Magical Beast Invasion

In the Fruit Grove of the farm.

Darby stared at the Orange Fruit trees in front of him, which were growing better and better, with an incredulous expression.

"Aiven, how did you do it?" he asked, his face full of surprise.

Having been a fruit farmer for half his life, this was the first time he had learned that potions could be used on fruit trees, and with such astonishing results.

Strictly speaking, this wasn't a potion, but fertilizer... Aiven thought to himself, his expression unchanged, and nodded with a smile.

During this time, to speed up the growth of the Orange Fruit trees, he had mixed the composted Growth Fertilizer with water and irrigated the entire Fruit Grove. The effect was immediate.

"That's great! With the way the Orange Fruit is growing, we might be able to harvest them before the beast tide arrives," Uncle Darby said joyfully.

Beast tide? Aiven's mind raced as he recalled this major event for the Fruit Grove Village.

Every year, as winter approached, Magical Beasts would migrate from the mountains to the foothills. Some Magical Beasts would even cross the Crown Tundra mountain range and enter the Black Forest.

These Magical Beasts that entered the Black Forest would invade human territories due to food shortages, and the Fruit Grove Village, located on the edge of the Black Forest, became the primary target.

At such times, the villagers of Fruit Grove Village would harvest as many fruits as possible from the Fruit Grove, otherwise, these fruits would become food for the Magical Beasts.

It was only autumn now, so in three months, wild Spirits would invade here?

Aiven's expression turned grim when he realized this. He had planned to use these fruits to concoct potions, so how could they be wasted by wild Spirits like this?

"Won't the City of Ambition help?" Aiven continued to ask, as he had a good impression of the white-haired female Lord of the City of Ambition.

Uncle Darby nodded and said:

"Every year, as winter approaches, the City of Ambition sends envoys to the orchards around the Black Forest to purchase mature fruits."

"As for the wild Magical Beasts that break in, their numbers are too great, and even if the Lord wanted to stop them, there wouldn't be enough manpower."

The wild Spirits that broke into human territories were mainly comprised of Rattata and Mukkuru, and their numbers were indeed enormous.

Of course, if the City of Ambition wanted to protect a few specific farms, they could do it, but the problem was that there were many small villages near the Black Forest, and they couldn't possibly take care of them all.

It seemed they would have to find a way themselves. Aiven pondered, stroking his chin. If Orange Fruit Village could have its own militia, it might be possible to defend the fruit groves.

Of course, an ordinary militia wouldn't suffice; these militiamen would also need to have their own Spirits.

"If truly powerful Magical Beasts invade, the Lord will transfer all of us to the city. I remember there was a great beast tide five years ago," Uncle Darby continued.

Hearing Uncle Darby's explanation, Aiven nodded slightly. He also remembered the transfer five years ago, but Uncle Darby hadn't told him the reason for the transfer then.

"Alright, don't think too much about it. I've only encountered one great beast tide in all my years living in the City of Ambition," Darby patted the worried Aiven on the shoulder and continued, "Aiven, your potions are too effective. I hope you can concoct some for the villagers as well."

In his mind, there was no plan to form a militia for the small village. The greatest victory would be to harvest as many fruits as possible before winter arrived.

Aiven nodded and agreed to Uncle Darby's request first.

The excited village chief of Orange Fruit Village didn't delay any further and pulled Aiven along, intending to concoct more of this special potion to irrigate the fruit groves so that the villagers could prepare for winter as early as possible.

"Oh, this darned Walking Grass is absorbing nutrients from my fruit grove again."

As they arrived at a villager's fruit grove, Aiven suddenly heard the owner cursing.

Farmers were straightforward; they cursed what they hated, and their voices could be heard from a mile away.

Walking Grass. Aiven's heart stirred, and he recalled the information about this Spirit in his mind.

It was a Spirit that looked like a small grass, with a deep blue, bulbous plant-like body, two legs underneath, and five green leaves on its head.

Walking Grass was the most common Spirit in the Black Forest. They would seek fertile and nutritious soil and plant themselves in it, thus often breaking into villagers' fruit groves.

Compared to Spirits like Petilil and Cherubi, Walking Grass had no economic value. On the contrary, they absorbed nutrients from the soil, making them as disliked as weeds by the villagers.

After recalling everything, his eyes suddenly lit up.

Sufficient numbers, easy to raise Grass-type, gentle and easy to get along with – wasn't this the ideal choice of Spirit for a militia?

If these Walking Grass could learn the Powder Snow technique and use it together, the power would definitely be astonishing.

Thinking this, Aiven followed Uncle Darby into the villager's house and saw the owner holding a wooden stick, chasing a blue figure in front of him.

At this moment, the Walking Grass was running towards Aiven. He caught it in his hand, causing the little fellow to frantically kick its legs in mid-air.

"Uncle Tessi, leave this Walking Grass to me."

Upon hearing Aiven's words, Tessi waved his hand casually, having no affection for Walking Grass at all.

"Be good, little guy. I'll let you go in a moment," Aiven said with a smile to the Walking Grass, then placed the little fellow on the ground.

The Petilil stared at the Walking Grass with its big, round eyes.

Just as the Walking Grass was about to escape, it saw a green light suddenly appear on the Petilil, which used the Absorb Technique.

The Walking Grass stiffened, its stamina rapidly draining, and it was grabbed by the Petilil's hand.

Aiven smiled and said nothing as he watched the Petilil's small actions, while the two middle-aged men, Darby and Tessi, cast surprised glances.

If they weren't mistaken, the Petilil was using the power of a Magical Beast. When did Petilils learn such power?

"Tessi, I came to see you about something," Darby reacted first. He took out a bottle of Healing Potion concocted by Aiven from his pocket.

"This is... a potion?" Tessi took the potion with a look of confusion. He opened it, sniffed it, and suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Orange Fruit?"

Seeing this, Darby nodded proudly and then pointed at Aiven with great pride, "My nephew, Aiven, concocted this. He's an Apothecary now!"

"Apothecary? Aiven?"

Tessi's eyes widened. As a fruit farmer who dealt with fruits, he naturally knew what the identity of an Apothecary represented!