All right, just try to find it quickly. Prioritizing his own research over the challenge… Good grief. We've sure got some real characters in the Science Club. Might as well organize my stuff while we're waiting... Hm? Oh, look who it is…
Use little wood for a weak fire. No tight packing, give it room to breathe. Once the fire's going, throw on sticks with high attack power… Whee hee, I've got Premo's three rules for campfires down pat. I mean, they're all common sense, but it's nice to have easy sayings to remember them. Gotta clear the firewood-gathering mission if I wanna reenact what they did in the video.
Uh, I'm NOT. I'd go back to my dorm in a second if I had the option. But since I don't, well... I figured I could at least try out the fire-starting tricks I saw in a video from my favorite idol group.
Ah, so you've also got something specific you want to do while you're here. Just like this guy in my club. He's all excited about studying the area around the mine. He's really into minerals and all kinds of geological features. His reports are fascinating. Actually, he mentioned something interesting about this place.
There's a theory that the area around the mine was actually under the sea a long time ago. Of course, there aren't any oceans near here, so it's hard to determine whether it's true or not.
My angle? Do I need one? I'd be hard-pressed to find a guy who knows more about digital technology and technomantic engineering than you. I'm sure you'd have a totally different approach to your research than the rest of the club.
Uh, yeah... Sure... ......UUUGH THAT WAS EXHAUSTING. I'd heard that guys in the Science Club get to do individual research, but they clearly still default to group activities! Imagine voluntarily mingling in some giant, clamorous crowd whenever your club does something. Couldn't be me! That's way too big an ask. And Trey might not be as pushy as the unabashed extroverts at school, but he JUST. KEPT. TALKING. Ugh, it's so draining to keep up with all that. It's like pulling teeth. I just hope he never tries to talk to me again, like, ever...
Catching that giant catfish really took it out of me. And now I'm stuffed. I wish I could go back to my tent and take a nap… But if the guys aren't done with the other challenges, I'd better chip in.
The students on the survival challenge have returned safely. But their journey to procure a lanternblossom seems to have been an arduous one... Behold your fellow students, as they intently devour the giant catfish you cooked.
Haha... I guess they worked up a serious appetite. I'm just glad we were able to finish the catfish challenge before they got back. I wish I could've made something a little better, though. The fish around here taste fine roasted with a bit of salt, but they still lack a certain depth of flavor... That said, there's only so much I can do with the spices they gave us and the herbs we managed to scrounge up. Guess I can't be too picky.
All that's left is the education challenge. I wonder if our group's having a hard time finding a bigger magestone than yesterday. I'll go check up on them. Anything to avoid a mandatory transfer.
Yesterday we were able to complete the challenge handily thanks to the Roi des Dragons... But I don't see him around here now. Perhaps our friends are struggling with the unyielding bedrock in the mines.
Wow, look at this place. There are tons of red and green stones glowing in the walls. Are they magestones? I don't sense any magic coming from them, though. And at that size, it'd be really easy to tell.
Wow, they're just allowing it... I wonder if they already know what these stones are. That probably means they're not precious stones. Well, whatever, I'm curious now too. Let's get one and head back to the campsite. Admittedly, this is going to be my first time trying to mine a stone, since Malleus took care of the challenge yesterday. I can barely hold a pickaxe, much less perform difficult mining feats with one. I can't promise I'll be much use.
Science Club Member B
We'll take all the help we can get. C'mon, Trey and Rook! Let's do this!
Well, crud. I got distracted and my hand slipped. Sorry, guys! My pickaxe hit one of the stones. You know, it's pretty brittle compared to the bedrock. I can't believe it crumbled like that from just one tap. ...Wait.
Yeah. I couldn't ID it when it was in the wall, but the broken pieces look just like the salt I use for baking. I picked up a colorless, transparent salt at the school store. The package said it was crystal rock salt.
Ghost C
Ding, ding, ding! You hit the nail on the head. This is rock salt, which you actually don't see much around these parts.
Rock salt, hm... Vil uses it for cooking and in his skincare products, but I didn't realize it could be nearly transparent. I can hardly imagine what it tastes like. I think I'll try a nibble.
Science Club Member A
Don't do that! Even if it's just salt, who knows what else has gotten mixed in there?
What a complex flavor. It has a mellow saltiness, with faint traces of bitter and sweet notes as well. It's absolutely delicious. And this one tiny piece would take care of all my sodium requirements if I had to survive in the wild.
Just what kind of scenario are you picturing...? Still, interesting that we found some rock salt... Oh wait, what if I used this on our fish? It might really enhance their flavor.
I can't believe we actually found salt in here. Maybe this place really was in the ocean at one point. This is such a gorgeous color, too. No one would think it was salt at first glance. I definitely didn't expect to find something so cool in here. I should show this to the other Science Club guys before I use it on the fish. Oh yeah, and I should show Idia too if he's around. He mentioned having an interest in this kind of thing... I'm sure he'd appreciate hearing all about it.
