'Am I lost?'
Angelica checked the map again.
'I took the correct turn... I guess? But why do I feel like I'm going in circles?' She looked back to the way she came from and checked the compass.
Currently, Angelica was in the Sterron grasslands of the Velven Empire in the middle of a job she accepted at the mercenary guild.
Or it was where she was supposed to be.
'There's grass on the land. But no grasslands here' Angelica sighed.
As far as she could see there were only trees and bushes.
Only the sound of insects and owls hooting was heard in the darkness. There were no moons in the sky and the only source of light was the small flashlight made of magic stones in her hand.
'Maybe I should've bought a bigger flashlight. But I also didn't want to spook the resting animals... Haaah'
For the sake of navigating through the forest, Angelica had tied a small piece of red cloth on the branch of a large tree to mark the place she passed by.
Everything was set up perfectly.
Yet there was one important thing that Angelica had forgotten to take into account.
It was an undeniable fact that she was terrible at navigating, left alone in an unfamiliar area. Her condition was close to being directionally challenged.
'I'm definitely sure I've seen this large tree a couple of times' She folded the map and tucked it inside her pocket.
There was no use in blankly staring at a piece of paper while having no idea how to use it.
A total of eight months have passed since Angelica disappeared from the capital. She had dyed her hair brown for the sake of concealing her identity and traveled while doing jobs at the mercenary guild whenever she ran out of money.
After staying at the local tavern in a town in Northern Velven, she decided to accept a job at the guild after seeing multiple requests for the 'Golden Rosales plant' that grew in the Sterron grasslands. Since the plant was only identifiable in the darkness Angelica left for the search after sundown.
"I'm lost" Angelica declared, throwing her hands in the air.
While she was debating which way to proceed, there was a rustle in the bushes behind her.
*rustle* *rustle*
"Hmm?"
Angelica searched in the direction of the sound. But there was nothing there.
*rustle* *rustle*
There was another rustle in the trees behind her. This time, there was forward movement.
Something was coming towards her and whatever it was she knew that she was not alone.
Angelica shifted the flashlight towards the bushes.
A shadow of a large beast protruding its sharp teeth and claws was visible in the light. But as the rustling got closer and closer, the shadow got smaller and smaller.
*rustle*
Finally, the fantastic beast that emerged out of the bushes was just a small squirrel.
*squeak*
"Hey there little buddy" Angelica kneeled down next to the squirrel, finding it cute.
The squirrel blinked its eyes and took a few steps towards her. It held its hand out to her like it was asking something.
"You... Do you want something from me?" Angelica checked her pockets for any treats.
Other than what was necessary for the mission in the grasslands there was nothing on her. Also bringing food to the forest might attract unnecessary trouble, especially in a world filled with magical creatures.
"Sorry bud. I've got nothing on me" Angelica smiled awkwardly.
Then an idea occurred to her.
She might not be familiar with the forest but the squirrel could since it lives there.
"Do you know where the Golden Rosales flowers grow around here? It's supposed to be in grasslands in this forest"
*squeak*
The squirrel stepped forward and tilted its head seeing her extend an empty hand towards her.
"Can you show me the way to..."
*HISS*
Before Angelica could finish her sentence the squirrel ferociously hissed at her and ran off, disappearing into the bushes.
"What?" Angelica blinked blankly.
After taking a few seconds to process the information, she realized that the squirrel had abandoned her after learning that she did not have anything to offer it in return.
"Wow! This is one crazy world"
Angelica scoffed and looked at the compass.
"No matter how long it takes I'm finding the plant and getting out of here"
With a newfound determination, Angelica stood up and marched into the trees pushing down everything in the way.
And after two hours of aimless trekking like Rambo on a rampage, Angelica finally found what seemed like grasslands in the middle of the forest. Though she wasn't sure of it.
"Whoaa.." Angelica exclaimed.
Before her eyes was a plot of land covered by fluorescent grass with a golden plant as a centerpiece. The plot itself is surrounded by trees.
At last, Angelica had found the Golden Rosales plant surrounded by shiny grass.
It was a breathtaking sight.
'It's like seeing a mystic milky way on the floor'
The grass was covered in fluorescent lights making it appear straight out of a CGI animated movie. It was bright enough for a person to see clearly at night without the use of any tools.
But there was a major problem.
"Ahh... Now I get why this is called a grassland"
The second Angelica tried to step on the grass the alchemized nose ring started to get warm.
To be exact, the Golden Rosales plant was located in the middle of a plot surrounded by illuminated grass which produced pollen with hallucinogenic properties. Otherwise called drugs.
Angelica was able to recognize the grass as drugs thanks to the reading sessions she had with comatose Edward at the Frost Residence from the books she used as makeshift dead weights.
She remembered seeing a picture of the grass in one of the Velven encyclopedias.
"Beauty and toxic. Just like you.... Boop!" Angelica said as she poked Edward's nose.
Though she was able to identify the grass as a toxic substance she did not know the exact way it could affect a person or if it had any side effects.
It would be a death sentence if she were to be allergic to it or have an anaphylaxis attack in the middle of nowhere with nobody knowing of her whereabouts.
"What to do... What to do"
Angelica mumbled as she looked around to find a way to get to the middle of the plot without stepping on the grass.
If she knew magic she could have floated on top of the plot, picked the plant, and effortlessly landed back on the ground.
But she wasn't Alladin and there was no magic carpet. A normal person like her who had no magic has to improvise with the sources available.
Right then Angelica noticed a tree on the right side of the plot with one of its branches grown outgrown on top of the plant.
"Mission impossible... here I come" Angelica muttered and dropped her bag on the floor. She removed all the extra weight on her including her jacket leaving only the necklace and the dagger always tied to the holster on her thigh.
She tied her hair into a bun, covered her nose with a handkerchief, started climbing the tree, and stopped after reaching the branch that was outgrown over the Rosales plants.
Unfortunately, the branch was not as sturdy enough as she had expected. In order to get the flowers and return back safely, she would have to be extremely careful all the way till the end of the process.
'No sudden movements. No extra weights' She recited to herself.
"Just like walking on an eggshell"
Angelica carefully walked over to the branch and got into position. After taking a deep breath she slowly bent backward until she was hanging upside down from the branch like a bat. She removed the dagger from its holster and reached out to the plant beneath her.
The Golden Rosales plant was a rare species of roses but with medicinal capabilities. They only grow in selected regions making it one of the most demanded resources by herbalists and healers alike around the continent.
And true to its name the plant radiated in gold at night but appeared like a normal rose during the day making it tough to recognize. The atmosphere it grew made its surroundings a viable place for parasitic grass to grow in.
'Grrr... I wanna scratch my nose so bad' Angelica screamed on the inside.
The silver nose ring had turned black and was stinging to the point that it was distracting her from the matter at hand.
Just as Angelica was about to cut the flowers there was the sound of something breaking.
*crack*
'What was that?'
Angelica turned towards the source of the sound. It sounded as if a branch was snapping.
*crack*
And it was coming from the branch she was hanging from.
'Be calm. If I concentrate and trace my steps back I can get down safely'
Angelica reached for the plant beneath and started to cut the flowers while not being pierced by its thorns.
Suddenly she heard a rustle among the branches above. Soon a familiar-looking squirrel appeared on the branch above and titled its head looking at her.
For some reason, Angelica felt an ominous omen by the squirrel's sudden arrival. It was standing still and staring at her as if it was conspiring something.
*squeak*
"..."
Angelica gulped.
The squirrel walked back and forth like it was searching for the perfect spot. It stopped at a point to her right pacing itself and getting ready to jump.
"Don't... Don't do it"
Angelica said in a hoarse voice. She pleaded the squirrel to not jump with her eyes.
To her surprise, it smirked at her with an evil laugh.
"!"
*SQUEAK*
The squirrel bolted down like a lightning-fast ninja using its body weight as core, instantly breaking the offset of the branch.
*snap*
"Oh sh*t"
*THUD*
At the same time, a group of goblins were chasing a white figure across the forest.
"Grrr..."
The goblins stood confused searching in all directions having lost sight of their target.
*thuck* *thuck* *thuck*
Arrows started raining down from the sky, a barely visible white figure jumping through the branches shooting as it went.
In a fraction of seconds, half of the goblins lay dead on the ground leaving the other half scattered in chaos.
A rabbit beastman in a mercenary outfit jumped into the middle of it and started wielding his bow like a sword and slew the goblins attacking him from all sides.
*thuck*
Eugene shot a goblin that tried to sneak up on him from the trees and kicked another one before finishing it off with a single blow to the head.
Eugene Leveret was a member of Nero mercenaries exclusively made of beastkin. They were on a mission to the Sterron grasslands when the group was ambushed by goblins.
In the confusion of the battle, Eugene split from the rest of the group with a bunch of monsters on his tail.
A heavy smell of goblins permeated in the air making it hard for him to follow the scent of his colleagues.
*THUD*
Eugene's ears twitched when he heard a loud thud in the distance. He kneeled down and checked the goblins to see if there were any left alive while salvaging as many arrows as he could.
But unknown to him one of the goblins had escaped into the woods and was hiding, concealing its presence in the dense bushes.
Without making any sound it sneaked up from behind him and pounced, holding a stone dagger at hand.
"Hiyaaaaah"
Before Eugene could reach for his bow and take the shot, it was too late. The pesky goblin had one-upped him by causing a distraction in the back while attacking from the front.
Just as Eugene braced for impact.
*slash*
The goblin fell down, splitting into two pieces right before his eyes.
"Baby?"
A woman's voice was heard behind the blade.