Chapter 151: Fir Black Forest
After learning new abilities, Xilutiya came to the association to purchase seeds.
“Welcome, we offer a variety of plant seeds for Gardener combat,” introduced a cute girl with a smile to Xilutiya.
“First are the most commonly used ‘Sickle Thorn Vine’, ‘Bloodthirsty Vine’, and ‘Thick Wood Vine’, which respectively possess poison thorn, blood absorption, and toughness ability effects.”
“Sickle Thorn Vine can directly kill some weak enemies with its poison thorns. If your ‘Vine Growth’ ability is strong enough, you can also use its sharp sickle-like serrations to cut through enemy scales.”
“‘Bloodthirsty Vine’ can continuously absorb enemy blood to strengthen itself and bind enemies; it is currently the best-selling vine seed.”
“The branches of ‘Thick Wood Vine’ are thick and tough. It is rather slow and difficult to bind small enemies, but when encountering some giant wild beasts or monsters, it will be a helpful tool to trap enemies and save lives.”
After listening to the girl’s introduction, Xilutiya carefully examined the seeds offered. The price here was one gold coin for five seeds, indicating they were likely cultivated by specialized Gardeners.
However, the maiden’s gaze shifted to another area, where the marked seed prices were noticeably higher.
“Are you interested in this one? I can introduce it to you,” the other person walked over.
“This is ‘Demonic Blood Vine’, an advancement of ‘Bloodthirsty Vine’. It not only absorbs enemy blood but can also convert its ‘Blood Law’ nature, condensing ‘Blood Red Fruit’ to strengthen the physique. Currently, a normal quality ‘Blood Red Fruit’ in the woodland sells for about 1 gold coin.”
“The seed with black thread patterns on the other side is ‘Corpse Seeking Vine’. It can sense the faint ‘Death Ash’ aura in the soil, used to find places of remains. This is often used for treasure hunting in dangerous exploration areas.”
“This gray one here is ‘Iron Thorn Vine’, a hybrid of ‘Sickle Thorn Vine’ and ‘Thorn Whip Vine’. It allows the vine to be used like a whip and, by providing its own nature power, causes the whip to continuously recover, grow, and increase in strength and power.”
“‘Demonic Blood Vine’ and ‘Corpse Seeking Vine’ are both 1 gold coin per seed, while ‘Iron Thorn Vine’ is 3 gold coins per seed.”
After seeing these seeds, Xilutiya was quite tempted. Since she was not short on money now, she bought some of each.
10 ‘Sickle Thorn Vine’, 10 ‘Bloodthirsty Vine’, 5 ‘Thick Wood Vine’, 10 ‘Demonic Blood Vine’, 3 ‘Corpse Seeking Vine’, and 3 ‘Iron Thorn Vine’, totaling 27 gold coins.
Afterwards, she bought some special grass seeds.
‘Blade Thorn Grass’, which can bloom tiny thorns from within an enemy’s body, puncturing blood vessels.
‘Dew Condensing Grass’, which can absorb moisture from the air and soil, providing relatively clean Clear Water.
‘Withered Leaf Grass’, which can grow quickly and dry its leaves, becoming excellent tinder.
These cost nearly 10 gold coins.
Once prepared, she intended to acquire a new weapon for herself, planning to buy a longbow. Upon hearing her request, an association staff member told the maiden not to rush the purchase, as someone would craft a weapon specifically for her once her evaluation rewards came in.
“If you are in urgent need, you can try this bow first,” the other person handed the maiden a black, precise Compound Longbow.
【Ebony Compound Longbow 】（Second Order · Excellent）: A Compound Longbow crafted from special ebony wood and precision parts, allowing for very effortless drawing and maintaining the bowstring’s state, greatly increasing accuracy. The bow features a special process that can imbue arrows with a ‘penetration’ effect. （Accuracy +3, ‘Penetration +1’）
This bow was not heavy in her hand. The force required to draw the bow was evenly distributed, making it unnecessary to exert much effort to maintain aim, resulting in a very comfortable experience with excellent feel, as if it were precisely calibrated. With a slight aim, the target could be hit.
“Thank you.” Taking the bow, Xilutiya thought for a moment, then found the uncle in the Blacksmith Street and asked him to craft the Golden Gleam Long Saber.
After spending half a day, Xilutiya described her requirements to him, constantly adjusting the saber’s model and feel in the shop. She used a wooden model to test the effect of swinging the saber. Finally, she made slight adjustments based on her memory of Agrun’s height and arm length, settling on the final shape.
“First, craft one for my friend. Here is a 50 gold coin deposit,” she decided to have him craft one first to test its effectiveness.
The blacksmith, named Oken Ash Mountain, patted his chest and cheerfully agreed.
After finishing these tasks, Xilutiya could finally begin her first adventure. Since it was time for alfalfa to fatten up in the valley, she didn’t need to personally supervise it, making it a good opportunity to go out.
As it was her first time, she chose a low-danger area to familiarize herself with the process.
…
Before departing, Xilutiya sat in front of the dressing mirror to style her hair. Considering that her first adventure should be as smooth as possible, she decided to keep a low profile and dyed her hair a subtle black. Her attire was the fitted Light Armor distributed in the supplies.
This form-fitting Dark Brown Light Armor perfectly accentuated the healthy curves of the maiden’s body. The black skirt below covered the portion above her knees, and paired with the over-the-knee socks, it revealed a bit of fair skin. However, the side and back panels of the skirt were longer, only exposing her calves, making her appear light and agile.
‘It seems I’ve completely changed,’ looking at the beautiful black-haired girl in the mirror, someone seeing her for the first time might think she was an Elf who had just emerged from the forest.
Her eyes were clear and lively, her body agile yet slender, as if she could leap to a treetop with a slight jump.
After putting on the Light Armor and Boots, and finally donning the fitted fingerless Gloves, she picked up the Ebony Compound Bow. The maiden glanced back at the mirror; the black-clad girl within resembled a capable Ranger.
Well, her abilities were indeed very practical for reconnaissance as a Ranger.
Lastly, she hung the Jade Wood Spirit Sword at her waist and slung the Compound Bow into the quiver on her back. Thus, a maiden in adventurer’s attire was freshly made.
Arriving at the ‘Golden Plain’ teleportation array, after presenting her badge and identification, the hosting Wizard nodded and asked where she wished to go.
“Each teleportation costs 20 points, so please choose carefully.”
That’s a bit expensive. Many students only earned about 20 points a month, so a round trip would cost 40 points.
Recalling the woodland information she had researched during this period, Xilutiya chose a region of medium danger level.
“Take me to the ‘Fir Black Forest’.”
“Alright, please stand in the center of the pool,” the Wizard adjusted the star chart of the array and instructed an assistant to calibrate and verify.
“Destination, ‘Fir Black Forest’ Beg Town.”
After speaking, the pool began to glow with a strange luminescence, and then a faint beam of light rose, connecting to the Earth above the clouds.
Above the clouds where the Giant Serpents writhed, the vast Continent slowly moved above the cloud tops, a faint, imperceptible halo shone upon it, then reflected again, casting into the shadows below.
Everything around began to blur. After waiting for a few seconds, her vision returned, and Xilutiya found herself beneath the shade of a giant tree canopy.
The trunk of this colossal tree, about twenty meters tall, had a canopy that blocked the sky, leaving only a few gaps. Threads of sunlight pierced into the woodland. Thick tree roots extended outwards from the base of the trunk in all directions; some encircled the pool, and one root was even submerged in the pool water.
A faint halo flickered from time to time, and occasionally, other people appeared in the pool like Xilutiya, then stepped out.
Feeling the cool aura in the air, Xilutiya stepped out of the pool with curiosity. A Wooden Plaque stood erected at the exit of the teleportation pool.
Fir Black Forest ~ ‘Beg Town’
—Explored by ‘Borisen’, ‘Shera’, and ‘Muling’ in the year 1427 of the Covenant Epoch.
