The Cornflower Witch

Book 2: Chapter 4: The Spring of Hiltiya

Vol 2 Chapter 4 The Spring of Hiltiya

After temporarily sealing 【Aromatherapy Lv.1】, Sylutia continued to study her 【Star】 talent. Recalling the swarm of bees she had sealed in the Shadow World earlier, she kept rummaging through her cards. Finally, in a corner of her Fate Card, she found that fragile card 【Bees and Nighttime Flowerbed】(First Tier · Alien Star · Insect Moth).

'At night, white bees flit through the illusory cornflower bed like fireflies, as if in a dream.'

This card maintained a delicate balance. She had only barely managed to seal those white bees at the time. If she wanted to command the swarm like the black cat did, she was still far from capable.

At least 'Second Tier' or above would be needed, the girl sensed.

After reinforcing the seal once more, Sylutia hid this card beneath the flowerbed within her Fate Card, ignoring it for now, and then opened her eyes.

Currently, she possessed two abilities: 【Lunar Radiance Breathing Technique Lv.3】 and 【Flower Blooming Method Lv.2】. The Flower Blooming Method's progress was slow, primarily because her Aspect tier wasn't high enough. She probably needed to reach 'Second Tier · Verdant Nectar' to continue improving the 'Flower Blooming Method'.

As for 【Lunar Radiance Breathing Technique Lv.3】, she hadn't yet reached her limit with it. It was just that she had been quite busy recently and hadn't settled down to explore and train it properly.

I should take this time to properly sort things out, Sylutia thought.

At noon, after eating some baked biscuits at home, Sylutia went to the stable.Over the past ten-plus days, she had already established a familiar relationship with the three horses. Hearing her footsteps, the mare continued eating her fodder, only nudging Sylutia slightly with her head as she approached.

The other two ponies were much more enthusiastic and energetic. They trotted over to Sylutia's side with light steps, bumping against her from time to time, occasionally even licking her fingers with their tongues, probably hoping to get some tasty treats from this young lady.

"The carrots from before are all gone," the girl shook her head. She didn't have any carrots to feed them right now.

However, remembering she still had some turnips, she went and cut a few pieces of turnip to feed the two little ones.

While watching the two ponies eat the turnips from her hand, Sylutia carefully observed their condition.

【Lakeshore Foal】：A not-yet-grown Lakeshore Horse, healthy and energetic.

I wonder if horses can learn breathing techniques, Sylutia suddenly thought, resting her finger lightly on her chin.

Leading the brown and black ponies out, Sylutia put a saddle on the brown pony, hung the lantern on it, and then mounted it herself. Her weight was light, making it a good match for this pony.

Feeling someone on its back, the brown pony was a bit uncomfortable. Fortunately, after Sylutia soothed it for a while, it continued walking. Seeing this, the little black pony curiously followed behind, occasionally nipping at the brown pony's tail, then walking beside Sylutia's leg, its warm tongue licking her clothes.

Riding the horse, Sylutia strolled through the valley, constantly moving forward, closer to the inner part of the valley plain.

After walking a distance, the weeds underfoot noticeably grew deeper, reaching past the pony's legs. If Sylutia were walking in the grass, it would probably reach her chest.

There were no signs of large animals here. After walking for a long time, all she saw were birds occasionally flying across the sky.

Just as Sylutia wanted to continue exploring, the brown pony beneath her stopped. It snorted anxiously, bending its head down into the grass, as if trying to bite something.

"What's wrong?" Sylutia nimbly jumped down and parted the grass to take a closer look.

Several strange, twisted weeds were tangled around the brown pony's hoof. Their tips, like thin snakes, had burrowed under its fur, seemingly sucking its blood.

Seeing these bizarre weeds, Sylutia frowned, then took down the lantern hanging from the saddle.

An invisible wave of flame washed over, flattening and scattering the surrounding weeds. Then she drew her short sword and precisely cut through the tangled weeds, drawing out a few threads of blood.

【Distorted Weird Grass】：Strange wild grass tainted by the Distortion Aspect. Actively entangles passing creatures to suck their blood.

After helping the pony free itself from the tangled weeds, she gripped the lantern again. Invisible flames continuously spread, burning the surrounding weeds, setting them ablaze, and raising large plumes of bluish smoke.

The thick, dense weeds here held moisture, making igniting them no easy task.

The firepower isn't enough, the girl shook her head slightly, then pressed the button on the lantern. Several drops of high-concentration Verdant Dew Water dripped into the flower's stamen, and the wave of flames at her side rapidly expanded, becoming more ferocious and surging with heat.

Ripples of invisible orange flame continuously spread from Sylutia's feet, burning the surrounding weeds, finally revealing the scorched, ash-covered soil. The two ponies hid beside the girl, curiously watching this scene.

Afterwards, Sylutia mounted the horse again and continued walking through the woods and grass.

The further in she went, the dimmer the light became. The air was quiet, as if strange creatures could rush out from the dark corners at any moment.

However, none did. Sylutia moved her gaze, carefully examining and observing this stretch of woods. She found no traces of any large animals, just as the several Patrol Cavalrymen had said—this place had indeed been thoroughly cleared inside and out.

It seems the Association's people are quite meticulous and reliable, she thought.

Although there were no large animals, she discovered quite a few rabbits and field mice, but these animals posed little threat.

After patrolling the entire valley, she felt much more at ease, then turned back, leading the two ponies to her residence.

Removing the saddle and letting the two little ones return to their mother's side, Sylutia went back to rest on the second floor of the stone house.

Two days later, the planted wheat began to sprout. Tender new shoots appeared in the black soil, arranged in rows of verdant green.

【Wheat】(Deficiency -21)：Due to contamination by the Distortion Aspect, growth is difficult. Without intervention and change, it will wither and die in five days.

As expected, with both the soil and water problematic, cultivating crops was extremely difficult. Sylutia had already anticipated this in her heart.

But how to solve these problems? Looking at the wheat, Sylutia became thoughtful.

To expel the Distortion Aspect, one could use abilities from the 'Castle' path to isolate and dispel the erosion of other Aspects. That would work, but it also had drawbacks. Because it wouldn't just isolate the 'Distortion' Aspect; auxiliary growth Aspects like 'Verdant Nectar' and 'Blazing Sun' would also be suppressed.

The end result would be that the crops in the estate could at most be cultivated to 'Good' quality, and it would be very difficult to advance further to 'Excellent'.

If she failed, and this valley never found a suitable gardener to cultivate it, the final outcome would be handing it over to the scholars of White Stone Fortress. They would spend effort designing it, erecting high walls and stone pillars, turning it into a small estate that produced some grain to supply the fortress.

The cost wouldn't be low, and the value of the crops produced, after offsetting the expenses, wouldn't leave much. Therefore, the Association and the White Stone Fortress authorities wouldn't do this unless absolutely necessary.

So, besides 'Castle', are there other 'Aspects' that can deal with 'Distortion' relatively well?

'Blazing Sun' can incinerate and eliminate 'Distortion' things very well, but it cannot be used for cultivation.

'Dragon Eye' is the scale armor of the world, it can resist the erosion of 'Distortion', but cannot eliminate it.

'Luminous Moon' is a symbol of clarity and purity, it can purify 'Distortion' pollution, but has difficulty cleansing the source.

The source of it all, where does the root of 'Distortion' come from? It is the impact of otherworldly laws and power on this world.

Walking amidst the black soil of the world, waves of thoughts rose in Sylutia's mind.

Anyway, she was the only one in this valley. She didn't need any disguise or worry, so she lifted her restrictions and revealed her latent 【Alien Star】 Aspect.

Strange starlight flickered and vanished in her eyes. Then she released her perception. Invisible ripples swept across this land.

The gaps in the grassy fields, the dewdrops beneath leaves, the particles in the soil, the impurities and gravel underground...

Her perception continuously seeped downward, extending deeper into the dark earth, sensing the increasingly obvious power of the 'Distortion' Aspect underground.

Originally, she thought such 'Distortion' things would always have an end. But she didn't expect that after truly letting go completely, she only felt that this valley she was in, this plain, and even this Shadow World, were all built upon a boundless abyss of distortion, with no end to the abyss in sight.

Deeper than the deep, there was only more profound darkness, a twisted abyss whose end her current mental power couldn't reach.

Finally, Sylutia withdrew her mental perception, lightly supporting her forehead with some fatigue, using the coolness of her fingers to slightly clear her consciousness.

Well then, looking at it this way, it's simply impossible to completely eliminate it. Thinking carefully, it makes sense. Back then, gathering all the world's power to fight the descended Alien Star, countless indescribable otherworldly creatures fell into this abyssal sea. Even multiple Hours perished in the great war. If the source could truly be easily eliminated, there wouldn't have been a need for the great serpent to lift the continents and traverse the boundless Twilight Sea.

Such a historical problem was simply not something she could solve now.

So, she should think of other methods, like using the power of 'Luminous Moon' to purify this land.

It seemed she couldn't just ignore 'Luminous Moon'. Since that was the case, she would use the vacant Ability Card slot to learn a 'Luminous Moon' ability.

But this way, her identity as a 【Verdant Nectar】 gardener felt a bit inauthentic. If someone mentioned, Sylutia, as a Transcendent of the 【Verdant Nectar】 Aspect, you must have learned many abilities from the 【Verdant Nectar】 path, right?

At that time, she would probably have to awkwardly reply that she had actually only learned one 【Flower Blooming Method】, and used the rest to learn 【Luminous Moon】.

Possessing multiple Aspects wasn't strange in itself. But to truly achieve fusion and balance, one needed at least Fifth Tier or above. Attempting it at low tiers often meant neglecting both ends, hindering progress instead, with mutual interference and disruption making it difficult to advance.

The founding monarch of the Winter Kingdom only completely balanced two major Aspects at the Sixth Tier, successfully advancing to the professional class of 'Sixth Tier - Slumbering Winter · Castle', the 'Winter Crown Knight'.

Originally, she had also planned to continue learning abilities from the 'Verdant Nectar' path next. But now, it seemed she had to change her plans.

Returning to the meditation room, Sylutia sat on the soft cushion, closed her eyes, and sensed the depths of her consciousness. The book 『Meleranke Praying in the Lake』 opened once more.

The deeds of the founder of the 'Silver Radiance Church' surfaced in her mind again, and she began searching for certain traces within the historical legends.

...

Two days later, Sylutia finally made a discovery and gradually began attempting to reproduce the legendary power.

'Pestilence ravaged the city, corpses piled by the roadside, well water was polluted, the stench of rot was everywhere, cries and wails gradually dried up, leaving only numb death.

The Mad Crow Riot had not yet ended...

I followed that lord, walking through streets filled with gray smoke and despair. Seeing the Silver Radiance Saint's eyes filled with compassion and sorrow, I wept alongside her.

...

For sixteen days, our companions brought clear spring water from the mountains, gathering it in the clean white stone pool. That flawless saint bathed and changed clothes, then stepped into the water step by step. She prayed under the moonlight, layers of intangible moonlight descending.

We sang the ancient prayer song, beseeching the Elder of the Moon, the eternally pure deity.

The Luminous Moon manifested, filling the pool with pure power.

...

The clean spring water washed our bodies, carrying away the black evil of pestilence, dispelling the intangible distortion.

We thanked the saint for her benevolence and greatness, wishing that the figure under the silver radiance would shine forever.

Thus, the Mad Crow Riot welcomed a turning point of hope...'

The book recorded the experience of the 'Silver Radiance Saint' Meleranke quelling the 'Mad Crow Riot' at the end of the Eighth Era. This was Meleranke's first significant impact on the world at that time. After this event concluded, the 'Silver Radiance Church' she led and established gradually expanded, establishing branches everywhere, step by step becoming a powerful and influential organization.

Clear spring water... Sylutia pondered.

Legends could be interpreted in many ways and extended into many concepts. If she wanted to create purifying water potent enough to dispel distortion, she probably needed clear spring water as a base.

But in a sense, one could also reverse-engineer based on the legend to obtain clear spring water in this way.

('Meleranke' Legend Comprehension +12)

As if a lightbulb of inspiration lit up, Sylutia began attempting to recreate the scene recorded in the book, whether it was the setting, the state of mind, or the necessary steps.

She first bathed and changed clothes, putting on that pure white dress she wore when she first awoke, then went to the poolside at night.

Bathing in the moonlight, she began to pray. However, she did not beseech the 'Luminous Moon' Hour, because during the period recorded in the book, it was still the 'Dream Master', the Silver Moon Dragon, who governed the Luminous Moon. And the current 'Fantasy Black Rabbit' was particularly unfamiliar to her.

She could only pray to the intangible moonlight. To strengthen this wish and self-suggestion in her heart, the silver-haired girl stepped barefoot into the pool, half-kneeling in the water, eyes closed, hands clasped together, softly singing a song that matched her current mood.

『In the light of hope』

『The waiting moment』

『The slumbering heart is gradually awakened』

『I will sing by your ear』

...

『Singing songs of gratitude for the blessings she brought us』

『And the endless power that brings growth to all things』

『(Longingly) I devoutly pray for hope』

『(Earnestly) Requesting it to reach my heart』

『I pray for the light of hope』

...

『(Sincerely) I beseech you to listen to my soul』

『Descend once more』

The girl's clear, pure song was carried by the gentle breeze, blowing towards the silent valley, this world still shrouded in darkness.

This remote corner of the world, where no one expected or paid attention.

Her song was sung once. The pitch-black world did not change at all.

But she did not give up. The gentle song was sung a second time, the voice even softer.

...

The third rendition of the song sounded again, echoing in the wind, scattering into the dark earth, silent.

The chirping of insects continued, the distorted grassy fields in the mountains still grew wantonly, the intangible affliction still imprisoned this land.

...

The seventh rendition of the song sounded. The girl did not stop; even the emotion in her song still held expectation and tenderness.

She believed she could not give up so easily.

...

The twelfth rendition of the song sounded. Her voice trembled and wavered a bit; even she felt weary.

But it was not yet time to admit defeat. The girl recalled everything she had learned, trying hard to remember the scenes depicted in the book.

...

The seventeenth rendition of the song sounded. She no longer believed that intangible radiance or spirits would respond to her.

At this moment, she could only believe in everything she perceived, using the scenes from her memories to awaken her imagination of the distant future.

She longed for a peaceful and stable world, because she had suffered trauma in her childhood and understood the details of that pain.

Gentleness is born from scars; understanding is born from the process of perceiving pain.

Pale goodwill is merely a hypocritical cloak for gaining fame and fortune. True empathy must be a resonance of similar sorrow.

...

『Once more』

『(Sincerely) I hope we can be together』

『Praying for the cry of life』

『(Earnestly) I hope we can sing』

『That it may resound once more』

...

This time, faint points of light finally appeared in the gentle breeze, like fireflies dancing in the grassy fields.

Though tiny, these faint points of light responded to the girl's prayer, beginning to truly manifest.

Like returning wanderers, they swayed gently in the wind, drifting across the sky and earth of this valley.

Some points of light fell upon the silver-haired girl. An intangible halo appeared, spreading out from her as the center to the area around the pool.

(New ability 'Sylutia's Purified Water', successfully condensed)

Points of light danced across the sky, transforming into a gentle vortex, slowly converging into the pool beside the girl, purifying the distortion within it. A faint halo appeared on the clear water.

(Ability advanced, 'Sylutia's Clear Spring', successfully condensed)

【Sylutia's Clear Spring】(Luminous Moon)：Clear spring water imbued with purifying power. Can be used for watering, washing, and cleansing pollution brought by Aspects such as 'Distortion' and 'Dead Embers'. (Because you are the originator of this ability, the extent you can achieve is the limit of this ability)