It would have been nice to confirm what they learned on the hillside with someone else but after meeting Leon, Parker was even more nervous about talking. They didn't want to hoard information, but they also didn't want to give over a ticket to the next island to someone else. After all, Parker was here to win the Gamble and open the Odyssey Vault.

  Something Balan had said came to mind: knowledge for knowledge. The economy of the islands was not solely reliant on the coins and the vials, it was also the knowledge of how to get them. It would not help their case if Parker just started sharing tips like throwing coins into a fountain.

  To that end, Parker went to check in with Balan to see if the teenager had any new requests. It had been a few days since their original deal, so Parker was feeling hopeful. Unfortunately, a sign hung over the door:

  CLOSED FOR DELIVERIES. CHECK BACK TOMORROW.

  Balan was gone, the tavern was too busy, and Parker felt too restless to wait around. Instead, they returned to their room and filled their pack as much as they could before taking Leon's guilt-ridden advice.

  After washing the lettuce they harvested from the hillside, Parker delighted in the fresher salad and then finally found the resolve to leave the town in the afternoon. Parker headed for the woods to find help at a camp.

  While the tavern had been too busy for Parker to stay, it had not been too busy for Parker to check the Gambler Requests bulletin board. Just outside the circled area for the Goblin Hunting Ground, Parker caught something they had missed before.

  It looked like a blocky triangle with "RC3" inside the hollow of the shape. Checking the rest of the map, Parker found three other camp symbols, but none were closer than RC3. That was also the only one that had a clear path from the bayside town.

  The only danger was that it was on the other end of the red circle. Parker would have to go around or go through the goblin lands. Since morning was already gone, Parker was not going to risk getting stuck in the woods. Instead, they traded two vials of copper for a mechanical wristwatch. After winding it, verifying the time, and double-checking their pack, Parker left town with four hours of daylight left.

  Much like the path to the Air Altar, the path to RC3 was well-worn. The woods didn't seem as dark or dangerous this way. Parker even stopped for a moment when they noticed vines growing up over a hollowed-out tree.

  It looked like the kind of tree that could be a portal to another realm. Of course, there was no portal, those only existed in specific areas and were heavily guarded. Yet, when Parker followed the vines into the hollow of the tree, they still found something magical.

  A softly glowing blue-silver flower peered out from between the vines. Unlike the tuftbulbs, this flower didn't have an obvious seed pod, but it radiated the energy of the island like the crystal at the altar. It was like a breath of fresh air. On a closer look, the flower's bulb was an iridescent blue and it was just smaller than an apple.

  After making sure that it was not the only one of the flowers in the hollow, Parker carefully clipped the bulb from the stem. Strangely, the energy didn't stop radiating and it didn't start leaking toward the sky. Something about this plant was different. Parker stowed it in a canvas pouch before checking the time and moving on.

  Half an hour had passed, Parker mentally set a limit on how long they'd trek through the woods. If they couldn't get to RC3 within the next hour, they would have to turn back and try again earlier tomorrow. Another half hour passed, and Parker ended up collecting even more strange plant parts that gave off the same energy as the island.

  There was nettle-like brush that had ice-blue berries. The nettles were cold to the touch, but the berries popped with energy. Parker learned how potent the berries were when they had tucked a handful into a pouch and then accidentally stepped on one that had fallen to the ground. A stillness of energy lurked in the wooded floor for a few minutes after the berry popped, it felt like a haze that obscured all energy.

  Then while Parker was walking, a cone fell from one of the trees with a shimmering puff of dust. Parker picked up the cone and kept walking. There were leaves, petals, berries, and stalks in the pouches now.

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  In the end, Parker thought they would run out of time because of the gathering distractions. However, just after the end of the first hour, Parker came upon a warning sign. It was the border of the goblin lands.

  The warning sign was old and faded but the message was still legible: Goblin Hunting Grounds ahead. Either hunt or hurry. Do not try to pass in the rain or after dark.

  Based on the map, Parker knew that meant they were almost there. This time, they did not suffer any distractions as they cut a careful but quick pace down the trail. They didn't see any goblins but there were cuts and claw marks in the wood of trees that seemed to exist only to remind Parker of the need to hurry.

  There wasn't a sign at the other end of the goblin lands, so Parker was not sure they made it through until they heard a fire crackling in the distance. Slowing to make sure it wasn't a goblin's fire, Parker let themselves catch their breath after hurrying. Then they approached cautiously.

  Once it was clear that it wasn't a goblin fire, Parker fully relaxed. The woods opened to a clearing, a sign read "Resource Camp Three", and Parker could see a bristling fire between a circle of semi-permanent tents. Before Parker could get closer, a voice from the left caught them off guard.

  "Parker?"

  Stopping still, Parker looked for the source of the voice but couldn't see anything.

  The voice continued, "Is that you giving off all that energy? I was ready to take down a golem if it came to that."

  As the words ended, Parker saw Gere stepping out of the tree line and into the clearing. The archer was loosening their grip on a drawn arrow. Two more Gamblers appeared from the trees.

  Parker couldn't help but ask, "What's going on?"

  Gere laughed. "We were wondering the same. I thought something was about to attack the camp. Did you get a Blessing already? How are you giving off all that Air?"

  The second question came when Parker shook their head at the first. Instead of answering, Parker looked to the other Gamblers who were headed back to the campfire. Gere noticed.

  He said, "Right, you're probably tired and hungry. Questions can wait for that at least. Let me help you settle in."

  Parker quickly realized that RC stood for Resource Camp as the sign had implied. They were fair-use, first-come camps that all Gamblers could use as long as they contributed. Parker's first contribution came from the icey berries that Gere called Wild Bane berries.

  The nettles would make a good tea, so Gere was a little disappointed that Parker hadn't grabbed any of those, but the berries had the real utility. If they were crushed and mixed with a little bit of water, they formed into a paste that helped ward off any local fauna.

  Gere helped Parker settle into one of the unoccupied tents and also gave names for the other plants that Parker gathered. Lord's Blush was the name of the flower that Parker found in the hollow amid the vines. The cone came from a Dewsap tree. The other bits had names too but they were too much and too long to remember.

  After all that, Parker was caught off guard by Gere. He said, "You must be pretty sensitive."

  Parker's face must've betrayed a misunderstanding as the words cut into their deepest worries. Gere clenched his teeth and then apologized.

  "I'm sorry. I meant sensitive to energy. Everything you collected has at least a faint pulse of Air. Do you have some kind of arcane background?"

  Parker shook their head. They said, "I was supposed to be a... diplomate for my family. I never got any special training, arcane or otherwise."

  Gere frowned. "That's a shame, I bet you would've had a pretty good talent for it. Plus, I can't imagine you as a diplomate."

  The second half was meant as a light-hearted joke and while it brought a little laughter, it also reminded Parker of their family's general disappointment. It was something they had distanced themselves from.

  Even though Parker had been planning on heading back that day, after meeting Gere again, they didn't want to. They decided to head back in the morning instead. They spent the rest of the day talking to Gere at the campfire.

  The other two Gamblers disappeared into the woods for a night hunt. Being just the two of them, Parker opened up to Gere about their concerns. It wasn't that they thought everyone else was wrong, Parker just thought there had to be more ways than just killing goblins to make it through the challenge.

  Gere didn't disagree, but he did point out a flaw in Parker's logic. Even if gathering worked here, the later islands only had stronger monsters and harder challenges. If Parker was going to make it to the end, they needed to be willing to take down at least a goblin.

  Parker knew Gere wasn't wrong, but something about it still felt off. Though there was nothing more to it. The two spent all the time until the fire was just embers talking about Blessings.

  Parker shared what they had learned about the plants, the energy, and the Sprite. Gere shared what he had observed while tracking, stalking, and hunting goblins. There was clearly a correlation between the amount of energy offered at the altar and the coin or coins given in response.

  Gere referred to the Blessings that some monsters had. It turned the green-white goblins to an ashen white and their eyes would glow silver. It was like they were imbued with pure power. Those ashen white goblins were impossibly fast, incredibly strong, and twice as hardy as regular goblins. Gere had been tracking one of those ashen white goblins for the last few days.

  As they went to their separate tents, Parker planned to look for plants that gave off that pure power and Gere resolved to take down the ashen white goblin he had been stalking. Sleep came quickly and, in the morning, they both set out from camp and planned to meet back at the bayside town's gate.