The next day, the two of them walked in the forest.
Noah was carrying a bamboo basket on his back, with a small hoe and other props hanging on his waist, while Sylutia was just carrying a basket and walking behind the opponent.
The sturdy sarong brushes over the dewy grass tips, bringing a little moisture. The forest is filled with the fragrance of grass and trees. The morning breeze and sunshine pass through, giving people a good feeling.
This is the periphery of Gloomy Forest, and the degree of erosion is very shallow. Logically speaking, even if there are medicinal herbs produced in such a place, they have been collected. I don't know how the young man in front of me can find enough medicinal herbs.
Regarding this expedition, Sylutia treated it like an outing and didn't take it too seriously. Even if he didn't collect enough herbs, he wouldn't feel bad.
On the way forward, perhaps to kill boredom, or perhaps to explain something in advance so as to avoid being in a hurry when teammates encounter danger later, Noah introduced it to Sylutia as he walked.
"Magic Creature, like wild beasts, has its own habits. If you know the local Magic Creature well enough, you can easily avoid them. For example, Silent Bat will only appear in the evening and late at night. They are rarely seen during the day. Carrion Rabbit will gather in places with corpses, and corpses are mostly produced by hunting."
"Although the road we took has many vegetation, there is no water source. If we go to drink water, other animals will not take this road, so there will be much fewer predators on the road."
"Of course, these are simple techniques. After all, Magic Creature are different beasts. Their powerful mobility often brings some accidents. At this time, some additional means are needed." After saying that, he took out a glass ball in his pocket, which contained a few very small bugs.
[Firefly-Dot Bee](Insect Moth); The special bees that have not yet condensed Aspect Power will run away at the slightest disturbance.
"This kind of bee is very sensitive to the smell left in the air. If there is a dangerous Magic Creature in a place, they will be very restless and hit the glass ball wall."
Sylutia looked at the bee in the glass ball and nodded slightly, but felt that the other party's methods should be more than that.
The two continued to move forward, and now Noah climbed up a steep rock, ready to turn around and pull the girl down, but saw the other girl jump lightly from the other side a few times, and then stood at the same height.
"Your movements are very sensitive. Have you exercised before?" Noah was also a little curious at this time.
"Yes, I used to collect herbs in the mountains with my teacher." Sylutia recalled the time he spent studying at Scholar Heide.
"Then I'll be relieved." Noah nodded and moved on.
Although the girl was beautiful, youthful and lovely, he had no extra thoughts. He just concentrated his mind and focused on this adventure.
Although he had not encountered any accidents before, this kind of life-threatening matter cannot be taken carelessly at all. He has seen many seniors with more experience than him die in the Secret Realm without any explanation and never come out again.
As they went deeper into the forest, the speed of the two gradually slowed down. Noah began to stop from time to time, looking at the map drawn in his hand, and then sketching and thinking.
Xilu Tia saw that the opponent's map was full of various markings, and couldn't help but curiously asked.
"Are these places you've been to?"
"I have been to most of them. I have stayed in this stronghold for almost a year. In the past six months, I have basically been familiar with the environment and figured out the habits and methods of local Magic Creature activities." He sighed. The process was not so easy. At the beginning, when he was not familiar with the environment, he was almost killed by a third-level Magic Creature. Fortunately, the opponent was not very fast. He used the props he carried to delay time and finally escaped.
"No wonder you said you have rich experience." Sylutia nodded. It seems that the other person is a very perseverant person.
After resting for a few minutes, Noah finished thinking, marked a point on the map, and then took Sylutia there.
"The path I chose tried to avoid the activities of Magic Creature on the outskirts of the forest. If we are lucky, we will only encounter 1-2 low-level monsters. After collecting the herbs there, try to leave before 2 o'clock in the afternoon, so that we can return to the stronghold before evening."
After saying that, he also planted special mines at key crossings on the road. These mines were about the size of fists and were filled with Burning Silver Powder" and detonating devices. Noah acted as Gold Steam" Aspect Power's Transcendent, which could be easily controlled.
"If we encounter dangerous Magic Creatures on the way, we can escape along the way we came, and these mines on the road can well cover and repel those Magic Creatures, making them wary and afraid to pursue them with all their strength." Noah added.
"I see." It seems that a lot of means have been prepared.
In this way, the two of them walked and stopped all the way, and finally arrived safely at their destination. There was a mountain col here, surrounded by towering hills, and the vegetation at the bottom was dense, making it difficult for rabbits, let alone humans, to get in.
"I'll do it." Noah pulled out the short knife from his waist. With the infusion of "Gold Steam" power, the blade glowed with a reddish luster and became Sharpness. After that, he kept chopping, clearing the thick grass along the way and opening up a path.
The two of them were walking around, and their bodies were stained with a lot of dew. Fortunately, the sarong worn by Sylutia was worn for outdoor trips. It had several layers, so even if it got wet outside, the inside would not be affected.
After entering the col, I saw that Noah was still chopping grass and trees. Sylutia had already discovered a Emerald Forest Boa hiding in the grass. It was a "First Order·Emerald Nectar" long snake. It was slowly spitting out messages, but because the scales were consistent with the surrounding vegetation, it was difficult to distinguish.
"Wait a minute." Sylutia said, calling to the young man in front of him to stop.
"What's the matter?" The other party stopped.
"Did you see that snake?" Sylutia pointed at Lin An.
Noah concentrated his attention, rubbed his eyes again, and then noticed the hidden aura of Lin An.
"Huh, your eyesight is really good." He sighed with emotion. If the girl hadn't reminded him, he might have been bitten by this snake today. Although he carried a bottle of antidote with him, who knows if he would encounter other poisons in the future.
"I'll take care of it." He took a deep breath, pulled up his cuffs, revealed the crossbow strapped to his arm, and pointed it at the long snake.
The crossbow arrow was slowly coated with orange-red luster, and the tip of the arrow became hot and red, and then it was shot out suddenly, Penetration snake body, and the smell of burning was in the air.
After being hit, Lin Anaconda twisted and hissed, and rushed towards the two of them. Noah grabbed the short knife and chopped it into two parts. With his other hand, he firmly held the snake's neck and chopped off its head.
After solving the problem, he looked at the dead Lin An and breathed a sigh of relief.
"It seems that I can get some extra harvest this time." Snake skin and snake gall are good materials, and Alchemy warlocks and pharmacists will buy them.
After that, he squatted down, peeled off the snake skin, took out the snake gallbladder, put it into a bottle and sealed it tightly, and then wiped the blood on his hands.
"Let's continue."
He cut down the vegetation along the way again, and the two finally arrived at the bottom of the col, where rare herbs were hidden in the thick grass.
"Do you know herbal medicine?" Noah asked.
"Of course, you can think that this is what I learned." Sylutia nodded. She had discovered a dozen different herbs by now.
"Okay, let's start collecting, and try to be careful during the process.
The two gathered separately, and Sylutia found along the way, easily picking the hidden herbs, including First Order's Dewy Herb"Seven-Star Lotus", and the second-order Black Deer Fungus"Ring Umbrella Mushroom".
An hour later, the two of them finished collecting. Noah did a simple inventory and found that the herbal medicine collected by the girl was more than three times that of her own. Moreover, Aspect Power and quality were well preserved, with no trace of damage.
"Awesome, it seems you were right what you said before, you just specialize in learning this." Noah sighed.
"Let's go." He got up and left with the girl, heading back towards the road.
Perhaps it was because he had gained so much this time and was in a good mood. On the way back, Noah talked more. He not only talked about his experience when he first came to the Gloomy Forest base, but also talked about his previous studies.
"Eleven years ago, like many people, I boarded the train full of hesitation, said goodbye to my family, and went to Gemoxiu District to study. Now I still remember the sound of the whistle when the train set off, and the lively discussions among the students on the train."
"Everyone was talking about the names of those powerful mages, recounting the wonderful experiences they heard from their seniors, and fantasizing and expecting who they would be in the future. It can be said that during the few days on the road to Gemo Xiu District, I hardly fell asleep, and there were always students who couldn't finish talking in my ears."
"It was so innocent and beautiful at that time," he sighed.
"After going to Gemoxiu District, everyone and I settled down, started to get in touch with new knowledge and secret techniques, and looked forward to immersing ourselves in learning. The first two years there were extremely fulfilling."
"However, it gradually became less relaxed."
"After two or three years of study, some students are already confident of passing the advanced Academy examination, while some are still struggling with complex and profound knowledge theories and are puzzled. The differences in talent and qualifications are beginning to be revealed."
"Although I'm not stupid, I can't be said to have outstanding talent. I can only be considered above average. According to the teacher, I have a chance of advancing to the third level, but it will also require a lot of energy and time. I can probably achieve my wish by the age of forty."
"Entering the third level at the age of forty is actually not bad. Many people can't even see hope. At least I still see hope and know how to go on. It just requires energy and time to accumulate."
"After the fifth year at Gemoxiu District, I knew that there wasn't much I could learn here, and it was just a waste of money to stay here, so I made up for a few missing courses, left there, and started working to accumulate experience and resources."
"The first two years of my job were relatively stable, but I increasingly felt involved in all kinds of trivial matters, causing me to get further and further away from my goals. Some of the knowledge and theories I had learned even started to be forgotten."
"At this time, I have to mention the benefits of Secret Speech"Aspect Power. I heard that your apprentices, Secret Speech"Aspect Power, all have good memories and have an innate advantage in learning."
"Well, that's true." Sylutia stroked his hair as he recalled, nodding slightly.
"I am practicing Gold Steam"Aspect Power. The advantage of it is that it is easy to find a job. Whether you go to the Alchemy workshop or various chambers of commerce, there are people who are looking for it. The income will be higher than other Aspect Power apprentices, but in terms of learning knowledge, it does not provide much help."
"I didn't make much progress during the two years I worked in the workshop, but I learned some simple prop making, such as the small arm crossbow on my arm, which I made myself." He showed off the golden-bronze arm crossbow on his arm.
"In addition, I quickly learned to master the mines that were laid out before, the Burning Silver Powder" needed to make the mines, and the detonating device. If I didn't want to make more money and just made props, I could probably make a lot of money." He recalled his previous buying and selling experiences.
"But simply selling and making props is still too slow. I don't want to wait until I'm forty. The future is too far away."
Having said this, he stopped and turned around.
"Actually, many friends and classmates have advised me not to be so anxious, saying that it will still take a long time, but I don't think so."
"Life is short." When he said this, he paused a little longer.
"Those older Mages I have seen, although they are also in the third level, they don't have the kind of vigor and pride that Mage should have. They just sit in their positions dully and complete their work."
"They are genuine third-level students, but they give me the impression that they are just larger second-level apprentices. They complete mediocre work day after day. They have no idea of going further, and they no longer learn. They even hate others who propose new things. For many years, they only use a few fixed spells, without the breadth and variety that Mage should have."
"It looks like it has lost its vitality and is just slowly waiting for death to come."
"Don't you think it's scary? Since they can enter the third level, it means that they were once highly regarded geniuses in their hometown, outstanding students in the school, and the ones at the forefront among many peers, but later they lived like that."
"I can't imagine that I will become like that in the future, and life is short. Even if I reach the third level at the age of forty, what else can I do at that time? I won't have the energy and spirit to continue climbing up."
"When you die, you have nothing. Life is only one precious journey. It would be a pity to waste such precious time waiting."
After saying this, he seemed to have vented a lot of the emotions he had accumulated over the past few years, and his mood gradually calmed down.
"Sorry, I said something that may not interest you."
"It's okay. In fact, it gave me a lot of insights." The girl nodded, without blaming or complaining, with an understanding expression.
Although she also studied at Asura District, it was only for one year. Like other students, she did not first receive basic education in a local school, then go through several years of study preparation in the school district, and then enter the higher Academy.
Because her grades were so good and she didn't stay there long, she didn't have a deep understanding of the experiences of those ordinary students with average talents. After listening to Noah's talk today, she felt a lot of emotion.
Her talent is very good, so she has avoided various problems faced by many ordinary students, such as being unable to master advanced theoretical skills, not having enough funds to continue her studies, having difficulty obtaining the inheritance of Core Secret Art, not having any excellent teachers around her to consult, etc.
And these levels that she skipped are stuck on the path of advancement for ordinary people. It may take more than ten years to barely overcome it and grow into the official Mage. At that time, she is often too young, and her spirit and energy are no longer as strong as before, and she eventually becomes mediocre.
Mediocrity is not a sin, but it is ultimately a pity to see those things that were once shining gradually dim.
Time has taken away not only time, but also the once high-spirited young man.
If you look back in your old age and choose your life again, will you take a different path?