The Search {Job|Solo}

Tane smiled at the person who was sitting behind the counter. The Prestigious had come to the medicinal shop to buy some herbs. It was not anything she needed urgently. She solely wanted to have them in case she needed them. Some reading in the past few days have helped her understand the use of some of the most complicatedly named herbs. Humans had already invented tablets or capsules to contain the medicinal herbs, which were all combined together. This was something the humans came up with. However, it was better than most of their silly inventions. Those silly inventions...Tane could not bare not facepalming if she saw those. If she had to list them, it would be a very long list, and a fruitless project. Tane checked the lady behind the counter. She seemed to be having some kind of trouble. “Hello, miss. Do you need any help?” Tane asked in an audible yet hushed tone.

The lady turned her head to face Tane with questioning eyes. “Help? Yes, I do need help. But I’m not so sure if you can help me.”

“Oh, try me. I help people all the time!” Tane spoke with a grin. The lady nodded, turned her entire body in Tane’s direction and cleared her throat.

“Well...you see...we are having difficulty with our herb supplier. He is saying that we need to pay more or else he won’t get the flower for us. We need this special flower that’s in the Spooky Forest. It looks like this,” she said, showing her a picture of the flower that was on a chart in her drawer. Tane studied it carefully before smiling and saying:

“Ah, this is an easy task. I will bring you the flower!”

Her new client’s face lit up with bliss. “Thank you very much!” she exclaimed, clapping her hands together and grinning as well. Tane giggled before standing up. “Don’t get spooked, by the way!” the lady told her as she left.

And so she was off, to the ‘Spooky Forest’. She discovered the meaning only a few days ago, so it was fresh new word to her collection. The habit of speaking English everywhere she went had developed over the period of time she had been on Earth. She remembered the first time she got here. She remembered the confused look on the stranger she first met when she asked if she should speak English here, and that person told her that of course, she should. It probably sounded like a joking question to that unfamiliar human. Tane took the walking route to Spooky Forest. She knew the way. She had been there before. It would take only about an hour from Magnolia Town, specifically - where she was. And so she began her journey, making sure she was hydrated for the job. Water was the only thing Fismuthian’s consumed constantly.

Spooky Forest was not ‘spooky’ at all. Well, at least for Tane. It was like every other ordinary forest for her. She wondered what made things ‘spooky’. She was sure she had a reliable source for English word definitions. She looked around once. It was very silent, the only sound that was audible among the trees being the rustling of leaves as the wind blew. Tane took a deep breath as she would continue to walk further into the forest. Where might the rarest flower be? Since it was rare, it was probably deep in the forest, and since humans named the forest ‘spooky’ they probably would not dare to go too deep, making the value of the flower go up. With a satisfied grin, Tane strolled casually as if the forest was not haunted or anything - which she believed was the case as there had not been a single haunting since she walked in.

The first thing she noticed was a shadow of a movement. It was probably her imagination. She expected not a single human to be in this forest. They thought it was haunted, who would dare to come here? A tiny breeze made the leaves rustle once more before Tane came to a halt. She was not going to risk another step into what felt like a danger zone. She did not feel like calling out to whoever it was that was in the forest with her. The Saber was a hundred percent sure she had company. Lacing her hands behind her, she tilted her head as if waiting for something, something that might turn out incredibly dangerous or just a figment of her imagination. Tane did not move from where she stood now, appearing almost as though she was inviting the threat. It was silly though. This was the ‘Spooky’ Forest.

Wolves! Shoot! Tane unlaced her hands and bent her knees a bit. They looked pretty threatening. She could hear their hunger...they wanted to eat her! She had to protect herself. But that did not mean she was going to get all armored up with light. She had to attack first and show them who had the upper hand. Gritting her teeth, she called forth Anchiale. The guardian appeared immediately. Through telepathic communication, Tane ordered her to take out the first two in line. The aura that the summon emitted was enough to make the insolent pups fear her. Their fur would catch on fire, making them roll on the ground. Anchile sent a flame towards one of them, taking him out. Tane aimed at the other one who was closest to them compared the remaining two. A shot of celestial light was produced from her palms, straight for that wolf. It was taken out with that gleam, falling limp on the soil. Only two more left.

Since the remaining wolves were rolling around on the ground in an attempt to stop the fire that was burning their fur, Tane did not waste any time. She activated a spell, hitting both the wolves, the damage being distributed evenly among the two. The damage from that and her summon’s passive would be enough to finish them. Tane watched the two creatures halt in their movements as soon as her attacks reached them, then stop moving completely. The expression in her eyes was a sad one. She did not like killing. “Thank you, Anchiale,” she told her summon before dismissing her. Turning to the opposite direction, the Prestigious went on with her search, looking into every nook and corner of the forest. She was almost there, where the flower is. She could feel it. Hopefully there would be no more wolves to deal with, or any other creatures of the forest.

Since the troublesome wolves were gone, Tane focused on finding the flower. Of course she had her spell active in case any more wolves decided to attack her out of the blue. She hummed a tune as she looked around the Spooky Forest. She wondered now, if the naming of this forest was because humans were scared of the wolves here? With a small frown, Tane crouched down at the sight of a flower. It was very similar to the flower that the lady had described to her. It was identical! This was it! This was the flower that she had been looking for. A triumphant smile formed on Tane’s lips. She delicately plucked the flower and made sure it was the right one. Then, she turned to leave the forest. There were no wolves in her sight, so she deactivated her area of effect spell and began walking back.

It took a bit longer for her to reach the clinic because she was distracted with people who were brave enough to ask her about her glow. She liked meeting new people and talking to them so she was not disappointed with the interruption or anything. It was also a surprise to meet people who were curious enough that they actually spoke out to her. With a blissful smile, the young Prestigious returned to the clinic with the flower in hand. It had velvety smooth petals that was very nice to touch. Tane had never touched anything that felt like that, so she was happy with her new experiences. Well, not the one where she had to kill four animals. Maybe it was nice to look at things in a different perspective and think of what she has done as something that was necessary in helping someone else who is about to help others with the medicinal properties of the flower she had retrieved.

Tane walked into the clinic, straight for the counter. People smiled at her and she smiled back, happy that she was here with something that could save lives. The lady behind the counter beamed and waved at her vigorously. The Sabertooth mage quickened her pace and reached the counter. “I have found your flower! Here!” she said, handing the lady the flower. This made her grin even larger, making it seem almost manic.

“Thank you so much! Now we can proceed. Here, please take this. You deserve it!”

With a subtle frown, Tane looked down at the money that the lady held. Without another thought, she politely took it, and with a nod, she turned. It was not a big deal anymore. Accepting money from her clients that is. With a friendly wave of her hands to anyone who smiled at her, she exited the establishment. She even forgot her actual purpose there, which was funny.