[NR] Chapter 170 - Rosha's Waiting Room (Patreon)

 Rosha yawns and stretches as she looks around her waiting room. Not too long ago it had been done up like some scifi thriller. With her family, it was assured that she would end up playing NeoRealm. So of course she rebelled by reaching for the stars. Sure some of the more classic works were a little sexist for her taste but the space opera genre sang to her soul.

Past tense though because of NeoRealm or more specifically Lily. All around her is a peaceful forest scene. A relatively cheap option. What wasn’t cheap was the inhabitants. All around her are small groups of rabbits living happy little lives. Rabbits with horns, rabbits with wings, and there are even more silly rabbits like a group of living plush rabbits.

She lies back and the rabbits closest swarm her. Now under a pile of fluffy rabbits Rosha yawns and is about to fall back asleep. The only thing stopping her is the flashing light telling her that she has a new message.

A disgruntled sigh and she swipes open the message and the attachments on it. The initial message is brief and to the point. Blah, blah, blah, Rachel read this all despite being sleepy time, blah, blah, blah, have a good night, love Courtney.

Just the sort of message she has come to expect from Courtney. To the point while still being polite. Behind it though are the two attachments. Monstrous works of writing and images. She has seen enough quick research results to recognize it for what it is. A mass of work which hasn’t been properly trimmed to the essential bullet points. Sure, Courtney had done some work on it and only sent on the needed data, but it was still a lot to read.

Rosha slumps back and waves her hand and grouses, “Welp, my nights gone. Bring on the beanbag rabbit and the blanket rabbit!”

From behind a dense clump of trees a loud wump can be heard, and then another. The rabbits between the trees and Rosha clear out of the way as a rabbit twice her size jumps into sight. It hits the floor and flattens out as it hits the ground. Two more hops brings the rabbit right up next to her.

She grabs the two attachments and pulls them over with her as she flops onto the beanbag rabbit. Once she is settled in, another rabbit enters the clearing. Though it is stretching what you can define a rabbit as even more than the plush and beanbag rabbits. This rabbit doesn’t even need to land once. Instead, being able to glide right over like a sugar glider, landing on her. Rosha pulls it tight around her and pages through the research results.

Next morning she wakes up quite groggy after a night of dry research notes interspersed with way too many images that were way too similar to one another. At least, she comforts herself, she now knows what to look for. That and Lily is still the best snuggle bunny. All the waiting room rabbits are fluffy, but nothing beats an actual creature no matter how digital.

Off to the side Jason sighs. He doesn’t mind that Rosha is so attached to Lily, but he doesn’t get to spend much of the group’s down time with her. At least Rosha will likely stay in his team for a while. He doesn’t think she plans to leave like a certain someone, but low level teams tend not to have the best track record when it comes to staying together.

He could have joined Rosha in pampering Lily, but Courtney’s warning glare to keep his distance made him decide otherwise. Lonely breakfast finished and Jason packs everything up so they can be ready to travel. Rosha, still out of it from the overnight study time on the other hand is the last to be packed, but sooner than she would prefer the group is on the move again.

Good news? Rosha is able to start spotting some of the hidden plant monsters. Now the problem is finding some of a low enough level. Not just for Lily either. Good thing they are leaving the group alone because the level thirty something monsters would have wrecked them. Not even an hour goes by when she doesn’t spot some powerful plant.

Courtney shakes her head, “I guess the monsters are being pushed out from the forest’s core. We just couldn’t see them.”

Rosha sighs, “All that research you had me read said we should see plants with an average of level five. This is just nonsense!”

Courtney sighs, “What can you do? At least they leave us alone. Plus we might just need to travel some more. All these plants should be why we have only encountered undead. Any living monsters have hightailed it out of here. Once we find other stuff again, the vegetation should go back to normal.”

Rosha raises an eyebrow at her, “So I didn’t have to stay up and study those notes? I could have just read them at my leisure?”

With a shrug Courtney shakes her head, “we couldn’t have known. Better that we can now see the danger.”

Jason shakes his head and sighs, “well, what is done is done. Tonight you should be able to get a good night’s sleep.”

Rosha nods, “yes I should. Right?” And she folders her arms while glaring at Courtney.

Courtney covers her mouth and laughs, “well, I did get the rest of the research notes. Might be useful if we had the full picture. Maybe it says something about these high level monsters?”

Rosha powers up her glare, “How about maybe we don’t? I know you’re joking with me, but I’m not like Jason. A good night’s sleep is one of my favorite things.”

Courtney giggles, then reaches out and pats Rosha on her head. “Fair enough. I probably took it a little far. There shouldn’t really be anything to get in the way of your beauty sleep. The notes are being summarized and should come back tomorrow. You should be able to peruse them during the day.”