The Cornflower Witch Chapter 61

Chapter 61: Future Goals

In early December, the sun shone obliquely in the sky, and a slight chill was carried on the wind from afar.

In the forest, full of fallen leaves, Hylial stood with her eyes closed. She held a sword in one hand, while the other was empty, fingers drooping from her sleeve, slightly open, as if sensing the gentle breeze passing through them.

A blunt arrow shot out from the distant woods, flying towards the girl. Her sword rotated, moving from bottom to top, drawing an arc, precisely striking the incoming arrow.

However, this was only the first time. Afterwards, arrows came again from different directions, at varying angles, sometimes even two directions at once.

Hylial moved her feet, and the sword in her hand also rotated with her, parrying the incoming arrows repeatedly, becoming more and more skilled.

After a long while, the arrows stopped coming, and several familiar figures emerged from the woods.

Kaelen walked up to the girl, holding a longbow in one hand, and looked at the scattered arrows on the ground.

“There were 30 training arrows in total, and Lia dodged and parried all of them,” she said with some curiosity.

“Did Lia learn the ‘listen to the wind to determine position’ ability?” This was a hunter class ability.

“No, but when I advanced to ‘Level 1 – Jade Nectar’, I gained an enhancement in perception.” She replied, opening her eyes, and then picked up the arrows on the ground, gathering those that were still usable.

Mick looked at the broken arrows. He picked one up and examined the break, noting that the cut was quite smooth. This indicated that the person using the sword was highly skilled; even in a rapid reaction, there was no issue of the blade not being aligned correctly.

He had a new understanding of the girl’s swordsmanship.

“Lia, would you like to have a match with me?” He was eager to try his hand.

Before, he had always been taught the theory by her, but they had never had a real sparring match.

Before Hylial could answer, Komia jumped over and loudly objected.

“No way, Mick, you’re a ‘Level 1 – Blood Discipline’ now, you’re so strong. What if you accidentally injure Lia?” She thought a girl’s appearance was most important, and it would be a great pity if she were injured during such training.

“How about I use a thick wooden sword?” Mick considered.

“A thick wooden sword probably won’t do either.” Komia spoke again.

“Don’t you remember that match with Solin? You guys broke your wooden swords as soon as you started.”

With martial breathing cultivated to the third stage, coupled with the strength bonus from the ‘Blood Discipline’ attribute, Mick could now easily crush a cow’s skull with a full-force punch. Komia’s worries were not unfounded.

“Alas, I regret not having a match with Lia before I advanced,” Mick said regretfully.

Hearing their conversation, Hylial thought for a moment and shook her head slightly.

“I’m afraid not today. I don’t have a suitable weapon.” The dagger she had been using before, gifted by Captain Friein, was now too light for her and no longer sufficient.

With the martial breathing at the third stage, an ordinary iron sword could easily break during intense combat, leading to accidents.

“Speaking of which.” Mick looked at the dilapidated iron sword at his waist and felt it was time for a replacement.

His iron sword was quite thick; to put it unpleasantly, it was just a lump of raw iron barely shaped into a sword.

Since it wasn’t expensive, he didn’t feel bad if it got chipped during use, and he would occasionally sharpen it and continue to make do.

“Kaelen, your longbow made of ash wood also looks quite old. Do you want to replace it?”

“I’ve maintained it quite well, so there’s no rush to replace it,” Kaelen shook her head.

“What are you two talking about?” Komia and Lei approached, placing the arrows they were carrying together.

“I was thinking about changing my weapon,” Mick said, resting his hand behind his head.

“Weapon?” Komia looked at Mick’s broken iron sword and couldn’t help but cover her mouth and laugh.

“Oh, you’re not embarrassed to use that thing, giggle.”

“Being an adventurer is like this, you have to be frugal with everything.” Mick shook his head indifferently.

“If a fine sword worth over 50 Silver Coins were used for hunting and various odd jobs, it would be ruined beyond recognition in less than a month, which would be too wasteful.”

“So adventurers usually prepare several weapons: cheap ones for odd jobs, and real ones for life-or-death situations.”

“Brother Jero’s sword is made entirely of black steel. Not only is it extra heavy, but it’s also incredibly sturdy. Ordinary steel can’t even scratch it.”

“Black steel, that stuff isn’t cheap.” Komia remembered something.

“My dad once followed a Merchant Guild representative to Forged Stone City for a deal, to purchase two hundred ingots of black steel. At the time, they wrangled with the blacksmith guild there for a long time, and had to promise many additional conditions before they secured it.”

“How much was the price?” Mick wanted to buy a sword made of black steel.

“Very expensive, one ingot of black steel costs almost 5 Gold Coins, and that ingot is smaller than my hand.” Komia recalled.

“If you use black steel to forge a sword, even if it’s only used for the blade part, with other steel for the interior, the price would still be above 6-7 Gold Coins.”

“That expensive?” Mick wailed. It seemed he couldn’t afford it for now.

“Looking at it this way, blacksmiths must be making a lot of money, even more than adventurers.” He thought of something.

“Of course, blacksmiths are usually the wealthiest families in the village, followed by tailors and doctors.” Komia sighed and complained, rubbing her forehead.

Suddenly, Komia thought of something and looked at Lei.

“Lei, I think you’d be excellent as a blacksmith.” Lei’s burly physique and great strength indeed met the requirements of a blacksmith.

At this, Kaelen and Hylial also thought it was a good idea.

“I can’t do anything too complicated.” Lei sounded a bit lacking in confidence.

“Blacksmiths probably don’t need to be that smart, right?” Komia thought for a moment.

“Actually, Lei isn’t dumb, it’s just…” she glanced at the black-haired girl next to her. It was just that this girl was so intelligent that it made them all feel a bit naturally dull.

Before meeting Hylial, Komia was also known among her peers for her quick mind and good memory.

Their conversation shifted from sparring to suitable weapons, then from black steel to blacksmiths, and finally, from blacksmiths to their individual future plans.

“I will become a hunter.” Kaelen had decided on her future direction from the beginning.

“I’ll probably become an adventurer, but now it doesn’t feel as intense.” As he gradually encountered more knowledge and broadened his horizons, Mick slowly realized that being an adventurer was not such a perfect profession.

“Lei said he doesn’t know, but after hearing our recent suggestion, he said he would visit Forged Stone City next year to see if he could learn the blacksmith’s craft.”

“As for me…” Komia leaned against a tree trunk and thought carefully.

“Actually, I love to have fun, and I don’t really know what I want to do in the future. Anyway, I’ll learn something interesting and useful first, and then travel around.”

“And you, Lia, what are your plans?”

Plans, huh? Hylial leaned against the tree trunk, looking up at the lush leaves rustling in the autumn wind.

To be honest, since she had no memories of this life in her mind, there was nothing she was particularly attached to or cared about.

While this certainly made her lack a sense of belonging, like a dandelion floating in the wind, the upside was that she also had fewer constraints and could try many things.

It was a rare opportunity to have talent she couldn’t have imagined in her previous life, absorbing the miraculous and fresh knowledge of this world like a sponge, learning various skills.

On Earth, limited by environment, origin, and various rules and regulations, the lives of most people could not be described as free and smooth. Many people were also numb and anxious under the impact of various information on the internet. Even if they had ideas, it was difficult to persist amidst the冲击 of conflicting ideas and facts.

‘What kind of life do I want, or how should every inevitably mortal life choose to live this life?’ This is almost the ultimate root of all questions.

Thinking of this, Hylial shook her head slightly. It was still too early to talk about such things.

However, since there was an opportunity to see a wider world and experience more wonders, wouldn’t it be too regrettable to miss it?

“I will likely study with Scholar Hyde and my teacher for a while, and once I feel ready, I’ll embark on a journey to further advance my stage.”

“In that case, the Hidden Grove seems like a good choice, Lia,” Komia reminded her.

“That place…” Hylial recalled Scholar Hyde’s introduction.

It is said that there are many outposts established by various schools in the ‘Hidden Grove’. Young people entering there can access the basic secret arts of each school. If certain conditions are met, one can apply for an assessment with that school. After completing various assessments and trials, one can join the school and access its true heritage.

These transcendent schools are powerful organizations far surpassing nations, with branches across the continent. They are also the backing force for many countries; Regas Duchy, for example, relied on their assistance when it was founded.

If one didn’t go to the Hidden Grove, it would be extremely difficult for ordinary people outside to access high-level transcendent knowledge. Most of what was taught in various trade guilds stopped at the third stage of attributes.

From this analysis, going there was indeed the best choice, and she could also experience a broader world.

Since there was no other reason to object, Hylial slowly decided that going to the ‘Hidden Grove’ would be her next goal.

(End of this chapter)