After what was essentially a full day of fighting, the trio was happy to finally arrive at the surface. The sun was starting to set, and they quickly found a spot where they could bring out their camping gear. Unlike before, the place needed to be much closer to the shore since it would be best for everyone if Adriana remained near the lake.
After finding the spot, the rest of the afternoon passed without incident. They got some food, and it wasn't long before Alex kissed her goodnight and entered their tent.
Adriana was the first on watch, and she happily spent the first few hours of the night leisurely floating in the water, lying on the sandy grass, or staring at the sky. Eventually, Arctur came out, which finally allowed her to fall asleep. Her sleeping spot differed from day to day when she spent long periods of time in mermaid form. Sometimes she enjoyed staying out, but other times she preferred to sleep submerged in water. That night, she spent her time offshore, her whole body submerged in the shallow water, small fish crowding around her as she slept.
Arctur eventually passed off the mantle to Alexion, who spent the rest of the night relaxing and doing some light reading. Finally, as the first light of the day started coming through the sky, he made his way to Adriana, who was half-submerged in the water. He knew she noticed him right away, but like always, she didn’t move an inch. Meaning he got right next to her and woke her up with a peck on the lips that the mermaid quickly turned into a full make-out session.
Once they had eaten breakfast and spent some more time breathing the nice fresh air, the party decided it was time to go back to work. Their goal was to finish at least one more quest in the village before moving to explore the other two civilized places the lake had to offer. They could stick around and do as many quests as possible in the village, but they decided that was a bit boring.
Making it back to the village in record time, the trio very literally ran into their next quest as they were entering the village. A small herd of the lily pad monsters that the frogs farmed ran past and, to some extent, through them. Not far behind this small herd was a frog woman who was struggling to keep up with the lily pads. On that note, they knew it was a her because the males of the frog kin were slightly bigger, bulkier, and generally less lithe than the females. Anyways, the frog woman stopped when she saw them and instantly asked for their help, her voice slightly less bassy than the males.
“Are you adventurers!? Ribbit. If you are, can you help me!?” She said with desperation.
“Yes, we are. What can we do for you?” Alexion answered, already knowing where the entire thing was heading.
“Well, you see, those were our lily pads, at least partially, and…”
?? Crystal Notice ??
?? Quest Details??
Name: Runaway Lily’s.
Description: You have witnessed a lily outbreak. Wild lily pads from the lake have come to free their tamed brethren. Though the frog guards tried to stop the outbreak, they were no match for the wild monsters. Instead, upon seeing you, the lily farmer asks for your assistance. Eliminate the wild lilies and return the tamed ones to the farmers.
Reward: Increased Renown with the Frog Folk. Lily Vines.
??
The quest description was right on the spot with what the frog woman had told them, and after accepting the quest, the trio swam in the direction of the retreating lily pads, which had already left their line of sight. Granted, the entire thing would have been a pain in the ass since they would have had to scour the lake for the damn lily pads. However, their friend Pepe had given them a crucial piece of information.
Adriana had felt the lake's currents, but she had not bothered to study them. However, from what Pepe had told them, the lily pads of the lake preferred to ride certain currents. These currents were slow and casually moved the lily pads around the lake, right below or at the surface of the water. Of course, this was information known to many frog folk, but what they didn’t know was where exactly many of those currents met up.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
There were three main spots where many currents of the lake met up, and those spots were not that far from where the villages and towns were located. So, using a little bit of magic and some deductive reasoning, the trio figured the lily pads were likely being taken to the nearest comfort spot—a spot they found relatively easily by having Adriana follow the currents.
Arriving at this spot, the trio did find a large gathering of lily pads, and sure enough, many of them had colorful ribbons that the three of them had previously not seen. It was one of the things the quest didn’t tell them, and the lady had. A trick to make sure the farmers could identify their lily pads.
Finally, at the spot, the party also expected some combat to happen since the wild lily pads had been smart enough to execute a heist and would likely try to stop them from taking their brethren back. Sadly, the Octo Lily’s, as the party found they were called, were no match for them.
From what the party had gathered, they were good at hiding and pretending to be plants. Otherwise, they were fairly slow and didn’t have any strong range attacks except for an unexpected and equally useless mental attack. Well, the attack was useless against Adriana and her friends. Meaning the only thing the lily pads had going for them was their numbers, which didn’t do much considering who they were going up against.
Ultimately, the thing that took the longest for the party to do was take the lily pads back to the village. Taking back the lily pads took forever; there were too many of them, and they were too large for the party to forcibly pushed them to the village. So, that meant they had to give them nudges with weak water pulses to direct them in the right direction. Heck, even defending the damn things from sharks or gators was easy. Eventually, after a few annoying hours, the party made it back to the village and received their reward.
?? Crystal Notice ??
Name: Lily Vine.
Item Rarity: Common.
Item Rank: Common.
Effects: Reduces Hunger.
Description: Vine harvested from a Lily by the Lily Farmers. The vine has no real uses aside from being a delicious snack.
Instructions: Eat it.
??
Needless to say, the reward was useless; it tasted minty and had a bit of a rubber texture to it, which only Arctur ended up liking. Even then, the trio was disappointed, and after hours of being underwater, they headed to the surface, taking out their annoyance on any monsters they came upon.
After spending an hour or two above ground, breathing nice fresh air and enjoying the sunlight, the party decided that it was time to get back to it. Of course, that's when they realized they had no clue where the town and the other village were. Pepe had told them the general direction of the two places, but the trio did not feel like looking around in the water for hours. Therefore, the decision was made to head back to the village, ask for directions, and then leave.
Obviously, the moment they made the plan and started making their way down, they already knew something was going to happen. They were making their way into town once again, about to speak with the first frog they saw, when a frog woman came out of a nearby clump of large kelp weeds.
“Adventurers! I am so glad to find you! Ribbit. It's horrible! Our farm! They are all gone! Ribbit.”
Hearing the desperate and distraught woman, the three friends couldn’t turn away even if they knew what it would lead to, and with a few sighs, they turned to speak with her.
“What's wrong?” Alexion asked, trying to sound genuine but also not that worried.
“What happened to your farm? Who's gone?” Adriana sounded a bit more believable, but also not too worried.
“It's going to be the shells, isn’t?” Arctur said, predicting the future.
“Our shells! They have been stolen! Ribbit. Wait, how did you know!? Do you know who did it!?”
“Uh, yeah, Arctur, how did you know?” Alexion turned to ask his friend, curious as to how the man had guessed that.
“Just a guess, honestly, it feels like we have mostly been helping farmers so far, and only the shell farmers were left,” The green man answered, scratching his head while averting his gaze.
“So does that mean you will help?” The frog lady said with large, hopeful frog eyes.
“Yes, we will help. What exactly happened?” Adriana said, moving to comfort the lady.
“You see, as your green friend guessed, something happened with our shells. We don’t know what did it, but…”
As the lady explained the situation, they all floated towards her farm, and upon finishing her story and seeing the many cracked and missing shells, the trio got a quest.
?? Crystal Notice ??
?? Quest Details??
Name: Shell Snatchers.
Description: A family of shell farmers calls for aid. The family's shell farm has been raided while they slept. Luckily, the culprits have left an obvious trail to follow. In anguish, the family asks you to follow the trail, find those responsible, and punish them while returning any shells you find intact.
Reward: Increased Renown with the Frog Folk and a small shell.
??
Obviously, they accepted the quest and set off into the lake following the trail of broken shells left behind on the lake floor. It took about an hour of travel, following a sometimes rather thin trail of shells, until they eventually found themselves heading up a very steep slope.
Where the slope led was obvious: an island. However, instead of following it upwards, the party swam straight up, quickly reaching the surface, and upon looking over towards the island, they found their criminals: a bunch of cute otters with shining beady red eyes.
