second Alex? We can let Merumeru get some sleep." Fufi offered.

"Sure." Alex replied.

"I'll be fine. You need to get some rest." Fufi insisted.

***

Back at the town. . .

Olk was at the flooded adventurer's guild waiting for one of his men to come back. They got the strongest swimmer to go down into the water and try to enter the dungeon. A rope was set up to help get there but still it was risky. After several agonizing minuites the man returned but he didn't have good news.

"Olk, I was able to get down there no problem and activate the dungeon." The man said and took a deep breath.

"But?" Olk figured things wouldn't be that simple.

"Well, unlike before, now it is an underwater dungeon. I got in there and had to turn right back around because I'm not a fish." The man reported forlornly.

"So you were able to get inside, just not past the entrance?" Olk asked.

"Yeah. When I tried to pass the entrance my lungs started burning and I panicked and ran out." The man explained.

"I don't suppose you got anything with you that would help us?" Olk asked hopefully.

"I'm afraid not. All that I could grab was this." The man held up a small bag.

"What's in the bag?" Olk asked.

"Just some random junk." The man answered.

The bag contained sea shells, some blue rocks, and a hair comb. To add insult to injury everything seemed to be slime themed. The shells were shaped like a slime monster. The blue rocks could be a small slime statue. The hair comb had a handle that was shaped like a slime.

Olk just handed them back and sighed, "Maybe some of the women in the tribe might like these things. This is going to be a problem. Send a message to the chief and ask if our shaman can come here to dispel the water trap. I don't think this place is going to be useful if we can't get the water out"

 

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