Chapter 97: Back to School

Chapter 97: Chapter 97: Back to School

The week of rest passed in a blur of peaceful labor, warm laughter, and unprecedented growth at Sunny Vale. By the time seven days had flown by, the Vance family homestead had transformed into the true nerve center of Eden International.

Land Expansion (5 to 25 Acres)

The Vance family officially finalized the purchase of two prime neighboring plots, seamlessly expanding their agricultural foundation from five acres to twenty-five. With twenty extra acres of rich valley soil under their management, Martha and Arthur established streamlined storage facilities and basic security perimeters to handle their rapidly expanding operations.

The One-Acre Ancestral Orchard

Rowan dedicated a full acre of the new land exclusively to an ancestral peach orchard, carefully planting roughly 100 trees across the fertile terrain. By conditioning the soil with [Breath of Eden] and irrigating the plot with the continuous nectar of the Vessel of the Eternal Tide, the orchard’s growth cycle stabilized into a high-yield rhythm. The 100 trees now bear a full harvest of potent ancestral peaches once every week, ensuring a reliable, long-term supply for the store.

Squad Reunions at the Vance Table

Sunny Vale quickly became the favorite gathering spot for Rowan’s squad members. Valen and the rest of Squad 07 stopped by nearly every evening, drawn by Martha’s nourishing home-cooked meals made straight from the farm’s spirit-crops. Between hearty dinners, laughter in the living room, and high-vitality snacks, the squad thoroughly uncoiled from the grueling stress of the exhibition tournament and capital politics.

On the final morning of break, Rowan buckled his gear into place, adjusted his Enchanted Straw Hat, and joined Squad 07 outside the gate. With Arthur’s mana circuits continuously mending, Martha effortlessly running the enterprise, and spatial rings packed to the brim with high-tier rations, Rowan and his teammates boarded the transport back to Sol-Aethel Academy—fully refreshed, stronger than ever, and ready for the second semester.

***

The grand wrought-iron gates of Sol-Aethel Academy swung open, granting passage to the returning streams of students marking the start of the second semester. The morning sun gleamed off the high white spires and sprawling training grounds, but the usual subdued morning atmosphere was nowhere to be found. The moment Squad 07 stepped onto the main cobblestone avenue, a resonant cheer erupted from the surrounding courtyard.

News of their legendary performance at the Imperial Exhibition Tournament—and Rowan’s direct audience with the Emperor—had swept through the academy long before their return. As Rowan walked alongside Valen and the rest of the squad, a double line of junior and mid-tier students spontaneously formed along the pathway leading toward the main academic halls. Thunderous applause echoed off the stone facades as fellow classmates stepped forward to offer enthusiastic high-fives and words of praise.

"Way to represent Sol-Aethel!" a sophomore spellblade shouted, clapping Valen on the shoulder as they passed.

Valen beamed, practically glowing with pride as he slapped high-fives down the line, his new broadsword resting proudly at his hip. Even the Alchemist Scion couldn’t suppress a small, gratified smile at the overwhelming show of support from their peers.

Rowan walked with his steady, grounded stride, tipping the brim of his Enchanted Straw Hat toward the cheering crowd. Pinned over his heart, the Golden-Red Imperial Dragon Badge gleamed against his Sol-Aethel uniform, drawing breathless murmurs from younger cadets who stared in genuine awe.

Even more telling was the response from the upperclassmen. Standing along the elevated balconies and archways of the senior quarters, battle-hardened third and fourth-year cadets—veterans who rarely spared a glance for lower-year squads—watched the group’s arrival. As Rowan’s eyes met theirs, several prominent senior squad leaders gave firm, respectful nods of acknowledgment. It was a clear gesture of peer-to-peer respect, validating Squad 07 not just as promising prodigies, but as true warriors who had proven their valor before the entire empire.

Upon passing through the grand entrance doors, Squad 07 split up, each member heading off to their respective specialized departments for their initial second-semester assignments. Valen offered a brief wave as he jogged toward the advanced combat halls, while the rest of the squad departed for their respective discipline towers.

Adjusting the brim of his Enchanted Straw Hat, Rowan turned down the familiar stone corridors leading into the glass-domed sanctuaries of the Herbology Department. The air inside was warm and rich, filled with the comforting scent of potted spirit-herbs, rare flora, and damp, nutrient-dense soil—an environment that instantly made him feel right at home.

Stepping into the main greenhouse lecture hall, he found Professor Vane carefully examining a rack of shimmering, rare saplings near the central podium. Hearing footsteps, the veteran herbologist turned, a warm, approving smile breaking across his face as his eyes landed on Rowan—and the gleaming Golden-Red Imperial Dragon Badge pinned to his uniform.

"Back to the soil so soon, Rowan?" Professor Vane asked with a light chuckle, setting down his diagnostic lens. "I half-expected the capital’s high council to recruit you into an imperial research facility after your performance at the exhibition."

Rowan offered a calm, grounded smile. "The soil is where I belong, Professor. I’m ready for whatever you have lined up for this term."

Professor Vane’s eyes glinted with intrigue as he gestured toward a sealed, stone workstation in the center of the room. "Good. For your first second-semester assignment, we’re skipping standard textbook flora entirely. It’s time to see how your cultivation techniques handle a specimen that has stumped the department for years."

Professor Vane gestured toward a covered cart parked beside the podium. At his nod, two teaching assistants rolled it down the center aisle, placing a small, sealed glass vessel onto each student’s workstation. Inside Rowan’s container rested a dark, crystalline seed that emitted a faint, cold thrum of raw Tower mana.

"What you hold in your hands is a pure Tower specimen," Professor Vane announced, his voice carrying clearly across the quiet greenhouse. "As you all know, flora harvested from the interior of the Tower almost invariably wither, rot, or lose their elemental attributes within days of being removed from their native atmospheric mana density."

The professor tapped his own glass container, where a similar seed lay suspended in a protective containment field. "Your core assignment for this entire semester is to break that barrier—to successfully germinate and grow a functional Tower crop outside of the Tower’s environment. There will be no step-by-step lectures or mandatory lab hours for this module. This is a long-term self-study project to be conducted entirely on your own time."

A chorus of anxious murmurs rippled through the classroom. For standard herbology students, replicating the extreme atmospheric conditions and dense, raw mana of the Tower’s interior on normal surface soil was an immense hurdle requiring expensive array setups and constant nutrient tuning.

Rowan gently picked up his container, observing the delicate violet veins running through the dormant husk. While his classmates were already frantically checking their text slates for artificial soil formulas, Rowan felt a quiet confidence beneath the brim of his Enchanted Straw Hat.

With twenty-five acres of newly expanded land at Sunny Vale, the divine creation power of [Breath of Eden], and the infinite restorative moisture of the Vessel of the Eternal Tide, he held the ultimate environment for nurturing exotic life. However, to turn in an authentic research paper for Professor Vane, Rowan knew he couldn’t just use his domain’s instant growth to skip the process; he would need to carefully document the plant’s natural acclimation and environmental shift step-by-step.

Rowan carefully slipped the glass vessel into his coat pocket and offered Professor Vane a respectful nod. "Understood, Professor. I’ll make sure this specimen thrives."