The group stands there in silence. Courtney looks back and forth between the other two until Jason speaks up. “That is interesting. Now how do we find a boss battle for Lily if we can’t see what counts as a boss? Also from the sounds of it we can’t cheat and find her a level one carrot boss for her to gnaw on.”

Courtney coughs, “Well. Yes. There is a reason that less locals make it past the second bottleneck beyond just the fact that death is slightly more permanent than it is for us. You probably went for an edge of your seat boss battle but many players, especially the more casual ones, just beat up on a low level boss. Dungeons are popular with the locals because even if they have to fight a tough enemy, at least the dungeon boss is a known quantity.”

“That is also why we haven’t had much troubles on this trip. Even the undead are relatively weak sauce. At the start of this little forest jaunt we were worried, but that was because of potential overflow from a dangerzone. Since that doesn’t seem to be the case. Knock on wood.”

And she raps her knuckles on the logs she is on, “we just need to search out a plant monster who can be a boss for Lily. Not because she is a rabbit but because they tend not to move, instead depending on stealth. This is not true at higher levels but for Lily right now I wouldn’t be surprised if we couldn’t find a nice sedentary sort of boss.”

Jason shrugs, “that would make sense. Lily’s best stat is agility, so a fight where she can use it to the utmost would be best. But once again, how do we know what counts as a boss for Lily?”

Courtney’s face scrunches up, “Uh, well, hmm. You see, normally this is the sort of thing the locals can tell you, but Lily can’t quite manage that yet.”

Rosha slaps her on the back and laughs, “Luckily we don’t necessarily need her to be able to talk no matter how awesome that would be. Though some spell or ability to speak with animals would be nice.”

She turns to Lily and smiles, “You don’t need to talk because you’re a clever little bunny, aren’t you? All the monsters we have been fighting, except maybe the ghasts should have counted as bosses to you. Did you notice any difference between them?”

Courtney rolls her eyes, but Rosha doesn’t mind her and instead continues, “Did the ghouls have an aura of sorts that the ghasts lacked? Nod your head if they did or shake it if no.”

Courtney is about to say something when Lily nods her head. Rosha smiles from ear to ear as she turns to Courtney, “see? Lily is a smart girl.”

Jason laughs at this as Courtney asks Lily to answer the question again because she obviously couldn’t be smart enough yet. Lily nods her head again. Not willing to let it go, she starts to ask Lily to lift one paw or another and do a couple of minor tricks until Jason stops her.

He shakes his head, “While this is cute and Lily seems to enjoy playing along with you, we need to get a move on. Tonight you can play with her if Rosha lets you, but for now we should head out.”

Courtney sighs, “fine. We can apparently just ask her if any specific monster is a boss or not. Though we should probably let her fight a few low level monsters first. Lily might be at level nine, but she doesn’t have any combat experience yet.”

Rosha pouts at this but Jason agrees that Lily needs to get a few fights under her belt before they throw her at a boss. Even Rosha has to admit that would be a bad idea. Though she would prefer if Lily didn’t have to fight at all.

This proposition is somewhat harder than expected. There are weaker monsters around, and they can even see normal animals. Not anywhere close to the group, mind you. It might have happened over a century ago, but the forest remembers when men came with axes and fire. Either that or maybe all those undead have made the local critter nervous around humanoids. Take your pick.

Whatever caused it doesn’t really matter. Either way the low level mobs wouldn’t approach them. Lunch time comes around and everyone brainstorms how to deal with the issue over the meal. It takes longer than they had wanted to rest for, but in the end it comes back to plant monsters. After all, most can’t run away. Now it is just a matter of finding them.

Lunch finished, they stand around until Courtney shrugs, “I could probably log out and look up what plant monsters live in the area? It could take a while even if I stay in the personal room so there isn’t a time differential.”

Jason sighs, “not much else we can do, unless you know more about it Rosha. You’re a ranger type after all.” And he turns to her with a questioning look.

Rosha shakes her head, “If we were back at Shinefish I could be of more help. I haven’t seen any of the plant monsters I know about. After we find a few, I should be fine to find more. As it is though, my skill has a penalty because I haven’t gotten familiar with this forest. Plus that nonsense in the center adds a fat penalty as well. Whatever lives there must have some sort of aura that helps plant monsters hide.”

Courtney rubs the bridge of her nose, “right, still a game. Never mind that your skills should let you find weak plant monsters, even if you’re new to the place. It is still a forest after all! Sigh, these are even the same sort of trees from what I can tell. Whatever, give me an hour.” And she logs out.