Now that he was victimized by the sap, Finn became more careful about the trees and plants he touched. Although he didn't look too closely at them, he realized there were plenty of species he didn't recognize.
For example, he saw several plants with leaves that reminded him of the curly pastas. He saw a shrub with leaves twisted like rotini pasta. Then he saw a plant with purple leaves shaped like rigatoni.
The more he looked, the more he realized that this 'forest' was completely alien to what he knew.
It felt…imbalancing, to be honest.
[Moving Phantom Barrier is active. 00:23:22]
Not the time, not the time, he chanted. He quickly compartmentalized the anxiety and unease, focusing forward to what he had to do next to survive.
The left side of the stream, where he had just come from, had the remaining stalker monsters. He naturally walked towards the opposite side. There were a few sap trees on one side, and none on the lower slope. He avoided the sap trees and moved forward.
He felt a few monsters walking past the stream and heading in his direction. The damned beasts had large noses. He wondered if they had a sharper sense of smell because of it.
As he walked away to continue his search, he couldn't stop himself from looking back a bit. Unexpectedly, he saw how the monsters actively avoided the sap trees, opting to take the more troublesome paths with denser roots, rocks, and bushes, instead.
"Oh?" he uttered, interested. It seemed like they had an aversion to the sap as well.
Did the monsters also have a dislike towards the sap? If so, then that could be a good thing…and a bad thing.
It was a good thing to know and use if he wanted to avoid monsters. However, the fact that they disliked it wasn't entirely a good sign, either. He had already touched it. What if they disliked it because it really was poisonous?!
[Moving Phantom Barrier is active. 00:21:02]
Well, this was not the time to observe monster behavior. Anyway, even if he was poisoned, it was likely that the countdown could take him first.
[Moving Phantom Barrier is active. 00:20:12]
Fudge.
He shook his head and looked around, looking for a stable non-sap tree, and climbed up. It was a struggle due to his current condition, but what choice did he have?
For now, it seemed safe, but his eyes twitched when, after weaving through the tree's foliage, some bugs entered his sphere.
There was even a weird centipede-like bug crawling on his arm!
He cringed hard and instinctively shook his already sore arms, barely keeping himself from falling down.
Darned barrier. Why couldn't it block bugs, too?
Anyway, he climbed a bit more and finally got a clear vantage point. He looked at his new view, confirming that he had been going well uphill the past couple of minutes.
He was already entering the area with more pronounced slopes (still mild, but were already visible to the inexperienced eye). With the slight angle, he could see more from his location.
He surveyed the place, his sharp hazel eyes perusing a specific area that could meet his conditions.
It was there that he found it—a clearing. It was located a few hundred meters away towards the mountain (and fortunately in the direction of the stream). Interestingly, it seemed to be on a plateau of sorts.
He jumped down (tripped) and ran in that direction. Although each movement was a bit painful, having hope was enough to grant him a bit more energy to push through.
He arrived a few minutes later, huffing and drenched in sweat. He grabbed the handkerchief he kept in his pocket by habit, but put it back when he realized that it was still super damp from his swim earlier.
Anyway, he focused on the place, ready to take the next step. The clearing was pretty decent, bigger than the 2-meter-diameter 'anchor spot' that he apparently needed. If he looked from a different angle, it seemed like the sky enveloped the land.
The small clearing was covered with a dense tuft of grass, bordered by various shrubs and trees, all seeming to hold the soil in place. The clearing was situated at the side of the mountain, but the slope was gentle, so he doubted it was formed due to a landslide.
This is it.
He looked at the "push pin" which had changed. Instead of appearing like a muted gem hidden inside a closet, it now shimmered like there was a light source inside of it.
He simply clicked on it, and he instantaneously felt the atmosphere around him change. He almost lost his footing at the sudden change in pressure. Fortunately, it only lasted for a second before the weight lightened up again.
A magic circle appeared underneath his feet the moment the air lightened up, expanding to a circular area around him. After reaching a particular size, the circular shape then morphed to a rectangular one, overlaying the terrain with a translucent grid of sorts.
[Would you like to set base here? Yes | No]
YES!
[Hearth Inn Activated]
A blinding light enveloped the overlaid area, and he felt the spread-out force that had surrounded him suddenly condense to the ground, before finally settling there.
Finn gaped at the magical sight, and a moment later, he heard a ding, followed by an echoing voice of what seemed like a child.
[Welcome, Innkeeper! Let's build something cozy~]