The Cornflower Witch

Book 2: Chapter 24: Overgrown with Vines

Vol 2 Chapter 24 Overgrown with Vines

After completing the assessment, Sylutia had some free time for now, as waiting for the evaluation results would still take a while.

During these days, she first submitted 5,000 jin of Superior quality wheat. According to the association's purchase price of 2.1 silver coins per jin (70% of the market price), she received 105 gold coins.

As for the 'Rare' and 'Perfect' quality wheat, she decided to keep them for now to observe the market and was in no hurry to sell them.

On this day, she stayed at White Stone Fortress and inquired with association staff about learning combat-related abilities.

"Hello." A woman who looked quite intellectual received her.

"My name is Angela, I am the librarian of this branch." This Miss Angela was a rare practitioner of the 'Secret Word' Aspect, with strength around the Third Tier.

"Hello, I am Sylutia." The young girl introduced herself simply, though from the other party's expression, it seemed she had already recognized her.

After some conversation, Angela understood the girl's needs and then helped her analyze the situation.

"Generally speaking, gardeners do not participate in combat, because most of the abilities they cultivate are unrelated to fighting.""However, that's not an absolute rule. There are still many gardener factions that have developed abilities applicable to combat."

"Currently, expeditions and enemy engagements within the Hidden Grove are conducted in team formations. Before teaming up, many gardeners will specifically learn one ability, namely 'Vine Overgrowth'."

"Its function is to instantly stimulate the vitality of vine seeds or plants, causing them to grow rapidly, used to trap or defeat enemies."

"Compared to the Flower Blooming Method, this ability is relatively simpler to learn. Most gardeners can master it as long as they practice diligently."

"Additionally, the most popular one currently is the 'Bloodthirsty Vine' developed by the Bloodthorn Garden. Gardeners only need to buy a bunch of 'Bloodthirsty Vine' seeds and embed them into enemy wounds during combat. The vines will then burrow into the opponent's body, absorbing blood to grow, with excellent effect."

Hearing this, Sylutia roughly understood the principle and usage method of this ability.

"Furthermore, 'Vine Overgrowth' is also the foundation for 'Natural Growth'. If you separately learn 'Vine Overgrowth', 'Vegetation Frenzy', and 'Tree Sprouting', you can attempt to fuse these three abilities into 'Natural Growth' when you reach the Third Tier." The other party continued introducing.

Hearing this, Sylutia felt curious and asked, "Does the 'Flower Blooming Method' have a subsequent advancement path?"

"'Flower Blooming Method', 'Pollination Method', and 'Fruit Bearing Method' can be fused into 'Flower and Fruit Secret Rite' at the Fifth Tier. However, this ability has very high requirements;

even among Fifth Tier gardeners, not many can master it."

Sylutia then inquired about the origin and uses of 'Aromatherapy'.

"'Aromatherapy' is not popular on our continent. I only know about its information through some books." The other party thought for a moment before answering.

"Actually, 'Aromatherapy' is a variant of the 'Pollination Method', or rather, it only takes the part about stimulating floral fragrance from the 'Pollination Method' and amplifies its effect."

"The complete 'Pollination Method' has effects similar to 'Aromatherapy', but they are not strong. Its primary role is selecting and improving plant traits, used for breeding and refinement."

"Moreover, the 'Pollination Method' is quite difficult;

generally, one needs to be Fourth Tier to learn it, and the 'Fruit Bearing Method' also requires the Third Tier to master."

Now that she had learned so much about gardener-related content, Sylutia became concerned about the uses and advancement of her other ability, the Breathing Technique.

"Basic Breathing Techniques are similar to Meditation Methods, both belonging to the 'Bloodline' Aspect. However, after becoming proficient, they can be fused with other abilities for transformation."

"For example, the 'Castle' path can fuse with 'Iron Armor Protection' to transform into 'Steel Body'. The 'Gold Steam' path can fuse with 'Heat Absorbing Breath' to transform into 'Iron Lung Breath'. The 'Mist Shadow' path can fuse with 'Sound Suppression Method' to transform into 'Silent Body', and so on. This way, it retains the Breathing Technique's ability to enhance oneself while also attaching other effects, and subsequent advancements and enhancements won't interfere with the primary Aspect."

After listening to Angela's explanation, Sylutia felt somewhat satisfied, and then they discussed the choice of combat abilities.

"If you know how to use a bow, pairing it with either 'Vine Overgrowth' or 'Vegetation Frenzy' would have good effects." The other party suggested again.

"A gardener's combat abilities ultimately can't match those Transcendents who specialize in combat. Engaging in close combat would be particularly dangerous. Utilizing archery and attaching various plant seed effects to arrows would be a better combat method."

"This isn't something we invented. On the Second Continent, the Elves there are generally skilled archers and are also adept at attaching various Verdant Nectar Aspect secret arts to their arrows."

"I understand." Sylutia nodded slightly. It seemed 'Vine Overgrowth' was a necessary ability.

Afterwards, she applied to the association to learn the two abilities, 'Vine Overgrowth' and 'Vegetation Frenzy'. Each required 40 points, totaling 80 points.

Over these six months, based on the tasks received as a First Tier apprentice initially, the monthly points were: 10 points per month for a 'Pass' evaluation, 20 points for 'Good', 40 points for 'Excellent', and 80 points for 'Outstanding'.

Gardener tasks settled points every six months. Now she had just completed her first task, and the points obtained were 6 x 80 = 480 points. Currently, after deducting 80, she had 400 points left.

Not long after confirming, a Third Tier gardener from the 'Four Seasons Alliance' began teaching Sylutia, and it happened to be that capable old man she had met before, Yude.

On this day, the two came to a practice garden within the association. Various plants grew here, and the ground was covered with fine sand.

"I didn't expect you to progress so much in just three months." After meeting again, the old man felt emotional.

Originally, this old man wanted to take Sylutia as an apprentice because he knew from the assessment that this young girl had a solid foundation and exceptional talent.

Unexpectedly, everything happened too fast. Currently, this silver-haired girl was already a rising star noticed by many important figures in White Stone Fortress. When it came to taking apprentices, it simply wasn't his turn anymore.

Regarding this, Sylutia didn't know how to respond appropriately and could only smile and nod.

"Thank you for the praise, instructor." Being humble at this point would be somewhat hypocritical.

"Haha, never mind. Teaching you new abilities this time also counts as being your instructor once." He stroked his short beard and then began teaching.

"First, what gardeners excel at is cultivating plants. So, how to transform this strength into combat power, instead of spending extra time and effort learning other abilities, becomes the most important thing."

"Most plants have no direct attack capabilities and have difficulty moving. To overcome this, we often need to carry seeds or other small-sized plants to handle combat scenarios."

"Among these, 'vines' and 'grasses' are the most convenient to utilize and control."

"Thus, the two basic abilities, 'Vine Overgrowth' and 'Vegetation Frenzy', were derived."

"As the names imply, these two are abilities that catalyze the rapid growth of vines and grasses to defend against enemies. This method of stimulation is completely different from normal plant cultivation."

"The former is about forcing rapid growth regardless of consequences to bind the enemy, while the latter is about carefully tending to various conditions, striving to bring the plant's state to perfection."

"Therefore, these former two can be used roughly without worrying about excessive output. You can even use various methods to strengthen your own Aspect to achieve stronger effects."

"Now, let me demonstrate for you." He opened his palm, and a seed fell into the sand. Then, as if in fast-forward, this seed sprouted, grew branches, and spread everywhere, wrapping around a nearby stone pillar, continuously climbing and covering it until the entire pillar was tightly bound by thick vine branches, leaving no gaps.

"This is the first time, Sylutia." After telling the girl, he began the second demonstration. This time, he also didn't rush, explaining various key points during the process: how to guide with spirit, how to control direction, how to adjust the Aspect's exertion, and so on.

"I understand."

After watching the second time, Sylutia felt it was almost enough, but the old man didn't stop and end there. Instead, he began a third demonstration.

This time, after the seed landed, it erupted like an explosion. Several branches writhed like living creatures, continuously extending in all directions, covering the entire surrounding environment where the two stood with lush green vine leaves and branches. The vines tightly gripping the stone pillar finally made a cracking sound, crushing the stone into pieces.

"This..." Sylutia was astonished, secretly shocked in her heart.

"This is me driving this ability with my Third Tier Aspect. You don't need to deliberately pursue this level for now."

"I understand, instructor."

For the next two days, Sylutia followed Yude to learn these two abilities until she fully mastered them.

[Vine Overgrowth Lv.1] (Verdant Nectar);

An ability that drives vine plants to grow rapidly, capable of binding enemies.

[Vegetation Frenzy Lv.1] (Verdant Nectar);

An ability that drives grass plants to grow rapidly, capable of parasitizing enemies.