Chapter 155: Preparations Before The Adventure
Dinner was very pleasant, and the few people in the team got along quite relaxedly. Although everyone had different personalities, they were all pretty good.
After eating, the few sat in a corner of the bar hall, continuing to discuss this adventure operation.
“So Tiya hasn’t participated before?” Bona ate the snack fries in her arms, tilting her head curiously to inquire.
“Yes, I’ve been busy with gardener-related tasks before, and learning new abilities, so no time.” The maiden nodded.
“Sigh, no wonder you can advance at such a young age.” Among the five, Xilutiya was probably the youngest, though her height wasn’t short, just right in the middle of the five.
“Then I gotta give little Tiya a good rundown on knowledge, or if something happens on the road, it won’t be good.” Rodriguez, aka Bad Apple, flipped the dagger on his fingers, precisely peeling an apple, then dividing it into several pieces and handing them to everyone.
“First off, adventure should proceed step by step, don’t rush straight into completely unfamiliar and extremely dangerous areas all at once.”
“Best to follow veterans, it’s fine to earn less on the road, safety is key in the beginning.”
“Then there’s planning the route, which is very important.”
“We traverse the black-and-white Shadow World, like a brush painting over white paper, leaving traces, which consumes our own Nature Power and brings Twisted pollution from the Shadow World.”
“Luckily, the secret realms or borders we can access now are relatively shallow areas. As long as we watch not to accumulate too deep Twisted pollution and return to base in time to rest and purify, we can recover.”
“The danger line for this level is 30%. Generally, when approaching 20%, you need to consider returning as soon as possible.”
“According to the experience formula circulated in the association for years, every 1% pollution you get contaminated with reduces strength by 2%, because Twisted Nature gradually interferes with your ability performance.”
“At 30% pollution, it means your own strength drops by 60%, that’s why it’s especially dangerous.”
“To avoid this situation, we often choose the shortest and non-detour routes for adventure. If safe, we don’t backtrack, making the entire route like a Twisted loop back to the starting point.”
“Over these years, the association has accumulated many methods to overcome pollution or extend adventure paths. The simplest way is to raise your own rank. If a Fourth Order transcendent does our upcoming ‘Deep Forest Path’, he can easily kill through alone, but the gains along the way aren’t much use to him.”
“Next, bring some purification means, like specially made Holy Water, or professions with purification abilities. They can reduce pollution levels, greatly extend the adventure, and more easily handle enemies.”
“Finally, certain fortuitous encounters discoverable during adventure might help us restore stamina and purify pollution, but such things are chance encounters.”
“I understand.” Xilutiya had also read the Woodland Association manual before, but hadn’t realized this was so important.
“Just pay attention to the pollution issue. It’s like chronic poison—troublesome, but traceable, not too dangerous. What really causes massive deaths are the various strange creatures and phenomena in the Shadow World.”
“Twilight Sea is a product of the great war triggered by Alien Star erosion in the Seventh Epoch, a sea of monstrosities even the Star Lords of the Heavenly Courtyard struggle to resolve today. Twisted Nature has gradually polluted the Primordial Sea, and the source of all life Pulse Rhythms, ‘Blood Law’, is now connected to ‘Twisted’.”
“I heard that clearing powerful monstrous creatures in secret realms also brings rewards from the upper realm, i.e., the Heavenly Courtyard, but such things generally involve 6th Order or higher existences, which we at this stage don’t need to consider at all.”
“Subduing that kind of monster is often a task for an entire era, requiring countless heroic figures to succeed one after another.”
Seeing Xilutiya listening intently, this short captain clapped his hands.
“Hahaha, pretty yearning for that legendary scene, right? I was the same before, listening to those poets tell grand epic-like stories, getting all hot-blooded, often unable to sleep for a night.”
“But things must be taken step by step. First pass the small hurdles we face today, then we can appreciate higher scenery.”
“Alright, that’s it for tonight. Go back and sleep. Tomorrow Xilutiya comes with us to procure some adventure supplies, and the day after we set off.”
After it ended, it was already late. Xilutiya nodded, got up and returned upstairs, simply washed up, then lay on the bed and fell asleep.
The night passed peacefully.
The next morning, birds chirped outside the window, and Xilutiya rubbed her eyes awake.
Actually she was still a bit sleepy, but had an appointment with everyone yesterday, so she slowly sat up, washed up, then went downstairs. By now, quite a few people were having breakfast in the hall.
“Tiya~ come here.” Bona stood up, waving enthusiastically to her. The other two sat beside her.
Walking over, Xilutiya saw that the black-haired wizard hadn’t come yet, while Bad Apple and Yarn were almost done with breakfast.
“Karl probably stayed up late again last night, refining his potion powder in his room or reading or something.”
Sure enough, soon the wizard with heavy dark circles slowly came downstairs, looking not fully awake.
“Come over.” Bad Apple beside him called, then this black-haired wizard sat on the chair and closed his eyes again.
“Eat, Karl.” Bona placed sliced apple pie in front of him.
“Thanks.” He spoke with eyes closed, napped a bit more, then reluctantly opened his eyes and slowly ate the food.
“Ignore him, Tiya, how’s breakfast today?” Bona’s gaze shifted to the black-haired maiden nearby.
“Mm, very tasty.” The maiden nodded slightly.
【Apple Pie】（Excellent）: Even ordinary ingredients, in the hands of an excellent chef, burst with delicious flavor and provide ample nutrients.
Though the ingredients were very ordinary, the nutrition and taste were no different from general ‘Excellent Grade’ food. No wonder Bona was so popular in the team.
Name: Bona
Race: Human（Mortal Body）
Status: Healthy（No Anomalies）
Talent: Ingredient Perception【Excellent Grade】, innately sensitive to food attributes and traits, a genius seedling as a chef.
Fate Card: 【Traveling Chef Apprentice】（Second Order·Golden Steam）
‘A chef apprentice who has mastered various cooking techniques can make good use of all sorts of strange ingredients.’
–
Effect【Ingredient Activation Lv.4】: Precise grasp and control of ingredients lets you excellently stimulate their traits and nutrients, making the finished food quality +2.（Ordinary ingredients max +2 quality）
–
Class【Chef Apprentice Lv.4】: Formed class, masters multiple cooking techniques, just right.（Ingredient Analysis·Dissection Lv.4）
Ability Card: 【Baking Method Lv.4（Golden Steam）】, 【Ingredient Harmonization Lv.3（Emerald Honey）】, 【High-Temperature Furnace Fire Lv.2（Golden Steam）】
——
So it seems the chef path Bona chose is a higher profession than baker, just like wizard or gardener—only after entering Third Order can it be considered a proper transcendent ‘chef’.
The group finished breakfast and headed to the streets of the town.
Along the way, the accompanying teammates explained the uses of various props to Xilutiya, the newbie: special windproof candles, dawn wind torches to dispel mist, dome crystal powder to purify water, crescent clocks to discern direction, detox potions, sleeping tent packs, special Holy Water to purify pollution, signal arrows for aid, incendiary powder, and so on.
Along the way, they basically talked nonstop. Luckily this maiden had amazing memory and didn’t call to stop, listening all the way through.
“Got it and remembered, Tiya?”
“If not remembered it’s fine, everyone starts out confused like this. After a few adventures, it becomes natural, haha.”
After buying the things, the few exchanged notes on future combat procedures, various hand signals, etc., then returned to rest.
At night, Xilutiya lay in bed, a bit unable to sleep.
Perhaps because her first secret realm adventure was finally starting, like fulfilling the fantasies from playing games as a kid, especially anticipated.
Hugging the pillow and tossing and turning in bed, only after a long while did this maiden, with her messy hair, slowly enter dreamland.
