The Cornflower Witch

While Sylutia was eating, a dusty figure pushed open the tavern door and walked in. He wore a cloak washed until it had faded, and many bandages were still wrapped around his body, showing he had just returned from an expedition.

“Noah, is that you? Hurt again this time?” Many people in the tavern recognized him and greeted him.

He nodded briefly and walked toward the counter.

“Give me a bottle of Blood Wine, a serving of roast meat, and two loaves of bread.”

“All right, please wait a moment.”

That order was a little unusual. Blood Wine here cost two gold coins per bottle, but the roast meat and breads together were only one to two silver coins, a huge contrast.

Later, from the tavern chatter, Sylutia learned that this Second Tier youth named Noah had been roaming the outskirts of the Gloomy Forest for the past six months. He seemed to have found some tricks to avoid the most dangerous monsters.

With that advantage, he often went into the forest to collect herbs, then returned to turn them in as quests for money.

Soon the Blood Wine and lunch arrived. Noah looked at the bottle, took a deep breath, twisted off the cap, and gulped it down.

The Bloodline Aspect’s power flowed through his body. He concentrated his mind and, following his usual technique, guided it to repair the wounds and speed up healing.

But the process consumed a lot of spirit and attention, because his primary Aspect was Gold Steam. He had to forcibly suppress his own life force’s Aspect to carefully sense and manipulate the Bloodline.

Since Bloodline was not his main Aspect, drawing on it was extremely difficult, and he was interfered with by his own Gold Steam Aspect. It was like trying to move an iron needle near a powerful magnet, taking care not to be drawn in.

After a long while, the power from the Blood Wine was guided to his wounds to enhance the fusion and gradually exhausted. Sweat had formed on his forehead and back.

When it finished, he breathed out and started eating his lunch, calculating the haul from this expedition as he ate.

“Four amaranth leaves, thirty-four coins; two mistwater flowers, twenty-six coins; seven amberbark vines, eleven coins...?”

“All together should be one hundred and four gold coins. Subtracting supplies and medical costs bought before departure, the profit for this trip is about fifty-seven gold coins.” He counted in his head.

Still far off, he sighed.

To advance, he needed to buy the Copper-Gall School’s core secret art, the Hot-Air Smelting Furnace, and its associated texts, which cost around two thousand gold coins — extremely expensive. On top of that he needed advancement-related resources, which Noah estimated at another two thousand plus coins, totaling about four thousand gold coins.

Generally, a Second Tier mage apprentice working in a workshop or for the guild earned about eight to ten gold coins a month. Even saving a hundred gold coins a year would take forty years to reach that sum. Ordinary people simply could not wait that long. So any motivated apprentices sought extra income: improving their skills, taking on dangerous expeditions, and so on.

Now Noah went to the Gloomy Forest monthly to find herbs, earning over a hundred gold coins per month, but the price was frequent injuries and the risk of dying on expeditions. If he could persist, he could accumulate the advancement resources in just over three years.

While eating, his arm wound still ached faintly — a remnant of fighting a Corpse-Eating Rabbit. Its bite strength was not great, but its teeth carried rotting toxins that required a two-gold-coin potion to detoxify, and would hamper the arm’s flexibility for over ten days.

Thinking of that, his mood sank. Time lost to healing meant no income; he could only recover and make tools to replenish supplies, preparing for the next expedition.

At that moment, he finished his bread and, glancing up, inadvertently noticed the girl sitting by the far windowsill. She wore a green-and-white dress and was also dining, her bearing quiet and composed.

She’s beautiful, Noah thought. Judging by her bearing, she probably came from a good family. Even if she had only managed to get into a lower academy, she would have access to family resources. At her age, she might already be Seventh Tier like himself.

Why was he so certain? Because he knew the Mage Alliance’s rules for lower academies. Those prestigious schools rarely let students enter the Shadow World for real expeditions early on; they trained them up to Eighth Tier first, and only allowed external trials after sufficient preparation. So most Seventh Tier transcendents seen outside were those who had passed the lower academies.

Wild mages who hadn’t entered lower academies often only ventured into the Shadow World during their Seventh Tier stage to gain small rewards and harvests to accumulate resources for advancement.

On the surface, within the Mage Alliance’s territorial influence, many resources were occupied by organizations affiliated with major schools. Those from humble backgrounds could rarely access them. Low-paying positions and allowances were filled by academy-trained elites; ordinary wild mages couldn’t compete and had limited talent opportunities.

After all, if someone had outstanding talent, they would have passed the lower academy exams early and become one of those elites. The Mage Alliance valued and favored true geniuses.

Although the Mage Alliance tried to be relatively fair, there were still few channels for apprentices craving advancement. They had to go into the Shadow World as expendable labor to take tasks and collect resources in safer secret realms to meet their needs.

Recalling his years of study and expeditions, Noah felt the hardship of it all and didn’t know when he would realize his childhood wish of becoming an official Third Tier mage. Then he wouldn’t have to take such risks in the Shadow World; he could find a position at a guild or a small nation on the surface continent, bring his family together, and live a stable, prosperous life.

Especially his sister — she had just passed her exams this year and gone to Ximilye District to study. It was said to be the best of the three academic regions. If she later got into the advanced academy, her future would be far more brilliant than his.

At that thought, hope and expectation rose in Noah’s chest again.

He had to work harder. Maybe his sister lacked money for experimental materials while studying; he had suffered from that himself in the past, often borrowing money and making things awkward with classmates.

As various thoughts crossed his mind, he finished his lunch and was about to get up to leave when something occurred to him. He looked again at the girl by the window. She was nearly done too.

After thinking briefly, he walked straight over.

Sylutia sipped her soup with a spoon in small mouthfuls. Her staple food was already finished, and she was almost done.

“Hello.” A youth who looked around twenty-eight approached.

Sylutia nodded slightly, curious about why he had come over. There shouldn’t be anyone here who knew her; the classmates who had adventured with her had returned to the academy.

“My name is Noah.” After he said this, his expression froze for a moment, as if stunned by her beautiful eyes, slightly dazed.

After a momentary pause, Noah snapped back, glanced away, shook his head to clear it, and tried to steady himself.

“Sorry.” He apologized, then continued.

“I want to find someone to team up with to gather herbs. I wonder if you’re free to come along.”

“I usually go alone, but this time I’m injured, and I don’t have enough strength to go by myself.”

“Don’t worry about safety. I have practiced experience to avoid Third Tier and above monsters. We’ll only face some First and Second Tier monsters. If we can collect the herbs, this expedition should yield at least fifty gold coins.” He explained rapidly.

So it was an invitation to team up. Sylutia roughly understood his intention. She glanced around the tavern — there were actually several Second Tier transcendent people here — and wondered why he had chosen her.

When she asked, Noah answered, “I guess you seem easy to get along with.”

That reason was convincing enough. The girl before him clearly looked well-bred and gentle.

“Uh...” Sylutia was momentarily stuck by that answer. She tapped her brow with a finger, unsure what to say.

Her temper wasn’t sharp; she couldn’t say something cruel to push someone away. But she worried that accepting so easily might make her seem too gullible and an easy target.

Although going to observe how this youth gathered herbs could be interesting, she shouldn’t agree so casually.

“Can you tell me how you avoid those dangerous monsters?” Sylutia asked curiously.

“It... requires some techniques. I can teach you along the way.” Noah thought for a moment. Even if he taught her, she might not learn quickly — he had spent considerable time mastering them.

“All right then, I’ll accompany you.” After all, it had been a long time since she had gone out. Sylutia nodded and agreed.