Aberdeen City, 20 years prior
"Hungwy…" Four-and-a-half-year-old Althea mumbled, her huge emerald eyes looking around to see if there were any changes in her surroundings.
She was in a big, big, concrete room with no one around. There were windows, but they were so high up, as high as three Garans standing on top of each other.
The reddish sunlight was filtering through these high and broken windows, casting soft beams of light into her dusty surroundings, and into her tearing eyes.
The air was thick with echoes and creepy reverberations where the only sounds she could hear were her own footsteps and calls.
It was…. scary. She didn't like scary things.
Her tiny arms were clutched on the small puppy stuffed toy Garan bought for her a few days prior, her little heart asking for comfort.
She had been here since forever, but there was no sign of Garan.
"Obviously, sister Sasha said he was here…. Gawan… Gawan….?" She called out with her small milky voice, trying to open the door but it wouldn't open.
She didn't know how long she had been here in the big abandoned building, but she had been walking and walking and she couldn't find Garan at all.
She looked at the sky darkening. She was obviously here just after the darkness went away…
"Hungwy…" she mumbled again, looking around for something to eat. She hadn't eaten for a long time. She had never been so hungry before.
She continued walking around the abandoned warehouse, her stomach grippling in pain. She looked around carefully for something to eat, looking everywhere, looking at every nook and corner, until she saw a small vine of green plants growing near the window, crawling low enough for her to reach.
It looked a little juicy with its oval leaves and had a small rod-shaped flowers attached to it, nearby there were also black balls that looked a lot like berries.
They looked very delicious. Enticed, she took a few, ate it, and chewed.
Her face scrunched in the bitter taste of the green, then the honey taste of the flower. Then she ate the black berries which tasted very very weird but edible.
In any case, her hunger disappeared immediately, and she looked at the juice vine in amazement. "You're as amazing as Gawan." She mumbled, because Garan would always feed her, making sure she was eating well.
She then sat back down, staring, not really knowing what to do next. Soon, her eyelids got heavier and heavier and she fell asleep.
BANG!
She was woken up a few hours later, by the loud thump of the door being opened abruptly. And it opened with such a strong force that the panel hit the wall and threw dust all over the air.
Emerging from the wide dusty opening was a handsome young boy, appearing all haggard, pale, and filled with bruises.
"Althea!" He yelled and the next thing she knew she was carried up, checked for injuries. "Are you alright?!"
"Gawan!" She yelled, hugging his big head. She blinked, realizing he was shaking.
He also had a lot of weird painful-looking marks, all over his body. "Wis it pwainful???"
"No… no… It's fine." Garan said, a bit weak on the knees and he kneeled down, gently placing her on the ground.
He then saw a black thing in front of his face. "Weat it! Delicious!" She said, and she said so while she was chewing on it herself.
Instead of eating though, he forcefully took it away and checked on it. It was an unfamiliar plant. Eyebrows furrowed he opened her mouth to try and take the thing away.
Unfortunately, she had already swallowed it. Garan paled. "What are you eating?!"
"Dewicious…." She answered, grabbing another thing from her pockets, and raising her hand to show him a piece of green.
Too bad there was no more.
Garan really didn't know what to say.
That was also the first time Althea got poisoned from eating plants.
Oddly enough, rather than becoming scared of plants, Althea grew obsessed with them instead.
_____
[21 Days of Protection Period]
Althea, Harold, and the others went to the farmlands together to watch the harvesting of the most important staple foods: wheat and rice!
There were only a few thousand square meters of wheat and rice ready to be harvested, but it created a beautiful sea of various colors that excited the hearts and souls of all who saw it.
The rice here was a bit greyish with spots of blue, while the wheat had a reddish tint with dabbles of green—each sheaf moving gracefully along with the wind, creating a wondrous melody that they associated with full stomachs.
Their appearance was unlike the farmlands they had seen on the internet, for sure, but it was no less gorgeous.
No matter what color, it filled people's hearts with hope.
"Woowww!!" Maya yelled and she ran to the fields to play with her friends Theo and Fufi.
Harold sniffed in emotion. Their last rice was consumed just a day prior. "It's only been a few days and we can already harvest it. We will never go hungry." He said, as if he got hungry after joining Althea.
Sheila rolled her eyes. "Then you shouldn't have eaten so much yesterday. It looked like you're the pregnant woman."
Harold touched his nose in embarrassment.
When he found out the rice and wheat could be harvested today, he couldn't help but make the team a whole feast to celebrate (which, in effect, consumed much of their stocks in turn).
He spent kilograms of their stocked rice and a lot of meat to create several viands. He even made ovenless bread, which was extremely popular. He made so much that the neighbor celebrity diplomat and the guard trainor had their share.
"Well, it was to make the boss' mood better." Harold said, making Sheila pause and purse her lips.
During their previous day's training, there was a decided lack of level 2 monsters they encountered.
After all, the boss was heavily pregnant and they couldn't go too far.
So, instead of giving them the level 1 monsters, she started killing them herself.
And what happened when she did? No experience nor copper came out. Not one.
They never noticed this before.
Understandably, the boss was very depressed.
According to the NPCs, monsters lower than 5 levels would no longer harvest anything.
Although the boss was only level five and, theoretically, should still be able to get experience at that level, the fact was that rule would make leveling after level 5 extremely difficult.
Sheila looked at him and sighed. Indeed, the boss always let them have the last hit of level 1s since they started traveling together.
The fact that it took so long to realize actually made them feel guilty, and a lot more appreciative of her efforts to strengthen them as well.
"Well, be sure to make a lot of good food for her." She paused, remembering the woman's cravings. "With a lot of sweet fruits."
"That's natural!" Harold said, crossing his arms smugly.
Of course, to cook well, more ingredients—whether they be sauces, condiments, or others—must be made available. Whether they liked it or not, they had already almost used up the ones from Terran.
However, it didn't matter. Because Althea and the others were very much prepared for that as well.
The citizens would be so surprised at their selection!