If the third time is the charm, then the third time doing something that one has already succeeded at should produce amazing results, right? That was the philosophy that Kazumi was following when she entered the guild hall on this day. Her third mission since joining the guild would be started today if she had anything to say about it, and as far as the young mage was aware, she did in fact have quite a large say in the matter. So here he was, once again looking through the multitude of flyers that were pinned up on the bulletin board, scanning through them in hopes that one would catch her attention.

She almost missed it, but the one that caught her eye was a request from one "Khalash Saton", which was a name that Kazumi very quickly recognized. Incidentally, it was the name of the man who had been Kazu's very first client upon joining the guild of Fairy Tail, and he seemed to be back with another herb gathering task at hand. It did not take very long For Kazumi to decide she wanted to help this man again. After all, she was paid pretty decently last time, and her Magic has never felt stronger since the last time she had encountered a quest from the potion salesman. It was decided. So of she went to the east forest in search of some plants.

The journey to the forest took even less time than it had before, now that Kazumi was starting to get used to the layout of Magnolia city. She still needed a map, sure, but that was only because Magnolia was a pretty large place. Lately, the Crystal user had found herself checking the map for directions less and less, beginning to learn how to get to where she needed to go on her own, though it would still take some time. In any case, she did eventually reach the East forest and began looking for the herbs mentioned on the request flyer. Luckily, Khalash had included detailed hints on where to find some of these ingredients, which was extremely helpful.

So what was up first? Well according to the paper, the first herb that Kazumi needed to find was one called a "curly fern". They were apparently fairly common in the East forest, so Khalash said that it should not be too incredibly difficult to find some out in the Magnolian Wilds. Kazu began her search with this in mind, doing her best to find some of the herbs that fit the description outlined for her. And you know what? It was true. They WERE easy to find. shortly after she started to look, she spotted a whole patch of curly looking ferns just waiting for her to pick. She crouched down next to it, looking for only the freshest and greenest specimens to pick up and put in her bag. She then got up, clapping her hands together to get rid of excess Dirt.

Next up was something called a "Blue Lichen". Kazumi had never heard of those before, but she would have to try to find one anyway. In his request flyer, Khalash explained that this particular ingredient, while not as common as the ferns, could easily be found on top of logs that are old and rotted away. So the challenge here would be finding the old logs, rather than the plant itself. Of course, in a forest, it should not be too difficult to find a rotting log. In fact, while it did take a bit of looking around, It wasn't exactly hard to find one. Two, for that matter, somewhat near each other. The first log had no sign of the blue herb, but the second one seemed older. Therefore, this plant had more time to grow atop it, ripe for the picking. Just like before, Kazumi picked a few stems and dropped them into her bag.

Last but not least by any means, Kazumi just had a "red leaved vine" left to find. However, this was apparently the most difficult of the three ingredients to find. Great. Well, Kazu had been doing pretty well so far, so how hard could it possibly be to find this? According to Khalash, It was found in the deepest part of the forest on the biggest trees, sometimes. It wasn't like every big tree is going to have it. If that were the case, it was very doubtful that the potion maker would warn anyone about the red vine's rarity.

So where could this be found? Kazumi thought on it for a moment before suddenly having an idea. "Wait a minute... Didn't that old Hermit live in a big tree?" Once upon about a week ago, Kazumi had done a request for Khalash that involved getting some ingredients from an old hermit in the woods. This hermit lived in a giant tree deep within the East forest, and Kazu had yet to see a tree that was larger in size. If the vines were gonna be anywhere, they would be there. The young wizard set out from where she stood, looking for the old hermit once more.

Finding the house took some time, since this time Kazumi had no map to guide her, but once she got close enough to it, it was easy to spot. It WAS the biggest tree that she had ever seen, after all. Inspecting the house a bit, Kazu did in fact notice some red vines hanging from a few of the house's branches. Of course, a moment's hesitation made the girl realize that she should probably not climb up someone else's house just for some vines, so she opted instead to knock on the door. Slowly, the entryway opened to reveal a little old man. "Oh! I remember you. Does Khalash need more herbs already?"
"Well, ye and no," Kazumi replied, "I'm getting them myself this time. I was just wondering if I could grab the red leaved vines from off your house." She pointed up to the vines, which served as a guide for the old hermit's gaze. "Oh, is that all you need? Sure go ahead."
"Thank you!" And wth that, Kazumi began her climb to the massive tree, stopping to grab a vine or two and drop carefully back down.

Luckily, the crystal mage had been to this place before, and not only that, she had taken the route from the Hermit's house to Khalash's shop before. So while she did not remember said route completely, she remembered it enough to make it back to the city proper so that her map had meaning again.

The little bell chimed as Kazumi walked into the potions shop. "Hey, I'm back! Took me almost all day but I found what you needed!" Khalash's head poked out from the back room. "Excellent! Honestly, even all day is pretty quick. Lemme see what you've got." Kazu handed the herbs to him and he inspected the plants carefully. "uh huh.... yup.... perfect, this is just what I needed. Thanks! Just a second." He walked over to the cauldron on the far side of the room and began using the herbs to prepare... something. When it seemed to be done, he poured a little bit of it into a vial and handed it to Kazumi herself. "Here, try some of this." The Fairy Tail wizard took the Vial, but hesitated. "Oh come on now. It might not work as intended, but it won't kill ya."
"If you're sure...." Kazu chose to trust the guy who made a living out of this kind of thing and downed the entire vial like a shot of medicine. It took a second, but suddenly she felt magical energy move through her, similar to the root that the old hermit had given her last time. "Oh hey, that felt pretty good, thanks!"
"Oh, so it worked then? Good, good. Here you go." Khalash took jewels out of his register to give to Kazumi. "I hope you'll help me out again some day."
"Sure thing!" She left the shop with a smile on her face and renewed energy.