His next step was the local herb store where he hoped he could find some sort of [Herbology] skill book detailing the local herbs and their uses. His [Identification] skill could give a bare amount of information such as the name of the herbs and a description, but Ambrose gained enough experience and knowledge he needed some outside help. A herb skill book would help with his herbology skill as he read it and retained the information.

The smell of spices drifted into Ambrose’s nose as he entered the small shop. Dried plants were hanging to the wall while others were alive in pots. Ambrose made his way around the small store, examining the multitude of herbs before he ran into the store owner.

The gray-haired woman had wrinkles surrounding her face. Her blue eyes had faded over time but that didn’t stop her from radiating a certain kind of warmth. Ambrose couldn’t help but falter in his steps as he was reminded of his own mother. He must have stared for too long because the woman laughed.

“Stop your gawking boy, I know I’m pretty but it's no reason to have that dumb look on your face,” Her raspy voice and playful banter caused Ambrose to smile.

“I’m sorry ma’am, that was rude of me. Does this happen to be your shop?” Ambrose apologized before delving into the reason why he was here.

“Aye, been mine for the past forty years and it’ll be mine till the day I die. What can I help you with?” The owner placed the small fern she had been tending to back on the shelf before fully turning to face Ambrose.

“I was hoping that you might have any spare books on the local herbs in the area and a [Herbology] and [Herb Growing] skill book. I’m planning on venturing and would appreciate it if I didn’t eat anything poisonous,” Ambrose chuckled.

“Hmm, I do have a few spare herbology books and skill books. Let me go in the back and get them,” The woman brushed her dirt-covered hands on her leather pants before walking to the back of the store. Ambrose tried using [Identification] on a few of the plants to get some experience.

[White Lily

Rarity: (Common)

Effects:????

Description: A white flower that is native to the area. Can be harvested with [Herbology (Novice)]]

[Green Frog Jumper

Rarity: (Common)

Effects:????

Description: A flower that produces a frog-shaped seed during maturity. Can be harvested with [Herbology (Novice)]]

[Hangman’s Whisper

Rarity: (Uncommon)

Effects:????

Description: Only grows when fed the blood of humans or animals. Can be harvested with [Herbology (Apprentice)]]

Ambrose was interrupted by the door closing in the back as the women returned, book in hand.

“This is the herbology book that should help you with every herb that I’ve seen on the Isles and a [Herbology] and [Herb Growing] skill books to get the skills started. I’ve documented the effects of most herbs so that should save you from having to test them on yourself,” the women laughed airly.

“Thank you very much. How much for them?” Ambrose pulled out the sack of coins that was located in his inventory. Starting currency had ended up being two gold. It was more money than Ambrose had ever had in his life and he loathed spending too much of it. Though he did realize that money wouldn’t have any use on the frontier.

“For a young man like you, just twenty-five silver for all three books.” Ambrose inwardly groaned in pain as he counted out the coin onto the countertop. He knew books were in short supply due to their rarity. Eden was capped at a certain technology level meaning that nuclear war would never be a possibility. It also meant that things like the printing press would have to be reinvented through the game’s own terms. Ambrose took a look inside the book and nodded when he noted that everything was handwritten, likely by the shop owner. Even though ten silver had been the asking price usually per skill book, it didn’t hurt his coin pouch any less.

“Pleasure doing business!” The lady gave a smile, which Ambrose returned. While he was here he might as well see if she had another item on his list.

“You wouldn’t happen to keep any seeds for sales would you, namely papyrus seeds?” Ambrose wanted more diversity than just corn, potatoes, and wheat. Crops would take a long time to grow even with the game speeding things along so he wanted to see if perhaps he could get some smaller plants that he could cultivate in the meantime.

“Aye, I have a few Bleeding Fern seeds along with some Messenger’s Supplement and a bag of the papyrus seeds.” Ambrose flipped through the book and noticed that the fern was a health regeneration herb while the messenger’s supplement was a stamina recoverer. He grabbed a small bag with the three seeds before counting out three silvers in total.

“Thank you for your help. I’m sure I’ll be back.” Ambrose tilted his head in thanks before leaving the woman to care for her herbs.

The rest of Ambrose’s shopping trip included obtaining a cookbook, building supplies, and a few other miscellaneous items like land claim stakes which were used to mark off territory and claims.

The cookbook was just a minor instruction guide to help with his knowledge process in his [Cooking] skill. He was happy that he wouldn’t just be eating just plain food, recipes in the cooking book called for local foods that could be found in the wilds.

Ambrose had only twenty-five silver left at the end of his shopping spree but knew that it would be worth it in the end. With the building supplies that he had gathered it wouldn’t be too hard to gain experience in his [Construction] skill to make what he hoped would be a log cabin. The heavy trees would provide perfect walls for shelter and insulation.

Finding that he was done with his shopping, Ambrose returned to the bustling Floating Otter Inn and found a seat next to the extraverted Jerald.

“Glad you’re back Ambrose, we’re about to head off to the woods since it's still so early. Got everything you need?” Jerald had purchased some of the stew and was devouring the food at an insane rate.

“Yes, a few of the shop owners gave me a bit of trouble but I managed to get the [Barter (Novice I)] skill.” Ambrose had come across the skill by chance when he tried to negotiate the price of nails down due to the owner of the general store charging an insane price due to Ambrose not being a native. Jerald cheered to his good fortune before delving back into his stew.

Ambrose glanced around the inn and saw that for the most part, everyone in the group was here. Conversation said that everyone was accounted for and those not here were just shopping for a few items before coming back.

A group surrounded Tina who was looking at a detailed map showing the local area. Norsege Isles was full of barely explored land, like most of the world, and only due to his bird-eye view that he had been granted was Ambrose able to get a rough estimate of where they were at. Tina was talking to a taller-than-average man about what direction they should head in.

“This map only shows about ten miles inland so outside from there we’re on our own.” Tina pointed towards where the map ended and an “Unexplored” symbol was printed.

“Hmm, it might be a good idea to follow the shore until we find a valley or river then head inwards. Enough of the group has a skill in fishing or hunting that it would be a waste to landlock us and not take advantage of the plentiful ocean life.” The man’s words seemed reasonable and murmurs of agreement rang out around the table.

“Indeed, most of us have a skill in Wilderness Survival and hunting and fishing are both affected by that which means even without the [Hunting] or [Fishing] skills it's still possible to do good. We should all be taking advantage of that as soon as possible.” A lithe woman with curly blonde hair added.

“Then it's agreed that we’ll find somewhere far away enough that our hunting grounds and fishing areas won't be impeded by this town. Onto the next question, how much land are we looking for?” The tall man with a long bristly beard pondered. His thick eyebrows were set into hard lines as he examined the map.

“This town we are currently in has a rough population of one thousand people, but it must be taken into account that none of them require much land to live off of while we will have farmers, ranchers, and others who will cultivate the land for their purposes.” The man provided a few details.

“I say we just wander around until the majority of the group feels that we’ve found the right spot. The valleys here are enough that land shouldn’t be a problem, in fact when I was creating my character I happened to see a valley to the north that we could take a look at.” Tina said while pulling out a piece of parchment paper.

“I’ve drawn a rough sketch of what I remember it to be. It's easily a dozen times bigger than this town with enough room for farmers to have acres of land to use for their crops. Along with enough room to develop our own coastal town. If my memory serves correctly then there was also some sort of lake or pond a bit further inland that we can use for freshwater.” Tina explained while gesturing to the paper she had laid down on the wooden table.

“It's a good place to start if anything,” the agreement was unanimous and it wasn’t long before the group was standing outside the walls of the coastal town and venturing into the wilderness. Unclaimed treasure and resources await Ambrose as the crew and he couldn’t wait to start his on his adventure.