Fifth biological child of Stella Grapes.

Hey, I don't know if the people around here can help me.. but I really don't know where else to turn.

I told you all about that fancy gaming rig I got right? Well.. right out of the box and the graphics card that apparently is supposed to be able to play everything and everything is constantly freezing or something. Error messages telling me that the device has stopped responding and stuff, every game no matter how intensive eventually crashing... I'm really confused what's going on here. What's the problem, how to solve it..

I don't know what kinda information you need, but I'll make sure to provide. If you think you can help me I would really appreciate it.

If you want/care to, post your home entertainment setup in this thread! I'll go ahead and start...



On the left is Anna-Lena, my 32'' RCA HDTV. My primary TV viewing window for watching TV and DVDs, with PS2/Wii/Famiclone gaming thrown in. At picture time, Anna-Lena had Baby TV showing, and the CRT set was playing my new SSC 2004 DVD, but the CRT didn't cooperate with the camera. The game systems surrounding Anna-Lena are Lars (PS2) on the left, and the RetroDuo SNES/NES Famiclone on the right. Anna-Lena does have extremely slight input lag compared to the CRT, but I can actually control my games just fine with it. (timed moves in SMRPG on the VC are still possible)

The reason for three VCRs? I happen to convert old VHS to DVD whenever I can, and sometimes tapes don't play right in one VCR, but play fine in another. That's why. I want the best quality VHS picture I can get when I do a transfer to DVD.



The "KMC" (Kmart) 13'' CRT set I found at an auction for just $5. Made in 1984... almost 30 years old. I'm intending on using this set for the very old retro games like Atari 2600 or my Pong clone, but it has some strange quirks due to age. I may end up trying another set out later on. If this set (or any 13'' CRT set) had stereo audio capability, I could also use this for my NES/SNES/Genesis retro gaming as well due to instant response time and overall better picture, but I require my game audio to go through my audio receiver for the best sound possible. The KMC does have an earphone out, but it's mono.

I tried to display a picture of Custard, but CRTs can be trouble with digital cameras.




My former full time TV set before Anna-Lena came to be.... Ruby. She works really good, but one problem... my room has somewhat low light, and she has a photocell that controls the screen brightness. Due to the low light, her picture brightness is nowhere near as bright as Anna-Lena or the old 13'' CRT unless you shine a light directly at the photocell. An interesting idea for 1984, but they should have included a switch to turn the sensor off.

As it stands, Ruby is now a seperate stand for my Dish DVR, my audio receiver, Elsie (Wii), and my FC3 Plus Famiclone.

Quote:Year 1


Chapter 5: Treasure Hunt


"Hey, you just said that we were almost there, but I still don't see a city," I said to Boli, who was still driving.

"That's because the Dwarven Capital is built not to be seen from afar," Boli said.

"What do you mean by that?" Huck asked.

"Just wait a minute," Boli said. "After we pass this slightly uphill road, you will see."

As Boli had said, the road the car was running on was slightly uphill. I could see the peak of the slope and it was not far away. I was curious on how the Dwarven Capital looked like, because Boli had said that it was much larger than Emerald City. Emerald City itself was actually not that large, but I still wanted to see how much larger the Dwarven Capital was.

"Alright," Boli said as the car reached the peak of the uphill road and stopped there. "Welcome to Dwarven Capital."

I was stunned by the view I saw. The whole city was located right at the bottom of a very large land depression. The shape of the land depression was roughly round, and I could roughly guess that the size of Dwarven Capital was about the same as Pearis. The depth of the land depression was not too deep, about half as high as the tower in Pearis, the name of which I unfortunately had forgotten, but it was still deep enough that none of the buildings were taller than the depth. From that point I could understand why the Dwarven Capital couldn't be seen from afar.

"I'm out of words," I said.

"That's the Dwarven Capital? Awesome," Huck said.

"Alright, let's go to meet the king!" Boli said, running the car again. Because the slope towards the city was pretty steep, the road was made into a series of hairpin turns. It took quite a while until we arrived at the bottom of the depression and went straight into the city. The first thing I noticed as the car ran slowly through it was that unlike Emerald City where the buildings were made from wood and stone, all the buildings in Dwarven Capital were made from stone and metal. A lot of dwarves were walking on the road, which made me notice that there were no other cars in the city.

"Hey, Boli," I said. "For a city this large, I don't see any other cars."

"Because the king banned all cars," Boli said.

"What? Why?" Huck asked.

"There was a time when all people had a car they had made themselves," Boli said. "Imagine how the road had become when all people had a car."

"I can imagine that," I said with an image of a total traffic jam in my mind.

"Therefore, the king gave an order for all people to disassemble their cars," Boli said.

"Huh? Then why your car is still here?" Huck asked.

"I'll tell you later. We have arrived," Boli said, stopping the car. All of us then got off from the car. I looked around expecting to see a castle, but instead all I saw was a marketplace.

"Where's the castle?" I asked.

"You mean the king's castle? Ha! You won't find him there now!" Boli said, laughing a bit.

"Huh? So where is he now?" I asked.

"Just follow me," Boli said, walking to the marketplace. The three of us followed Boli through the marketplace. While walking I looked around, seeing all the people, merchants and customers alike, doing their business. Some merhants were advertising their items through shouting around, some others were dealing with a customer, and there were a few who just sat down in silence. Not long later, I noticed a very lively merchant who shouted loud about his items for sale and how they would make good bargains. Quite a number of people stood around him, and most of them ended up buying his merchandise with satisfied face. I somewhat couldn't believe it because the merchant looked quite old with his white hair, white moustache, white beard, and a few noticeable wrinkles on his face, yet he acted as if he were still young.

"That one merchant sure is lively despite his old age," I said.

"I second that," Huck said. "Sorta unbelievable."

Boli then chuckled and said, "Behold the king of the dwarves! King Wulfgar Goldhunt!"

"What?! That merchant is the king?!" Huck said, completely surprised.

"That's... unexpected," I said.

"Yes, our king is also the most successful merchant in the kingdom! I already said that he is the richest dwarf, right?" Boli said.

"So, what are we going to do now?" I asked.

"I don't think I can cast the spell in public like this," Glinda said. "People might misunderstand that as an assault."

"Yeah, no way we can do that," Huck said, scratching his head.

"Heh! Watch this!" Boli said. He then shouted loud. "Attention! Prime Minister Boli speaking! All people, commence Birthday Protocol! Effective immediately!"

Right after Boli shouted, all people who had heard him stood in silence for a few seconds, then they looked at King Wulfgar.

"Oh, shoot!" King Wulfgar said, immediately jumping from his stand and running away. All people around then chased him. I and Huck were both surprised on what we saw, and we had quite an amount of questions in our mind.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions now," Boli said. Both me and Huck nodded. "I'm the second in command in this kingdom. That is the main reason why I could keep my car. Birthday Protocol is a special order I can issue once a year. When it is in effect, King Wulfgar must be captured and brought to the city square for public interrogation. About his birthday present that is."

"And you do this every year?" Huck asked.

"Yes! Every year!" Boli said.

"That kinda sounds weird..." I said. "I mean, if you're only second in command, the king can cancel that order anytime he wants, right?"

"Indeed, but he has never done that in all these years! Strange, don't you think?" Boli said. "Anyway, let's go to the city square."

We then went back to the car and rode it to the city square. Along the way, I saw King Wulfgar being chased by a lot of people. The view was quite unbelievable because King Wulfgar, despite his old age, ran really fast and jumped around obstacles like they were nothing. The view didn't last long because soon he disappeared into an alley with many people still chasing him.

"Do you think they will catch the king? He is so fast," I said.

"No worries! He can't do much if the entire kingdom is chasing him!" Boli said with a little laugh.

"He somewhat looked happy," Huck said.

"Maybe he actually likes doing that? Nobody knows!" Boli said. "Anyway, we're almost at the city square."

"I hope this will go well," I said.

As Boli had said, we soon arrived at the city square of Dwarven Capital. It was considerably more spacious than the one in Emerald City. One strange thing I noticed about the city square was the presence of a stone throne right in the center. Boli parked his car right next to the throne, and we all got off the car.

"Now all we have to do is wait," Boli said.

"Do the people always catch the king?" I asked.

"They never succeed!" Boli said, laughing.

"Huh? I kinda don't get it," Huck said. "How can Glinda cast the spell if the king won't be here?"

"Just wait and see!" Boli said. Soon enough, we saw the king still running away from a huge crowd, looking pretty exhausted. He ran straight to the throne, and then he did a high spinning jump which ended with him sitting on the throne. It was quite visible that he was running out of breath.

"Alright, I've had my workout. Let's just get this over with," King Wulfgar said. "No, I don't want any presents, at all. End of stor... hey! What are those humans doing here?! Isn't that one the witch from Emerald City?! Don't tell me..."

"Birthday Protocol, level two! Effective immediately!" Boli shouted, interrupting the king's speech. Immediately, the crowd which had chased the king swarmed him from every direction. I couldn't see what was happening, but I could hear the king screaming angrily. When the crowd finally cleared, we saw that the king was still sitting on the throne, all chained up to it. He looked very angry.

"Boli! How dare you break our principle of not getting any help from other races!" the king shouted.

"I just have to! Every year, Birthday Protocol always ended up the same, and this time I'm going to see it end differently!" Boli said.

"Forget it! If I get a birthday present from you, I will have to give you a present too! And all people will follow!" the king said. "I have never asked for birthday present anyway, and never will!"

"We only need to know what you want now," Boli said.

"Forget it! I will shut my mouth!" the king said.

"Which is the reason I brought Glinda here," Boli said. "Glinda, please proceed."

"Are you sure about this?" Glinda asked.

"Oh we are as sure as we can be!" the crowd around us said at the same time.

"I be cursed! I'm surrounded by traitors!" the king shouted. Glinda then once again began murmuring words I didn't understand while waving her wand in a certain pattern. After half a minute, she shot a purple ray right at the king's head. Right after that, there was a large bright purple cloud forming above the king. Little by little a blurry image appeared on the cloud, and I understood that the cloud would act as a large screen for displaying the king's projected mind.

"Now with the mind projection spell on you, we will get the information we need from you," Boli said. "What do you want for your birthday?"

"I want to punish you!" the king shouted, and a picture of Boli being kicked hard at the behind by the king appeared on the cloud.

"Ouch..." Huck said.

"And I want to expel the humans out of here!" the king shouted, and a picture of me, Huck, and Glinda being chased out of the city appeared on the cloud.

"Glinda, I think you should amplify the spell to project his subconsciousness," Boli said.

"Boli! Your name will be crossed out from my will!" the king shouted as Glinda shot another purple ray at his head.

"Your majesty have told me that three times before during this week, remember?" Boli said.

"Alright! Fine! I'll play along!" the king said. Soon, on the cloud we saw a picture of the king sitting on a golden throne, followed by a picture of a castle sparkling with jewels embedded on the walls. "See? Now you know!"

"Do you seriously think we can afford a golden throne?" Boli said.

"Just give up!" the king said while laughing a bit.

"Is there anything that is affordable but you don't have?" I asked. The king looked at me without saying anything, and then a new image appeared on the cloud. It looked like some sort of yam, and the color was pale red combined with dark brown which made it looked like it was covered in dirt.

"What is that?" Huck asked.

"Beats me," Boli said. "At least it looks cheap."

"That's... Dirt Yam," Glinda said. The king then laughed.

"You're well-versed, witch!" the king said. "That's right! It's a Dirt Yam! It's barely edible and tastes just like its name! Just give me one and I'll be happy!"

"Is he really serious?" Huck asked Boli.

"We just need to find out," Boli said. "So, your majesty, please tell us your story about it."

"I'm already in a bind, and literally. So whatever," the king said. "Give me a second to recall my memories."

Soon, a new image appeared on the cloud. It was a young dwarf walking clad in exploring outfit, complete with a large backpack and excavation tools. It took me a few moments to realize that the depicted dwarf was King Wulfgar when he had been young.

"When I was young, I was a treasure hunter," the king said. "This story happened about 40 years ago when I stumbled on a legend about an ancient fort named Markash. During its active days, the fort had been used to keep treasures for funding wars. When I found out about the legend, the fort has been abandoned for centuries, but the treasures were still there."

"How did you know that the treasures were still there?" Boli asked.

"I never hunt a particular treasure without gathering information about it first, silly!" the king said as a new image appeared. It was young Wulfgar reading books in a library. "I stumbled on that legend when I read a published journal of a treasure hunter. It was written there that his team tried to take the treasure inside the fort but failed. In fact, everyone other than himself perished during the expedition."

"Quite a sad story," Huck said.

"Anyway, when I got to the location, there was a village, a very poor village, which coincidentally was inhabited by dwarves like me, I went straight to the chief to ask for detailed information," the king said. "Hey, is this cloud able to make sound?"

"No, but that can be easily arranged," Glinda said, shooting another ray at the cloud.

"Good. Now here's the conversation between me and the chief of the village," the king said as a new image appeared. In the image there were two dwarves talking. One of them was young Wulfgar, and the other was probably the village chief. The chief wore a tunic which seemed very worn out.

"You're looking for Fort Markash? It's up there on the peak of that hill," the chief said, pointing at a tall hill right next to the village.

"Are there treasures inside the fort?" young Wulfgar asked.

"Yes, the treasures are still there in Fort Markash, a lot of gold, silver, diamond, you name it," the village chief said. "Our ancestors were very rich."

"But why this village looks poor?" young Wulfgar asked.

"The path to the treasure is rigged with traps. Only the village shaman knew the safe way to the treasure, but he unfortunately passed away before the information could be inherited. That is why our people are now very poor," the chief said. "Pity, the treasure could be used for our well being."

"I understand that the treasures belong to your people," young Wulfgar said. "I will find them, and as my reward for finding it, 75% of them will be for me."

"Like I said, our people are very poor. 25% won't be enough for them," the chied said.

"I will be putting my own life at stake, you know. Alright, 60% for me," young Wulfgar said.

"Alright, that's a deal," the chief said, and the two of them shook hands. "To stamp our deal, let us eat our traditional food together!"

"Sure!" young Wulfgar said, and the two of them walked to a nearby house. Right outside it, there was a woman dwarf cooking something in a cauldron.

"Here is our traditional food, cooked by my dear wife. The main ingredient of this is highly poisonous if not cooked with our special recipe," the chief said as the woman took something from the cauldron and gave it to young Wulfgar. It was a Dirt Yam, cooked whole. "The name is Dirt Yam. You bite first and I will follow."

"Alright," young Wulfgar said. He looked at the yam and took a bite. I noticed his eyes suddenly opened wide, which meant the taste was a shock to him. He then swallowed it with a face expression as if he was suffering.

"My turn then," the chief said, taking the Dirt Yam from young Wulfgar's hand. He then took a bite from the other side of the yam and swallowed it. "Go now, traveler! And good luck!"

Young Wulfgar left the village without saying a word. After he was far enough, he spat out the Dirt Yam from his mouth. Apparently he had feigned swallowing it.

"That was... the most disgusting food I have ever tasted!" young Wulfgar said. He then walked to climb the hill.

"And in the end, I failed to get to the treasure," King Wulfgar said. "Now I have told you everything, right?! Let me out of this!"

"I still don't understand what we should give for your majesty's birthday," Boli said.

"You fool! How come you still don't know?!" King Wulfgar said as the people released the chains and Glinda dispelled the cloud. He then jumped at Boli, grabbed Boli at the shoulders, and shook him hard. "That Dirt Yam is the symbol of what I want!"

"So what you want is..." I said.

"Exactly!" King Wulfgar interrupted while still holding and shaking Boli. "It was the only hunt from which I returned with empty hand! The treasure of Fort Markash!"

"So, your majesty, how about going there and hunt the treasure again?" Boli asked while King Wulfgar was still shaking him. "If we work together I'm sure you will get the treasure this time."

"Going there again?" King Wulfgar said as he stopped shaking Boli. "Don't be silly! It's so far from here!"

"Airship is complete and ready to fly," Boli said. I was a bit surprised by what Boli had just said.

"What? Since when?" King Wulfgar asked, looking surprised as well.

"Since yesterday," Boli said.

"Heh, alright. Go pack up your things. We will leave in two hours!" King Wulfgar said.

"As you command, your majesty!" Boli said.

"By the way, you two!" King Wulfgar said, looking at me and Huck. "You didn't seem to be helping the witch. Why are you here? Just to watch my humiliation?!"

"Umm, not really," Huck said.

"I am wondering if I can get help from the dwarves for my project," I said.

"Help? Ha! The dwarves never help and be helped by any other race!" King Wulfgar said. "Not for free anyway. So, what do you have for the trade?"

"Uhh... Trade?" Huck asked.

"Yeah! Trade!" King Wulfgar said. "Be it an object or a service, we dwarves never give something without receiving something of similar value in return!"

"Well... we don't have anything..." I said.

"Then forget it!" King Wulfgar said. "Return here once you have something to trade with!"

"Please don't be so harsh with them, your majesty," Boli said.

"Hmph! Alright, I'll give you a chance," King Wulfgar said. "Come with us for the treasure hunt. Your help there might or might not worth to trade with, but we will see."

"Huh? What?" I said, being surprised.

"We're going with them to Fort Markash. That's what, buddy," Huck said, gently hitting me with his elbow. "Thank you for the chance, your majesty!"

"Get prepared and meet me right here in two hours!" King Wulfgar said, and he walked away. The crowd gave him way as he walked. There was a silence for a minute, and then Boli cleared his throat.

"Birthday Protocol, dismissed," Boli said. "Thank you for your cooperation. We finally got the information we want."

The crowd cheered and clapped hands, and then all people went back to their activities. While all those were happening, I had been doubtful about going to Fort Markash. I was never suited for such expedition, and the fact that people had perished looking for the treasure instilled fear in me.

"Are you afraid, boy?" Boli asked.

"Uhh... Y-yeah..." I said.

"Don't worry. I will protect you!" Boli said. "And don't forget that King Wulfgar is experienced on that place!"

"I know, but still..." I said.

"Are you coming with us, Glinda?" Huck asked.

"Unfortunately, I can't," Glinda said, looking pretty exhausted. "The king's innate magic resistance forced me to use a lot of energy. I must go back to Emerald City to rest."

"I see. You can come with us. I will take you to Emerald City before going to... wherever Fort Markash is," Boli said.

"Perhaps your king won't like that," Glinda said.

"Heh, don't worry about that," Boli said.

"What should we prepare?" Huck asked.

"Nothing. I will prepare everything for you," Boli said. "Go walk around the city if you want, and be back here in two hours."

After saying that, Boli rode his car and left us. Glinda was pretty exhausted so we stayed there with her and waited. I spent those two hours thinking what kind of deadly traps I would have to face in Fort Markash, and despite what Boli had said, I was still very afraid. I didn't want to perish like those treasure hunters, not before bringing all my friends back to Strawberryland.

Nearly two hours later, suddenly we heard a sound of roaring engine from above. All three of us looked up and saw an airship which probably was the one mentioned by Boli. It looked like a helicopter with short wings and the propellers were positioned at the tip of the wings. I could notice that the propellers were attached to the wings in a way that they could be tilted forward and backward as needed. At the back of the airship there was a larger propeller which faced directly behind, which meant it was used for moving forward while the ones at the wings were used for taking off, hovering, and landing. The airship then landed at the open area near us, and a door at its side opened.

"I think that means we should go in," Huck said.

"It seems so," Glinda said.

"Alright..." I said. "Let's go."

All three of us then entered the door of the airship. Inside, there was enough room for us to walk around a bit. Boli was sitting on the pilot seat, and King Wulfgar was sitting on a passenger seat behind it. There were more than enough seats for all of us, so all three of us picked a seat to sit on and buckled up.

"Alright, next stop: Emerald City!" Boli said, and he flew the airship to Emerald City. I didn't know the speed of the airship, but it only took less than an hour to arrive at Emerald City.

"We're here!" Boli said. "Where should I land?"

"You don't have to land," Glinda said, getting off from her seat and standing up. "I can teleport myself to Emerald Castle."

"Rest well, Glinda," I said.

"Tell our friends that we will be okay," Huck said.

"Thank you. I will," Glinda said, and she teleported away.

"Alright, we're off to Fort Markash now. Go get some rest. This will be a long trip!" Boli said, and he flew the airship away from Emerald City. I could only hope everything would turn out fine.

-End of Chapter 5-

A friend of mine was running Malwarebytes on her Toshiba Satellite, and all of a sudden she ended up with a bluescreen. I told her to run a BSOD viewer, and she gave me this:

So, I don't know how many people know this.. but Strawberry Shortcake enjoys some nice popularity in Brazil apparently. I like to follow the Brazilian Facebook page, because there is plenty of goodies there. Though, there is something odd.. they like all the other places made the switch to the current generation of Strawberry Shortcake however, Baby Strawberry Shortcake, as a line, still enjoys popularity over there too. You know, the line of stuff from the generation that most people here enjoy.

So you end up with some wierd pictures like this.



So it's like alternate universe meets alternate timeline. Hehe.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNT7hhgs-LQ[/youtube]

I don't even know who might be interested in the clip, not sure if there is anyone active here who watches it other then me.. but I'm sort of squeeing about how cute Blueberry looks with twintails. That's like the main reason I even posted this, to squee about twintails.

Otherwise this episode looks okay. The plot looks cute, Strawberry finding a fun way to encourage being brave. Poor Lemon all scared! I'm still trying to catch up, not having the channel that plays these things myself but the Youtube page keeps uploading clips lately. Suddenly the Youtube page is getting a lot more views, I hope that means Strawberry is seeing a surge in popularity. The Cherry Jam song has over two million views! Not all of them are mine, I swear.

I might post my feelings about clips more often? I'm not sure. I still need to review the comics I haven't done yet. (They have been really good though!)

Quote:Year 1


Chapter 4: Dark Forest


"Hey, Blackberry! Wake up!" a voice, which I recognized as Huck, said while shaking my body.

"Eh, what? Have we arrived?" I asked, waking up. I remembered that the four of us: me, Glinda, Huck, and a dwarf named Boli Gearcraft, were on the way to the Dwarven Capital in order to figure out what gift the Dwarf King wanted for his birthday, which would come in two weeks. The distance between Emerald City and Dwarven Capital was quite far that even with Boli's car it would take five hours to get there. Therefore, I had asked Glinda to cast a tranquilizer spell on me so I would sleep through the trip.

"Actually, no," Huck said. "We're kinda stuck."

"Eh, what?" I asked. "How come?"

"I'm not sure!" Boli said from behind the car. "I'm trying to work on it!"

"How far have we gone?" I asked, getting off from the car.

"About halfway," Glinda said. She was standing right behind Boli.

"And out of all places, we're stuck right here!" Boli said while still working.

"Here? Here what?" I asked. I looked around and only noticed that we had stopped not far from a forest. "Does that forest have something bad in it?"

"No, it's just a regular forest!" Boli said. "I meant this open field! We have no cover and I'm worried about the sunlight! Or rain! Or worse, storm!"

"Ah, come on! Be strong!" Huck said.

"I am strong! I'll show you if you want me to!" Boli said.

"No need," Huck said. He then looked at me. "Hey, Blackberry. How about we explore the forest while waiting for Boli to fix the car?"

"Huh? I'm not sure about that," I said. "We don't know what's in there, and we might get lost."

"Don't worry. I'll protect you," Huck said. "Although you're probably right about getting lost."

"I can help you on that," Glinda said. She then waved her wand and conjured a glowing pink orb about the size of a baseball ball. She then gave the orb to Huck. "Try walking around while having that in your hand."

Huck then walked around the car, and I noticed that every few seconds a pink sparkle fell from the orb. The sparkles were glowing bright enough to be noticed even under sunlight.

"Cool! With this we can trace back our trail!" Huck said.

"Just be careful exploring. If you sense any trouble, come back immediately," Glinda said.

"We will! Thank you for the help," Huck said. "Let's go, buddy!"

"Well, alright," I said. The two of us then left Glinda and Boli and walked into the nearby forest. We had quite a bit of fun exploring the forest, which reminded us of the days back in Strawberryland. Huck would often bring me out from my house to walk around the forest between our houses, just so I would not be isolated from outside world. At least that had been what he had said, but I actually believed that it had been true.

We kept walking around until we were under a rather tall tree compared to other trees around.

"Hey, let's climb this tree!" Huck said.

"Huh? Climb this tree? Are you serious? This large tree?" I asked.

"The trunk has a lot of spots we can step on. It's actually easier than it seems," he said. "Don't worry. We're only going for that large branch, not all the way to the top."

"Well, maybe I can if it's only that branch," I said, looking at the branch Huck meant. Its location was about as high as Huck's fort tower.

"I'll put this orb in my pocket for now. I need both hands to climb," he said, putting Glinda's orb into his pocket. We then began climbing the tree with him going first and me going right below him. Like he had said, the tree trunk had many spots I could grab and step on, so even someone like me could climb the tree with enough effort. The main problem was my stamina. By the time I reached the branch, I was already panting heavily with massive exhaustion. Huck, who was already sitting at the branch, had to pull me for the final step. Finally, I was able to sit next to Huck on the branch.

"Finally," I said, still panting heavily.

"Great job, buddy!" Huck said, patting me on the back. "Oh hey! Hahaha!"

"What's funny?" I asked.

"Your hair is full of pink sparkles!" he said, still laughing. "Let me clear those."

"Eh, what? How?" I asked as Huck dusted the sparkles off my hair.

"Maybe they fell off my pocket when we climbed," he said. "Alright, done."

"Thanks," I said.

"So, what do you think so far about this trip?" he asked.

"I don't have much to say yet, especially that this forest exploration is not supposed to be part of the trip," I said. "Though this feels better than sleeping all the way to Dwarven Capital."

"I second that," he said. "Well, I actually wonder what the king actually wants for his coming birthday."

"I kinda wonder about that too," I said. "Though I'm kinda worried."

"Why is that?" he asked.

"Boli said that the king was the richest of all dwarves. I'm afraid what he wants will be something difficult or expensive to get," I said.

"Maybe he doesn't want anything because seeing his people prosper is already a gift for him," he said.

"I frankly doubt that. Boli said that the king is also pretty greedy," I said.

"And also a treasure hunter in his younger days," he said.

"If what he wants is a treasure somewhere, it will be a difficult gift, if not impossible," I said.

"Indeed. I hope it will not be the case," he said.

"Do you think we should go back now?" I asked.

"Yeah, Boli might have fixed the car already," he said. "Let's go back."

"You first," I said. "Don't want the sparkles on my hair again."

"You're right," he said after chuckling.

The two of us then climbed down the tree. I had a harder time than when I had climbed up because I couldn't see where I should step on next. Huck tried to guide me, but my fear slowed me down greatly.

"Hey Huck," I said, still clinging to the tree trunk with my face straight to it.

"What?" he said.

"How far I am to the ground?" I asked.

"Not near enough to jump off from right there," he replied.

"Heh, are you a mind reader?" I said.

"Of course not. It's just that I have known you long enough," he said. "Now lower your right foot slowly. There's a spot you can step on there."

"A-alright," I said, being overcome by fear of falling.

In the end, I finally reached the ground and immediately lied down on it, panting heavily.

"I'm so pathetic," I said.

"Yeah, you're pathetic," Huck said.

"Aw come on! I actually expected some consolation!" I said, fully aware that he was kidding. The two of us just laughed after that. After resting for a few more minutes, the two of us then started walking back to the place where we had come. However...

"Hey, Blackberry..." Huck said. "How can we get back?"

"By following the trail of sparkles, right?" I said.

"Yeah, but..." Huck said. "Which one should we follow?"

"Of course... Oh no..." I said, noticing the fact that the pink sparkles were on the ground in every direction. "How could this happen?"

"The ones I dusted off from your hair were blown around by winds, and they kept falling down from my pocket while we were sitting on the branch," he said.

"What should we do now?" I asked.

"Calm down," Huck said. "Let's just drop this orb here and try walking straight."

We then walked straight after Huck dropped the orb to the ground, hoping that we eventually would be out of the forest. However, some minor obstacles such as small river, land elevation, large rocks, and other things, might had curved our way without us noticing, because we walked for what felt like hours and we were not even close to the exit.

"Are we really lost now?" I asked. I was exhausted by all the walk.

"I want to say no, but that would be lying," Huck said.

"Heh, I thought so," I said. "I guess we only can sit down and wait now."

"You mean waiting until Glinda and Boli come for us? Well, you have a point actually," he said. "But they won't find us easily in the middle of these trees. Let's look for a slighly open field."

"Alright," I said. We then walked some more, looking for a slightly open field. Fortunately, we found one within less than ten minutes later. However, on that open field there was also a strange house. What made it strange was the fact that the whole house seemed to be made from cookies, biscuit, and other kinds dry food.

"What a strange house," Huck said as we stood right in front of the house. "Do you think we can eat some parts of it?"

"Better not," I said. "It doesn't belong to us."

"Well, you have a point," Huck said.

"Strangely, this house seems familiar..." I said.

"In any case, let's try knocking the door. Maybe someone who lives here can tell us the way out of this forest," Huck said.

"Hmm..." I said, trying to remember. Huck then walked to the front door and knocked the door.

"Hello! Anybody home?" Huck shouted. "We're lost here and we need some help!"

"Come on, why can't I remember?" I said. Huck then repeated what he had just done, and then I suddenly remembered.

"Huck! We have to get away from here!" I said, grabbing Huck's left wrist and dragging him to run away with me.

"Huh? What?" Huck asked while running.

"I just remembered! This is the same as the cookie house I saw in one of Blueberry's fairy tale books!" I said. "In the tale, the one who lived in the cookie house was a wicked witch who kidnaps any kids that eat her house!"

"Really? But we are not in a fairy tale now. Maybe this one is different!" he said.

"We can never be sure! We've only lived in Oz for less than two weeks! Better safe than sorry!" I said, then suddenly I tripped on something and fell down.

"Blackberry! Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine but..." I said, looking at what had made me fall. It turned out that my right ankle got entangled by a tree root, not because of me tripping but because the tree root was alive and actively trying to pin me down. I tried to get free, but the root wouldn't let go. Instead it kept creeping up my leg, slowly wrapping my right leg up to the knee.

"Huck, help me!" I said.

"I'm trying!" Huck said, trying to pull the root away from my leg but to no avail.

"Come on, Huck! The witch could be here in any moment!" I said in panic. "Ah, no that's not it! Huck, you should run away and tell Glinda!"

"There's no chance I would leave you here!" Huck said, still trying to pull the root away.

"It's the best chance we got, Huck!" I said. "You must go and tell Glinda about this!"

"It will be too late..." Huck said, looking at the direction we had come from. There was someone clad in dark robe walking slowly to us. The face of the person was concealed by the hood he wore and the lush trees blocking most sunlight didn't help at all. I couldn't even determine whether the person was a man or a woman. He then pointed a wand towards Huck and shot a red lightning. Huck tried to evade, but the bolt was too fast and he took a direct hit. He got thrown back by the bolt, but luckily a pile of leaves cushioned his fall.

"Ugh, that kinda hurt," Huck said, getting up.

"Huck! Are you alright?" I asked.

"Pretty much," he said. "But I'm not sure if I'll be as lucky if he attacks again."

The mysterious figure then seemed to look at me. He then pointed his wand towards me and shot the same red lightning. I braced my face with my arms and closed my eyes, prepared to receive anything that would come. I then heard a loud banging noise, but I didn't feel anything. I then slowly opened my eyes, and then I saw that there was someone standing in front of me. It was Boli. He had saved me by standing in front of me and taking the attack. I noticed small smokes coming from his chest.

"Heh, not bad," Boli said. "Come on! Give me more!"

The hooded person then launched another attack which hit Boli directly, but Boli didn't even budge from his standing position. The hooded person attacked again, but once again Boli stood still and firmly. I remember Boli being small, smaller than me. However, somehow the Boli standing right in front of me seemed really big like a giant.

"I believe you know about dwarves being partially immune to magic," Boli said in loud voice. The hooded man launched another attack, but this time Boli blocked it with his right hand instead of letting the attack hit his chest. "But I'm a special dwarf. Not only that I'm almost totally immune to magic, I can launch back the magic at whoever casts it!"

Right after saying his last sentence, with his right hand Boli punched towards the hooded person who was still too far for a punch to hit. A red lightning similar to the ones I had just seen came out from Boli's fist and directly hit the hooded person. The hooded person was thrown away and fell to the ground. Immediately, the roots which bound my right leg came loose. Boli then turned around, quickly picked me up, and carried me on his right shoulder. He also did the same to Huck with his left shoulder. He did all those so quickly that my glasses fell off my face to the ground.

"Ah, my glasses!" I said.

"We gotta scram from here now while he's stunned!" Boli said while running really fast carrying both of us. He carried me with my head facing behind him unlike Huck, so I could still see, although very blurry, the hooded person slowly getting up.

"Who is that guy actually?" Huck asked.

"I have no idea!" Boli replied. "Let's just get back to the car and get away from here fast!"

"Can you find the way?" I asked.

"I see the way, no problem!" Boli said.

"Glinda made a waypoint for us, Blackberry!" Huck said. I couldn't see what he meant, but I was glad to know it. Within a minute, we were out of the forest and Boli's car was parked right there with Glinda already sitting on her seat. He then put us down and quickly jumped to the driver's seat. I and Huck also jumped to our seats, and immediately Boli turned the engine on. The car engine roared to life, and then the car accelerated away from the forest. I felt so relieved for successfully getting away from the forest, and then I fell asleep on my seat.

Meanwhile, inside the forest, the hooded person walked a bit from the position where he had fallen. He looked down to the ground and found something. He then picked up the thing, which turned out to be my glasses which had fallen when Boli had picked me up. He then looked at the glasses for a minute.

"Wizard of Oz..." the person said, and then my glasses vanished from his hand with a blue flame.

I didn't know how long I had fallen asleep. I woke up because Glinda woke me up.

"What? What happened?" I asked.

"We're almost there! That's what happened!" Boli said. "Did you sleep well?"

"Pretty much," I said. "I was so relieved that we got out from that forest."

"Huh? What are you saying? What forest?" Boli asked.

"You saved me and Huck from a wicked witch in that forest, don't you remember?" I asked.

"As far as I know, we never stopped," Huck said.

"Huck, you don't remember too?" I asked. "Glinda?"

"Maybe you were dreaming, Blackberry," Glinda said.

"But it felt so real. Boli saved me and Huck from a wicked witch, and we ran away while that witch was stunned. I lost my glasses and..." I said. "Eh?"

My speech was interrupted because I just realized that my glasses were still there on my face. I then began to doubt whether all those experiences in the forest were real or just a dream.

"I guess I was dreaming," I said. "Though I've never had any dream that felt so real. Hey, Boli."

"Yes?" Boli said.

"Are you, unlike other dwarves, almost totally immune to magic, and can launch back spells thrown at you?" I asked.

"Wha...? How did you know?" Boli asked back.

"That was what you said when you saved us, and you did exactly that," I said. "You blocked the wicked witch's attack and launched it back."

"Well, actually it's true but it's not like what it seems," Boli said. "My clothes are actually made from rare material that wards off magic. I can launch back spells because of this ring I wear on my right hand. It's actually the same machine you saw back then, only modified to be able to be worn as a ring."

"Well, now I really doubt that it was just a dream, but let's put it aside for now," I said.

"Indeed, we will arrive in five minutes. Better be ready to meet the king," Boli said.

"Yeah," I said.

The car kept running through the open field towards the Dwarven Capital, and without anybody noticing, a pink sparkle fell off from my hair to the ground. The sparkle kept sparkling for a few seconds as the car got further away, until it vanished completely.

-End of Chapter 4-

Quote:Year 1


Chapter 3: A Visitor Comes


In the morning right after the Berry Drifting Festival, I woke up on my bed not remembering how I had ended up there. I didn't remember walking back to Emerald Castle and falling asleep on my bed. It felt as if all my memories from that point had been taken from me. I tried hard to remember, but it was of no use. I then began to worry that something was going wrong with my brain. However, I realized that I had just woken up so it probably was my own brain not working fully yet. I then searched for my glasses near the bed.

"Good morning, silly boy," a voice I easily recognized as Peppermint's said.

"Good morning, Peppermint," I said, putting my glasses on.

"Do you remember what happened last night? Or do I need to tell you?" she asked, still with her usual cynical face and voice.

"I don't remember anything, so I guess I need you to tell me," I said.

"Not long after Strawberry finished singing that night, we found you sleeping at the river bank," she said.

"Really? Oh yeah... I was sitting there being stunned by the view and Strawberry's singing..." I said. "But then, how did I end up right here?"

"None of us had the heart to wake you up, so in the end we asked Glinda to teleport you right into your bed," she said.

"I guess I owe her an apology for the bother," I said, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Yeah, you definitely do," she said. "She's still in the dining room with the others. Do it now."

Right after she finished her sentence, I got off from my bed and walked towards the dining room. Peppermint walked alongside me, but none of us said anything. Soon, we arrived at the dining room and as Peppermint had said, everyone else including Glinda and Henry were still there having breakfast.

"Good morning, Blackberry!" Strawberry greeted. "Did you sleep well?"

I knew Strawberry didn't intend to make me feel embarrassed, but I felt embarrassed hearing that regardless. I also felt that the others were secretly laughing at me for falling asleep in the middle of the festival. They probably weren't, but I still felt as if they were.

"Uhh... yeah," I said timidly. "Uhh... Glinda."

"Yes?" Glinda replied kindly.

"Thank you for what you did last night... and... sorry for the bother," I said, still timidly. I felt so embarrassed that I wanted to dig a deep hole and hide there, but of course I couldn't and wouldn't do that.

"It was no problem at all," Glinda replied. "It's already a common thing for me every year to teleport those who fall asleep during the berry drifting."

"Huh? You mean, I was not the only one last night?" I asked.

"Apple Dumplin' sleep too!" Apple said.

"Me too, actually," Orange said, looking a bit shy.

"And also quite a number of berrykins," Glinda said. "I was actually a bit surprised that the number of berrykins falling asleep at the river area last night was more than double compared to any previous years."

"I think it might be caused by Strawberry," Huck said.

"Huh? Me?" Strawberry asked, looking confused.

"I actually agree," Angel said. "Strawberry's singing last night was so beautiful calming, it made people fall asleep."

"Yeah, Strawberry. The song was beautiful! Nobody can sing better than you!" Orange said.

"Thank you," Strawberry said after giggling and blushing a bit.

Later, I and Henry were in the workshop, and as it had always been, we had nothing to do other than discussing plans. Lack of proper tools and materials prevented us from making any actual progress. I had taken one gem berry from Emerald Castle lighting reserves for us to study if it could be used as fuel for a generator, but there was no significant result. We even tried eating it, and from it we only got a vague information that eating it had the effect of reducing fatigue. I had said vague because it could have been just a psychological effect, the name of which is known as Placebo Effect.

"No progress at all again today," I said after sighing.

"It's still morning, son!" Henry said, cheering me up.

"All we need for now is a generator, and we don't know how to make one," I said.

"Indeed. Being too used to modern technology is a flaw here," Henry said. "Maybe we need outside help after all."

"Outside help? Who?" I asked.

"I know that the..." Henry said, before Glinda teleported in, interrupting Henry's speech.

"You have a visitor," Glinda said.

"Ah, thank you for telling me," Henry said. "I should get going then."

Henry then ran inside the Emerald Castle, leaving me and Glinda at the workshop. We had a conversation as we walked towards the castle.

"Visitor?" I asked.

"Henry's name as the Wizard of Oz is well known throughout the land. Sometimes people come to him to speak, usually seeking help for a problem they are facing," Glinda replied.

"Now I'm wondering why he is that famous. Has he saved the land or something?" I asked.

"You can say so," she said. "It's quite a long story."

"Tell me the story someday," I said.

"I think Henry himself will be better at telling you the story," she said.

"You're probably right," I said. "By the way..."

"Yes?" she said.

"You have your own castle like your sister, right?" I said. "But why are you here everyday? I'm just wondering."

"Right, I haven't told you yet," she said while smiling. "Emerald Castle is my castle."

"What? Isn't this castle supposed to belong to the Wizard of Oz, or in other word, Henry?" I asked.

"You're not wrong," she said. "Emerald Castle is... Oh!"

"What is it?" I asked.

"Henry just gave me the sign that he is ready to receive the guest," she said, although I had no idea how Henry had given the sign from a distance. "Let's go to the guest room then."

Glinda then used her teleportation spell to bring the two of us to the guest room of Emerald Castle. When we got there, I saw someone sitting anxiously on one couch. That person was small, although still larger than berrykins. He grew thick brown beard and moustache, and he wore what seemed like a technician's working outfit. He seemed surprised seeing us.

"Glinda! Is the wizard ready yet?" he asked. "And who is that boy?"

"I will introduce you two later since the wizard is ready. We don't want to waste his time, right?" Glinda said. "Please go to his throne room immediately."

"You're right! I better get going!" the person said, and he immediately ran off to the throne room.

"Was that a dwarf?" I asked.

"A Berry Dwarf, yes. Though they usually are only called as dwarves," she replied. "They live quite far West of Emerald City. The dwarves are well known in Oz for their ability to construct machines for any need."

"Really? Maybe I could use their help for my project," I said.

"It's actually not a bad idea, but there is a problem," she said. "The dwarves are also well known for being short tempered and not willing to help and be helped by other races. In fact, this is the first time I see a dwarf come seeking the wizard's help in my entire life."

"Uhh, doesn't that mean there is a very serious threat which might come here as well?" I asked, getting worried.

"If that was the case, I would already notice," she said. "Don't worry. I'm sure it's not something dangerous."

"I sure hope so," I said. "By the way, you said 'your entire life'? How long has Henry been here?"

"Three years, but I have never said that there had been no wizard before Henry," Glinda said. "Anyway, there's a balcony inside the throne room. We can watch them from there."

Glinda then once again used her teleportation spell. When we arrived at the balcony, I saw that Huck was there as well. On the floor below, the dwarf was standing at a distance in front of the throne, and there was a fireball above the throne.

"Huck, why are you here?" I asked.

"I was just walking around," he replied. "Who's that dwarf who just arrived?"

"A visitor seeking for help," I said. We then watched the conversation between the dwarf and the fireball Henry was projecting.

"So, you're the one with desire to speak to me," the fireball said. "Now speak!"

"I need help! Our king's birthday is just two more weeks and we still don't know what gift we should give to him!" the dwarf said.

"Are you serious with that? Seeking my help for such petty thing?" the fireball said.

"How dare you saying that it is a petty thing!" the dwarf shouted loud. "Our king has helped the dwarves in more ways than you can possibly imagine! The people love him and want to give him something in return, but he always refuses to tell what he wants no matter what we do to make him talk! Years have passed without him receiving any gift from us, and now we absolutely want this to succeed! And that is why I seek your help! DON'T YOU DARE CALL THIS A PETTY THING!"

"As I expected from a dwarf. Such a short fuse," the fireball said. "So, what do you expect from me?"

"I only need a spell for projecting mind. If I can know the king's mind, people will know what he really wants!" the dwarf said.

"I want to respect people's privacy, and such spell violates it. I cannot help you on that," the fireball said.

"I'm not asking you to cast the spell on the king! Cast it on this machine!" the dwarf said, taking a small object from his pocket. The object looked like a small mechanical cube with a round core on one side.

"Ah, I see. A dwarven device," the fireball said. "I suppose it absorbs and stores a spell for future use."

"Indeed," the dwarf said.

"It's still violating the privacy of mind," the fireball said. "Normally I would reject this kind of request. However, I am now under a certain cirmcumstance so I will consider. Return to the guest room for now and wait until I call you again."

"Alright. I will be waiting," the dwarf said, and he left the throne room. The three of us then went downstairs to the hidden room where Henry operated his holographic device. He was still there sitting and looking a bit tired.

"Oh, hello, son," he said. "Did you see everything?"

"Yeah," I said. "I actually wonder now why as the wizard you were kinda... not friendly."

"I don't want to, but I have to," he said. "Otherwise all people will ask for help even for small problems they should be able to overcome themselves."

"I see," Huck said.

"Glinda, you can cast a mind projecting spell, right?" Henry said.

"Yes, but I don't really like doing it," Glinda said. "Why didn't you refuse the request and instead give advice like you usually do?"

"Son, remember when I said about outside help?" Henry asked, looking at me.

"The dwarves, right?" I said.

"Yes. If we successfully help them, maybe they will be willing to help us in our project," Henry said. "So, Glinda, could you please help us in this?"

"Well... Alright," Glinda said.

"Thank you, Glinda!" I said. "That means a lot for us!"

I then went with Glinda to the guest room where the dwarf was once again waiting anxiously. Huck also came with us because he was quite interested on the case and wanted to see how it would progress.

"Has the wizard given his answer?" the dwarf said when he saw us.

"He agreed," Glinda said. "As his representative, I will be the one casting the spell on the machine."

"That will do! Please do it right away!" the dwarf said, taking the machine he had shown before and putting it on a table. Glinda then waved her wand in a certain pattern and began murmuring words I didn't understand. After about half a minute, her wand let out a glow and she pointed it at the machine. The wand then shot a purple ray towards the machine, which absorbed the ray. The core of the machine then began to glow with purple color.

"Does that work?" I asked. Immediately, the machine blew up with black smoke.

"No... No, no! NO!" the dwarf said in frustration, repeatedly stomping the floor hard with his right leg. "The magic was too strong for this machine to contain!"

Both me and Huck then looked at Glinda, who seemed to get the message immediately.

"You two want me to go to his hometown and use the spell directly on the king, right?" Glinda said after sighing. "Alright, I will go."

"Really?" the dwarf asked. "Oh thank you! Our people will appreciate it very much!"

"By the way, let me introduce you all," Glinda said. "These two boys are Blackberry Bun and Huckleberry Pie. They, along with six girls, came from a far place and they are staying in Emerald Castle for a while."

"Nice to meet you two! I'm Boli Gearcraft, but you can call me with just Boli!" the dwarf said.

"You can call me with just Huck!" Huck said. "And for him, just Blackberry will do fine."

"Nice to meet you... B-B-Boli," I said timidly. I had no idea why my old syndrome struck me again.

"Hey, I might have a short fuse like the wizard told me, but I don't bite," the dwarf said, looking slightly upset.

"Please bear with him. He's just shy," Huck said, trying to defend me.

"Alright, that's fine," Boli said. "Let's get going then. You two can come too. Maybe you'll be of some use."

"Are we going with Glinda teleporting us?" I asked.

"Unfortunately, I cannot do that," Glinda said. "Dwarves are partially immune to magic. I better not tell what will happen if I try to teleport a dwarf..."

"Yeah, better not. I already feel sick now..." I said with a better-not-spoken image appearing in my mind.

"How far is your place from here?" Huck asked.

"I've never measured it, but it will take about ten days to walk there," Boli said. "But hey, I've never said that I came here walking."

"Huh? What do you mean?" I asked.

"Come with me and see for yourself," he said. All of us then followed him to Emerald Castle's front gate, and what we found there was a four-wheeled vehicle with a large engine at its back side. The vehicle had seats enough for four people including the driver. There was no roof or such thing to cover the seats. "Behold my land vessel!"

"Uhh... land vessel?" I asked.

"Yeah! A vessel, but on land! I made it myself!" Boli said. "With this, we will arrive in Dwarven Capital within five hours!"

"That's great, but... do you have a better name for it?" I asked. "Land vessel kinda sounds... I dunno."

"What?! Are you telling me the name is not good? Then tell me! What should I name it with!?" he said, sounding really upset. I was quite surprised that what I had thought as a simple question could upset him so much.

"Uhh... How about... car?" I said. "Car, short of 'carriage'. It carries you. How does that sound?"

"Hmph! That's the simplest and laziest suggestion I've ever heard!" he said. "But as simple and lazy as it sounds, it works in my ears! That's it! From now on, this is a car!"

"We better tell the others that we are leaving," Huck said. "Can't have them wondering and worrying about us."

"Worrying about what, huh Blackberry and Huckleberry?" suddenly Ginger asked from behind us. "Are you going somewhere? Where are you going to go?"

"Ginger, you surprised me," I said. I then told her about everything I knew so far, except the reason for helping the dwarf because I didn't want Boli to know about it yet.

"I see. Don't worry, I will let the others know. I sure will, yessire!" she said. "Better go now before you miss the dwarf king's birthday."

"We'll be back as soon as we can," I said.

"I believe you will!" she said.

"Alright, it's ready! Get on!" Boli said loudly from his seat. Huck then sat next to Boli, while I and Glinda sat behind them. The car engine then roared to life and Boli put on his goggles. "You all should wear these too! Don't want dust to hit your eyes!"

Right after saying that, Boli gave each of us another pair of goggles. Glinda refused and put a transparent magical barrier around her eyes.

"Maybe someday you can build a cover for this car so we don't have to wear these," I said, putting on the goggles and wearing my glasses in front of it.

"I did it once, but I like the breeze!" Boli said. "Alright! Here we go! Blast off!"

The car then accelerated fast and left Emerald Castle within seconds. I was very surprised by the sudden acceleration, and later I was a bit scared by the high speed. I wanted to buckle up, but there was no seat belt in the car. Fortunately, a few minutes later the car slowed down to a fair speed.

"Hey, Boli," I said.

"Yes?" Boli said while still driving.

"Can you tell me about the Dwarven Capital?" I asked.

"Not much about the capital since I'm not into history," he said. "All I can tell is that it is much larger than Emerald City, and we are thriving thanks to the king."

"What can you tell me about the king then?" I asked.

"He is the greatest king I've ever known!" he said. "He is not only The King of The Dwarves, he is also the richest dwarf in the whole kingdom. He knows all about how economy runs, and he put his knowledge into good use. Without him, our kingdom would be just a bunch of simple, poor villages. I'm not saying that he's perfect, though. He has his downsides. But all the people love him and that's all that matters. Oh yes, he was an adventurer and treasure hunter in his younger days."

"Nobody's perfect," I said. "So, what are his downsides if you can tell me?"

"Well, he is very strict in enforcing prices. There's no such thing as discount in his dictionary, and anyone who owes him money must settle it within the time agreed upon or he will confiscate things without mercy," Boli said. "On a related note, he is quite greedy. I believe I don't need to explain that."

"I think I'll just wait and see for myself," I said.

"Is this trip really going to take five hours?" Huck asked.

"I can trim it to four, or even three, if I speed up. But it will be too dangerous," Boli said.

"Oh man, this will be a boring trip," Huck said.

"Just sleep through it. I'll be fine," Boli said.

"As if I can sleep right here," Huck said.

"Glinda, do you know tranquilizer spell?" I asked.

"Uhh, yes," Glinda said. "You want me to cast it on you, right?"

"If it doesn't have any bad side effects, yes please," I said.

"Cast it on me too, I guess. Sitting here for five hours straight isn't going to be fun for me," Huck said.

"Alright, here I go. Sleep tight," Glinda said, waving her wand a bit. Some sparkles came out from it and surrounded both my and Huck's head. I then felt really sleepy, and I fell asleep within the next minute.


-End of Chapter 3-

Sometimes when my brother is using my wireless router for browsing or playing online game he just suddenly disconnect and cannot connect to my network anymore with message "Windows is unable to connect to the selected network". Turning off the router and turning it back on will enable him to connect again, but it's annoying whenever that happens. Not to mention that lately it happens twice a day. Anybody has any idea why it happens and what can be done to prevent it?