Chapter 14: The Gardener’s Path
Xilutiya and Talil did not squeeze under the crowded bulletin board, but watched from afar, listening to the discussions of the people present. At this point, the maiden had also roughly scanned the personnel in the guild.
There were 6 adventurers who had reached First Order Nature, and most of the others also knew Breathing Technique or other abilities, not completely ordinary people. It seemed that knowing Breathing Technique was the most basic requirement to become an adventurer.
Currently, Xilutiya’s Breathing Technique had already advanced, reaching the second stage.
【Breathing Technique Lv.2】（Blood Law）: By regulating the flow rate of blood through breathing, it drives and enhances the power and reaction speed of the entire body. This ability places a burden on the heart and body, and cannot be used for a long time（Recommended not to exceed 3 minutes/day）; （Progress 21/600）
Currently, she still had not encountered the bottleneck mentioned by Frien. Each training session of ‘Breathing Technique’ granted +5 progress, and moreover, due to the training of Breathing Technique, her physical fitness had improved considerably over this half a month. Now she could practice 4 times a day, which was +20 progress per day. At this rate, she would enter the third stage of Breathing Technique in about a month.
Upon entering the third stage, she would have to stop. If she continued to practice, her Fate Nature would likely directly advance to （First Order – Blood Law）, which was not the result she wanted.
As for Sword Technique and Spear Technique, they were currently at ‘Basic Sword Technique Lv.4’ and ‘Basic Spear Technique Lv.4’ respectively. The proficiency gained from practice increased slowly. Xilutiya guessed that to further improve these two skills, she would need to gain experience through actual combat.
At noon, many people went to eat, and the adventurer hall also became slightly idle and quiet.
Xilutiya walked to the front desk and asked: “Excuse me, is there a girl named Mailin here?”
Hearing the maiden ask this, the chestnut-haired front desk miss behind the counter looked strange and carefully examined this hooded maiden for a while before answering.
“I am Mailin. And you are?” She was sure she did not know this one.
“I came from Fir Village. Previously, an accident caused me to get lost in the forest, and I lost some memories. Now I have come to Jiaoshi City seeking some help. This is the letter of introduction from Mister Frien.” She handed over the letter she had prepared in her arms.
Opening the envelope and seeing the familiar handwriting on it, Mailin’s expression softened, and the previous suspicion disappeared.
“Ah, so you are Uncle Frien’s acquaintance. Hmm, he praised Miss Tiya a lot in the letter and asked me to take good care of you.” Mailin read out the general idea on it.
“It’s not convenient to talk here. Come this way. By the way, this is Talil, right?” She actually knew this wild girl.
“You actually know me.” Talil was also full of disbelief.
“Hehe, of course. As the front desk of the Adventurer’s Guild, the first thing is to have a good memory.” Mailin winked and led the two to a room on the side of the hall to sit.
“As soon as Uncle Frien mentioned Fir Village, I thought of Old Man Pond, and you are his granddaughter, so I guessed it right away.” Mailin explained.
“Is Grandfather so famous?” Sitting by the small round table, Talil propped up her head, feeling a bit happy and proud.
“Old Man Pond is a famous figure on record in the Jiaoshi City Adventurer’s Guild, and he is also the only legend still alive today.” Mailin shook her head slightly to explain, indicating that he was no ordinary person.
“Many adventurers come to the guild, but those who can stay in this line for more than ten years are few and far between.”
“Adventurers do make a lot of money, but there are also many dangers and accidents. Many either die on tasks or have to quit this line after suffering serious injuries.” Mailin sighed.
“Then, if an adventurer is very strong, they should be able to overcome various dangers and be safe, right?” Talil fantasized about her future.
“Rarely. If an adventurer’s strength reaches Third Order or above, they basically won’t do this anymore.” Mailin brought simple tea water for the two.
“A Third Order Transcendent is enough to become a powerful knight, pledge loyalty to some noble, and obtain a small fiefdom.”
“If it’s other professions, they can also join some large organizations to gain high status, without having to rush around every day like adventurers, with no fixed abode.” She sat down in front of the two.
“You came today because you are interested in being adventurers?”
“Yes.” Xilutiya thought for a moment and roughly explained her situation.
“I see. If Miss Tiya does not want to rely directly on her appearance to enjoy life, then she needs to find a profession to make a living. Fortunately, I have the most intelligence here.” Mailin cleverly winked.
“Since it is a recommendation from Uncle Frien, Miss Tiya must have been recognized and praised by him in some aspects. I know his personality quite well.”
“The Apothecary Guild that Miss Tiya mentioned before is indeed a very good choice, but becoming an apothecary is not simple.” She shook her head slightly.
“First.” She raised a finger.
“You need to learn to identify, select, and handle various herbs. These things are very trivial, and the records in books are often incomplete.”
“Secondly, if you do not know ‘Scent Method’, it will be hard to go far in the apothecary path.”
“As the name suggests, ‘Scent Method’ uses the sense of smell to distinguish the medicinal properties of herbs, the degree of boiling in potions, the effects after reactions, and so on.”
“Just like not everyone can learn ‘Breathing Technique’, learning ‘Scent Method’ also depends on talent.”
“If you can do the first two, you should be able to become an ordinary apothecary apprentice, join the Apothecary Guild, and then make some common potions to make a living.”
“But to truly become an apothecary, you also need to learn ‘Harmony Method’. This is a more complex ability than ‘Scent Method’ that can harmonize and extract the ‘Nature’ from materials, allowing the creation of special potions above ‘First Order’.”
“Currently in Jiaoshi City, there are only four apothecaries who know ‘Harmony Method’. They are the elites of the Apothecary Guild, and the potions they make are mostly not circulated on the market. Only a small portion of treatment and antidote potions are sold to adventurers.
“So, I suggest Miss Tiya temporarily hold off on becoming an apothecary and aim for gardener instead.”
“An ordinary gardener only needs to learn to care for and prune flowers and grass. If it’s a professional gardener, they need to learn the cultivation ability of ‘Emerald Honey’ Nature. They can cultivate high-quality flowers and grass, vegetables and fruits, even rare flowers and trees containing the power of ‘Nature’.”
“There is no clear superiority between the two, but a gardener’s work is relatively relaxed, and Miss Tiya will have more time to do other things.”
“For you, the current work is just a transition, right?” Mailin, as the front desk of the Adventurer’s Guild, had seen much and knew that this maiden would not be limited here forever.
She did not pay too much attention to the difficulties of becoming an apothecary that Mailin mentioned before, but when Mailin mentioned the time aspect, Xilutiya took it to heart.
Indeed, if she studied under Scholar Heide, most of her time would be spent learning knowledge, and moreover, becoming an apothecary required two ability card slots. If both were used up, there would be no spare to learn other abilities later.
Whether in terms of time and energy, or reasonable planning of ability cards, ‘gardener’ was the better choice.
“It seems I need to be a florist for a while.” The maiden ran her fingers through the hair in front of her and lifted her head.
“I wonder if Sister Mailin can guide me on how to get started?” Her soft and pleasant voice made even Mailin stunned for a few seconds.
“Not becoming a songstress is truly some kind of regret.” She shook her head.
“How to get started? That’s a small matter. I can help you get a classic book from a well-known gardener in the city. I am somewhat familiar with Madam Fran. It’s just that ordinary people do not know of her existence.”
“As for thanks, no need to be in a hurry. Just live your life well first, Tiya.
