Witch's Homework: Of Leaves That Spark

Hmm... Dodoco...

Hey there, Klee!

Mr. Honorary Knight! Paimon!

Dodoco needs help! Mom said you were coming, but I didn't know it'd be so soon!

Dodoco... needs help?

Oh, for Pete's sake... Is that the task?

What? No, for Klee's sake! And for Dodoco, too!

No, Paimon knows that. She was asking about the task. You know what that is, right? It's like a...

?

...Thank you, Honorary Knight of Fav-Obvious.

Anyway, um... A task is... Gah, why is it so hard to describe!? It's like... helping Dodoco! Yeah! That's a task!

Oh! Thanks, Paimon. That kinda makes more sense, although not really.

Anyway, let's go help Dodoco now!

Hold on. What kind of help does Dodoco need?

Oh, right. Well, every Dodoco's gotta find a red four-leaf clover to become a super special Dodoco.

Then, Dodoco needs to become friends with lots of people and can make it through the Dodo-King's trial. Once that's done, she can then become a super awesome...

Dodo-Sorcerer!

...That's what Mom said, anyway.

Huh, a Dodo-King being in charge of a Dodo-Sorcerer... Makes sense, actually.

Um, but specifically, what do we need to do?

No idea.

But Mom said that you two would tell me.

R—Right... Well, let's have a look at this book then...

Oh! There's a note inside it!

Huh, let's see what it says...

...At the first stage of the trial, Dodoco arrived in a forest of whispering leaves. There, past layer upon layer of hurdles, a secret lay buried, waiting to be uncovered...

Seems like part of a story about Dodoco...

Oh, I know where that forest is! It's where I go to blast— Ahem, where I go to play a lot!

C'mon, everyone! Follow me!

Alright, let's go!

What's with all the weird stuff around here? And why are there so many Hilichurls?

Huh, maybe the Hilichurls brought it all here?

Ohhhh, I bet this is where we find the turtles!

Close, but the note said "hurdles," not "turtles."

And whatever we're looking for is supposed to be buried past all "the hurdles"... Huh, are there any other clues around?

Is there no Dodo-device that can help us out here?

Uh... nope.

What should we do, then?

Hmm... Mom says the best thing to do when you run into a problem is to try and fix it!

Then let us be rid of these hurdles.

Yeah!

Alright, that's the Hilichurls and barriers all taken care of...

And we didn't set the forest on fire.

I was extra careful with Jumpy Dumpty!

I've been getting sent to confinement less and less these days!

Nice job, Klee!

Maybe sometime soon, you won't have to go at all...

Well, if Master Jean would just let Klee blow the confinement room up...

That's not really what Paimon had in mind... Wait, what about the trial? Did we learn anything new?

Yep! I found this in the hole Jumpy Dumpty created after exploding...

Huh, another note.

Yup, and it's mom's handwriting again...

"Now then, Dodoco may or may not have blasted all the hurdles away — though the most direct approach is sometimes the most elegant one. Either way, thus did Dodoco make it to the second stage of the trial..."

"Which, coincidentally, was also the final stage. Even the most energetic of children need to pace themselves, after all. So..."

"Dodoco proceeded to the banks of a lake of fallen stars, passed the final trial, and obtained her reward. But could things really be that simple...?"

Huh, "a lake of fallen stars"... That must be Starfell Lake!

Let's go see what we can find.

Alright!

Paimon's super curious about what this reward's gonna be. Fingers crossed for some kind of awesome treasure!

Oooh, it's a chest!

The final treasure must be inside this thing...

Klee, would you do honors...

You got it! Me and Dodoco will get it open, no problem!

Whoa, wait a second... Monsters incoming!

Guess it's not going to be that simple, after all...

Hmph, they wanna steal Dodoco's treasure, I just know it!

Let's kick 'em out. Then, we can open the box!

Phew, that's that...

The note implied things wouldn't be that simple. Guess it was because of those monsters.

But that means... We passed the trial!

Hehe, yep! Now then, let's check out what's in this box...

Oh, it's...

A tiny hat?

A hat for Dodoco!

In the Dodo Clan, only the awesomest and bestest Dodocos in the land can earn the acknowledgment of the Dodo-King!

Their job is to help out and protect all the other Dodocos, so the Dodo-King gives them a special hat.

That way, the other Dodocos will recognize them and know who they can go to for help.

Oh! So now your Dodoco is one of these special Dodocos with a hat!

Exactly! The hat makes Dodoco a Dodo-Sorcerer now! She can use special spark magic to help even more people!

Klee—

The Knights have informed me about explosions being heard from the forest outside the city...

Um, Mr. Honorary Knight, Paimon... A little help please...

Ah, that's because we cleared out a Hilichurl camp over there, and a bunch of Slimes too. Plus, we were working on Klee's task.

That's right!

Mm... And as for the fish over here?

I... might have blasted them. But it's because there were monsters in the lake! I didn't do it on purpose! It's not like those other times...

I see. I take it those other times were on purpose, then?

Um, they weren't... not on purpose?

*sigh*... I noticed the destroyed camp on the way here, and I saw the monsters fleeing along the shore of Starfell Lake.

Am I correct in assuming that's all the damage, 旅人?

...Yeah. You know Paimon, clearing out monsters with a single punch! She's just awesome like that.

Klee.

Come with me. Let's head back.

Ohh... Is it confinement for Klee again?

Well, 旅人's vouching for you, so I suppose your punishment will just have to be... a meal at the Good Hunter!

You've been out and about all day. I'm sure you must be hungry.

You're the best, Master Jean!

You two are more than welcome to join as well.

Haha, awesome! Paimon's been craving some Sweet Madame!