The Cornflower Witch Chapter 161

Hylial and Bona finished their first half of the night watch, then fell into a deep sleep. When Hylial woke up the next day, the sun was already high in the branches.

“Did no one call me today?” She rubbed her eyes and propped herself up, crawling out from under the blanket.

By now, everyone else had already woken up, and seeing the girl’s bewildered look as she slowly came to, they couldn’t help but find her a little cute.

*Like a child,* the others thought.

However, compared to the other team members, Hylial was indeed several years younger. Her current physical appearance looked to be at most 17, still not fully mature.

“Are you awake, Lia?” Bona walked over with a smile, holding a covered savory meat pie.

“Drink some water, rinse your mouth, and then eat something.” She opened the lid, revealing the still-warm breakfast inside.

“Thank you, Bona.” Hylial took it with a slight hint of joy.

Being able to eat such a breakfast in the wilderness was indeed a blessing.

As she sat down to eat, she briefly glanced around and saw Karl sitting across from the campfire. Although his complexion was still pale, it was much better than yesterday.

According to Yan’s summary of yesterday’s battle, he was terrified when he helped Karl retreat, because Karl had lost so much blood that his face was as white as paper, with no trace of color in his eyes.

If not for the timely use of Demonic Blood Vine to condense a ‘Fresh Blood Red Fruit,’ Karl might not have made it.

Seeing Hylial look at him, Karl gave the girl a weak smile, as if to reassure her not to worry. Then he continued to gaze at the flames, seemingly lost in thought.

Although the battle yesterday had a good outcome, with no serious injuries and Karl recovering quickly, the danger involved left them with lingering fear. So, they decided to rest an extra while today and not rush to depart.

As Hylial was finishing her breakfast, the captain, “Bad Apple,” returned from the woods and nodded slightly after observing the campsite.

“I just scouted the perimeter. There’s nothing unusual, so it’s relatively safe here.”

“How did you sleep last night, Lia?”

“I slept very well the latter half of the night,” Hylial replied.

“That’s good.” He nodded and sat down, patting Karl on the back.

“Feeling better?”

“Heh, much better. It wasn’t a major injury anyway,” Karl chuckled.

“You were in a bad way,” the short captain shook his head.

“You’re usually so cold and quiet, but now you’re even smiling. It must have been serious.”

“How about we take the safest route for the rest of the journey and avoid any more risks? Let’s just go back safely.” If they took the safest route, their gains would be much less, which they would normally never choose.

“No need for that. Let’s stick to the usual, just reduce the risks a bit,” Karl didn’t want to hold everyone back because of himself.

Going on an adventure often required a lot of preparation, a great deal of effort, and rest afterwards to remove the twisted corrosion of the Shadow World before re-entering the black and white world of shadows.

As such, students could only go on one adventure per month on average. Wasting this one would mean waiting a long time for the next.

“Alright, we’ll follow the planned route, but avoid highly dangerous areas,” Bad Apple stood up.

He then called Yan and Bona over and informed them of the decision. Everyone basically agreed, with no objections.

“Let’s get a good rest today. We’ll leave after lunch.”

To recover from yesterday’s intense battle, they took an extra morning to rest. While Karl was in a daze or sleeping, the others were busy with their own tasks.

Yan was processing the snake scales and skin collected yesterday, removing the excess rotten flesh and keeping the relatively clean and intact parts. Bona was preparing a hearty lunch with the ingredients she brought, aiming to restore everyone’s strength and vitality.

Captain Bad Apple planned the route and sorted and distributed the various items in their luggage.

As for Hylial, she stabilized the ‘Fresh Blood Red Fruit’ collected yesterday using her Emerald Honey affinity abilities, preventing the condensed aspect power within the fruit from dissipating and weakening.

By noon, the five of them gathered around a stone table for a rare and hearty lunch, which included large pieces of roasted meat, savory mashed potatoes, mushroom soup made from foraged ingredients, and a plate of freshly baked bread.

After eating their fill, everyone had their strength and energy somewhat restored. They then stood up and set off again.

For the next two days, Hylial and the others traversed a long canyon and mountainous terrain, searching the mountains for the gray ‘Ash-Wrought Fruit,’ which they found on the evening of the second day.

“I didn’t expect the skeletal monster guarding that fruit to be quite tough; it even nicked my sword,” said Yan, looking at his greatsword with a hint of surprise after the battle.

[Beast Skull] (Tier 2 Blood Discipline): Formed by piecing together multiple human and beast bones, it is a twisted living dead, acting on chaotic soul consciousness.

“We didn’t get anything valuable from defeating that guy,” ‘Bad Apple’ shook his head.

“But we finally found the ‘Ash-Wrought Fruit’ that Karl needed.”

The group looked at the two fist-sized fruits in their bag. Their skin was as pale as bone, but they felt soft to the touch. If torn open, they contained pure, fine gray powder.

According to Karl’s explanation, this gray powder could be refined to create a ‘Ash Coagulation Potion,’ which could enhance the soul’s toughness of ghostly creatures and increase their chances of advancement.

“That skeletal monster instinctively felt this item was useful, but being a solid skeleton, it couldn’t utilize something meant for ghosts, so it just kept wandering around it.”

With these two fruits found, the purpose of their secret realm exploration was largely accomplished. The rest was just about incidental gains.

Afterward, they trekked through the ‘Deep Forest Path’ for another two days, gradually turning back towards the town.

On the way back, they encountered various strange things, such as the dream-devouring creatures and invisible ambush monsters that Hylial had seen before. However, relying on their reliable and stable strength, they safely crushed them without any incidents.

By the seventh day, Hylial and her companions emerged from the black and white world they had been immersed in for so long, returning to the edge of the ‘Fir Black Forest’.

“Phew, finally some good air to breathe,” ‘Bad Apple’ walked ahead, his nimble figure leaping onto a tree branch. He surveyed the surroundings, and after a while, he finally came down, satisfied.

“Just a few more kilometers and we’ll see the town.”

“Finally,” Yan, wearing the team’s heaviest armor and carrying the heaviest luggage, was also quite tired now.

“Thanks for your hard work, Yan. You always carry the spoils,” Bad Apple said, but showed no inclination to help.

As the captain, he had to maintain his quick reflexes, so he naturally couldn’t carry heavy things. Of course, the reason he had recruited Yan in the first place was because he valued the young man’s endurance, strength, and resilience.

Everyone was in good spirits now, having escaped the tense and unsettling environment of the secret realm.

“After we get back this time, I’m definitely taking a good bath.” It was so hard to bathe in the wilderness, they could only wipe their faces and sweat.

“Me too!” Bona raised her hand.

“Lia, how about we bathe together when we get back?” She suddenly thought of something.

“Uh, bathing…” Hylial wasn’t against bathing, and even wanted a good bath right now, but bathing with others, even of the same sex, still made her a little shy.

“Oh, Little Lia is shy, hehe.” Bona had naturally figured out the girl’s personality during their days together.

Although she was remarkably reliable in reconnaissance and combat, she was indeed like a little girl who rarely ventured out, sometimes a bit shy and introverted.

“Alright, alright, I won’t force you. But tonight, you really can have a good bath and a comfortable sleep.”

At noon, the group finally arrived at the town’s tavern. Exhausted, they handed over their mission report to the association staff, then disbanded, each member rushing off to bathe, sleep, or drink something cold and refreshing to relieve their stress.

“Haha, well, that’s it for today. Tomorrow we’ll tally our gains and divide everything.”

Hylial’s first adventure, though punctuated by minor scares, concluded safely. The entire process was smooth, and she made some good friends along the way.

That night, after a comfortable hot bath, she changed into light pajamas and sat at the desk by the window, writing down her adventure.

Her elegant handwriting flowed across the paper, and then the black pen tip drew a beautiful arc, like the nascent bud of a flower vine, marking the end of this experience.