The main thing delaying the party from finding the ribbit mushrooms any faster was the distance apart at which the mushrooms grew from one another. It was far enough apart that Arctur’s detection spell wasn’t worth using lest he consume all his mana. So, this left the party walking around on the shore of the lake while Arctur occasionally used his spell.

  At the very least, and after the fight with the geese, the party was not bothered by more monsters while they continued their search. They did run into another group or two of adventurers. One was emerging from the lake, completely soaked. They had been questing underwater for a while and were tired of it, so they had returned to spend some hours on the surface. The other party had been collecting water lilies for a quest and were traveling in the opposite direction from the trio.

  It took the party until about mid-morning before they had enough mushrooms to complete their quest. They had planned to rest for a bit before rushing back to town, but Alexion had spotted a small building in the distance. So, instead, the party rested for a little while, snacking on some fruits before heading towards the building.

  Alexion, tired of the water for the time being, joined Arctur, and they walked near the shore. However, as she was, Adriana could never get tired of the water, and considering the rainbow-scaled beauty would be hard to kill in her element, she continued swimming. Of course, the two guys could have talked her out of it, but they already knew that it was hard to convince her to change when she adopted one of her half-forms, though nothing like when she fully transformed.

  The building turned out to be a small, cozy wooden cabin with a dock that extended only a few feet into the lake from the shore. More importantly, there was someone on said dock, and that someone was fishing. As they drew closer, they saw a man wearing a simple, round, and tan hat made of cloth, along with tan shorts and light blue sandals. However, his simple, deep blue shirt with the words “Out here catching them all!” on it was the most interesting.

  The first to arrive was Adriana, since she was in the water, the man looking down at her from atop the dock with a genuine smile.

  “Howdy, something I can help you with, miss?”

  The man’s gaze held no lust for her, even though Adriana was basically naked; her dress had become see-through after fully submerging in the water, and now, near the shore, she couldn’t hide as well. Yet, the man seemed not to even register the fact, which made Adriana happy.

  “Hello, what are the chances you are Rob the fisherman?” Adriana asked, smiling at the man.

  Hearing her, the man laughed happily before answering, “Ay, that’s me. Is there a reason you are looking for me?”

  At that moment, Alexion and Arctur stepped onto the dock, and Rob turned to look at the two, only to then turn back to hear Adriana’s answer. For her part, Adriana felt that the man already knew why, but it seemed that there always had to be at least some back and forth to things.

  “Yeah, we went to see if you needed an escort and found that you had already left,” Adriana answered happily. Then, as the man replied, she stood on the water's surface, quickly drying her dress by draining the water out of it. Finally, she commanded the water to rise, bringing her level to the dock.

  “Ah, yes, a helpful group of adventurers was able to escort me over here safely. Though if you are still interested, there is another thing you can help me with.”

  Now on the dock proper, Adriana looked over at her two friends to see what they wanted to do.

  “Sure, I don’t see why not, though we need to head back to town real quick to deliver some mushrooms,” Alexion answered, Arctur nodding in agreement.

  “Those mushrooms don’t happen to be ribbit mushrooms?” Rob asked, a knowing smile on his face.

  “Uh, yes, how did you know?” Adriana asked curiously, though Alexion and Arctur gave the man suspicious looks.

  “Well, that’s usually the type Misty sends people to collect down here, and that’s perfect since you will need what she will make with those to help me with my quest.” Pausing, he then looked over at Alexion and Arctur, “Well, if you still want to help me.”

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  The two men then looked at Adriana, who shrugged, and they all nodded in agreement. A notification popping up a second after.

  ?? Crystal Notice ??

  ?? Quest Details??

  Name: Fishing Down by the Lake.

  Description: After meeting Rob the Fisherman down by the lake. He wonders if you would be so kind as to go to and speak with a Giant Lobster Farmer down in the lake. Rob wishes to eat some of the delicious lobster meat but isn’t able to catch any himself. So, he wants you and your party to get him some lobster meat; in exchange, he will cook and share it with you.

  Reward: A Quest and some delicious lobster meat.

  ??

  Leaving Rob to continue his fishing, the party began their trek back to town. On the way there, they were mostly left alone, except for one time when two panthers tried to ambush them. Needless to say, the two cats met a terrible end.

  Entering Typic Town, they quickly made their way to the Misty Mushroom and were happy to find Misty there. They hadn’t known whether the gnome could leave on quests like Rob, so it was a relief they didn’t need to wait.

  “Oh, you’re back!” The gnome said with happy surprise, her usually high-pitched voice rising slightly.

  “Yeah, it wasn’t hard,” Adri answered, smiling at the small dark-haired woman.

  “You’re the first to say that, usually, most adventurers take at least a day to find enough of them. They like to complain that it takes too long to find them.”

  “They do grow quite a distance apart. Is that normal?” Arctur asked, knowing that in the real world, they actually grew in clusters and were much closer to the shore than to the water.

  “Yup! Now, if you could give me an hour to prepare your reward, that would be great.”

  The trio, looking at each other and considering they hadn’t gotten the quest complete notification, decided they didn’t have much of a choice and nodded to the gnome before leaving.

  Considering it was a bit after noon, at least that’s what their watch said, they knew it was time for lunch.

  First, they headed to the inn and then the tavern, but it seemed everyone had the same idea as they did. Instead, they found a nice spot with a few trees and sat to watch Arctur cook.

  After their meal, the party returned to Misty, who had finished their reward. As soon as she handed over the three bottles, one for each, they received the quest complete notification, which they had set to auto-clear. However, they also got a notification showing what the potion was, something that they hadn’t automatically received from the jaguar pelt.

  ?? Crystal Notice ??

  Name: Potion of Water Breathing.

  Item Rarity: Common.

  Item Rank: D.

  Effects: Water Breathing.

  Description: A potion made from Ribbit Mushrooms and other ingredients. The potion was created by Misty the Alchemist and allows the creature that drinks it to breathe underwater for a day.

  Instructions: Drink it.

  ??

  The potion was simple and self-explanatory. It also explained why Rob said it would help them with his quest. Additionally, they suspected that quest items might be automatically identified for them, whereas the pelt would require manual identification. Not that any of them would bother identifying much of anything unless it was something actually interesting.

  So, finally, with the reward acquired, the party made to leave but was stopped mid-goodbye by Misty.

  “Wait! I know you guys are busy, but I think there is something you should hear,” The gnome spoke seriously, and the trio stopped, turning to look at the gnome.

  Seeing they were interested, Misty approached the three and motioned for them to get closer to the ground.

  The three friends glanced at each other briefly before shrugging and kneeling in front of the gnome. Misty then looked around, almost as if to make sure no one else was listening, and began. Her tone was initially thankful but quickly shifted to a soft voice as a sense of mystery took hold of her. Almost, like she was telling them a super-secret no one else could know.

  “So, you guys have been super helpful, so I thought I should share. Now, I don’t know if it's true, but there are rumors of a mysterious alchemist roaming these lands. It is said that if you are able to find them, the alchemist will reward you with a special potion sure to give you that what you need most. Of course, I couldn’t survive outside of the town alone, but I figure you guys might be able to find this alchemist if they even exist.”

  Finishing her tale, the gnome smiled widely, then winked and turned around, walking back into her shop as she waved them goodbye. Naturally, the trio thought the gnome was fucking with them, at least until the notification popped up.

  ?? Crystal Notice ??

  ?? Quest Details??

  Name: The Wandering Alchemist.

  Description: After completing a few quests for Misty, she has told you about rumors of a Wandering Alchemist. The gnome says that the alchemist is a master alchemist, and if found, they will reward you with a special potion. Will you find The Wandering Alchemist?

  Ask around for tips on who might have seen the alchemist and where.

  Reward: Unknown.

  ??