Some Herbalism.

Durvekka continued to stare at the buildings and small potted plants in front of the stores as she absentmindedly reached for one of her pouches. But she only felt empty air as she realized that she hadn't donned her armor.

'...I only took my valis and forgot my armor... I'm getting too comfortable in this place,' she frowned slightly as her anxiety slowly piled up again while they walked through the crowds of people.

'Calm down, Durvekka... you can still cast {Entangle} if the need arises,' she thought to herself, taking a few deep breaths in and out.

She thought back to Eina as she tried to calm down, remembering the time when Eina gave her a hug. The feeling slowly calmed her down as she continued to breathe in and out.

She could still feel that moment of comfort.

Durvekka relaxed as a soft smile appeared on her face. Her heart stopped racing, and she calmly followed Naaza back towards the shop.

Her eyes still flickered around from person to person.

[Rolling Insight... 16]

-----

Walking back into the store, Durvekka bowed slightly to Naaza and said, "Thank you for helping me."

Naaza looked at Durvekka, surprised, then quickly grew a small smile as she said, "You can thank me by helping us pay off our debt."

Durvekka nodded her head, her expression serious as she said, "Mh, I will."

"...You don't have to push yourself to help us, either. Staying alive allows you to try again another day."

"...Mh, I will be careful," she nodded as she walked down the hallway towards the bathing room.

Her armor still lay there as she picked it up, clipped it over her clothes, and reattached all her pouches, slinging the satchel over her shoulder.

She walked back to the storefront and saw Naaza and Miach both standing behind the counter. Miach had a notebook in his hand, and Naaza maintained her usually lazy demeanor, though she kept glancing at Miach every now and then.

"Is it alright if I explore the city for a bit? I want to explore the area, maybe look around the outside of the city, and examine all the flora." Miach looked at her with his usual soft smile and nodded.

"I'll lend you my book on fauna and flora. You can use it to identify the different plants you find outside. It has some notes on the animals, but they aren't as detailed," he said as he walked towards his room and handed her his book.

"You should still be careful outside; some monsters still live on the surface." Durvekka nodded and said, "Thank you for your help," and walked outside the store.

-----

As she left the store and walked towards the main road that leads to Babel, she looked to her left and saw the exact tower. The more she looked up, the taller it seemed to grow.

'What type of monstrosities are inside the dungeon if they needed to build that over it...' she thought as the grip on her staff tightened, before she calmed down and turned to her right.

There, she saw the walls of Orario and the entrance where a few carriages were coming through. She felt a strange sensation when she looked at the horses in front of those carriages.

'...I think I can {Wild Shape} into them...' she thought as she walked further towards the entrance.

'I wonder how many interesting plants are out there,' she couldn't help but feel excited as she came closer to the entrance and walked up to the guards. One of the guards noticed her approach as she asked, "Can I visit outside the city?" softly while slightly tilting her head to the side.

"You can, but we first need the reason, your name, and familia before you go." The guard said, he was a human who looks to be in his mid 30s, a small scar on his left cheek.

"Mh, I want to look at all the plants. Durvekka Stonebloom, Miach Familia," she said seriously as the guard nodded slightly surprised by her name.

"So, you're the person the guild sent a notice about earlier."

Durvekka tilted her head at his word and asked, "About the shifting?"

"Yes, they sent us a notice a bit ago not to attack a small yellow rabbit that might wander the streets, as it could be an adventurer named Durvekka."The guard explained as he glanced at one of the guards and gave him a hand sign.

'Eina works fast.' She thought. When she saw the guard signing, she quickly glanced at the other guard moving over towards one of the carriages to inspect.

"You can go, but make sure to return before dark." He said calmly as Durvekka nodded her head.

"Thank you." She walked outside of Orario and to the side, careful not to bother the other guards and travelers with their work.

'There are a lot of people who want to enter this place,' she thought as she saw the long line but soon ignored it as she felt the cool wind brush against her face with a soft smile.

'So this is the surface...' she thought as she started sprinting forward, paying no attention to the people around her.

She looked around as her smile grew a bit wider.

[Rolling Perception...14]

The area was a green open field, the grass swaying lightly in the wind with small flowers scattered in patches.

The trees in the distance, where she was running, were twice her size. She stopped in front of one of them.

'So this is how they look on the surface,' she thought as she placed her hand on the tree, feeling the rough and rugged bark. She looked at the leaves, which were lobed with multiple rounded tips and deep green in color.

She smiled as she walked a bit deeper into the forest and opened the book Miach had handed her.

"Oak trees..." she said softly as she found the page describing the tree she was looking at. Her smile grew wider as she explored the forest.

[Rolling Nature...21]

She walked around and found some flowers with creamy white petals and numerous bristles and prickles. The prickles were a deep maroon color.

"Burnet Rose..." she muttered, carefully plucking some of them and smelling the rose. She smiled softly as she placed it in her satchel and walked further.

She also found a few patches of three-leaf plants called clovers. As she looked at them, a small red bug with a few black dots crawled on one of the clovers.

She watched it crawl along one of the leaves, then open its 'shell' and fly away. She tried to find where it went, but found nothing.

'Fascinating... and it didn't try to kill me either,' she thought as she searched for the page about clovers and read a bit about them.

'A small chance to have a fourth leaf that is a sign of luck and good fortune...' she thought as she looked through the clovers, but saw no four-leaf clover.

'I wonder if one would be in this forest.' She moved on and walked deeper into the forest.

She found a few elderberry plants holding small dark-colored berries.

'They are slightly poisonous, but can be used for medicine for fevers and coughs. Even some jams and syrups... but I don't know what those are.' She plucked a few of the berries and walked further.

She noticed some feathered creatures flying around and some furred creatures climbing the trees, one holding a nut in its hands.

She checked the book and found their sketches on one of the pages.

'The feathered ones are called Bluebirds, and the furred one is a squirrel...' She stared at the squirrel for a bit and thought, 'There's that feeling again... So I can instinctively know when I can {Wild Shape} into a creature I see that meets the requirements.' She then stared at the flying creatures, which didn't give off that feeling.

'I wonder when I can fly like them...' She walked further into the woods.

She found some wormwood, a bitter herb with silvery leaves, and carefully stored some of the leaves. Walking further, she saw some other creatures and sneaked behind the trees to observe them.

'They are white-tailed deer... It says they normally run around grasslands but sometimes hide inside the forest,' she thought as she sneaked away so as not to startle them. {Wild Shape} reacted again, but she ignored it and continued on, brimming with excitement as she looked at all the creatures and plants.

Further on, she found a tree with a few unusually shaped mushrooms growing on it. She knew that mushrooms and most fungi are not to be trusted, so she first searched for it in the notebook. It was called a reishi mushroom.

'...It isn't poisonous, but could cause problems for people with bleeding disorders or pregnant women,' she read and nodded as she walked closer to the fungi for a closer look.

It had a red, leathery cap in the shape of a fan protruding from the tree. She carefully removed some of these mushrooms from the tree, broke them into smaller pieces, and placed them into her satchel and empty pouches.

Her pouches and satchel were full, she first made sure the plants weren't bundled together or mixing with each other. After that she stretched her body and started walking back. After a few steps, she decided to sit under one of the trees. She first made sure there weren't any plants other than grass or any creatures around before she sat down and leaned against the tree with a soft smile on her face. She crossed her arms on her stomach, closed her eyes, and listened.

She could hear the leaves rustling as the wind brushed against them, the distant splashing of a stream, and the occasional snap of twigs as other animals walked around, while the birds chirped in the trees. The earthy scent of damp soil mixed with the scent of roses and other plants filled the air. The soft warmth of sunlight filtering through the leaves touched her skin while a gentle breeze brushed against her.

It felt nice to her... As if she had finally found the home she had always yearned and have been searching for. This feeling and the sound of nature slowly caused her to breathing to slow into a steady rhythm as she fell asleep.

[Wisdom save... 8]