The old woman smiled cheerfully at Danika, and said, "Gathering moonflower seeds."

Danika finished positioning the porcelain cat, and thought distractedly that it was a little odd that there was no dust. She wondered if the shelves were just very clean, or if the game didn't have natural dust acc.u.mulation. It would, after all, be a lot of usually unnecessary data and calculation.

After a moment she collected herself and wondered how her mind had time to waste on dust when there were wizard voices in her ear, strange quests, and new spells. She took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "Do you mind if I ask you more about that later?" she asked the elderly NPC.

"Not at all," the old woman replied promptly. She stirred her pot contentedly, while Danika found a less crowded spot to perch. As soon as she had settled, the old woman suggested, "If you're low on energy, food will help."

Danika froze when Justin spoke again. This time he said, "If you're still where you can hear this, any of us are willing to escort you back to the capital where most human beginners start their adventures. Unfortunately Quin isn't sure that he could find the pixie pod you started in again."

The old woman shook her head and said, "Tsk tsk, young whippersnappers are so noisy for awhile after they learn their first broadcast spell or command voice."

Danika laughed, and then tapped the storage ring on her wrist. Her inventory popped open normally, and she breathed a sigh of relief and pulled out her pouch of holding. She gasped and dropped it, or rather, it almost crushed her as it fell. It was about 5 times as big as it had been.

Danika stared at her pouch for a long moment, and then opened it, she cautiously removed one of the candies from its inventory. It also seemed to have expanded in size. She felt really confused until it finally occurred to her that it wasn't that her stuff had expanded, it was that she had shrunk.

She examined herself this time. The fluid from her hatching had dried, but her wings seemed a little smaller and more rounded, which was probably why they'd felt like they were beating more slowly. Her reflection in the gla.s.s trinket beside her seemed generally more rounded. She sat down and ate her candy.

She didn't ask about what gathering moonflower seeds involved until she'd finished eating and gone through all of her menus to see what else had changed. The most important change seemed to be that "Survive Until Hatching" and its timer had been replaced by a new quest that said, "Growth Phase: Eat well, get plenty of sleep and exercise."

She hesitated at the inactive friend icon at the top of her quest list. She hadn't meant to dismiss Quin's request, but she hadn't been certain about accepting it either. Justin's attempt to force her into being his familiar at hatching had felt very offensive somehow, and they seemed like really good friends. After a minute, Danika decided that she'd wait and see if they ran into each other again during their adventures.

Her new spell, 'Bond with Familiar', turned out to be quite complicated when she took the time to read the whole of its text. It required a list of exotic components to draw the spell circle and the chant that Justin had repeated was actually a vow, promising a lifelong partners.h.i.+p. Danika actually felt a little embarra.s.sed for him, since he'd obviously thought he was saying it to an NPC.

When she finished, she closed her menus and finally asked about the moonflower seeds. The enormous hat tilted to the side thoughtfully and the old woman explained, carefully and in great detail, how to get through the frog filled swamp, past the grasping aspens, around the territory claimed by the silver wolverine, and to the meadow near the peak of the nearby mountain.

The little old woman in the wicker framed, floral, and beribboned hat also mentioned in pa.s.sing, that she was the witch. Danika noted silently that the NPC definitely said THE witch, and not A witch. It could simply be a dialogue error, or it could mean the witch of the village. She also noted that she'd promised the witch a favor.

The moonflowers wouldn't bloom and reveal their seeds until the next full moon. Danika would have 3 weeks (or six days in real time) to learn the invisibility spell to pa.s.s the frogs, and gather the olives the witch needed to craft the slippery oil that would let her pa.s.s safely past the aspens. She would also have to be able to play at the right time to be in the meadow during the single hour that the seeds would be available.

Danika considered the quest seriously. The words of the adventurers implied strongly that the local area was too dangerous for a beginner. But… she would be able to learn an invisibility spell! Danika finally decided that since the worst case would be that she died and had to reincarnate, which she'd already risked when she fought that first slime, she might as well try.

She told the old witch simply, "I'll try."

The old woman chuckled and the hat jiggled as she said, "You'll have to wake Arthur as your first challenge."

Danika glanced around and then asked, "Arthur?"

"My toad," the witch explained. "The one who will teach you the invisibility spell. He's quite good at it, but he's sleeping in the well outside again. I can hear him snoring."