Okeydokey

Remembering Greywood's directions, and trying to find a salt lick, I started heading north. A few hours passed, while walking, Tallia's voice echoed in my head, "Hey Adam, do you know where my daughter ran off to?"

I couldn't help but thinking "Wait you have a daughter?"

After a brief pause, probably to recast the spell she used to reach out to me, Tallia explained, "Isabel is my daughter. I thought you knew. Is she with you?"

Coming to a halt, I dropped the basket on my back to the ground and flipping open the leather flap, unsurprisingly, I found a small fairy being smooshed between the gelatinous bodies of my slimes. Sheepishly she waved, saying, "are we there yet?"

Sighing, I responded to Tallia, "I just found her stowing away in my pack. Do you want me to bring her back?"

"If she's with you, then it's fine. Just make sure to keep her safe," Tallia replied, and I could almost swear I heard laughter as the spell ended.

Looking down at the fairy struggling between the slimes, I said, "Come on out, your mom just said you can come with me."

"Really?" Isabel exclaimed excitedly as she flew up and settled on my shoulder. Closing my pack and setting off again, I added, "Yes, but I expect you to listen to what I say. We're going to be traveling through the forest, and we don't know what might happen."

"Okeydokey" she said, as she looked around curiously, her legs swinging happily as they bobbed against me.

We continued our journey, eventually after following a stream, we came across a bubbling pool of water. Several deer turned their heads and bolted as Isabel loudly exclaimed, "Wow, what are those?" eagerly pointing to the animals.

Taking off my pack next to the pond, I began drawing an alchemical array to separate materials in the dirt as I replied, "those are deer. I am surprised you haven't seen them before."

"I was never allowed to go exploring," she quietly murmured.

Setting down my pack next to the pond, I began to draw an alchemical array in the dirt. Isabel's ever-curious voice chimed, "What are you doing?"

Pointing to the dirty white rocks surrounding the pool of water I explained, "those are known as salt licks, when a spring makes its way above ground it will deposit dissolved minerals near where it emerges. You can find them by looking for where animals gather because they like to lick the salt deposits, hence the name and all the deer."

"Ohh" she replied as I continued drawing the array. I started scraping off the salt deposits using my knife, and it came free in big chunks, that I set down in the center of the lines and symbols I drew. Gathering mana and channeling it into the glyphs, imagining salt, its taste, how it looks, and the molecular formula for sodium chloride and separating it from everything else.

Isabel exclaimed as the glyphs shone. In one circle, there was a mushy pile of dark brownish-red paste forming, and in the other, a large pile of pristine white crystals – common table salt. Pumping my fist at the sight, tears formed at the corners of my eyes as I thought about what I had been eating in this new world.

Using some of the leather lining from my pack, I carefully scooped up the salt and bound it with a bit of cordage before storing everything again, and we set off.

---

Eventually, the mild slope and thick trees gave way to rocky bluffs and craggy shrub bushes. After hiking a bit longer, Isabel suddenly exclaimed, "Wow!"

Turning to look back, I was met with a breathtaking view – an endless sea of green stretching out beyond the horizon. Realizing this was my first opportunity to see beyond the ever-present trees, I took in the sights, noting landmarks and even spotting Greyroot sticking out above the canopy. I turned to Isabel and said, "See that over there?" while pointing at the elder treant. "That's where the fairies are."

"Really?" she asked skeptically. "I've never been this far from the Hollow."

With our newfound vantage point and in an effort to pass the time, I asked, "Hey, why didn't you ever tell me that Tallia was your mom?"

"Because I hate how everyone is always trying to make a big deal about it, like everyone constantly telling me a princess shouldn't do this or can't do that. Even though fairies are normally pretty easy going everyone still tried to baby me and kept a respectful distance. Besides being frustrating, it was also lonely." Isabel muttered, holding her knees as she sat on my shoulder. After a brief pause, she suddenly stood up and painted at me, she haughtily continued, "That is why I had you take me away and show me the world."

Chuckling I replied, "Who had me take you out? I seem to remember finding you stowing away, being smothered by my slimes. Not to mention your grand escape plan was almost immediately discovered by you mother."

"Shadup!!" she yelled, blushing from embarrassment at being called out.

The sun began to set and finding an outcropping to protect us from falling rocks, not wanting to light a fire being so exposed, I only chopped up some of the fruit given to me by the fairies and gave some to Isabel. Using my newfound training I set up a simple magical array to act as an alarm, before drifting off to sleep.

---

Back at the goblin camp:

A pottery crazy swept through the camp, most of the goblins would spend their free time collecting clay, and making charcoal, so they could fire their new creations. They tried all kinds of different patterns and styles, that was until Mackenzie offhandedly mentioned glazed and painted pottery.

Excitedly they surrounded her and berated her with questions, "how does glaze work, what is made of, how do you add colors?"

Holding up her hands to try and ebb the flow of questions, Mackinzie exclaimed, "all I know is that you cover the clay in something that melts and then make it really hot for a long time. Maybe I remember Adam mentioning something about wood ash, but I really don't know."

With this the goblins left her alone and started trying to figure out how glazing works. Mackinzie not wanting to get roped in, returned to the hut that Adam and her shared, and seeing the book that Adam had been buried in before he left with Zarra, she picked it up and started reading.