The breakfast the flowerlings offered was fascinating in its diversity. There was a large golden salver of scrambled eggs starred with green chives and pearly onions. Bowls of berries littered the long table, some of which Lorenz didn't have a name for. He only knew that the entirety of the rainbow was represented. There was also a platter of bacon and another of sausage.
Lorenz wasn't sure where they got the meat to make the sausage or bacon from. He picked up a piece of bacon and laid it on his plate. He could actually smell it, and it did smell exactly like the bacon his mother made. That gave him pause.
As far as he knew, the software update to add improved senses hadn't gone through yet. Lorenz made a mental note to check the update list. It would be nice to see if they'd snuck it in somehow.
"Is the breakfast to your liking, sir?" A serving maid asked, placing another bowl of berries onto the table.
Lorenz looked up at her, noticing Queen Lydia's interested look further down the table. He guessed that the question came from her and not the maid. Perhaps it was bad protocol for her to call it down the length of the table to him.
"This is fantastic," Lorenz said, nodding his head. He took a bite of the bacon, surprised at the savory, crunchy texture. He'd never bothered eating in the game before. "This is so good," he added, holding up his plate in a silent plea.
The maid giggled, the yellow flowers on her head shivering at the action. She took his plate and disappeared. When she reappeared, food was artfully arranged. Slices of bacon, round patties of sausage, and split biscuits surrounded a mound of fluffy eggs. Slices of tomato demarcated the three sections.
"There are jellies if you wish," the maid said, setting the plate in front of Lorenz.
Lorenz felt his appetite flare up. It looked delicious. He'd just managed to slather marmalade on a biscuit before layering bacon and eggs on top when a breathless messenger broke into the dining room.
"We're under attack!"
Lorenz looked at the newest offering the serving maid had produced. Little multicolored cubes gleamed faintly in the early morning light, the tempting smell of fried potatoes drifting from it. He was vaguely sure that at least one of those cubes was rutabagas, perfectly fried rutabagas. He'd only been able to eat that once, in a dumpling that Heidi had found.
Those dumplings had vanished faster than water in the desert once her parents and siblings had caught wind of them. For once, Lorenz had joined Heidi in the dumpling mourning. They had been a limited edition from a popup shop, and an experiment for one of the owners' senior culinary thesis. He'd heard that the lady had passed with flying colors.
"Breakfast is over," Queen Lydia said, standing. She swept a hard look around the table. "Men to arms! I'm sorry your visit is being interrupted, Lorenz."
Lorenz bit back a whimper as his plate vanished, leaving him with just a loaded fork that was likewise tugged free. He looked at the bowl of delicious little cubes, meeting the serving maid's apologetic look. Then both she and the bowl were gone.
*****
The battle was more bloody than he'd expected. The flowerlings were ferocious warriors, wielding polished stone axes and spears. The goblins had more powerful iron axes and hammers.
Surprisingly enough, the battlefield was also far more colorful. The flowerlings bled either green or yellow saps, and the goblins' blood was a rich, rich blue as if oxygen couldn't penetrate it even after it left their veins. All three colors turned the hallways and courtyard they were fighting in a riot of colors that vied with the trampled greenery.
"This way," Dahlia Crocus urged, dragging Lorenz into a hidden passage.
He could still vaguely see the battle happening outside. The inner walls of the castle were made of smoked and colored glasses, varying by location. The main hallways were colored a deep opaque yellow. Still, in the places where artwork or hangings had obviously been looted, the glass was a thinner, clearer color.
Lorenz decided to add glassmaking to his list of research topics. Just how long did it take for glass to darken after manufacture?
"Here," Dahlia Crocus said, shoving a tiny sack into his hand.
"What is this?" Lorenz asked.
He examined the sack. It just barely filled the palm of his hand, looking like some sort of ginormous sachet his mom had found somewhere. The tiny sack was woven out of a green, shimmery cloth, and the strings that bound it shut were cords of gold. It was perfectly round and held a good heft to it.
Lorenz could just imagine the reaction if Cora or Heidi saw it. Even he had to admit it was a pretty trinket-looking thing. Then he paused and actually used Analyze.
[Ginormous Magical Sack - (0/50000 - 489/500) - "Everything is anything, and I mean everything!" Caution: Magical Sacks are rare and dangerous unless bound… and we're not talking about the sacks themselves!]
Lorenz blinked at the description and then looked at Dahlia Crocus who grinned triumphantly.
"It's one of the few things we have left. Please, Queen Lydia wanted you to have it." Dahlia Crocus rummaged in the pockets of her dress. "Then there are these. You were looking for red daturas, right? Datura Prime said to give them to you before she went into battle."
Dahlia Crocus held out six tiny blossoms of a deep vermilion color. They nearly shone orange in the diffused yellow light of the corridor. A reddish aura surrounded them, pulsing faintly.
Lorenz hastily pulled out the basket Megan had given him at the beginning of the quest. Dahlia Crocus smiled and tipped the flowers into the basket. They both blinked as a flash of color surged from the basket. Lorenz hurriedly used Analyze on it.
[Baby Basket (100/1000 - 2/10) - "That hit the spot!" cried the baby. "Can I have some more?"]
"Wow, a growing basket! I haven't seen one of those in a while," Dahlia Crocus commented. "So, there are still people making them, huh?"
"I don't know. Someone gave this to me for the quest," Lorenz admitted.
Dahlia Crocus tilted her head towards him and smiled. Then she rummaged in her dress pockets again, coming up with a handful of seeds. She poured them into the basket.
"That should help a little. Shame we're in battle. We could have made it grow even more," Dahlia Crocus sighed. "I like growing baskets. That's why we don't have any more!"
"Grew them all up," Lorenz teased even as he wondered if the basket would really change to another level once it hit that 10 marker.
"And then we sent them off to be sold. Grown baskets are expensive, but baby ones are so cheap when available!" Dahlia Crocus nodded. Then she brightened. "I know! You can borrow some books and that might help it."
"What about the battle," Lorenz asked. He watched as blood splattered against the glass next to them.
"We need to hurry," Dahlia Crocus said, tugging him down the hall. "Is there any subject you're particularly interested in?"
"I'm interested in everything," Lorenz admitted with one last look backwards.
*****
As it turned out, the basket did change once it hit that level 10 mark. Lorenz and Dahlia Crocus watched it glow, Lorenz with wide eyes and Dahlia Crocus with glee. The glow grew stronger until it flashed once, twice and then exploded.
Once their eyes adjusted, the basket that was sitting on a library table was a size bigger than the little one Megan had given him. The handle was more robust; whereas before it was simply a few rushes twisted together before being woven into the basket to provide a handle, now there was a heavier twine that roughly wrapped around the handle's length to strengthen it. The bowl of the basket was wider, and now it was lined with a rough bit of cloth. The outside which had been slipshod in appearance and held a few little holes now had no holes, and the weaving looked a bit better.
"Analyze," Lorenz whispered, picking up the basket.
[Child Basket (0/1000 - 0/20) - "I really want a snack," the child cried. "I feel so hungry!" Note: this basket has been optimized for literary / floral use. Books, flowers and seeds will provide 2x experience and take up ½ the space.]
"I was hoping that would work," Dahlia Crocus said.
She looked around the library. They'd simply put in and taken out several dozen books to get this result. Now the books were randomly stacked on the table and floor around it.
"Put the rest into your sack," Dahlia Crocus directed. She trotted off to a shelf. "I'll bring you some more!"
Lorenz looked after her with a complicated look in his eyes. He wasn't sure that he'd be able to read all these books in a decent amount of time before they became due. Lorenz still had to figure out where his mother was as well as Heidi and Cora. It was long past time for him to venture out of the beginners' areas to start his search.
From the description he'd garnered from Cora, she was somewhere unusual to say the least. The markers she'd mentioned in passing hadn't been found anywhere on the forums and online boards he'd searched. Even the beasts she'd talked about weren't there, though he had seen a long hysterical post about the dangers of raiding a dragon's lair.
The very thought was stupid to him. Dragons weren't dumb. From what Lorenz could tell, they like any of the other races players interacted with, and if you didn't want someone stealing your things, why wouldn't you expect a dragon to object to it as well?
"Here!" Dahla Crocus said, trotting back with an armful of books. She eyed the piles of books already on the table. "Why aren't you putting them in the sack? Don't you want to read them?"
"I do, but I don't know if I can finish them all before they're due," Lorenz explained. He pulled the little sack out of his inventory. For some reason, it took up three slots.
"Just bring them back whenever," Dahlia Crocus said with an airy wave. "No one comes here anyways, and I'll be busy in the meanwhile."
Lorenz nodded thoughtfully. It did look like there would be a lot of work to do once the goblins were evicted. He opened the sack and then compared it to the books. Clearly the books were much bigger than the mouth of the sack.
"Just point and store," Dahlia Crocus prompted.
Lorenz followed her directions and thought 'store' as he aimed the sack at the books. To his surprise, all the books turned into motes of light and darted into the sack. Even the table and chair vanished, taking even the little light globe statues on it.
"Perfect!" Dahlia Crocus said. She turned her gleaming eyes to the other shelves. "Let's just do it that way instead of picking and choosing. That way, I won't worry."
Lorenz stifled a chuckle. She reminded him of Heidi seeing a new limited edition dumpling come out.
"Is it really okay for me to take so many?" Lorenz asked.
"I'm letting you take them all. Such a fine Library needs a good caretaker," Dahlia Crocus said. "Or perhaps a new owner," she muttered under her breath.
Lorenz shot her a sharp look as he stopped on his way to the first shelf. He wasn't sure if he'd heard her right. After looking at her smiling, innocent face, he shook his head. First, he'd secure as many books as would fit into his little sack.