The Cornflower Witch Chapter 14

Chapter 14: The Path of a Gardener

Hylial and Talil didn’t crowd under the signboard with everyone else. Instead, they watched from a distance, listening to the discussions, while the young woman roughly surveyed the members of the guild.

There were 6 adventurers who had reached Level 1 Affinity. Most of the others also possessed breathing techniques or other abilities, so they weren’t entirely ordinary people. It seemed that mastering a breathing technique was the most basic requirement to become an adventurer.

Currently, Hylial’s breathing technique had advanced to the second stage.

[Breathing Technique Lv.2] (Blood Laws): Regulates blood flow rate through breathing, driving and enhancing overall strength and reaction speed. This ability places demands on the heart and body, and cannot be used for extended periods (recommended not to exceed 3 minutes/day); (Completion 21/600)

She still hadn’t encountered the bottleneck Friein mentioned. Each time she trained the ‘Breathing Technique’, she gained +5 completion. Moreover, due to the breathing technique training, her physical fitness had improved significantly over the past half month. Now, she could practice 4 times a day, which meant +20 progress daily. At this rate, she would likely enter the third stage of the breathing technique in about a month.

Once she reached the third stage, she would have to stop. If she continued to practice, her fate affinity might directly shift to (Level 1 – Blood Laws), which was not the outcome she desired.

As for swordsmanship and spearmanship, they were currently ‘Basic Swordsmanship Lv.4’ and ‘Basic Spearmanship Lv.4’ respectively. The proficiency increase was slow. Hylial guessed that to further improve these two skills, she would need practical combat experience.

At noon, many people went to eat, and the Adventurers’ Guild hall became somewhat quieter and less busy.

Hylial walked to the front desk and inquired, “Excuse me, is there a girl named Marilyn here?”

Hearing the young woman’s question, the chestnut-haired receptionist behind the counter looked strange. She scrutinized the hooded girl for a long time before answering.

“I am Marilyn. Who are you?” She was sure she didn’t know this person.

“I came from Linden Village. I had an accident and got lost in the forest, losing some of my memory. Now I’ve arrived in Burntstone City and am looking for some help. This is a letter of introduction from Mr. Friein.” She handed over the letter she had prepared.

Opening the envelope and seeing the familiar handwriting, Marilyn’s expression softened, and her earlier suspicion vanished.

“Ah, so you’re an acquaintance of Uncle Friein. Well, he praised Miss Lia quite a lot in his letter, and asked me to take good care of you,” Marilyn read the general gist of the letter.

“It’s not good to talk here, come this way. Oh, and this is Talil, right?” She actually recognized the wild girl.

“You actually know me,” Talil also looked incredulous.

“Hehe, of course, as a receptionist at the Adventurers’ Guild, a good memory is essential,” Marilyn winked, leading the two to a side room in the hall to sit down.

“Uncle Friein mentioned Linden Village, and I remembered Old Man Pound, and since you’re his granddaughter, I immediately guessed it,” Marilyn explained.

“Is grandpa that famous?” Talil rested her chin in her hand, looking a bit happy and proud, sitting at the small round table.

“Old Man Pound is a well-known figure recorded in the Burntstone City Adventurers’ Guild, and the only living legend remaining today,” Marilyn explained, shaking her head slightly, indicating he was no ordinary person.

“Many adventurers come to the guild, but only a handful can stay in this line of work for more than ten years.”

“Adventurers certainly earn a lot of money, but there are also many dangers and accidents. Many either die on missions or are severely injured and have to quit,” Marilyn sighed.

“If an adventurer is very strong, they should be able to overcome all kinds of dangers and be safe, right?” Talil fantasized about her future.

“Very few. If an adventurer’s strength reaches Level 3 or above, they generally won’t do this anymore,” Marilyn brought them some simple tea.

“Level 3 transcendents are capable of becoming powerful knights, serving a noble, and getting a small fiefdom.”

“If it’s another profession, they can also join large organizations and gain high status, without having to travel daily like adventurers, having no fixed abode,” she sat down in front of them now.

“Are you interested in being adventurers today?” “Yes,” Hylial thought for a moment and briefly explained her situation.

“I see. If Miss Lia doesn’t want to rely solely on her appearance to enjoy life, then she needs to find a profession to make a living, and coincidentally, I have the most abundant information here,” Marilyn wisely winked.

“Since it’s Uncle Friein’s recommendation, I’m sure Miss Lia has been recognized and praised by him in certain aspects. I know my uncle’s personality very well.”

“The Apothecaries’ Guild that Miss Lia mentioned earlier is indeed an excellent choice, but becoming an apothecary is not easy,” she shook her head slightly.

“First,” she raised a finger.

“You need to learn how to identify, pick, and process various herbs. These things are very trivial, and recorded information in books is often incomplete.”

“Secondly, if you don’t know the ‘Scent-Sniffing Method’, it’s hard to go far in the apothecary profession.”

“As the name suggests, the ‘Scent-Sniffing Method’ uses smell to identify the medicinal properties of herbs, the degree of boiling in potions, and the effects after reactions, and so on.”

“Just like not everyone can learn the ‘Breathing Technique’, learning the ‘Scent-Sniffing Method’ also depends on talent.”

“Once you’ve done the first two things, you should be able to become an ordinary apothecary apprentice, join the Apothecaries’ Guild, and then make some common potions to make a living.”

“To truly become an apothecary, you also need to learn the ‘調和法 (Blending Method)’, which is a more complex ability than the ‘Scent-Sniffing Method’. It can blend and extract the ‘affinity’ from materials, allowing for the creation of special potions above ‘Level 1’.”

“Currently, in Burntstone City, there are only four apothecaries who know the ‘調和法 (Blending Method)’. They are the elite of the Apothecaries’ Guild, and most of their potions are not circulated on the market. Only a small number of healing and detoxification potions are sold to adventurers.”

“Therefore, I suggest that Miss Lia postpone becoming an apothecary and aim to be a gardener instead.”

“Ordinary gardeners only need to learn to tend and prune flowers and plants. Professional gardeners, however, need to learn the cultivation ability of ‘Jade Nectar’ affinity. They can cultivate high-quality flowers, vegetables, fruits, and even rare plants that contain ‘affinity’ power.”

“There is no clear superiority between the two, but a gardener’s work is relatively easy, giving Miss Lia more time to do other things.”

“For you, your current job is merely a transition, right?” Marilyn, as the receptionist of the Adventurers’ Guild, was experienced and knew that the young woman would not always be confined there.

She didn’t pay much attention to the difficulties Marilyn mentioned about becoming an apothecary, but when Marilyn brought up the time aspect, Hylial certainly listened.

Indeed, if she were to study under Scholar Hyde, she would probably spend most of her time learning knowledge, and apothecaries require two ability card slots. If both were used up, there would be no extra space to learn other abilities later.

Considering both time and energy, as well as the reasonable allocation of ability cards, ‘Gardener’ was the better choice.

“It seems I’ll have to be a gardener for a while,” the young woman said, running her fingers through her hair and looking up.

“I wonder if Big Sister Marilyn can guide me on how to get started?” Her soft, melodious voice made Marilyn freeze for a few seconds.

“It’s a pity you’re not a songstress,” she shook her head.

“How to get started? That’s a small matter. I can help you get a treatise from a famous gardener in the city. I’m quite familiar with Madame Faran, it’s just that ordinary people don’t know of her existence.”

“As for thanks, there’s no rush. Just live your life comfortably for now, Lia.”

(End of this chapter)