Book 3: Chapter 178: The Youth Who Gathers Herbs

While Sylutia was dining, a dust-covered figure pushed open the tavern door and stepped inside. He wore a cloak washed so many times it had faded to white, and his body was still wrapped in numerous bandages. It looked like he had just returned from an expedition.

"Noah, it's you! Were you injured again this time?" Quite a few people in the tavern recognized him and greeted him.

Nodding briefly, the young man walked toward the counter.

"Give me a bottle of Blood Wine, plus a portion of roast meat and two loaves of bread."

"Certainly, please wait a moment."

This order was rather unusual. Blood Wine here cost 2 gold coins per bottle, yet the roast meat and bread together amounted to no more than 1-2 silver coins, a stark contrast in value.

Afterward, Sylutia learned from the idle chatter in the tavern that this Second Tier youth named Noah had spent the past half year lingering around the outskirts of the Gloomy Forest. He seemed to have found some tricks to avoid those dangerous monsters.

With this advantage, he frequently went into the forest to gather herbs, then brought them back to turn in for missions and exchange for money.

Soon the Blood Wine and lunch were served. Noah looked at the Blood Wine before him, took a deep breath, twisted off the cap, and poured it down his throat.

The power of the Bloodline Aspect coursed and flowed through his body. He concentrated his spirit and, following his usual techniques, guided it to repair the wounds on his body and accelerate healing.

However, this process was extremely taxing on the mind, because what he practiced was the Gold Steam Aspect. He needed to forcibly suppress the Aspect of his own life force and carefully sense the Bloodline.

Since it was not his primary Aspect, guiding the Bloodline was exceedingly difficult for him, and he would also be interfered with by his own Gold Steam Aspect, like trying to move an iron needle next to a powerful magnet, needing to be careful not to be pulled away by the magnet.

After quite a while, the power within the Blood Wine was guided to his wounds to enhance healing, gradually depleting, and his forehead and back were drenched in sweat.

When it was over, he let out a breath of relief and began eating the lunch before him, calculating the gains from this expedition as he ate.

'4 plants of Amaranth Tooth Grass, 34 gold coins. 2 plants of Water Mist Flower, 26 gold coins. 7 stalks of Amber Skin Vine, 11 gold coins...'

'Adding it all up, that should be 104 gold coins. Subtracting the consumables purchased before departure and treatment costs, the surplus this time is roughly 57 gold coins.' He counted silently in his mind.

Still far from enough, he sighed.

If he wanted to advance, he needed to purchase the Copper-Gall School's Hot-Air Smelting Furnace core secret art and its accompanying texts, which would cost roughly 2000 gold coins, extremely expensive. In addition, he needed to prepare advancement-related resources, which Noah estimated would also cost over 2000 gold coins. Altogether, that was 4000 gold coins.

Generally speaking, a Second Tier Mage Apprentice working at a workshop or the guild could earn a monthly salary of about 8-10 gold coins. Even saving 100 gold coins a year, it would take 40 years to accumulate enough. Ordinary people simply could not wait that long, so any Mage Apprentice with even a bit of ambition would seek extra income, such as improving their skill level, taking on high-difficulty exploration missions, and so on.

Now Noah went to the Gloomy Forest every month to search for herbs, earning over 100 gold coins per month, but the price was constantly getting injured and risking death during expeditions. Yet if he could persist, in just over three years he could accumulate the resources needed for advancement.

As he ate lunch, he still felt a faint throbbing pain from the wound on his arm, left from a battle with a Corpse-Eating Rabbit. The creature's biting power was not strong, but its teeth carried a rotting toxin that required a 2 gold coin antidote and would affect his arm's dexterity for over ten days.

Thinking of this, his mood sank a little further. The time lost to recovery would likely yield no income, and he could only nurse his wounds, make some tools to replenish his supplies, and prepare for the next expedition.

Just then, he finished the bread in his hand and reached for the next one. His gaze inadvertently fell upon the young woman sitting by the windowsill in the distance. She wore a dress of interwoven green and white and was also dining, with a serene and elegant bearing.

Truly beautiful, Noah thought. Judging by her demeanor, she probably came from a good background. Even if she had failed to get into an advanced academy, she could still obtain her family's resources, reaching Second Tier at such a young age just like him.

Why was he so certain? Because he knew the rules of the advanced academies within the Mage Alliance. Those formidable schools were in no hurry to send students to the Shadow World for exploration and practical training. Instead, they would cultivate them to Third Tier, and only after thorough preparation would they permit entry here. So the Second Tier Transcendents one could see here were basically all those who had failed to get into an advanced academy.

Many wild mages who had not entered an advanced academy would enter the Shadow World to explore during their Second Tier period, solely to obtain high returns and gains, so they could accumulate the resources needed for advancement.

Currently, within the Mage Alliance's sphere of influence on the surface continents, most resources were occupied by organizations under various factions, making them difficult for those of lowly origins to access. Meanwhile, positions with better treatment and income were all occupied by elites cultivated by the academies. Wild mages with no foundation whatsoever simply could not compete, and their talents were mostly limited anyway.

After all, if someone truly had excellent talent, they would have long since gotten into an advanced academy and become one of those elites. Toward geniuses, the Mage Alliance was quite attentive and generous.

Although the Mage Alliance had worked hard to achieve relative fairness, there were still many Mage Apprentices yearning for advancement who could find no path forward, able only to go to the Shadow World and serve as expendable labor taking on missions, searching for resources in dangerous secret realms to satisfy their need to grow stronger.

Noah recalled his years of study and exploration, and felt a sudden sense of hardship. He did not know when he would be able to fulfill his childhood wish of becoming an official Third Tier mage. At that time, he probably would not need to risk his life exploring the Shadow World. He could find a position at a guild or a small nation on the surface continents, bring his family together, and live a prosperous and stable life.

Especially his little sister. She had just passed the exam this year and gone to Ximilye District to study. He heard that was the best place for education among the three major academy districts. If she could later get into an advanced academy, her future would be far more glorious than his own.

At this moment, hope and anticipation rose again in Noah's heart.

He still had to work hard. Perhaps his sister lacked money to buy experimental materials while studying there. He himself had suffered quite a bit because of that back then, often borrowing money from others, and his relationships with classmates had become quite awkward.

Various thoughts tumbled through his mind. He finished the lunch before him and was about to stand and leave when he seemed to think of something. His gaze turned once again toward the young woman beneath the windowsill. She was almost finished eating as well.

After pondering for a short while, he walked straight over.

Sylutia was sipping the soup in her bowl with a spoon in small mouthfuls. She had finished her main course and was almost done.

"Hello." A young man who appeared to be around twenty-eight walked up to her.

Nodding slightly, Sylutia was curious about what he wanted from her. There should not be anyone here who knew her. The classmates she had adventured with before had already returned to the academy.

"My name is Noah." After he said this, his expression froze slightly, as if captivated by those beautiful eyes, somewhat dazed.

After pausing for a few seconds, Noah snapped back to his senses, turned his gaze aside, and shook his head to clear it.

"Sorry about that." He apologized first, then continued speaking.

"I was hoping to find someone to team up with to gather herbs together. I wonder if you have time to come along."

"Actually, I used to always go alone, but after this injury, going alone again leaves me a bit short on strength."

"Don't worry about safety. I have practiced experience that lets me avoid Third Tier and above monsters, so we only need to face some First and Second Tier monsters. As long as we can gather herbs, this expedition will yield at least 50 gold coins or more." He rattled off a string of details.

So it was an invitation to team up. Sylutia roughly understood his intent. She glanced around the tavern. There were actually several Second Tier Transcendents here, and she did not know why he had chosen her.

When she asked, Noah replied in explanation: "I suppose I just felt you would be easy to get along with."

That reason was indeed quite sound. After all, the young woman before him was clearly the type with good upbringing and a gentle personality.

"Uh..." Sylutia was momentarily stumped by this answer. She lightly touched her brow with her finger, unsure what to say.

Her temper was not that fierce, so she could not say anything harsh to discourage him. Yet she also felt that agreeing solely on that basis would make her seem too easy to persuade, someone who could easily be taken advantage of.

Though taking a walk and seeing how this young man gathered herbs was an interesting prospect, she still could not agree so simply.

"Can you tell me how you avoid those dangerous monsters?" Sylutia asked curiously.

"That... it requires some techniques. I can teach you along the way." Noah thought it over. Even if he taught her, she might not be able to learn it. It had taken him quite a while to master it back then.

"Alright then, I will accompany you on this trip." It had been a long time since she had gone out for a stroll anyway. Sylutia nodded and agreed.