A Learning Experience - Etrian Odyssey IV (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 3

AN: Thanks so much Micromeichi and SakuraiYoake for commenting on the previous chapter! This chapter is much longer, so I hope you’ll enjoy reading!

-

Chapter 3:

Having no interest in map-drawing or scouting, Varuna left Bryce and Falkner to their bickering about which route to take and continued to study his surroundings. Now that he had gotten over his initial awe of the natural surroundings, he was trying his best to name the trees and plant-life around him. But, to be perfectly honest, he had never encountered such exotic plant-life before.

The trees here were so big and tall, far reaching into the sky. They covered most of the blue sky above. And yet, did little to effect the natural lightening. It wasn’t as dark as it probably should be under such a canopy.

Straying a little away from the group of explorers, Varuna placed his hand against the trunk of a tree. It was tall, but unlike other trees he knew. The trunk was corky and held a swollen quality to it, as if it was somehow storing water. And the branches, they looked like roots, reaching toward the sky. He couldn’t see any flowers, but the leaves were thick and green. It was a shame that he could not reach high enough to snare a sample.

“Whatcha looking at?”

Startled by the voice, Varuna turned his head to look to his right, immediately recognising the short, black-haired sniper standing next to him. Fletcher, wasn’t it? He had a rather curious expression on his face, and yet he also had this cheeky quality to him. He must have become bored at the arguing and wandered over to him.

“I was just curious about this tree,” Varuna explained as he turned his attention skywards, looking at the high branches. “The leaves are particularly interesting. Unfortunately, I cannot reach them.”

“Oh, that should be easy!” Fletcher suddenly stated.

Before Varuna had to chance to question him what he meant, Fletcher lifted his bow and drew an arrow. With his tongue peeking out at the corner of his mouth, he raised his arrow skywards and pulled the bow to full strength. Then, he released an arrow, firing it toward the high branches. The arrow shot through a thin branch that held a few leaves, causing it to tumble harmless to the ground, next to where Varuna was standing.

Varuna blinked.

“There you go!” Fletcher said cheerfully as he lowered his bow.

“T-thank you,” Varuna stuttered, both surprised and impressed by what he had just witnessed. “That was impressive.”

“Heh, that was nothing,” Fletcher said as he rubbed his nose with his index finger.

“Let’s go, you two!” Bryce suddenly called out.

Varuna scooped the fallen branch off the ground and placed it into his bag, dutifully moving to follow the others. He didn’t want to get left behind or become lost. The Lush Woodlands was notoriously vast and dangerous.

“So, this quest of yours,” Varuna asked as he caught up to Bryce, who seemed to be the leader of this small group. “What is it about?”

“Nothing important,” Bryce replied, shrugging casually. “Just need to find some strong smell herb or something. Dalla wants it for cooking.”

The mentioning of an herb piqued Varuna’s interest. “What kind of herb?”

“What was it?” Bryce muttered, more so to himself as he plunged his hand into the pocket of his pants and pulled out a scrap of paper that was wrinkled and creased. “Right, a culantro.”