"Are you excited for your first time seeing the wildlife?" Lily asked, holding the heavy lunch basket with both hands.

  She was clearly struggling. Her knuckles were white, and the basket swayed dangerously with every step.

  'I wish I could help,' I thought, looking at my tiny hands. 'But I would just drop it and ruin the stew.'

  "Yes, I am," I answered clearly.

  I was about to suggest we take a break when the basket was suddenly lifted from her hands.

  Pete was there.

  He effortlessly took the weight, smiled, and kissed the back of Lily’s hand.

  "Allow me," he murmured.

  I watched Lily’s face turn a bright shade of crimson.

  'How?' I wondered, staring at Pete. 'He does that with zero hesitation. No shame. No blushing. The man is smooth.'

  "What do we have for lunch today?" Pete asked, still holding her hand with his free one.

  "Stew," Lily stammered, recovering slightly. "Made with the goose meat Mr. Oliver hunted."

  "He's really awesome," Pete nodded respectfully. "Speaking of geese... I sometimes wish I was one."

  I raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

  "They can go wherever they want," Pete sighed, looking at the sky. "Fly south. Fly north. Total freedom."

  "Thank the gods you aren't," a deep voice rumbled from the tree line.

  Oliver stepped out, wiping a rag over his brow.

  "Because I would have hunted you," he said deadpan. "I really love goose meat. As you know."

  Pete paled slightly. "Right. Good point, sir."

  We walked a bit longer until we reached a clearing where tree bark had been piled into crude benches, likely Pete and Oliver's handiwork.

  We ate lunch quickly. Oliver was in "Head of Patrol" mode, checking the perimeter constantly.

  When we finished, he escorted us to the true edge of the jungle. The trees here were different, taller, darker, their roots twisting out of the ground like gnarled fingers.

  "Lily, you can go back," Oliver suggested.She squeezed my hand. "Be careful, Viv."

  She turned back toward the Hut.

  Oliver looked at the group of children gathering near the patrol guards.

  "Listen up!" he barked.

  The children froze.

  "This is Vivian," Oliver announced, placing a hand on my head. "He is joining you today."

  He scanned the group, his eyes narrowing.

  "Do not feed him Blood Berries."

  The children looked confused. Blood Berries were the best snack.

  "He is allergic," Oliver lied smoothly. "If he eats one, he gets very sick. Understood?"

  "Yes, Mr. Oliver!" they chorused.

  He introduced me to the two patrolmen on duty, gave me one last pat on the back, and vanished into the deeper woods to do his own sweep.

  "Alright, little one," one of the patrolmen said, crouching down. "Stay close to the older kids. If you see a monster, run and yell. Don't try to be a hero."

  "I won't," I promised.

  The twins, Freya and Finn, appeared and flanked me. "We got him," Freya announced.

  We stepped into the jungle.

  The air instantly grew heavier, humid and smelling of wet earth and decaying leaves.

  Silas was there, hanging back from the main group. Seeing a friendly face made me relax a little.

  "Hi, Silas," I said.

  He grinned. "Hey, Viv. Watch your step."

  We hadn't gone twenty feet before the foraging began. Blood Berry bushes were everywhere, their bright red fruit glistening in the dappled sunlight.

  The children swarmed them, shoving berries into their mouths, laughing as the red juice stained their lips and teeth.

  I watched, feeling a pang of jealousy.

  'Forbidden fruit,' I thought bitterly. 'Literally.'

  Since I couldn't snack, I focused on my mission. Herbs.

  I scanned the undergrowth. My eyes landed on a plant with broad, fuzzy leaves. It looked familiar.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  'Used for wounds?' I recalled from the book. 'Let's verify.'

  I focused my mana.

  [Analyze]

  WHOOSH.

  A window popped up in my mind. It wasn't the neat little box I was used to. It was a skyscraper of text.

  My head spun. Dizziness washed over me, and I stumbled.

  'Too much!' I realized. 'I poured too much mana into the spell. I don't need its DNA history, I just need to know if I can put it on a cut!'

  I shook my head to clear the static. I tried again, this time restricting the flow of mana to a trickle.

  [Analyze]

  'Better.'

  I pulled out my new knife. I carefully sliced the leaves, leaving the root system intact as the skill suggested, and tossed them into my basket.

  I felt proud. I was doing it.

  I scanned for more. I saw a patch of grass that looked slightly blue.

  [Analyze]

  'Useless.'

  I moved deeper, scanning the ground.

  That's when I saw it.

  Something slimy was moving near a tree root.

  It was a blob of translucent brown goo, pulsating and sliding forward. It was utterly disgusting.

  And it was moving toward me.

  Panic flared.

  'Monster!'

  I tried to backpedal, but my boot caught on a protruding root.

  I fell backward, landing hard on my butt in the mud.

  "EEE!" I yelped, scrabbling away.

  "Who is this kid?" a sneering voice asked.

  I looked up. A scrawny boy I didn't recognize was standing there, looking down at me with disdain.

  Before I could answer, the other children noticed the slime.

  "Slime!" one shouted.

  They didn't run. They grabbed rocks.

  Thwack. Splat. Thud.

  Three rocks hit the blob. It shuddered and dissolved into a puddle of mushy brown liquid.

  The scrawny kid scoffed. "He's scared of a mud slime? Seriously?"

  Silas stepped forward, crossing his arms.

  "This is Vivian," Silas said, his voice hard. "Mr. Oliver's son."

  The scrawny kid’s eyes went wide. The sneer vanished instantly. He took a step back, looking at the ground.

  "Oh," he mumbled.

  I stood up, brushing mud off my pants. I felt my face burning.

  'I'm a grown man inside,' I chided myself. 'And I just fell over because of a sentient booger.'

  I looked around the group more carefully.

  Now that the adrenaline was fading, I noticed something.

  The children were segregated.

  On one side were the "Hut Kids", Silas, the twins, the ones Nora and Alicia fed sometimes. They looked healthy.

  On the other side were kids like the scrawny boy. They were thinner, their eyes shifty and hungry. They stayed together, eyeing the Hut group with a mix of envy and resentment.

  They even picked berries from different bushes.

  I turned my attention back to the remains of the slime.

  In the center of the brown puddle, something solid remained.

  It was a small, round stone, the same color as the slime.

  'A core?'

  I picked it up. It was coated in slime residue.

  "Gross."

  I walked to the nearby stream and washed it off. It was smooth, like a marble, but lighter.

  I walked back toward the group, intending to ask Silas what to do with it.

  But the atmosphere had shifted.

  The scrawny boy was arguing with Silas.

  "You took our spot!" the boy shouted.

  "It's a big forest, Jace," Silas countered calmly.

  "You Hut pets think you own everything!" Jace yelled.

  He wound up and threw a handful of squashed Blood Berries at Silas.

  Silas ducked.

  I was standing right behind him.

  I saw the red mush flying toward my face.

  I threw my hands up to block it.

  SPLAT.

  The handful of berries slapped into my left palm.

  My left palm, which was currently holding the slime core.

  HISS.

  A sound like bacon hitting a hot pan erupted from my hand.

  I yelped and shook my hand, throwing the mess onto the ground.

  "Hot!"

  I stared at the spot where the berries and the core had landed.

  The core wasn't just wet. It was boiling.

  The red juice of the berries was reacting violently with the brown stone. The core cracked, fissures of light appearing on its surface.

  Then, it shattered.

  I focused on the mana surrounding the monster core.

  It didn't break into dust. It broke into... light.

  Tiny, almost invisible motes of light whizzed out of the cracking stone, dissipating into the air.

  I focused.

  [Analyze]

  My breath hitched.

  'Binders.'

  The particles that stabilized the core. The "neutrons."

  I looked at the dissolving stone.

  'The berries break down the shell,' I realized, my mind racing. 'They release the stored particles.'

  Suddenly, Alicia's warning made terrifying sense.

  If I ate a berry, this reaction wouldn't happen in my hand. It would happen inside my core.

  It would dissolve the glue holding my magic together.

  'But...'

  I looked at the fading lights.

  'If I can catch them... could I absorb them?'

  It was the secret to growth. I was sure of it.

  To get more Binders, you needed to break down external cores.

  But I couldn't just hold a reacting grenade in my hand. It was dangerous.

  "Hey!"

  A loud shout broke my concentration.

  The patrolmen were storming over. The berry fight had escalated into a full skirmish, with red mush flying everywhere.

  "Enough!" the guard roared. "You want to attract wolves? Cut it out!"

  The scrawny kid and his friends scattered.

  Silas and the others looked sheepish.

  I stood there, staring at the patch of fizzing mud, my mind buzzing louder than the jungle insects.

  The rest of the foraging trip was a blur.

  I tried to find more herbs, but I was distracted. I kept analyzing random weeds, getting "wild Grass" results over and over.

  I managed to find a handful of mint, but my heart wasn't in it.

  I had found something bigger than herbs.

  When we finally returned to the village, the sun was setting.

  I walked to the Hut, my basket light but my mind heavy.

  I pushed the door open.

  "I'm back," I called out.

  The main room was empty.

  I heard low voices from the back room.

  I walked over and peeked in.

  Alicia was there. She was bent over a chair, her hands glowing with green light.

  Sitting in the chair was Oliver.