42. Wilderness Walking

[] Go off the beaten track. A bit riskier, but at least you won't have to deal with challengers

[] No. Keep Ana and Lamina out

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The two students you'd met earlier seemed alright. Well, one of them had seemed nice. The other guy looked like he needed some serious anger management classes. Still, you've got no intention of wasting time battling random people - you've got to get to Raymond's Rock and meet up with Red!

With that in mind, you tell Ana to lead you off the main road. It'd be a little riskier, sure, but at least she could help you avoid most of the problems a young tamer might run into while alone in the woods. The mouse type seemed all too eager to get moving, diving into the undergrowth like she was born for it. Fortunately, she made sure to keep the pace slow enough for you to keep up. 

Beside you, Lamina tromped along grudgingly. The Armsmistress was obviously out of her element. She'd refused point blank to remove any of her armor, and the clanking and creaking as she forced her way through the underbrush and hacked apart anything in her path was making quite a racket. 

Fortunately, fate seemed to be smiling on you. Despite all the noise Lamina was making, you encountered no ferals during your walk. In fact, about an hour after leaving the camp, an excited looking Ana pointed you towards something interesting. 

"Berry bush!" the Woodmouse squeaked, looking pleased with herself. "Still ripe!" 

[Mind Check: 59 83 + 5 (Academic Dabbler): 88]

Peering closer, you identified these particular berries as Rasapples. The white flowers could be used to cure paralysis while the ripe reddish fruits can be used to remove burns. Unfortunately, it seems that a hungry feral's been through here recently - most of the flowers are gone, while the only fruits available are tiny and hard to reach. Still, you gather as much as you can, feeling a little guilty about leaving the bush bare and empty behind you. 

[Gained: 1 Rasapple Flower, 3 Red Rasapple Berries]

A short while later, you can hear the sounds of rushing water over the tromping of Lamina's feet. Sending Ana ahead to scout, you confirm that there's a river nearby. It's a bit too fast and deep to risk crossing, but you could always journey along the banks until you find a place that's safe enough to wade through. 

[Mind Check: 4 13 + 5 (Academic Dabbler): 18]

You have a bad feeling about staying near the river for some reason, but you can't quite remember why. It's probably nothing important. 

What do you do?

[] Go upstream (north), deeper into the forest

[] Go downstream (south), heading back towards the main road