Haven Online

"Oh, did I forget to mention that?" Melting Snow distractedly asked, his gaze still on the strange aquatic-like fruit in Drifting Cloud's hand. 

When he had first found it, he didn't think much of it besides something that could be given to his friend to make a new delicious snack. However, after he read its description, he was starting to look at it in a new light.

Melting Snow knew for sure that the poison resistance would come in handy for their future adventures. He could only think back to some of their past battles when being poison resistant would have helped.

The furry-eared boy thought back to one of his and Drifting Cloud's earliest adventures together. He was helping the green-haired man with a dungeon to find a recipe to create a combat potion. In one of the dungeon's rooms, they got sprayed in the face by some poisonous smoke.

They were lucky, that time. Since both he and Drifting Cloud had a sufficient amount of HP and was stocked to the gills with potions. If the poison took more than -1 health at the time or they couldn't drink a health potion fast enough, they could have died. 

Noticing that his friend was trying to get his attention, Melting Snow looked up only to see Drifting Cloud snapping his fingers at him.

~

'Did he forget to mention it, he says. How can someone forget about something like that.' Xinya mutters to himself while subtly shaking his head. 

As he looked over at the distracted child, Xinya didn't know whether he should laugh or cry. With a sigh, Xinya stashed the Rambutan away in his inventory before trying to snap the boy out of whatever thoughts he was having.

Once he saw that he had the boy's attention, he began to question him. "So, are you going to tell me about the cave you found or not?"

"Right the cave, I meant to tell you about that," Melting Snow chuckled amused by his forgetfulness. "So this is what happened. While I was exploring the tree grove with my speed skill, I found a small spring at the edge of your land."

"A spring?" Xinya questioned. He began to wonder if the player who owned the farm previously omitted some things about it when he bragged about his purchase on the forum. It would be something he would do, but then again, he wouldn't have boasted in the first place. 'Well, that doesn't matter, since either way, I might have a potential place to fish on this farm.' 

"I know what you are thinking, and no, you won't be able to fish there. Giving it the name spring gives it too much justice; if anything, it's just a mere trickle of water." Melting Snow explained, bursting Xinya's bubble.

Xinya was a little disappointed, but he knew he couldn't have everything. "I see, that's too bad."

"Anyway, once I found that trickle of water," Melting Snow continued, becoming more animated while telling his story. "I became curious about where it would lead. I kept imagining all sorts of things as I followed it, but what I found was out of my expectations."

"What were you imagining? Was it a giant pond with a mermaid living in it?" asked Xinya teasingly. Knowing the boy as he did, he was probably picturing a scene out of King Authur and the lady of the lake.

Playfully sticking his tongue out at Xinya, Melting Snow said, "No, I didn't imagine that. And for your information, mermaids only live in the sea."

"That's right, they do. How could I have forgotten," Holding back his laughter, Xinya just nodded at the boy with a serious look on his face.

"As I was saying, before being interrupted," pouted Melting Snow. He had a strange feeling that Drifting Cloud didn't believe him about the mermaids. "While I was following the trickle of water, I ran into something unexpected, which was the side of the mountain." 

When the boy said that, Xinya got a strange image of the boy running splat against the wall like something he would see in a cartoon. He couldn't help but abruptly snicker at the thought.

After giving the man a strange look for his sudden laughter, Melting Snow continued on with his story, "So after I stopped myself from hitting the wall, I noticed that the water was dripping from a small hole in the rock wall. And you know me, I became intrigued and wanted to know if there was something on the other side of the wall. Being the ingenious boy that I am, I used one of my skills to make the hole bigger to look inside of it. However, instead of doing that, I shattered the whole thing into pieces and uncovered the entrance to a hidden cave."

Once the furry-eared boy finished his story, he gave Xinya a look that literally said, 'Didn't I do good' while puffing out his chest. Which made it hard for him to resist the urge to go over there and tussle the boy's hair.

Even though it was hard, he did resist, because Melting Snow's actions worried him. With the way, the boy just blasted open the cave without taking precautions. Who's to say that there couldn't have been a giant monster on the other side of the cave wall waiting to attack.

Although other people might say he was worried about nothing, and the boy was safe since he was in the farm's boundary. But what they failed to understand is that those mountains weren't a part of his farm. He might use them and take items from them, but he doesn't own them. 

"Melting Snow, although I'm happy with your discovery. I'm very upset about how you went about it," Xinya told the boy sternly.

Confused about why Drifting Cloud was upset, Melting Snow said, "Why are you upset? I thought you would be happy."

"I am happy, but you need to understand those mountains aren't a part of my farm. Although I doubt that there are any monsters located on top of the mountain ranges, I can't say the same about the inside of them," emphasized Xinya. 

The boy could now see why his friend was a little worried. It never crossed his mind that a monster could be in the cave, but it did make plenty of sense since there are monsters seemingly everywhere in Haven.

Feeling contrite, Melting Snow said, "Your right, Drifting Cloud. That was a mistake on my part. Next time I come across something like that, I will make sure to inform you. That way, we can explore it together, okay?"

"It's a promise then, I'm just glad you were cautious enough not to go in," Xinya smiled, giving the boy's hair a quick pat.

"Right...that was me being cautious, alright," Melting Snow replied, smoothing out his hair before changing the subject. "So what about you? Did you find anything while exploring the cottage area?"

"As a matter of fact, I did." Remembering the hatch, Xinya walked back towards it while motioning Melting Snow to follow him.