Kit put Snowball on the ground as the approached the forest.

“Mars, you have been outside the town already. Do you know what we will have to be on the lookout for inside the forest?”

“I haven’t been into the forest yet, but all the monsters I have encountered outside of the town haven’t been difficult to deal with. This should be no harder than the grove that was full of the Apelops.”

Kit gave a sigh. He wasn’t looking forward to being covered in blood. That was the only downside of adventuring. He hoped one day he could get a set of clothes that would prevent blood from staining them.

Kit eyes ran over the trees that were inside the forest. They were covered in dense green leaves, they were the size of a two storey house. The ground had thick soft grass with clovers scattered throughout. The smell of soft wood hung in the air.

Kit could hear birds chattering in the distance. This forest had a peaceful atmosphere. Even though he didn’t get a bad feeling about going inside the forest, Kit still removed his sword from his sheath before they entered.

The memory of dying from the tiny blue birds was still a sore point for Kit. He wouldn’t be caught unaware again. He moved cautiously as he entered the forest. Mars was chuckling at his actions beside him. Kit ignored Mars, he wasn’t the one who had died.

“Snowball, I need to find a moon sphynx. Do you think you can find it for me?”

Snowball gave a yip, then put his nose to the ground. Once he found a scent he was happy with, he started to follow the smell. Kit could see his little nose twitching as he walked. Kit hoped Snowball could understand what he was saying and didn’t lead them to a bunch of monsters instead.

Kit and Mars followed Snowball deeper into the forest. The noise from the bird’s twittering had started to fade. He had a feeling they would come across some monsters soon. Mars must have come to the same conclusion, he finally pulled his sword out.

Mars suddenly stopped and held his finger to his mouth in a keep quite gesture. Kit stilled and listened to the sounds around him. He heard a soft trampling of feet on the ground getting closer. A small creature rounded the trunk of the tree in front of them. It looked like an echidna. It had green spikes covering its body and a long snout.

When it spotted them, it growled. Small sharp teeth could be seen in its long snout. If they had not been paying close attention the animal would have blended in with the forest floor. Kit heard a number of hurried steps heading towards them after the animal had made a noise.

Kit counted seven more of the animals as they came out from behind the tree. Kit used identify on one of the small monsters.

[Green forest spike]

Small forest dweller, level 20.

HP 2,300.

Kit was surprised at the level of the small monsters. When he had first seen them, he thought they would be easy to kill. He was reassessing the situation. There was eight of the level 20 monsters in front of him.

Kit thought it might be better if he ran and tried to avoid the strong creatures. He was still only level 10! Before Kit could voice his opinions to Mars, the fighting maniac gave a laugh and sprang towards the monsters. Kit should have known Mars would never give up the chance to engage in a fight.

Kit groaned and crossed his fingers he didn’t die an embarrassing death once again. The familiar surge of adrenalin rushed through his body, and he lurched forward towards the closest green forest spike.

He slashed downwards aiming for the face instead of the body. Kit felt the face would be the weak point, it was the only place not covered in spikes. Blood splattered his pants, he felt the blade slice the flesh of the monster. His arm jolted from the impact.

- 85 damage

Kit quickly pulled his sword back into a strike position once again. The surrounding green forest spikes didn’t let him fight one on one. They started to attack his legs. Snowball charged in to help Kit, he nipped at the monsters’ nose and then would dart out of their reach. Kit started to lose health from their timed attacks against him.

- 80 damage

- 80 damage

Kit dodged an incoming attack and pulled back. He ran a small distance away from the small creatures. He opened his pouch and drank some water. He watched the three small monsters in front of him. Snowball joined him at his side as if waiting for Kit to decide how to continue.

As Kit watched the monsters, he realised they were not fast on their feet. He decided he would attack and retreat. They were too powerful for him to engage without retreating. He still had to work on his dodge ability before he would be able to nimbly avoid direct hit and still attack without retreating.

Kit lunged forwards once again and struck the green forest spike, he then manoeuvred his sword to quickly strike the remaining two. After he made contact, he would then dodge backwards. Kit was celebrating that he didn’t take any damage.

He continued to strike then dodge backwards. With the help of Snowball, he was able to continue to deal damage without taking any himself. They kept fighting until he had killed all three green forest spikes.

Ding!

[Green forest spikes killed]

Reward: 3,000 experience, 20 x green forest spike quills.

Ding!

[Congratulations, you are now Level 11]

Ding!

[Congratulations, you are now Level 12]

Kit felt elated after seeing the notification he had gained two levels. He had been so focused on raising his cooking level he had forgotten he need to level up his swordsman class as well. When they defeated Swift feet, he had not been far off reaching another level. Kit guessed that was why he had gained two levels this time.

Kit thanked Snowball for his help and happily told Mars about the improvement to his levels. Kit picked up the quills and examined them. They looked like the tips from the quill he used to write with. He wondered if this what it was made from. ‘Hopefully these will get a nice price back in town.’

Kit gave Snowball some pats for his help, then asked him to keep searching for the moon sphynx. Snowball started sniffing around until he picked up the trail once again. They met a few more green forest spikes as they followed snowball. Kit was happy to add more quills to his collection.

As they walked Kit noticed Snowball was starting to get excited. He started to yip and scurry from one spot to the next burying his nose in the ground. Snowball suddenly dashed off through the trees. Kit couldn’t see the little black ball of fluff, but he could hear his excited yips.

They followed the sounds to a large collection of boulders. They looked out of place amongst the trees and soft grass. The large dusty pink rocks looked like they had been piled hazardously on top of each other by giants. Kit thought if he pushed them too hard, they would all collapse.

Snowball was standing at a gap in between two of the enormous stones. Once Snowball saw they had caught up he dashed between the gap of the boulders. Kit would have to get down on his hands and knees to follow Snowball into the group of large rocks.

“Are we going to follow him or call him back out?”

Mars was staring at the dangerous formation of rocks with some trepidation.

“Follow?”

Kit wasn’t really certain if it would be a good idea. He wanted to find the moon fruits though. He took a breath and made up his mind to follow Snowball. Kit was nervous that the stones would fall and crush him. Once Kit passed through the small gap without mishap, he was able to stand once again.

He breathed a sigh of relief that he made it inside without being squashed by the boulders. In front of Kit was an entrance to a cave. It was only a small opening. The mouth of the cave was only a fraction taller than Kit. Mars would have to bend down a little to enter. Kit heard Snowball’s yips echoing from inside the cave.

“Yes, stop your whining. I know they are stupid. They are not as smart as us.”

Kit was surprised to hear a voice accompanying the yips from inside the cave. The voice was soft and smooth. He couldn’t see who the voice belonged to. Snowball was still yipping happily to the unknown person inside the cave.

“Alright I will tell your friend, so stop whining. If he is that senseless, are you sure you want him to have it?”

A sharp yip was heard after the question. Kit was curious to see what was going on. He didn’t have to wait long for his curiosity to be fulfilled. A white short haired cat sashayed out of the cave entrance followed by an excited Snowball. Its fur looked smooth and soft, it had a slight glow to the coat.

The small dog kept jumping around the annoyed cat. The cat took a swipe at the small dog.

“Sit down, you are making me dizzy.”

Kit wasn’t too shocked it was the cat who was talking after meeting CAL. After all a talking animal was no longer a surprise. The snow white cat turned large sapphire eyes towards him. Kit felt a great pressure to stay still or death would follow, he realised it was coming from the cat. Kit thought it was best not to upset this small animal or he would be the one to suffer. Kit understood this was the moon sphynx he had been told to find to gain entry to the travelling grove.

Kit decided to treat the cat with respect. He was worried if he didn’t, they might end up dead before finding the moon fruit.

“Hello I’m Kit, this is Mars and the little fellow is Snowball.” Kit bowed towards the small cat.

“Snowball said you are here to make some Moon juice magic, is that correct?”

“Yes, I heard about it in town today so I would like to give it a go.”

The small cat looked at Snowball then back to Kit.

“Considering you two are friends I will permit you entry.”

Kits eyes widened at the response. He didn’t think gaining entry would go so smoothly. Kit gave a big smile towards Snowball. He would have to think of a prize for the little one for getting smooth access to the travelling grove. His luck was all thanks to his small companion after all. As he was thinking of options the white cat spoke.

“To extract the moon’s magic, you will find me amongst the green, under the Jewel on black velvet and swaying to the song of the big white roar.”

The small cat had a musical quality to its voice as it has said the verse. It almost had a hypnotic quality to the smooth noise. Kit suddenly realised what the cat had been saying. He had been distracted by the cat’s voice. It was a riddle!

Kit’s head swam with the clues the moon sphinx had given. He hated riddles, could it have not just told him the recipe outright. Kit sighed he hoped Mars was good at solving riddles.

“You may enter the moon fruit grove.”

Ding!

[Found: White moon travelling pocket realm.]

Rewards: 50 experience points.

Kit felt a wave of cold wash over his body. It sent chills down his back, goosebumps had risen on his arms in response to the cold chill. The small cat turned and walked back into the cave. Kit glanced at Mars to see if he had been affected by the cold. Kit could see Mars also had goosebumps pebbling his skin.

“What was that?” Kit was lost, he had no clue what just happened.

“The barrier lifted. We will be able to go inside the grove now. Are you ready? I don’t know what we will find inside.”

Kit was nervous about following the cat inside. He was worried that he would die inside the cave. If he didn’t enter, he wouldn’t have the chance to learn how to make the drink. Kit thought he need to work on his courage. If he was going to explore CAL then he needed to get used to being uncomfortable sometimes.

“I’m ready. If I wait any longer, I might change my mind.”

“Good, let’s go. I hope we find some good monsters inside.”

Kit could only shake his head at his friends one track mind. Though Kit thought he was no different, he wanted to find the moon fruit, their sights were just on different things. They followed the white cat into the cave. Kit gasped once he passed through the entrance. He was expecting to find a cold dark cave, what he was seeing was completely different.

He was standing in a tropical paradise. This was a place that people would pay thousands to visit. Heat seeped into his cold body from the humid air. Dense tropical flora in different shades of green entered his vision. Tall trees at least as tall as a five storey building towered over Kit.

A hot pink bird with long yellow legs stopped his scratching on the ground to stare at Kit. It reminded him of a flamingo.

“One.”

The bird spoke to Kit. He was not sure what it was referring to.

“One what?”

“One.”

“Do you want one of something?”

“One.”

“Kit, I think that’s all it can say. Just ignore it.”

Mars made a shooing motion towards the bird. It took off in flight, spreading its large wings. Kit glanced around to find the moon sphynx. It had disappeared. Kit wasn’t worried he was sure it would turn up sooner or later.

Snowball was busy sniffing all the new smells of the tropical garden. He was so happy his whole body was wiggling. Kit had a giggle at Snowball, then started to walk through the foliage to try to find something that looked like some fruit.

They made slow progress through the dense plants on the ground. Kit already had a few small tears in his pants from them catching on broken bits of plants. He would have to repair his pants later tonight.

“Snowball, do you think you could find us some fruits in here?”

Snowball started to sniff around the ground. He had an easier time manoeuvring around the foliage because of his size. Snowball finally gave Kit a yip and headed east. They followed Snowball to an orchard of small trees.

The trees where neatly planted in long lines making it easy to walk amongst the trees. The orchard looked man made. There was no way wild plants would grow in such a manner. The trees were the same height as Kit.

The thick foliage stopped at the edge of the orchard. Kit walked over to the nearest tree. On the branches was a purple berry that was the size of an eyeball. It had a rough texture with soft fine fur covered the skin. Kit picked a berry from the tree, he brought it to his nose to smell. A soft floral fragrance entered his nose. Kit used identify on the berry.

[Purple moon fruit]

A berry with a sweet juicy flavour that bursts in the mouth. The skin cannot be consumed.

Kit felt his heat pound. He had found the moon fruit. For some reason Kit felt that this had been too easy. Would there be a hidden catch later?

Kit decided to worry about that when or if it happened. He could attempt to make the moon juice magic now. Kit started to pull the berries off the tree. He was too excited to care that he was getting little scratches from the twigs and leaves.

“Mars come and help. This is the moon fruit.”

Mars went over to a tree and started to harvest the purple berries. Kit spent an hour plucking the berries from the tree. He had over 5000 of the little berries by the time he stopped. He was thankful he had improved his speed attribute with his boots or else he didn’t think he would have been able to collect so many in such a short time.

While he had been collecting the fruit, he had been thinking about what the cat had told him. He thought the moon berries should refer to the first part of the riddle. You will find me amongst the green. The trees were covered in green leaves and the berries were nestled in the green depths. He also had the hints from Curt, so he was positive this was the first ingredient.

The next two parts of the riddle Kit had not figured out yet. He glanced up to the darkening sky and realised how late it was getting. He could see the moon starting to appear as the daylight was ending. Kit was still pondering about the verse while staring at the sky.

“Under the Jewel on black velvet and swaying to the song of the big white roar. What did Curt say again, the moon berry fairies blessed the moon fruit to add the magic to the drink.”

“So do I need to find a fairy?”

Kit continued to watch the sky darken.

“Kit come and look at these.”

Kit came back to the present and headed over to Mars. He was standing at the edge of the green flora. As Kit got closer, he could see tiny white delicate round flowers starting to bloom amongst the green flora. They had a soft glow resonating from the petals.

“They are beautiful. They are like little lights brightening the night.” Kit gazed around his surroundings and more of the delicate flowers started to appear. Kit plucked one from its stem and used identify.

[Moon fairy]

A delicate white flower that only blooms under the moon.

Kit eyes widened at the name.

“Mars I think we have found the fairies that bless the moon fruit. They are a flower not a real fairy.”

Kit felt his heart pounding. He didn’t think he would find the second ingredient so easily. He started to collect the small flowers with growing excitement.

Ding!

[Skill learned: novice harvester]

Player has just gained a little insight into harvesting, player is not a complete disaster at harvesting. Doubles the amount harvested from a single produce.

+ 5 Intelligence

+ 3 Agility

‘Finally! I upgraded my harvesting skill. That took forever!’ Kit was ecstatic he would gain double when he picked the flowers. He wished he had upgraded earlier when he was collecting the berries.

“Kit these flowers really did answer the second part of the riddle from the cat. To make the prise you will find me amongst the green, under the Jewel on black velvet and swaying to the song of the big white roar.”

“The second part was referring to the moon in the night sky right.” Mars stared at Kit to see if he was right.

“Yes, I think you are right the flowers only bloom of a night time. The Jewel is the moon and the velvet is the sky. So then maybe the third part might be referring to a white monster, what do you think? I relate a roar to a monster.”

Mars eyes started to sparkle, and a big grin spread on his face.

“I hope you are right Kit. Snowball, can you find me a white monster.” Mars bent down and patted the little dog.

“Kit, can you take the fruits in your pouch again, mine will be full soon otherwise.”

Mars handed all the berries over to Kit. Mars had already done this numerous times as they had been harvesting the fruit. Kit was never more happier to have gotten this pouch. Not only did it have 5,000 slots, items could be stacked by 1,000. Kit couldn’t even imagine what a legendary pouch would entail. Kit went back to picking the small flowers as he followed Snowball, Mars did the same.