Jimmy and the ladies left the safehouse. They brought their many bags along with them, because they didn't plan to return to the safehouse.

Maria had two big satchels, which she used to carry ingredients. She also had a normal leather bag, big in size, which she used to carry her weapons.

Stashing a crossbow in a bag didn't seem efficient, as a simple strap would make her job easier, but she never really thought about it. She believed it was more efficient for weapons to be in the weapons bag. She carried two swords in there, along with the crossbow, and a whole load of explosive bolts.

Jimmy saw it as a miracle that she managed to travel a hundred kilometers on foot, with such a load on her back. It was inhuman, or it could've taken a long time to make the trip. Either way, he suspected that she got here quicker under different means.

The leading theory was that she drank a potion, which helped her travel somehow, but he didn't want to pressure her into giving him answers. He noticed that she flinched every time he talked, so there was a point where he found it awkward to even talk to her. He kept the chit-chat to a minimum, and remained focused.

They were in the jungle now, where pretty much anything could ambush them with little to no warning!

Considering that he was almost killed at random a day ago, he was extra cautious when he walked through the jungle.

Maria didn't even let Almara shapeshift into a big dinosaur, because she feared she'd step on important herbs, which made sense, but it also meant that the four of them strode through the jungle on foot! The risks were immeasurable, and a mere explosive crossbow bolt may not be enough to get them out of trouble.

He was aware of the latter, he could do the math in his head, on account to how fast apex predators were, so he tried to be fully aware of what was around him and his group at all times. He sniffed out every heartbeat in the vicinity, and helped the group avoid danger.

At some point, Almara got way too uncomfortable. She was walking through the jungle butt-naked, and for once, she saw this as a problem. She was far too vulnerable.

"Let's take a short break," She said, "Give me a moment, I need to do something."

The group heeded her command, they had to. When they faced her, they saw that she had already turned into a puddle of human flesh!

"Gah!" Maria exclaimed, "Is she dead?!"

"No," Anna chuckled, "She's shapeshifting."

"I thought we agreed that she shouldn't turn into a dinosaur…" Maria insisted, "If she destroys rare herbs, the deal is off."

"Relax," Anna said, "We worked with her long enough to trust that she knows what she's doing."

"I hope so," Maria sighed, frustrated by the other's accent.

Within two minutes, Almara assumed the form she aimed for. She was human again, well, almost human.

She knocked on her chest, so as to emphasize her new features. The knocks sounded like she was banging on a metal door, and this was expected, as she had replaced her skin with a layer of metal. It wasn't metal exactly, she just managed to change the genetic code of her skin so drastically, that her skin was as hard as steel.

"Doesn't that hurt?" Jimmy asked, "You must have pinched yourself ten times before you stood up."

"It does not hurt," Almara answered, her voice echoing as if she was a primordial god, "Feels as comfortable as my own skin, because it is. I call this the jaw crusher. I welcome dinosaurs to bite me now."

"Nice!" He celebrated, "You're like our shield now. I feel a lot safer."

"Wasn't I keeping you safe already, baby girl?" Anna added, "I'm hurt."

"Of course you made me feel safe," He tried to excuse himself, "But come on, an eagle nearly fucked me yesterday. We can use someone that dinosaurs break their jaws on. She's shiny too, so birds will attack her far before they see any of us."

"I didn't peg you as a coward," Almara scoffed, "We spoke so highly of you when we met you. You're a dinosaur tamer, for fuck's sake. Grow a pair."

"Dinosaurs are useless to me now," He said, "We can't afford stepping on herbs, and it's not like these big motherfuckers would wait around for me to tame them. They're too fast."

"You're a dinosaur tamer, huh?" Maria added, "Interesting. Never heard of that branch before."

Jimmy felt that the conversation got away from him quite quickly. He didn't understand how a praise from his side got him labeled as a coward in the end, and he didn't like it either.

For that matter, he said, "Let's get back to work now, eh? We have herbs to collect."

"Right," Maria nodded, "We're looking for Poisonous Nettle. They're extremely valuable, to me at least, so if you see one, don't touch them. Just call me for the harvesting."

"Poisonous…" He repeated, "What does it look like?"

"It's green," Maria answered.

"Everything here is green, Maria," He cried out, "Can you be more specific, so we don't waddle towards our own doom? I don't even know how to start healing someone who's poisoned."

"You're a healer too?" Maria asked, and got a bit excited, "That can be very useful, because I drank all my health, er… potions before I got here."

"Yeah, I can heal you if you get hurt, but try not to get your head chewed off." He answered.

The team continued their search, and Maria didn't tell them what the Poisonous Nettle looked like. She forgot.

They just kept walking around, avoiding as many herbs and plants as they could, hoping that their skins didn't brush against the wrong plant.

Nearly everything in the jungle carried a shade of green. Even the trees were covered in moss, so they had to assume that everything was poisonous.

Maria gave them some peace, and told them that Poisonous Nettles were rare. They weren't supposed to run into it easily.

At last, she added, "It's hard to give proper explanations of plants, but the Poisonous Nettle is unique. It's tall, and shaped like one of those fat uncles we all know. Basically, if it looks too stupid to be here, it might be a Poisonous Nettle."

The team heeded her description. They could picture the targeted plant a little bit, but nevertheless, it was difficult for them to engrave that memory in their brains, because when one was desperate enough to find it quickly and get out of here, every damned plant looked like the Poisonous Nettle to them. It didn't help that their brains were constantly going through different variations of plants every other second.

Almara did a great job at keeping everyone distracted as well. She sounded like a tin can when she walked, every step of hers was a screech, a cry for help.

Worse yet, the light source coming from the ceiling high above their heads, bounced from her body. Her metallic nipples reflected light, and the light often pierced through Jimmy's pupils.

"Damn things can cut stone, that's for sure," He mumbled to himself.

To keep himself focused, he gathered the nerve to approach Maria, and ask, "Those satchels on you are quite big. Can I assume that you're looking for other plants too?"

"Yes," She nodded, "They're rare too, but I figured that I'd spot them far before you ever could, so don't worry about it."

Jimmy simply nodded, and backed away a couple of feet. He was anxious, and his subconscious attempt to get to know Maria better, failed indefinitely. She was like a stone wall, or a short little metal rod, specifically. She wasn't sharing her secrets revolving around her line of work.

This only aided to make him more anxious. Under normal circumstances, people praised him for simply existing, and made communication a lot easier. This was one of the few rare times where he put in effort to get to know someone.

It reminded him of his life from back on Earth, where people were disgusted by his mere presence. It wasn't a nice feeling, but he pushed it at the back of his head, and tried to focus on the task.

There were several creatures around them at all times. He always picked up on a new heartbeat the more they walked through the jungle, but since neither of those creatures approached them, he let them be.

"Me, a coward?" He mumbled to himself, "If they knew how many times we could've died already, they'd be shitting themselves."

Jimmy mustered in his sour emotions, but he didn't let them get to him. He remembered who he was, and he remembered how he acted in his prime, before the involvement of alien technology messed up his perception of life.

"I stared down fifteen armed archers, for fuck's sake," He muttered, "Cowards couldn't do that even in their best day."

Jimmy was pissed, but he stayed true to his task. They had to stop fucking around, because they haven't found a single useful plant yet.