The light drizzle that had lasted two days finally stopped.
A new day dawned. Morning light filtered through the woods, and clear birdsong rang out across the mountains.
Pushing open the window, Sylutia gazed at the distant fields and sky, feeling a rare, refreshing clarity.
She felt like going out for a walk today. She didn't want to stay indoors and read, either.
Compared to her, some of the students were even more eager to rush out into the fields, running and breathing in the fresh air.
After breakfast, Scholar Heide finally managed to gather everyone together.
"You probably aren't in the mood for a lesson today, either, so why don't I let you go out and stretch your legs? But you'd better go in groups, in case you run into trouble." He gave them a few more instructions, then waved for them to disperse.
Once they had permission, many students sprang into action. Some of the noble students saddled their horses and rode straight out of the village, presumably to go for a ride.
As for the remaining commoner students, quite a few arranged to walk in the mountains and try their hand at hunting.
"There are plenty of animals in the mountains during Rising Wind Season: common rabbits, deer, forest wolves, birds in the trees, as well as foxes, wild boars, and so on." Solin walked at the front, introducing them to the area.
The commoner students were all following behind him, including Sylutia and her companions.
"The teacher said we can't spread out too far. Let's explore this stretch of mountains up ahead. If anything happens, shout as loudly as you can. We're close enough that everyone should hear."
"Sounds good." Ray agreed in his deep, rumbling voice. He carried a thick wooden club today, its front end even wider than Sylutia's thigh.
Many of the other students had brought weapons, too. Some had iron swords, others longbows, and even the least prepared had simple wooden spears.
After training in swordsmanship and combat techniques for so long, everyone was itching to see how strong they were. They had sparred a few days ago, but a spar was still just a spar: no blood could be drawn, and they couldn't attack vital areas directly, which made them feel constrained.
It was a rare day off, and many wanted to practice on some prey. Better yet, they might come across a Ti Wolf roaming the mountains. That would let them test their strength and earn a nice pelt as a trophy.
Sylutia and her two friends were walking through the mountains after the rain, occasionally steadying themselves on branches as they went up and down slopes, making their way through the still-damp carpet of fallen leaves.
"Comia, do you see those mushrooms over there?" Sylutia raised her hand and pointed to the grass beneath a large tree.
"Over there? Mushrooms?" Comia and Karen turned to look.
Carefully stepping across moss-covered stones, Sylutia made her way to the large tree on the slope. She parted the wet grass, revealing a mushroom with a pale blue gradient.
She kept brushing aside the soft soil with her fingers, then carefully picked the mushroom with the pale blue cap.
[Blue Rain Mushroom] (Quality—Excellent): A rare mushroom found after rain. It is somewhat poisonous. Consuming it directly can alleviate some of the effects caused by the Blazing Sun Aspect Power. It can also be used to refine potions.
She had seen plants like this in books, but she hadn't expected to find one in the forest today. She remembered the book's description: each one seemed to sell for a silver coin.
"Wow, is this poisonous? Its color is so unusual." Comia and Karen came over.
"Yes, it's poisonous, but it's useful, too." Sylutia nodded.
"If you take it to the Alchemist Guild, they'll pay to buy it."
"Does that mean we can make a lot of money?" Comia asked excitedly.
"Mm. I'll look around some more. There might be others nearby." Sylutia thought of how low her savings had gotten. She really did need to find a way to build them back up.
She searched the surrounding area, and although she didn't find a second Blue Rain Mushroom, she did find some other useful herbs.
"This one is Gravel Grass, this one is Chicken Neck Flower, and this one is Sickle-Thorn Vine." These herbs weren't First Order Aspect Power plants, but they were essential supplementary ingredients for many potions.
"I don't know about all that, Tia. Why don't you just tell me how much they're worth?" Comia carefully stored them in the basket she had brought along.
"These three are worth about thirty copper coins." The girl held up three fingers.
"That's more than my dad makes in a day at work." Comia's enthusiasm was fully fired up now.
"Let's search together, then we can split what we find three ways." Sylutia suggested it; she couldn't carry all that much on her own, anyway.
"Sure!" Comia raised her hand.
Karen felt a little awkward, but her family wasn't well-off, either. A look of anticipation rose in her eyes.
After that, the three of them completely forgot about hunting. Instead, they followed Sylutia through the rain-soaked forest, stopping now and then to search for useful herbs and mushrooms.
Under the bushes between the trees, in hidden crevices between rocks, in little hollows in the ground, beneath the cover of branches—this girl could always spot the things tucked away in such places with ease.
Once again, Sylutia crouched among the leaves on a slope and carefully dug up a tiny seedling, cupping it in both hands.
"What's that, Tia?" The two of them examined it curiously.
"It's a Bubble Flower seedling." Sylutia recalled the illustrated guide she had read.
"Bubble Flowers are very fragile, especially when they bloom. But once they blossom, their petals wrap around one another into a ball. When the wind blows, they float lightly into the air, rising very high."
"These plants possess the rare Vaulted Sky Aspect Power. If you grow them successfully, they can yield very valuable ingredients." Holding it in her hands, Sylutia examined the plant carefully.
There weren't any other Bubble Flowers nearby, so the seed had probably drifted down from somewhere in the sky.
It was as if it had suddenly landed in these mountains. She was reminded of the time she had first woken up in the forest.
Sylutia carefully wrapped the seedling in the cotton cloth she had with her and put it away.
Seeing that they had found a rare flower, the two of them were delighted, too.
"Are you planning to take it back and grow it carefully, Sylutia?" Karen asked curiously.
"Mm. But I don't know much about what Bubble Flowers need to grow, so I'll probably have to experiment for a while." Now that she had the Emerald Pupil Potion, though, she could solve a lot of problems.
For the next two days, the three of them spent most of their time roaming the mountains, riverbanks, and valleys, looking for useful herbs and carefully preserving them before bringing them back to the village.
On the third day, Scholar Heide resumed his lessons, bringing their search-and-gathering trip to an end.
"You must have had a good haul hunting these past few days." Scholar Heide heard the students excitedly discussing their catches almost every day.
Compared to ordinary people, these students mostly knew the Breathing Technique. They had far more stamina, endurance, and fighting strength, so they could pursue many animals the villagers couldn't catch up with or wouldn't dare chase.
"Of course. I hunted two Ti Wolves." Baron proudly showed off the orange-yellow wolf pelts in his hands.
"Solin caught two, too," someone murmured.
"I hunted four Ti Wolves, three deer, twelve rabbits, and a Night Falcon." Mick spoke in an unhurried voice, as if it were nothing special.
"Ah, that many? You must have cheated somehow."
"How could anyone cheat at something like this? Did he go buy them?" someone retorted.
Everyone was surprised by Mick's haul. Only now did many of them really notice the triangular-eyed boy. He looked rather fierce, but no one had expected him to be such a skilled hunter.
"Mick, you grew up in the mountains, didn't you?" Scholar Heide asked, stroking his beard.
"Yes." He nodded, his slightly fierce gaze sweeping over those who had questioned him.
"Good. Everyone has their own strengths, so there's no need to compare yourselves over this." Scholar Heide shook his head slightly, then turned his gaze to the black-haired girl with glasses beside him.
"Tia, tell everyone what you've gathered over the past two days."
Should I really say? Sylutia was a little surprised. She had planned to keep living quietly, developing at her own pace, but now that Teacher Heide had asked, she couldn't very well keep it to herself.
"I didn't go hunting. I went gathering herbs and mushrooms with my companions." She gave a brief explanation, then continued with her report.
"I gathered about 321 herbs, including 181 that were fairly rare, 58 rare mushrooms, and 17 vine-like medicinal plants." As she spoke, she took some out of her pocket and laid them in front of her.
"Were there really that many?" Quite a few students were astonished.
Even well-known gatherers from the Alchemist Guild couldn't possibly find so much in two days. Besides, Luan Tree Village wasn't exactly an isolated place rich in medicinal plants. If there were so many valuable herbs here, someone would have gathered them long ago.
Seeing so many students looking doubtful, Scholar Heide clapped his hands to quiet them down.
"I've examined the herbs Tia gathered. The numbers are correct, and some of them are in excellent condition." He nodded approvingly.
"As I said before, everyone has their own strengths. Tia has exceptional talent and ability as a gardener."
"Not everyone needs to follow the same path, and what the majority admires may not be right for you. So I'm very happy to see you find what you truly love and pursue it with conviction."
Being held up as an example by her teacher reminded Sylutia of middle school in her previous life. She shook her head slightly.
She was actually pretty good at swordsmanship and combat, too. She wasn't as one-sided as her teacher made her sound.
Still, if everyone had misunderstood her that way, it seemed like a good outcome. At least it would save her a lot of trouble. Otherwise, she would have to figure out how to explain why she was better than her peers in actual combat despite never having studied under a famous master or practicing swordsmanship every day.
Explaining all that would be such a pain, and she was someone who preferred to avoid trouble.
That day, Teacher Heide continued teaching them about things related to the mountains, such as the habits and activity cycles of various animals, as well as the herbs commonly found there. Due to limited time, however, he only covered the most practical information.
"That's all for today's lesson. You can have another day to yourselves tomorrow. We'll head back the day after."
"Oh!" The students cheered excitedly once more.
Before you continue