Seed

Now that there was a task.

Finn naturally would not stay home tinkering with plants.

He changed into a clean set of clothes, took a shoulder bag from a cabinet in the greenhouse, and headed toward the Lord's Manor with Linsey.

On the way, considering the lessons to come, he did not forget to ask about Linsey's background so he could prepare the material accordingly. "Child, can you read?"

Linsey answered honestly, "I know Common Language. Listening, speaking, reading, and writing are no problem, but I'm not very good with more obscure grammar and scripts."

Finn nodded in satisfaction and asked another question. "What about Dead Language?"

Linsey looked utterly baffled. "Dead Language? What is that? I don't know."

Finn did not answer directly. Instead, he guided him with a clever question.

"There are countless animals and plants in the universe. Every world may discover new species at any time. What do you think would happen if the people who found them just named them however they pleased?"

Linsey immediately understood. "Then duplicate names would become extremely common. If that accumulated over time, it would seriously disrupt related research!"

"Exactly." Only then did Finn continue his explanation with satisfaction. "To deal with this, the Life Scholars of Volcano City specifically created a script for naming things, clearly designating every type of plant and animal."

Linsey naturally understood.

After all, plants on Earth were named in Latin for much the same reason.

But he was also curious. This world had no internet, so how did Life Scholars communicate with one another and establish unified species names? That was an enormous divide spanning world after world!

"Teacher Finn, what if two people discover a species at the same time but give it completely different names? How is something like that handled?"

"What a clever child." Finn clearly liked Linsey's quick wit. After praising him, he continued, "A name does not take effect immediately. The standard comes from the Volcano Codex, which is updated every ten years."

"If someone discovers a new species, after naming it, they must add a provisional marker afterward. Only after sending both a sample of the species and its name to Volcano City for confirmation in the Volcano Codex will the suffix be removed."

As the two exchanged questions and answers, time passed quickly.

Before the sun had shortened their shadows on the ground, they had already arrived at Anrui's manor.

The people at the manor knew both the old man and the young man.

They also knew that Miss Anna had made a huge fuss yesterday.

As the gatekeeper led Linsey and Finn toward the back of the manor, someone immediately went to notify the Lord and his daughter.

Soon, Linsey and Finn arrived at the clearing by the woods from yesterday.

The elderly botanist saw the Beech Tree lying on the ground.

He frowned at first glance. After squatting down to inspect the cut in the stump, his expression grew increasingly grim.

"Essence?"

"Anrui actually used his own skill just to cut down a tree? Is this a child showing off his abilities?"

"..."

Linsey stood behind him without saying a word, smiling awkwardly.

A few minutes later.

Anrui and Anna appeared together at the manor's back entrance.

The Lord of the Hidden Borderlands immediately began taking credit before his daughter the moment he saw the botanist. "Anna, look! I even invited your Grandpa Finn!"

"I'm not talking to you!"

The Girl tossed her head and ignored her father completely.

She shook off Anrui, whose smile had frozen in place, and ran straight to Finn's side, her eyes full of anticipation.

"Grandpa Finn, can this tree still be saved?"

Seeing this scene.

Linsey had thought he would witness another awakened skill, perhaps something that would revive the Beech Tree.

But what happened next exceeded his expectations.

Finn, who was crouching beside the Beech Tree, stroked the Girl's head and said gently, "Child, the wounds of life can be healed, but death is difficult to overcome."

Anna understood, and immediately choked up.

"But, but I..."

At that moment, the elderly botanist placed a hand on the surface of the Beech Tree.

The stump, which had long since lost all vitality, began to change as a current of life flowed into it. The once-living trunk rapidly withered, but a tender sprout suddenly emerged from a crack in the split stump.

The sapling was tiny. It grew rapidly in miniature form, eventually flowering and bearing fruit.

A few minutes later, the sapling withered and died.

Three small brown seeds, shaped like tiny triangles, fell into Finn's hand. He placed them before Anna.

"Child, these are the seeds of this Beech Tree."

"His life has reached its end, but you can personally nurture his second life. That is also a precious experience."

Anna stared blankly at the seeds in her palm.

She looked at the Beech Tree lying on the ground, then at the seeds in her hand.

In the end, the Girl nodded deeply to Finn. Her voice was young, but it carried a solemn promise.

"I'll definitely work hard!"

The matter was resolved.

The crisis between Anna and her father had finally been defused.

After soothing the child for a while, Anrui gratefully saw Finn to the gate.

"Finn, I really owe you today! Otherwise, I truly wouldn't have known how to deal with that little girl of mine!"

But the botanist looked at Anrui and shook his head. "Don't think this was simple."

"Anrui, how long do you think a Beech Tree takes to grow from a sprout into a mature tree?"

Anrui ventured, "Three... five, maybe seven years?"

"At least fifty years!"

Finn said irritably.

"If you want to raise this thing properly, you'll have to find some things in the woods and make them into special fertilizer for me!"

After telling Anrui what materials were needed, Finn took Linsey home.

On the way, Linsey had another question.

But Finn looked somewhat tired, so Linsey waited until they got home and changed clothes before leaning over to ask, "Teacher Finn, I heard you say earlier that Uncle Anrui seemed to be rather old already?"

Finn smiled and asked in return, "Who do you think looks older, him or me?"

Linsey cautiously replied.

"Could it be Uncle Anrui...?"

"That's right." Finn confirmed it directly. "Don't be fooled by his uncle-like appearance. That body of his is the result of Life Source Material and his skill working together. That fellow is actually nearly one hundred and fifty years old!"

Linsey immediately thought of Anrui's daughter, Anna, who was only a little over ten this year.

"But, but his daughter!"

Finn continued earnestly.

"That was because he got lucky."

"Linsey, an awakened person's body is affected by the Essence within it, so under normal circumstances, it is difficult for them to have children. And the more times your skill is elevated, the harder it becomes."

"If you want a child, my advice is to take care of it before you turn twenty-five. By then, your Essence should not yet have undergone three elevations, making it the best time."

Linsey felt a little embarrassed about the subject.

But Finn did not avoid it at all, seriously and carefully explaining the many issues awakened people faced when reproducing.

The rule could be summed up simply—the stronger you were, the harder it was to have children.

"Linsey, people and plants are both forms of life."

"Take those Beech Tree seeds from earlier. They gathered the life of the original Beech Tree. They are like tiny babies..."

Following that topic, Finn began steering the conversation into the real lesson.

He taught Linsey botanical knowledge while also teaching him how to read and write Dead Language.

As they studied, the afternoon arrived quickly.

Just as Linsey felt that today's lessons were about to end and was preparing to head home and rest.

Bang! Finn's door was flung open.

A woman wearing a leather jacket and carrying a bow on her back suddenly burst in, crossing the room in several long strides to reach the study.

She stood before Linsey, her eyes shining.

"Kid, I can't wait any longer!"

"No need to wait until tomorrow. Come with me right now!"