The Cornflower Witch

Book 2: Chapter 15: Ordinary Life

Vol 2 Chapter 15 Ordinary Life

Glittergold Plains, outside White Stone Fortress, riverside farm.

"Luxi, how have you been lately?"

Two young apprentices ran into each other and began chatting in the fields.

"Not bad, finally approaching harvest." A youth with short blond hair answered. His name was Luxi, and he had been in the Hidden Grove for four years.

"This time we should be able to cultivate wheat of excellent quality." He looked at the broad swath of golden wheat at the field's edge, feeling a strong sense of accomplishment.

"Impressive, Luxi. I heard even the soil near the fortress has slight contamination, making cultivation very difficult." His companion complimented him.

"Yes, that contamination is a real hassle to deal with." Luxi shook his head.

"Every so often you have to buy special Foundation Powder to scatter under the soil to block the contamination from rising, then pay students with the Blazing Sun Aspect to use flame-like abilities to burn the topsoil, reducing the contamination to a lower coefficient. Only then can you plant."

"With that whole process, if the wheat quality doesn't reach excellent, you'll lose money.""I remember you were assigned twenty mu of land, right?" his companion recalled.

"That's right. Land near the fortress is scarce. I was lucky to be under a decent teacher, so I got a bit more. Ordinary apprentices probably only get about fifteen mu." Luxi replied.

"What about going farther outside the city? I heard the association encourages expansion."

"The places you mentioned, sure. If you go far outside the city, I should be able to easily get fifty mu to tend." Luxi nodded.

"But the pollution outside the city is too bad. A senior tried it before—he was already Second Tier · Verdant Nectar—but reclaiming new land outside remained extremely difficult. Whether pollution or pest and disease infestations, all your previous efforts could evaporate in an instant."

"In the end he couldn't handle the blow and just left to try developing elsewhere."

"Actually, staying by the city is quite good. First, you can enter the city anytime and communicate with many apprentices your age. Don't underestimate that. It spares us a lot of detours and lets us learn market trends in time to earn more."

"Also, the fields by the city are already mature in development. Previous seniors left many tried-and-true solutions. With patience and a bit of talent, you can probably cultivate excellent wheat in a few years."

"The Glittergold Plains wheat is famous throughout the Southern Hidden Grove association. Once recognized, leaving the Hidden Grove for the surface, you can become a farm steward at a noble's manor and live a comfortable, leisurely life."

"That's the easiest and safest path through five years in the Hidden Grove; most people don't know that."

"Besides, although you may lose money early on, as long as you can produce excellent wheat, sales within the Hidden Grove are consistently good."

"My twenty mu of land can produce about two thousand jin of high-quality wheat in half a year. At one silver coin per jin, that's twenty gold coins."

"Even if you hand it in at the association price and deduct all costs, you can still make eight gold coins, which is sixteen gold coins a year."

"Those Patrol Cavalrymen earn about ten gold coins a year, and they have to run around all the time. It's not as easy as this." Luxi was quite satisfied with his current life.

"Now I'm jealous," his companion laughed.

"Why don't you switch to being a gardener?" Luxi suggested with a smile.

"No way, not everyone can succeed in producing excellent wheat like you." The other shook his head.

"I've heard some apprentices fail for five years and leave the Hidden Grove in disappointment."

"That is at least not the worst ending; at least they weren't hurt badly." He thought for a moment.

"Last month I went on an expedition, in a region that wasn't too dangerous."

"Oh? Any gains?" Luxi asked curiously.

"There were some gains. In a hidden thicket we found a batch of Black Serpent Berries, a necessary resource for learning the Black Mist Viper spell."

"A total of forty-six Black Serpent Berries. One sells for one gold coin. The three of us split them, each getting fifteen gold coins."

"That was the biggest income from the expedition. Next were monsters we killed along the way; some dropped alchemy materials worth about ten gold coins, so each of us got a bit over three gold coins."

"After the expedition we converted everything into gold coins. It came to about sixty-three gold coins total, so twenty-one for each of us."

"Wow, I'm even more jealous now. That's much better than farming." Luxi clicked his tongue.

"That's because you only saw the profit, not the danger." His companion shook his head.

"Do you know why apprentice casualty rates in the Hidden Grove are so high? It's from deaths during expansion and expeditions."

"I was able to get such a haul this time because the three in my team were very familiar with each other, we trusted one another and cooperated well."

"Also, we chose a region that wasn't too dangerous, didn't encounter terrifying unknown enemies, and no accidents happened along the way."

"With all those factors combined, we had this good result."

"We both came to the Hidden Grove over four years ago, but among the apprentices who entered with us, several are already gone." He looked toward the distant wheat fields, speaking with deep feeling.

"This time I finally saved enough money and points to reserve a Blood Dew Elixir from the association to push into Second Tier."

"Are you sure about using that? Although it greatly increases the chance to step into Second Tier, the side effects are serious; it can cause a condition called blood rot." Luxi worried for his friend.

"The chance of blood rot is five percent. Trust me, this is still much safer than expeditioning in dangerous areas." His friend patted Luxi's shoulder.

"Once I reach Second Tier, I'll have the strength to fight for more opportunities and methods to treat the side effects."

"Good luck, my friend."

Their conversation wound down, and it was time to part.

Luxi went to the small hut he had built at the field's edge, took out a wooden carrying box, and handed it to his companion.

"These are some biscuits I prepared. They restore stamina and fill calories. If you go on expeditions again, you'll find them useful on the road."

Honey Biscuits (Excellent): Made from high-quality wheat flour and honey, baked to a lightly sweet, crisp texture. Nutrition is twice that of ordinary rations, making them a fairly good supply item.

Though not a precious gift, his companion was pleased and accepted the wooden box from Luxi.

"Thanks. From now on, whenever I go out far, I'll buy from you."

"Haha, no problem. I can't eat all the wheat I grow anyway; there are always leftovers. I sometimes sell some at the market."

"Next time you come, I'll prepare some new varieties. Recently I've been apprenticing with a baker in the city. Some of his techniques can bring out the ingredients' best qualities."

"Sounds good. Next time I'll bring you some little things I find on expeditions." The other promised with a smile.

"See you next time then."

They said goodbye, and Luxi watched his friend walk off into the distance.

They were relatively ordinary apprentices in the Hidden Grove, neither especially talented nor particularly poor in performance. As the five-year deadline neared, they began figuring out how to push and step into Second Tier.

In this Shadow World, only by reaching higher ranks could one see more sights and obtain more things.