Wraithwood Botanist

I sat on a log outside the shelter, sharing cooked meat from the albino elk with Kline. The stuff almost gave me a heart attack, but I laughed after I recovered from the hellish burning in my chest. I was getting strong so fast that it was truly unfair. I imagined what would happen if I left the forest right now and talked to other integrated people. It would be….

As soon as I thought that, I realized that I had lost my family and brother and friends. It probably sounds cruel to just now think about this, but remember the context. I had woken up in the dead of night, grabbed a bag, and got kidnapped to an alternate dimension. I was thinking about how I wanted to continue working with plants without killing people or being a slave. Then, I woke up on a death plant and almost died a dozen times on my first day. Now, I was feeling powerful and confident—but not before.

Right or wrong, justified or not, I wasn’t one to wallow in regrets.

"Lithco, use an information request to tell me where my parents and brother are, and like… how they’re doing and stuff."

"That’s a vague request. But I’ll summarize it like a person. Your mother, father, brother, and their dog Gatsby are in Helscope, which is an hour ride out from the First Ring of the Areswood Forest. This location was a compromise between their desire to be close to their daughter and a practical need for their classes. Your father has the accountant class; your mother has the teacher class, teaching mathematics; and Tyler has accepted the battle mage class. They used an information request to confirm you were alive and are currently saving a silver request to send you a message. Put simply, they are alive and well in a relatively safe location that’s within 200 miles of you."

I burst into tears when I read the message. I felt like a terrible daughter for not thinking about them like they were thinking about me! They chose a location near me and were scrounging change to send me a message. And here I was, on day six, and I was just thinking about them for the first time.

"It only costs a silver to send them a message?" I asked.

"Yes. Less, considering that you also get a reply."

My heart thumped. "And can I transfer Free Requests?" I asked.

"You can give them a one-time gift of a free request each."

"What about Gatsby?"

"Requests for spirit beasts must be used for the spirit beasts. They cannot be transferred."

"Damn…" I leaned back against the tree as Kline jumped up on the log, snuggling in my lap. I petted him as I thought about what I wanted to say.

2.

Doug Hill was a family man—at least, that’s what he became twenty-three years ago. Before then, he was crushing beers with the boys in college, going to football games, and hitting the gym five days a week. Now, he was happy if he didn’t have to fix a clogged drain before Tyler started pestering him to do this or that. Then he’d grumble and complain and get up and smile as he watched his teenager enjoy his time in high school. His daughter had grown up as well, and that was a treat—

—until they were kidnapped from Earth. Then, everything changed.

It wasn’t just that his retirement savings were wiped out along with his promised Social Security benefits in a couple more decades—though he was pretty pissed off about that, too. It was that his daughter was shipped away, and now his son was running around with teachers who were training him how to kill people.

Those were the things that he was thinking about as he leaned back in his chair.

"Oh, what I’d give to sue you," Doug whispered to the Oracle. "I’d skull fuck the shit out of your life until you were begging your parents for table scraps…"

"What was that, honey?" his wife Tanya asked as she cooked breakfast for them in their cozy little cottage that didn’t have jackshit but magic board games to keep them pressing on.

"Nothing…" He rubbed his eyes with his palm, taking long, circular motions before wiping down his face. "I’m kinda afraid to ask, but how’s Tyler doing?"

Tanya stopped peeling the vegetable in her hand. "Well, he seems excited. But I talked to his instructor and kids ’ve already started getting hurt."

"How hurt?"

She paused. "Real hurt, Doug."

He swallowed and nodded. Sounded about right.

"What should we do?" she asked.

Doug pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. "What’s there to do? We can’t change his… ’class,’ so our only real choice’s to support ’em."

Tanya turned to him. "Support him? One of those kids lost their limbs…" she turned away. "They put ’em back on with magic… but… still. There’s limits, Doug, and they’re finding them out fast."

"I’m definitely going to sue that fucking bitch…" he grumbled under his breath. Then he sat back in his chair. "We’ll need to figure something out. So just… think about it. ’Cause wishin’s not gonna make it so, and there’s no way we’re getting Tyler away from that cheap ass staff we got him."

Tanya took a deep breath and started peeling the vegetable again. Suddenly, Tyler burst into the room with a huge smile.

"Did you talk to Mira?" Tyler exclaimed as if he was seven instead of fifteen.

Doug’s heart almost burst out of his chest. "Mira? Where is she?" He stood and rushed over to Tyler and grabbed his shoulders. "Where is she?"

"Yo… relax," Tyler said. "She’s fine… Uh. You should get a message from her in a second. Apparently, she’s a super badass or something because she’s sending us a bunch of requests."

"Requests… what? Start from the—"

Doug abruptly paused when he got a chime, and a screen materialized. It was all text, and it started with the words, "Dear Mom and Dad."

Doug wasn’t a crier. In fact, his wife always told him that he bottled in his emotions too much and that they would break one day—and they did. As soon as he got the message, tears started streaming from his eyes.

"What is it?" Tanya asked. "Speak to me!"

He put up his hand and said, "I’ll read it. Just… give me a second." He took a deep breath and began.

"Dear Mom and Dad,

Since you used an information request, you should know that I’m finally living out my dream of hiking and foraging all day. It’s been a dream. I was right; you were wrong. Ha ha!

Just kidding.

I’m not going to downplay the obvious because you would think things are twice as bad as they are. In reality, it sucks, but I still would choose this over playing darts with an accountant’s calendar."

Doug chuckled and smiled until his cheeks were taut. Somehow, his daughter had, once again, convinced them that she was fine despite them clearly knowing what type of location she was in. He swallowed and continued reading:

"After all, at least here, I can have all the hideous plants I want without compromising."

Tanya abruptly coughed, grabbing her chest as she cried. "That girl…"

Tyler helped her up.

Doug smiled and continued. "I won’t pretend that I’m safe. It’s extremely dangerous out here and I’m still learning how to survive. That said, your daughter’s a billy badass now and her cat could eat a grizzly bear, so you don’t have to worry so much. If you think I’m joking, just wait till you see the gifts I’m sending you."

"See!" Tyler said.

"Seriously?" Doug said, glaring at him.

The teen turned away sheepishly, falling silent.

Doug continued reading silently and froze because things started to get very strange.

"What does it say?" Tanya asked.

He swallowed. "It says… Mira’s sending us requests and giving us instructions on what to do with them. Apparently, I’m supposed to beat Tyler until he buys the Fundamentals of Battle Magic skill. It doesn’t sound flashy, but apparently, he’ll get dozens of spells and books. She describes it like a Christmas unwrapping."

Tyler’s eyes lit up, and he started chomping at the bit to get ahold of the request.

Doug wasn’t so excited.

"So what’s that face for?" Tanya asked, studying him.

"Um…" he swallowed nervously. "I’ll just read it. It says… Although things are dangerous, I’m being offered a god’s legacy for practicing botany in this forest. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. So, while I technically have the request to leave this forest, I’m voluntarily staying to feed my passions and dreams." He started crying, stressed and scared, and strangely relieved. "This isn’t an easy decision because I love you guys more than anything in the world. So… I’ll try to figure something out, okay? Maybe I can visit. There’s no price too high to keep me from you forever. That said, this message was pricey, so I hope that you and Mom will write back together. Your plant-loving daughter, Mira."

Tanya burst into tears and rushed into Doug’s arms. He hugged her tightly, unsure what to do. His kids had grown up, and they were both making… terrible decisions, but he was proud of them.

"It’ll be alright…" Doug said. "She’ll be alright."

I sat on the log, light tears welling in my eyes as I read about Tyler’s journey. He was a lot more excited than the rest of us and was telling us about the fire magic he was working on. He also mentioned how cool it was that someone lost an arm, and healing magic mended it back together.

I didn’t think that was cool at all—

—my parents wouldn’t either.

"I guess I’ll just have to make him ridiculously strong…" I chuckled nervously. I had already told Tyler that I was sending him a platinum request for the Fundamentals of Battle Magic skill, but I knew sure and well that he’d split it into two gold requests to buy some cheap ass wand… or whatever people used for magic here. So, I told my Dad to beat a guilt complex into my brother to ensure that he followed through.

I was also sending my parents a platinum request, but I didn’t tell them what to buy. Instead, I told them if they insisted on prioritizing their idiot son—as I knew they would—they should split the platinum into gold requests, buy Tyler a cleansing elixir and a core formation tutorial, then use the rest for themselves.

That was the ideal setup, at least in my mind.

I knew that three platinum requests were a lot, but protecting my family was of paramount importance. I could also afford it. I still had all my free requests besides the gold and platinum I spent upgrading my map and most of the requests. The rest I had spent came from the five-level bonus. By the time I reached the shelter, I had two diamond, two platinum, and one gold request for skills, tutorials, books, recipes, spells, and equipment.

I was drowning in power.

That said, I couldn’t get cocky. There were over a dozen skill branches (most with four to six subskills), millions of recipes, countless books, a myriad of spells, and innumerable types of equipment that I needed. There hadn’t been a day that went by that I hadn’t splurged to solve this problem or that—and I had to live here for the rest of my life.

Spending recklessly would get me killed. Regardless—regarding my family, there was no compromise.

About ten minutes into my reflection, a chime sounded in my mind, and a pop-up showed up. It was my father, and it started with, "Dear Mira." That’s all it took before I burst into tears. Kline looked up, so I read it out loud.

"You cannot possibly understand how grateful your mother and I are that you spent precious requests to let us know that you’re alive. It eases our minds so much. We love you more than you can ever know. Your mom’s writing down what she wants to say because she can’t stop crying, and I’m writing this because I don’t actually have to say something… Mira. Words cannot express how much we love you."

I put my toes on the log and hugged my knees, tears dripping from my chin.

"We know how dangerous it is to live where you are," I read. "It’s impossible not to. Everyone treats Areswood like a Siberian Gulag, but here you are, speaking about it like it was a week-long backpacking trip. And people are confused… but I’m not. That’s because your mother made me research all your plants before buying them."

I snorted with laughter, cupping my mouth as Kline brushed against me for attention.

"It wasn’t out of laziness. You were giving your mother a heart attack with the plants you were buying, so I said I’d check them out. In retrospect, I kind of regret that. Because I let you buy nightshade and hemlock and here we are. Your mother won’t look me in the eye right now."

I wiped my nose with my forearm, taking three sharp breaths and coughing out phlegm. Then I kept laughing and crying.

"But here’s what I think’s special. Everyone I’ve talked to says that every plant there is poisonous. That you’re a goner. That they’re surprised you’re still alive. To not get our hopes up. But here you are, sending us requests to keep us safe, writing us letters about how you’re in heaven… I just have to say this once. My daughter is badass. I’ll be telling this story until my hair is gray."

I swallowed hard, eyes stinging.

"Listen, Mira. I’m writing this letter because your mother’s struggling to let you go. But this may be the last letter we write, so I want to let you know that we’re very, very proud of you, and we support you, even now. But for her sake… for all our sakes… get that god’s legacy and keep safe. And once you’re strong and powerful… come visit us, okay?"

"I will…" I whispered. After reading few more loving lines, I bawled my eyes out and then cut the signal, spending time on the log. My parents were better than I deserved. I was lucky, so, so lucky. I’d have to survive this trial and set up camp so I could visit them. That was an option, after all.

The more I thought about visiting, the more amusing it became.

"Can you imagine?" I asked Kline, chuckling.

Kline paused and looked at me.

"What it’s gonna be like to see Gatsby again?"

Kline’s mouth developed a creepy smile. I could see my grizzly-eating cat strutting up and down the kitchen floor like a general as Gatsby, our family’s golden retriever, sat at full attention, smiling that stupid golden retriever smile as if nothing had changed.

It was the funniest thing in the world.

Kline and I chuckled about it before I got up.

"Come on," I said. "We’ll figure out what we’re doing at the alchemy station."

Kline meowed and jumped off the log, leading the way.