Chapter 1

We dismounted a few minutes away from the gateway. We were going to sneak past the gatekeeper this time, so we had to approach quietly from a distance. Sophia inspected the gateway, “Look, it’s different than the one on Fertility Island.”

I took a second look at the gateway and found multiple differences. The gateway was the color of gold instead of gray this time. Carved on the gateway were small round objects. They reminded me of… coins! The coins looked like they were falling from the top to the bottom, and a large pile could be seen at the base of each pillar. They weren’t real, it was just that whoever carved this gateway was masterfully skilled. It actually looked like coins instead of rock. The portal itself was light gold instead of blue as well.

We didn’t approach the gateway head on. I kept my eyes out for the gatekeeper, the golem created by Lucas. When I found it, I paused. It was leaning against a pillar of the gateway. The eerie thing was that it was staring aimlessly at the sky. Sophia shivered next to me. She muttered, “Does it do that all day? Creepy.”

I never believed for a moment that this golem was an earthen construct made from magic. It defied the knowledge my grandfather passed down to me. Still, a question for another time. For now, we had to sneak past it. The stealth skill only lasted 10 seconds, so our stamina would be completely consumed by the time we actually reached the portal. The worst part was that we had to move slowly in fear of making too much noise. That only delayed us further.

Stealth has gained a level.

Everything went according to plan. By the time our stamina was nearly depleted we were right next to the portal. The golem suddenly shook. It swiveled its head towards us and squinted. I deactivated my stealth with a smile, “See ya!”

With that, I jumped inside the portal.

I felt constricted, like I was in a water bubble. Everything was a blur. After a few moments, everything fell into place. Cool wind brushed against me, and the cawing of birds could be heard, in addition to the sound of waves brushing against the shore. With a flash of light, Sophia appeared next to me. We looked around, wondering where we were.

Small clouds dotted the clear blue sky. At my feet was sand. To our left, water. Lots of water. Sophia exclaimed, “Wow, what a large lake! I can’t see the other side!”

“This isn’t a lake,” I shook my head. I inhaled through my nose and smelled salt. Lots of salt. I walked up to the water and cupped my hands. I picked up liquid and poured it in my mouth before promptly spitting it out, “Yuck.”

“If this isn’t a lake, what is it?”

My eyes lit up as I scanned the endless water, “It’s a sea!”

“The sea?!” Sophia copied me by drinking some of the salt water. Her face scrunched up in disgust at the taste. She stood up with bright eyes, “I’ve read about the sea before! I didn’t think I’d encounter it so soon. Awesome!”

I turned my back to the sea and looked inland. Tall thin trees littered the beach. The branches and leaves were only at the top. The trunk was coarse and rough, much more so than any other tree. At the top of each tree were small round objects. I inspected the tree.

Palm Tree

A tree that grows in a tropical climate.

Value: 1

“Inspect says those trees are called palm trees,” I said to Sophia while pointing at them.

One thing was different about this notification. Value: 1. What did that mean? My eyes glowed. Something to discover! I walked up to a palm tree and looked up at the small round objects. Were those fruit? Inspect would tell me.

Coconut

Fruit from a palm tree.

Value: 5

I was right! I activated the spider card and climbed up the tree. My hands and feet gained the property to stick to any surface. It offered a lot of utility, that’s why I kept it. I reached the top and grabbed a coconut. I willed the coconut to enter my inventory.

Items with value cannot enter your inventory.

What? That was new. We have to carry any item with value? Ugh, I was so used to just putting things into my inventory. I guess this was a rule of Treasure Island. I used my feet to stand at an angle. Using my two free hands, I tried to bite into the coconut. Ouch. Not eating the fruit this way. I called out to Sophia, “Catch!”

I tossed the coconut to Sophia before grabbing another one. After a few seconds, we cleared out the entire palm tree. I jumped off the tree and landed on the ground. Sophia held a coconut in her hand with confusion, “What’s this?”

“Fruit! Though I wouldn’t believe it if Inspect didn’t tell me,” I said while looking at the hard round fruit.

“Maybe the food is inside?” Sophia mused aloud. She handed me a coconut before summoning her sword. I held the coconut in front of me. With a clean cut, the coconut was split in half. Liquid dripped down so I quickly held the coconut at a different angle. I handed one over to her before taking a sip of the liquid. Wow, that’s different. Sophia spat the coconut liquid out in disgust, “Yuck!”

“You don’t like it?” I said in amusement.

“You do?! That was so disgusting!” Sophia said while handing over hers.

I quickly downed the coconut liquid. I tried eating the white part, but it was disgusting. I guess it was just the liquid that could be eaten. I inspected the now eaten coconut.

Eaten Coconut

Empty fruit from a palm tree.

Value: 0

Its value dropped to 0. This number meant something, but I didn’t know what. I tried storing it in my inventory, but it still didn’t work. I informed Sophia of everything I learned. Right when I finished, I sensed something fly towards me. I jumped forward and dodged the attack. When I landed, I spun around. What was thrown at me was a coconut.

“He he he he!” A high pitched laughter came from above.

I looked up and found a monkey hanging from a palm tree. It stuck out its tongue while pointing at me. I exclaimed, “Are you serious?!”

I picked up the coconut it threw at me. I activated Mana Enhancement before throwing it back with all my strength. The monkey easily dodged the coconut by jumping to another palm tree. It laughed again, “He he he he!”

“Why you!” I ran up to the base of the palm tree it was standing on. My spider card lasted for 5 minutes, so it was still active. I quickly climbed up the tree with my spear in my hand. The monkey’s eyes nearly popped out of its head when it saw me climb up like a spider. It recovered a second later and jumped off the palm tree. Too late! I followed after it and thrust out with my spear. With a yelp, it fell and rolled along the ground. After a few quick stabs, it died. It dispersed into motes of light.

Huh, I guess the rules changed back again. When you killed a monster on Fertility Island, the corpse dispersed into light. But when we arrived on Collection Island, it was different. The corpse stayed and you had to skin it yourself. Treasure Island went back to Fertility Island’s rules. Which meant… there was loot! My eyes glowed as I looked down at my feet. Aha! There was 11 copper, some meat, and a scroll. I picked up the copper coins and willed to put them into my inventory.

Items with value cannot enter your inventory.

“What!” I exclaimed aloud. I didn’t expect this. Coins had value? Don’t tell me I have to carry all my coins by hand now? I quickly inspected all of the dropped items.

11 Copper Coins

Currency of the Fabled Islands.

Value: 11

Monkey Meat

Meat from a monkey.

Value: 5

Poor Treasure Map

Leads to treasure?

Value: 0

I glanced over the notifications. That was nice to know. 1 copper coin had a value of 1. At least I had some reference as to what value meant. My eyes froze on a word. Treasure. The word repeated in my head. Treasure…? Treasure. Treasure! I picked up the scroll and held it to the heavens, “A treasure map!!”

Sophia ran up to me, “What is that?”

The scroll was bound together by a string. I untied the string and unfurled the scroll. The scroll was debilitated and worn out, but I could still make out what was drawn on it. On the scroll was lots of blue, with the color tan in the middle. On the tan parts were lots of green dots.

Sophia pointed at a spot on the map, “Isn’t that water?”

My eyes lit up as I understood, “So blue is water, tan is land, and green is plants?”

“Then what’s that?” Sophia pointed to a spot on the land.

I followed her finger and found a giant red X. I recalled a story about the tales of a pirate. A red X only meant one thing to them. I shouted in excitement, “That’s where the treasure is!”

“This Island and the one on the map are both surrounded by water. Could it be the one we’re on?” Sophia mused aloud.

“Uhh… how can we tell?”

Sophia thought for a moment before nodding, “Look, there is a small tan mark on the left side of the map. That means if we travel to the west side of this island, we’ll find a really tiny island. If we find that, that means the island on the map and the one we are standing on are one and the same.”

I looked at Sophia with a solemn face, “Sophia…”

She looked over at me with a nod, “Yes?”

“What would I do without you!?” I gave her a bear hug before looking at the sun. My grandpa said the sun rose in the east and set in the west. It was the same for every island, so it could be trusted no matter where you were. Still, I didn’t know where the sun rose and set yet, so I couldn’t determine the direction. In that case, let’s run around the entire island!

I was so excited to find treasure that I started to sing, “We’re on an adventure, searching for treasure! Give me some loot!”