It's been three days. Nora went through the PDA to look for something that could help her and Ren take on the Megalosaurus. It didn't take long before she found the mission to get Magnhild and StormFlower back. However, Ren told her to look for a task that only has Magnhild as a reward since StormFlower won't be helpful due to Dust not working in Ark.
Once again, Nora looked through the PDA. Nora couldn't find anything since it was filled to the brim with different tasks. She was starting to be impatient, that's when she found out that there was a search bar. Nora facepalmed at her stupidity. She could have been typing a specific item she needed all this time.
"How can I be so stupid?!" Nora said. "Augh… It's been three months, and I only found the search bar now".
"It can't be helped, Nora," Ren said. "Most of the things we needed have been in the front of the task list. We never needed to search too much for what we needed".
"Yeah, but common-sense dictates that there would have been a search bar since it works like a scroll". Nora said. "Sometimes, we forget the simplest of things".
"That's true," Ren said. "Did you find the task we can need to complete to get Magnhild?".
"I did," Nora said. "It said that we need to find…honey? What? How come the task is easy".
"Oh no," Ren gulped. This task would have been easy if it was anyone other than Nora. That's because Nora would eat the honey while harvesting it. "It would be easy if it was anyone else, but it is different for you, Nora. Looked through the requirements, read what it says".
"Okay," Nora said. She then started reading the requirements. "Once the Honey has been collected, Nora must bring the item back to base without eating it. At no circumstance must any of the collected Honey be touched. If touched, the task would fail, and a punishment would be given. However, if Nora was able to bring the Honey to base without touching it, then you must continue to leave the Honey alone for five hours".
"See?" Ren said. "I told you it wouldn't be easy. You can collect as much Honey as you want, but you can't touch any of them until you get to base".
"Nooooooo!" Nora shouted. "This mission will be torture for me! To not be able to touch and eat sweet honey only a few feet away is a sin!".
"And that's why it's the task for your Magnhild," Ren said. "None of the tasks in the list is meant to be easy. They are there to challenge us, and for you, this is definitely a challenge".
"Hmph! For Speedy and the others," Nora said with determination. "I will complete this mission. No matter how difficult it is for me, I'll complete it".
"Good," Ren said. "But first, we need to look for a place to collect Honey".
"Oh!" Nora said. "I know where to get it. When we were flying away, I saw a cave with a lot of bees flying into it. We can check that place first, and it isn't far from here".
"Alright," Ren said. "Let's check it out. If there's Honey there, then we can get your Magnhild today".
Ren and Nora rode on Cloud the Griffin to check out the cave that Nora saw with the bees. Once they got there, Ren was horrified since the size of the bees were huge, and the entire cave was filled with Honey. Ren looked at Nora and saw that she was still in serious mode.
Ren and Nora then landed Cloud nearby the cave. They snuck their way into the cave, ensuring they didn't agitate any of the Giant Bees. It was here that Ren realised that they didn't have any container to hold the honey.
"Worry not, Ren," Nora said. "The task gave us jar containers for the Honey".
Ren nodded, and they started to collect the Honey. It didn't take long before they completed the first step of the mission. They escaped the cave, and Ren handed all the Honey to Nora, then they made their way back to their temporary base.
Once Ren and Nora arrived at their temporary base, Nora celebrated their return. Now, all they have to do is wait for five hours before the mission is complete. However, they didn't know that the jar they received for the task was special. It would slowly increase the scent of the Honey to entice Nora to eat it.
Only an hour into the mission, Nora was going crazy hungry due to the scent of the Honey. She would smell it no matter how far she was from it. She even told Ren how the jar was evil and made the scent more prominent the longer the Honey was inside.
"I think it's only in your head," Ren said. "It's just a jar. I don't think they can be evil".
"I know the jar isn't evil!" Nora shouted. "But I think Jaune is evil! He created the jar to entice me so that I would fail the mission!".
"It's just a jar," Ren said. "Just sit down and try to relax or do your usual training".
"You're right," Nora said. "I should do something to keep my mind of the Honey".
Nora tried, she really tried to keep the Honey off her mind, but the moment the Honey has been in the jar for two hours, Nora charged at it, and Ren had to restrain her. It was here that Ren wasn't sure if getting Magnhild alone was the best idea. After all, the task for StormFlower and Magnhild was to beat a Therizinosaur. He believes that would be easier than trying to contain Nora.
With Ruby and Weiss, they were exhausted since they fought a Spinosaurus. With no warning, the Titanoboa lunged at them. However, for a while now, Ruby and Weiss have learned to sense danger without looking. They instinctively moved to dodge the Titanoboa.
The Titanoboa missed Ruby and Weiss and instead bit a tree. This was Ruby and Weiss chance to kill it since it was one of the creatures they needed to kill, and it was currently stuck on the tree. The two ladies smirked, and both attacked the Titanoboa's weak spots.
Since her Myrtenaster wouldn't do much against the body, Weiss went for the eyes. Meanwhile, Ruby jumped in the air using her Semblance and spun to gain momentum and then brought the blade of Crescent Rose under the belly of the Titanoboa where it is soft. In no time, they could kill the giant snake with little to no effort.
"Heck, yeah!" Ruby shouted. "That's the fifth creature that we killed on the list! Woohoo! We're nearly there, Weiss!".
"You don't have to shout, Ruby," Weiss said. But inside, she was celebrating. "Come on, we can harvest the skin of the Titanoboa and use it to make something. Then we can also harvest the meat of the Spinosaurus".
"With this," Ruby said. "We can finally build the furnace and make metal ingots, then we can make Fur Armour. And once that's done, we can head to the snowy region to kill the Direwolves".
"Before that," Weiss said. "Maybe we can hunt for the Direbear. It is said that they roam around the forests. Since we're already here, might as well kill another creature".
"Are you sure, Weiss?" Ruby asked. "We are exhausted from fighting the Spino".
"I guess you're right," Weiss said. "We have to be careful and not overestimate our capabilities. Especially since we're still wearing the gravity suits. Which I think is increasing every day".
"I feel it too!" Ruby said. "Do you think Jaune is increasing it to make the training more difficult each day?".
"I believe so," Weiss replied. "But enough of that. We need to head back to base since I smell and I need a shower".
"Weiss, we don't have a shower," Ruby said.
"I know that!" Weiss said. "You know what I mean, Ruby. We need to clean ourselves".
Ruby and Weiss headed back to their base. Meanwhile, Blake and Yang were eating their gain when a Megapithecus wandered too close to them. When Yang saw this, she freaked out since she was afraid the gorilla would throw a giant-sized poop on them. She ran away. On the other hand, Blake was just staring at the Megapithecus since she felt no malicious intent on the creature.
While Blake minded her own business, the Megapithecus came to her and handed a few berries to her. She took it, and the Megapithecus left. That's because Megapithecus are friendly creatures as long as you don't invade their personal space.
"Blake, are you crazy?!" Yang said. "Why didn't you run? It could have thrown a boulder-sized poop on us, and we would have to look for a new place to make a base".
"It wasn't hostile," Blake said. "Besides, it was just minding its own business, and it didn't have any malicious intent".
"I know that!" Yang said. She did, in fact, feel no hostility from the creature. However, she wasn't going to risk it. "But I didn't want to risk it and have poop on us again".
"The only reason we got poop flung at us is because of you making faces at the monkey," Blake said. "As long as we don't mess with the creatures, I don't think they would mess with us. Well, as long as the creature doesn't see us as food".
Yang had nothing to say to that since it was her fault.
With Pyrrha, she was fighting against a Thylacoleo. She needed to kill it since it was the task she was completing. The reason for this is so that she can receive Milo and Akouo. The fight was challenging since the Thylacoleo wound lunged so fast at her and moved so quickly, and all she had was a wooden spear, but it was enough. All Pyrrha needs is to create an opening, and the Thylacoleo would be dead.
Pyrrha saw the Thylacoleo dash towards her, and she did the same. When the Thylacoleo leapt at her, Pyrrha slid down to get under the Thylacoleo and stab it in the stomach. With that, the Thylacoleo was severely injured, but Pyrrha now no longer had a weapon.
Pyrrha figure that the Thylacoleo isn't dead is due to the spear not going deep enough. So, she ran towards the Thylacoleo that was trying to flee and jumped hard on it to make it drop to the ground, and it worked. The spear jammed in its stomach went deeper, killing the Thylacoleo.
"That was exhausting," Pyrrha said while looking at a straw doll of Ren and Nora that she made and brought with her. "At least now it would be easier since we would have a proper weapon".
"You're right about that," Jaune said. Pyrrha's eyes widened, and she thought that the dolls talked. "Not the dolls, Pyrrha".
"J-Jaune!" Pyrrha said. "I mean, Professor Arc. What are you doing here?".
"You completed your task," Jaune said. "I'm here to hand over your weapon. Congratulations, and please continue working hard…You know, I believe that you would be able to do this survival training on your own. And you proved it just now".
"I-I, I-I," Pyrrha didn't know why, but when Jaune said those words to her, her heart started beating much faster. "T-Thank you. I-I'll continue to work hard".
"Alright," Jaune said. "I'll be going now".
Jaune left, and he made his way to the mobile base while Pyrrha headed to hers. When Pyrrha got back, she had the urge to make a straw doll of Jaune and add it to the team of straw dolls. Pyrrha smiled and thought that maybe there was a world where Jaune was part of her team. She named the straw dolls team JNPR.
Ren looked dishevelled. However, he was able to calm Nora down. How you may ask, as there are no pancakes in Ark. The answer was simple, he kissed Nora, and she passed out due to shock at being kissed by the man she has been in love with for a long time. Okay, Nora isn't calm, she's passed out, but it was the only thing Ren could do to stop her from touching the Honey. As the task was completed, Jaune arrived at their location, and all he did was give Ren Magnhild and a thumbs up. He then transferred the Honey onto a new jar to stop it from increasing the scent.
"Was Nora right?" Ren asked, and Jaune nodded at him. "I should sometimes listen to her crazy theory".
"You should," Jaune said. "I don't know how, but Nora sometimes gets things right. Even without proof, she would guess right".
Jaune then left. Ren was thinking about what he would do since he kissed Nora. He doesn't know if Nora has the same feeling for him and how the kiss he gave her would change their relationship. Ren was praying to Oum, hoping that Nora would reciprocate his feelings.