The Cornflower Witch Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Blood Wine and Eye Medicine

In October, the Aurora Wind Season gradually faded.

Hylial knelt in the field in her backyard, carefully examining the Swan Orchid that reached up to her arm.

The greenish pseudobulb, spindle-shaped, stood in the soft soil, with light green long leaves branching out from it, curving naturally.

[Swan Orchid] (Good – 53): Growing well, suitable humidity and light, good ventilation.

Is it just “good”? The young girl lightly touched the flower stem, a little disappointed.

She had originally thought that by providing all the necessary conditions for the Swan Orchid’s growth, its quality should reach “excellent.”

It seems things aren’t that simple.

If meeting growth requirements isn’t enough, then she needs to further analyze the growth conditions to achieve an extremely suitable state. The problem is, how would she know under what conditions the Swan Orchid would grow best?

Communicate with the plant? But the Swan Orchid is just a plant, not a living creature, and it can’t speak.

Wait, even though the Swan Orchid can’t speak, it’s not inanimate. Just as blood flows through animals and they have their own pulse, plants also have a liquid, referred to as ‘nectar,’ flowing through them. If she could perceive this pulse, could she understand its condition and help it thrive?

A glimmer of hope rose in Hylial. She placed her hand on the Swan Orchid’s pseudobulb, closed her eyes, and carefully sensed, searching for that subtle pulse.

Time passed…

After a long while, she opened her eyes, shaking her head with some disappointment.

Plants and animals are vastly different; they don’t have heartbeats, so there’s no such thing as a “pulse” in that sense.

She could only ask Scholar Hyde.

…

The next day, after class, Hylial went to Scholar Hyde’s study, asking about plant cultivation.

“It seems you’ve hit a bottleneck,” Scholar Hyde said, having expected this.

“Your problem is the same one encountered by the earliest gardeners several epochs ago.”

“Unlike fairies, who are naturally skilled at cultivating plants, humans and other beings who wish to learn to cultivate extraordinary crops must overcome the barrier of communication and understanding.”

“There are actually two approaches to this. The first is common: directly replicate based on the experience left by previous generations. The second is to individually and thoroughly understand each plant’s situation, and then make targeted adjustments.”

“The latter is clearly more effective but also very difficult. Most gardeners at the novice stage use the former method.”

“So, you can see that in the same orchard, there are good quality fruits and poor quality fruits. Gardeners can only try to increase the overall quantity to ensure more high-quality fruits appear.”

“I actually wanted to suggest that for now, you just cultivate according to the experienced templates.”

“However, after spending this time together, Lia, you surely wouldn’t be satisfied with merely following experience and waiting for luck, would you?” Scholar Hyde stroked his beard, speaking with clear understanding.

“Yes, teacher, please teach me,” the girl said, seeing his confident demeanor and knowing he must have a solution.

“Heh heh, you’re always so affectionate when you call me ‘teacher’ at times like this.” The old man complained playfully. Hylial rarely interacted with him in class, always quietly staying in a corner, listening, and not actively answering questions.

“All right, I won’t make it difficult for you.” He stood up, rummaged through the bookshelves, and finally pulled out one of the books.

“The Pear Fruit Book (Transcribed Copy),” written by the Forest Dwellers of the Fifth Epoch, describes the cultivation process of the ‘Red Pear Fruit (Tier 2)’ and methods for observing Red Pear Fruit trees.

He opened a page of the book and showed its contents to Hylial.

[Green Eye Potion Recipe] (Tier 1); a potion dropped into the eye, one of the seven basic eye potions, which allows the user to perceive the subtle flow and state of plants.

“This is the Green Eye Potion recipe. Originally, such secret knowledge was meant to be given to you only after you graduated,” Scholar Hyde explained.

“Since you need it urgently now, I’m giving it to you early. When you graduate later, there will be no extra rewards, so don’t blame your teacher for being stingy.”

“To distill the ‘Green Eye’ potion, you’ll need some rare herbs. I can provide you with one set for free, but after that, you’ll have to get them yourself,” he added.

“I understand,” Hylial replied, taking the book. She then sat aside and transcribed the potion recipe onto paper.

Most of the herbs in the recipe did not have corresponding tiers; they were just relatively rare herbs. However, one main ingredient required fresh flower buds with the ‘Tier 1 – Jade Nectar’ characteristic. This single plant alone would cost nearly 70 Silver Coins. It was no wonder Scholar Hyde couldn’t be too generous; if he funded every student, he probably couldn’t afford it.

In total, the material cost would be about 90 Silver Coins, the girl estimated. This was under ideal circumstances; if any of the herbs were difficult to find, the cost would increase.

“Thank you, teacher.” After transcribing, the girl bowed in gratitude.

“Alright, take my list and go find Mansion. He’ll have the materials ready for you in a couple of days. The reason I’m not giving you money is that some materials are hard to come by even if you have money.”

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Indeed, under Scholar Hyde’s name, it would be easy to obtain materials from various guilds and nobles in the city. But for an unknown person, it would be extremely difficult.

…

While Hylial was diligently pursuing her path as a gardener, other students from her cohort were also gradually making their own plans.

“Mick, aren’t you going to class today? Why are you back?”

In a courtyard in the lower district, an adventurer team member saw the young man walk in.

“We don’t have class today,” Mick replied, but he clearly seemed preoccupied.

“Is Jero here?”

“He’s not here right now, probably at the bar.”

“The bar, then I’ll go directly there.”

Half an hour later, Mick eventually found a drunken Jero in the dim bar and helped him out.

“Brother Jero, there’s something I need your help with.” He hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“Wha—what is it… just say it.” Jero was still a bit tipsy, his right hand waving wildly in the air, the force almost causing Mick to lose his grip.

“It’s like this, next month we students will have an assessment, and if I rank high, there will be great rewards,” Mick said, gritting his teeth.

“So, I want to improve my strength to get good results in the assessment, and I need some help with that.”

“Haha… what kind of help, just tell me,” Jero sobered up a bit.

“I need ‘Blood Wine’ to improve my breathing technique.” Mick felt a bit ashamed; he seemed too reliant on this older brother, who, in reality, was not related by blood, but someone he met through adventurous work.

“Heh, I thought it was some big deal,” Jero’s large hand patted Mick’s shoulder.

“Here, take this!” He fumbled with the inner layer of his belt, pulling out a gleaming Gold Coin.

The Gold Coin, a metallic round coin with a faint golden luster, bore the image of a Cold Plume Bird, indicating its origin from the Kingdom of Winter in the north.

Mick looked at the Gold Coin, his emotions complex, filled with gratitude, nervousness, guilt, and a touch of anticipation.

Gripping the warm Gold Coin in his palm, Mick helped Jero back to his room in the small courtyard to rest.

After explaining to his friend, Mick left with the Gold Coin, heading to the Adventurers’ Guild, where ‘Blood Wine’ was sold. This was a medicinal wine refined from the blood of beasts with Tier 1 or higher characteristics, capable of enhancing abilities related to the ‘Blood Discipline’ characteristic, and also very suitable for breathing technique training.

“With this, I can break through to the second stage of the breathing technique within a month!” Mick walked out, clutching the blood-red bottle, secretly determined.

Once he gained strength, he would definitely repay Brother Jero.

(End of this chapter)