Some time later, the trio ended up in a natural environment populated with hills, shrubs, and small boulders. Spying a river flanked by two large hills, Siquioce eagerly hopped over to it, jumping and landing belly-first into the calming water to soothe his tired muscles. As her friend was subjected to the cool stream, Kantuta asked, "So, Siquioce, we aren't going to spend much time in this place, right?
Getting up with a content smile on his face, Siquioce answered, "That's right! If we head…" he pointed to the right, "that way, we should be at that Ancient Quarry place in no time."
Kantuta answered, "Okay, good. Well, whenever you're ready."
Siquioce spent a few more moments moisturizing himself before crawling out of water and standing up. "Okay," he said, "Let's…"
Then, out of the blue, a man's voice could be heard, yelling, "Help!"
Looking around, Yuchauzh asked, "Hey, who's that?"
Kantuta stood on the tips of her toes and looked over a small hill to the west, spotting two figures in the distance. "I think it came from over there. Do you think that we should go and see what's going on, Siquioce?"
The Samanian shrugged, "I don't see why not."
With their goal now changed, the group set off towards the site of the problem, ready to handle whatever was waiting for them.
A few steps later, the adventurers came across a young adult elf who was carrying a backpack twice his size. Standing in front of him was a boulder-sized, blue slime creature, which was staring at him with yellow eyes while quivering in a threatening manner. Glancing over, the elf gasped, "Oh, thank goodness! This jela has been harassing me for the past 10 minutes, and I… EEP!" he quickly raised his staff to deflect a tackle from the slime, "I don't know how much longer I can last. Could you guys help me, please?"
Kantuta answered, "Of course we will, my fellow elf!" she looked at her two allies, "Are you both ready? It's time to… wha—HEY!"
Ignoring the words of his companion, Yuchauzh immediately rushed forward with his tree branch, yelling, "BAM!" as he whacked the jela away. Resting his weapon on his shoulder, he stated, "That's it, battle over."
Kantuta stared in disbelief before narrowing her eyes and saying, "What the infernell, Yuchauzh?! We were supposed to attack as one!"
Yuchauzh looked back and smiled, "We won, didn't we?"
Kantuta stomped her foot down and clenched her fists, "That's not the point, you orc! We're a team, we've gotta work together!"
Yuchauzh retorted, "No point in teamwork when I can just—OOF!"
Suddenly, the jela returned for a counterattack, rolling into Yuchauzh from his blind spot and knocking him over. As her shorter teammate laid on the ground, Kantuta smiled in a teasing manner, stating, "Now do you understand? You can't handle everything by yourself, can you?" she looked over at Siquioce, "Okay, get ready to act. I'm going to go ahead and start casting my spells."
Siquioce nodded, stepping back as he drew in water from the air. As this was happening, Kantuta waved her staff around a bit before declaring, "I cast Fireball!" and shooting a hot projectile forward.
Still recovering from the hit that he took, Yuchauzh was barely able to notice that the fireball was about to graze his body. Yelping, he swiftly rolled away, narrowly avoiding having his body be singed. "Hey!" he shouted, "Watch it, you! You almost burned me and my trunk away!"
As her attack struck the jela, Kantuta smirked, "Oh, did it now? Sorry, my aim must've been a little off."
Shaking his head, Yuchauzh muttered, "Crazy tisbe…" he then looked over at Siquioce, and that he was about to fire a shot of liquid. "Wait!" he said, "Give me some of that water. I could use the power boost."
Siquioce obliged, turning his attention from the slime and towards Yuchauzh before releasing his water content on the orc and his plant.
"Ahh," sighed Yuchauzh as he was covered, "That's the stuff." he looked at his weapon, seeing that it was starting to get covered in rapidly-growing vines, "Alright, I'm ready. Let's go."
The backpack-carrying elf, who had taken refuge behind a bush, watched in awe as the three battlers assaulted the jela, with Kantuta sending out spell after spell, Yuchauzh charging in whenever the opportunity presented itself, and Siquioce pitching in with his water-based abilities, which worked to moisten up the slime and make its movements less precise. Although the trio wasn't as coordinated as he would have liked, the elf noted that his helpers were still getting the job done, and the jela was quickly starting to get worn down. Soon enough, after a decisive fireball from Kantuta, the slime fell over on its side, flattening itself on the grassy terrain as it laid in defeat.
With a joyous expression on his face, the elf ran forward and said, "My heroes! I can't thank you enough! You really saved my skin!"
Kantuta put her hands on her hips and smiled proudly, saying, "It was no problem, my good man! We're just glad to see you safe and sound."
The scrawny elf clasped his hands together, saying, "Oh, trust me, I am!" he grinned, "And I know just how to thank you…" He took off his backpack and unloaded its contents, revealing a wide assortment of garments, weapons, and trinkets. "May I interest you in some of my wares? You all seem like the adventuring type, so I'm sure that I must have something that you all would like!"
Kantuta responded, "Oh, you're a merchant? Well, we would love to do business with you, wouldn't we, Siquioce?"
Siquioce nodded, prompting the seller to say, "Perfect! Well, I'll leave you to it. Happy shopping!"
So, Kantuta and Siquioce browsed the selection, taking note of the properties of each item and it's usefulness. "Hey," said Kantuta, "Why don't you get that mace, Siquioce? You could use an attack other than your Aqua Shot."
Siquioce picked up the aforementioned weapon, judging its weight and feel. As it turned out, he was able to wield it quite easily; its medium weight made it easy to swing around. He nodded, "Yeah, I'll take this."
Kantuta nodded before picking up a small charm shaped like an eyeball. "Ooh," she said, "This looks interesting." she looked at the merchant, "What does this do?"
The elf answered, "I'm glad you asked! That's the Mind's Eye; as long as you keep it on you, your focus will be increased, powering up any magic attacks that you use. Perfect for a mage such as yourself, right?"
Kantuta raised her eyebrows, saying, "Oh, interesting. I'll take it!"
As Kantuta and Siquioce continued to explore his selection, the seller noticed that Yuchauzh was refraining from shopping. "Hey," he said, "What's the matter? Aren't you interested in my stock?"
The orc shook his head, "Nope. I got everything I need."
The trader prodded, "Are you sure? Because I have this potion that I really think you would like…"
Yuchauzh once again shook his head, saying, "I'll pass."
Making an annoyed face, the merchant replied, "Okay, suit yourself…"
The others proceeded to make more purchases, with Siquioce grabbing some leather armor to protect his rubbery skin as per the advice of Kantuta while the mage took some more accessories, those including an enchanted mirror, a lucky pearl, and a pair of intelligence-granting glasses. Once the two stated that they were finished, the merchant said, "Okay, let's see…with all the items that you got, your total sums up to…1,000 leks. But as my way of saying thanks, I'll cut it down to 500 leks. How does that sound?"
Kantuta answered, "That's fine with us!" She went to retrieve the prize money that she received from Boturd Village and gave half of it to the merchant, happy to have a little less baggage.
After receiving the payment, the seller said, "Thanks a lot! I hope that you all are able to make the most of what you got. Have a good day!"
Kantuta bowed, "Same to you, my good fellow. Stay safe!" With that, the trio took one last look at the fallen jela before moving on and resuming their journey.