Maria woke up again. This time for real.

She heard the strangers planning their next move, and at this point, it sounded like they were far past whispering. They were talking normally, and this was enough to interrupt her sleep for good. She couldn't crash into the unconscious world of slumber again even if she tried to do so.

Nearly instinctively, she started patting her buns. The safehouse was a bit hot right now, since four people were sharing it, and thanks to the fact that she slept with her clothes on, her buns turned steamy, but that was not why she patted them.

She was paranoid, and tried to figure out if either one of these strangers had abused her while she was asleep. Nothing was hurting, so she concluded that she was fine.

'I'm being silly,' She thought, 'Even strangers live by our code of etiquette. Dinosaurs are the enemy, not humans.'

Maria then clumsily sat up from her bed, and then stood up.

She asked, "So you're heading to the city right now? Do you need any help with directions?"

"I've been to the city before, hottie," Almara was swift to answer.

Maria could not figure out where that comment came from. She was still a bit drowsy, as she had just woken up, but then she noticed that Almara was staring at her chest. She also heard Anna giggling in the background.

Half-mindedly, she looked down, and nearly got a heart attack when she saw that her chest was exposed!

Well, she was still wearing undergarments made out of wool, but that aside, everything else from her hips and up, were exposed. Her robe was wide open, and this was when she remembered untying her silk belt last night.

"I'm sorry," She hastily covered herself, "It was hot last night."

"I bet," Almara winked at her.

'Did she hear me?' Maria panicked internally.

However, other than avoiding eye-contact, there wasn't much she could do.

Jimmy noticed that she was too shy of a person. Well, other than her little accidental flash a moment ago, he noticed that she was greatly introverted. She reminded him of himself, as he was quite introverted himself back on Earth, so he decided to pull her out of this situation that he was sure Maria compared it with the end of the world.

He simply changed the topic. That was all it took to pull her out of Almara's talons.

"We don't need help with directions, but if you're heading to the city, we can give you a ride." He said, "It should spare you days of travel, and other than that, I'm sure we're going to need your help in the city. We might look like we know what we're doing now, but I know for a fact that we could use a guide in the city itself."

"Oh," Maria's gaze turned to Jimmy.

Within the wave of embarrassment she just experienced, she also had to work around what she considered the world's most horrid accent. She barely understood half of what Jimmy said, and at this rate, he might as well be banging a wooden club on the ground, because it wouldn't have made a difference. He would sound like a caveman to her either way.

"Help?" She parroted, and then looked at Almara, desperate for a translation.

Within the strawberry fluster across Maria's face, Almara picked up on the traces of confusion, so she gave her some peace, and started translating. The conversation ended up being longer, and more frustrating than she ever anticipated it to be.

At last, she answered, "Thanks for the offer, but I just got here. I have work to do."

As the situation had it, Jimmy had a hard time understanding her as well, because her accent was foreign to him, but he picked up on the keywords.

"What kind of work, if you don't mind me asking?" He tried to mimic her accent, but sounded like a dinosaur laying eggs.

"Work?" She parroted, working with keywords as well. "It's a bit hard to explain, and I think the meaning would be lost in the translation, but I'll give it a shot. My magic is unique, or random, as most branches of magic are. We can't choose what sort of branch we're born with, but as far as mine goes, it's quite rare, and I've only met four other people who shared the same branch."

"I never heard someone say so much, but so little at the same time," Almara called her out, "You're confusing my friends for nothing."

"Right," Maria panicked.

The conversation managed to distract her from her prior embarrassment a little bit, and yet Almara pulled her in a fresh new layer of embarrassment. She felt beyond anxious, but she kept going either way, fighting her own senses.

"When I harvest herbs, grind them up, and dip them in water, I get this special water when I run my hands through the blob of weeds." She explained, "It typically heals people when they drink it, but certain weeds and herbs give me different results. I'm out here hunting for rare weeds, and I'm hoping to sell the special water I can make here. I'm hoping to sell special recipes back in the city."

This time, Jimmy did not need a translator. He worked with keywords again, yes, but he also managed to figure the puzzle out.

"You're describing alchemy," He said, "The special water you described are called potions from where I'm from."

"They are?" Almara asked, "This sounds new to me."

"Purrtions?" Maria repeated, "That doesn't sound right."

"Potions," Almara corrected, "You misheard him again. Your magic is called Alchemy, from what he explained."

"Those names sound better, honestly," Maria nodded, "The other… eh, alchemists back in the city call themselves Juicers. I never liked the name, it was too descriptive. Plus whenever I called myself a Juicer, people confused me with common workers far too often."

"Alright then, call yourself an alchemist from now on," Jimmy caught up.

Afterwards, he asked, "Do you need help finding the herbs? It can't be safe for you to walk alone in the jungle. I mean, we're a team, and we almost died a few times already."

Maria started getting used to his rustic accent, so she understood more than half of what he said this time.

To prove a point, she walked around the bunk bed, and fished an item out of the only bag of hers that wasn't a big satchel.

She pulled out a crossbow, and showed it to the strangers. Indirectly, she wanted the crossbow itself to show them that she didn't need much help in the jungle. She was armed well, and to further strengthen her point, she placed the crossbow on the bed in front of her, and then fished out a crossbow bolt. Ammunition.

"Is that an explosive bolt?" Jimmy swiftly asked.

"Yes," Maria nodded like a chicken, happy that the surface walker knew what it was, "Hell of a boom boom. Explosives can scare any dinosaur away, if not killing them on the spot."

"What do you do when you run into a spider?" Anna chimed in, "You can't possibly have enough ammo to kill everything in your path."

Maria understood her. Anna was more coherent. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

In response, she gently placed the explosive bolt on the bed, and then she pulled another item from her bag. This one was a short sword.

"This helps with the spiders," Maria smiled, "I'm fine by myself out there, but I could use a ride later on. If you can afford waiting another day, here in the safehouse, then I can help you find your way in the city. I know the hotspots of the city by heart."

Jimmy wasn't so keen on waiting. He didn't want to walk the jungle on foot either, but then again, he offered to help Maria, and he was curious of how useful her potions could be, so he had to fight his fears, and offer his help again.

"Four pairs of hands are better than one," He said, "We'll come and help you look for rare herbs. Even if you don't find the rare ones, you can stock up on common herbs, and sell those in large quantities back in the city."

Maria nodded, "I haven't thought of that. You guys might actually make me a little bit richer."

"Yes," He smiled, "We might as well help. I'd go crazy if I sat around here all day."

They reached an agreement. Anna was on board without a debate, and Almara didn't really care, so after that point, they got ready to hit the jungle like a storm. If there was a rare herb close by to be found, they were determined to find it.

"Here, have some breakfast," Jimmy walked over, "It's boar meat. We killed one yesterday, and we managed to keep the meat cool most of the time, so it should still be edible."

"Oh, thanks," She smiled, "I haven't had boar meat in a while."