Who Says I'm Not a Proper Adventurer?

For some reason, ever since leaving Violet Academy and setting foot on this land, she seemed to have awakened a strange ability.

It was as if she could perceive the fluctuations of other individuals’ souls through some peculiar method.

When they first met, she could clearly sense the critical disdain emanating from her senior’s soul, as if his entire being was written with the two words, "so troublesome."

It had made her feel reserved and anxious the entire way, to the point where she almost wanted to cry.

But in that one instant just now...

Her senior’s soul had changed.

The feeling... was a bit like the warm sun on a winter afternoon.

Gentle and rich, it gave one an inexplicable sense of comfort and security.

It was a feeling as if he was already prepared, that no matter if you fell or faltered, he would be there to steady you and help you move forward.

This warmth, originating from the soul itself, dispelled the Fear in Cecilia’s heart, swept away her recent worries, and gave rise to a surge of courage.

’I have to get an excellent rating.’

Cecilia took a deep breath and slowly extended the hand that had been clutching her bag’s strap.

Though the hand was still trembling slightly, it firmly grasped Lance’s large, roughly gloved hand.

Lance tightened his grip and gave a gentle tug.

The young woman closed her eyes, as if marching onto a battlefield, and stepped into the mud pit.

"SPLAT."

There was none of the sinking feeling she had imagined. The ground beneath her was solid earth; aside from being a little sticky, it wasn’t unbearably uncomfortable.

"See? Simple, right?"

Lance’s voice sounded by her ear.

Cecilia opened her eyes. She looked down at her leather boots, now covered in black mud, then up at the smiling Lance before her.

She squeezed Lance’s hand and nodded emphatically.

"Mhm!"

She nodded again, forcefully, and looked up at Lance with a brilliant smile of her own.

Her ruby-like eyes seemed to say:

’Senior, I did it.’

The Blue text on his retina flickered.

[Through touch, you have fully experienced the physical characteristics of a Sub-human Species·Half-Elf. Half-Elf Research Progress +2]

Lance glanced at the prompt with a deadpan expression, completely ignoring the pervy system panel.

"You did very well."

Lance didn’t immediately pull his hand back after they crossed the bog. Instead, he led her quickly to the base of several massive, ancient trees.

Only after confirming the ground beneath their feet was solid enough did he let go of her hand and crouch down.

"Open your collection pouch and take out the small wooden spade inside."

Lance said in a steady tone, pulling tools from his own waist pouch.

"I’ll demonstrate a few times, until you understand."

Cecilia quickly did as he said, squatting next to Lance like an obedient student, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on his movements.

"The mycelium of Moonlight Moss is extremely fragile, and it clings to the humus to absorb nutrients."

The wooden spade in Lance’s hand cut precisely into the soil. He maneuvered it slowly, then lifted the glowing moss out whole, along with a layer of the dark earth beneath it.

"When you gather it, you have to do it just like this, using the spade to scoop up the humus underneath. Otherwise, the moment it leaves the soil, it will rapidly die."

Lance explained as he worked, casually using his spade to push aside a very similar-looking plant nearby.

"Also, look here. This one next to it, with dark green spots on its roots, is Acidic White Mold. Although it looks a lot like Moonlight Moss, this stuff is mildly toxic and will make your skin red and itchy."

"This is not Moonlight Moss. You need to distinguish them carefully."

"Mhm!"

Cecilia nodded earnestly, committing this Knowledge firmly to memory.

As Lance placed the piece of Moonlight Moss into his collection pouch, the numbers on the system panel flickered.

"Moonlight Moss (1/20)"

Lance glanced at his progress, then stood up and stepped aside to let Cecilia try.

"You try."

This wasn’t just teaching; it was also an important test for him.

He needed to confirm whether, in this special party mode, a team member’s gathering actions would also count toward his quest progress.

If so, he could offload tedious gathering quests like this to teammates in the future, and his farming efficiency would become astonishingly high.

Cecilia took a deep breath and tightened her grip on the small wooden spade.

She tried her best to recall the steps Lance had just taught her and carefully inserted the spade into the soil.

But her Agility Attribute was clearly weaker than Lance’s, and her control over her Power was nowhere near as refined.

"SNAP."

A faint, crisp sound.

Because the angle of her spade was off by just a little, a large patch of the mycelium was severed. The clump of moss, which had been faintly glowing, instantly went dark.

A failure.

Cecilia was so nervous she started to stammer an apology. "I-I’m sorry! It was my fault. Please give me another chance!"

She only dared to sneak a tiny glance at her senior, terrified of seeing a disappointed expression on his face.

But Lance just watched quietly. Seeing the girl so scared, he wondered just how much of a mental scar he had inflicted on this child earlier.

He suddenly felt a little guilty.

He consoled her, "Failing is normal. The first time I did this, my hand wasn’t as steady as yours."

Through her Soul Perception, she still felt that same gentle warmth, which put Cecilia at ease.

She always blamed herself whenever she failed.

In the Rosenthal family’s upbringing...

Success was good, and failure was a disgrace.

In this world, many things were already clearly defined as good or bad, right or wrong.

The boundaries were distinct, and blurring them was a mistake that would lead to bad outcomes—just like her own bloodline, which had caused trouble for so many people.

She had brought trouble to her father and her family. Even this internship was trouble for her professor and her aunt because of her bloodline.

Because of this, as she got older, she grew more and more afraid of making mistakes, and lived more and more for the expectations of others...

"Senior, I’ll definitely try harder this time."

She bit her lip, chose a different target, and tried again.

This time, her movements were much slower; she practically scraped the soil away bit by bit.

With her extremely cautious maneuvering, she finally managed to successfully excavate a complete piece of Moonlight Moss.

Lance immediately looked at the system panel.

"Moonlight Moss (2/20)."

Seeing the number tick up, a satisfied smile finally appeared on Lance’s lips.

’So it does work!’

’But what exactly are the system’s criteria for a teammate? I’ll have to find a chance to test that later.’

Given how this pervy system had treated the Sub-human Species differently before, he had a feeling the teammate criteria wouldn’t be so simple.

But in Cecilia’s eyes, that smile became the greatest affirmation of her efforts.

The young woman’s tense little face instantly relaxed, her heart filled with the joy of being encouraged.

’Since the theory’s been proven, there’s no need to waste any more time.’

"Not bad. Keep up this pace."

Lance said as he also crouched down and joined in the gathering.

Otherwise, at her pace, which was slower than embroidery, it would probably be dark by the time they gathered all twenty specimens.

Lance went at full speed, several times faster than Cecilia.

Often, while Cecilia was still wrestling with a single clump of earth, Lance would have already fluidly finished three or four.

By the time Cecilia had painstakingly gathered her fifth one, Lance had already collected all the rest.

"Open your pouch."

Lance gestured to Cecilia, holding a large pile of Moonlight Moss still attached to its humus.

The moss, stacked together with its damp soil, was surprisingly heavy.

When Lance stuffed all of it into the collection pouch on Cecilia’s back, the sudden weight made the young woman’s body lurch downward.

"Ah!"

Cecilia cried out, stumbling two steps and nearly falling into the mud.

She had just managed to regain her balance when she suddenly felt a cold, sticky sensation on her wrist.

A few drops of black sludge had slid down the wooden spade in her own hand, landing right on the sliver of exposed skin between her glove and her sleeve.

The slimy, disgusting feeling instantly gave her goosebumps, and she froze completely.

Before she could even react and reach for a handkerchief...

A large hand suddenly reached out.

Lance, having removed one of his gloves at some point, was holding a piece of coarse paper soaked with drinking water.

Without the slightest hesitation, he took hold of Cecilia’s arm and wiped the sludge clean.

His movements were fluid, so fast that the girl didn’t even have time to react.

He knew that desensitization and adapting to the environment was a slow process. It was better to help her deal with sudden situations like this.

However, just then, the familiar prompt popped up again.

[Through touch, you have caused a change in the body of a Sub-human Species·Half-Elf. Half-Elf Research Progress +2]