The Cornflower Witch

Book 2: Chapter 35: The End of the Black Floral Vine

Vol 2 Chapter 35: The End of the Black Floral Vine

Sylutia and Pona kept watch through the first half of the night. During the latter half, she slept deeply and soundly. By the time she woke the next day, the sun had already leaped above the treetops.

"Nobody woke me today." She rubbed her eyes and pushed herself up, crawling out from under the blanket.

By now, all the other members were already awake. Seeing the young girl's dazed, just-woken-up appearance, they couldn't help but find it somewhat adorable.

Just like a little child, the others thought.

However, compared to the ages of the other team members, Sylutia was indeed several years younger. Her current physical appearance looked at most a little over 17, not yet fully mature.

"Awake now, Tia?" Pona walked over with a smile, holding a covered meat pie in her hands.

"Drink some water, rinse your mouth, then have something to eat." She lifted the lid, revealing the still-warm breakfast inside.

"Thank you, Pona." Sylutia accepted it, feeling a bit happy.

Being able to eat such a breakfast in the wilderness was truly a fortunate thing.As she sat down to eat, her gaze briefly swept the surroundings. She noticed Karl sitting across the campfire. His complexion was still somewhat pale, but much better than yesterday.

According to Yan's summary of yesterday's battle, when he was helping Karl retreat, he was almost scared out of his wits. At that time, Karl had lost an extreme amount of blood, his face as white as paper, with not a trace of color in his eyes.

If it weren't for the timely use of the Demonic Blood Vine to condense the 'Crimson Blood Fruit,' Karl wouldn't have been saved yesterday.

Seeing Sylutia looking at him, Karl gave the young girl a weak smile, as if to reassure her not to worry. Then, his gaze returned to the flames, seeming to be pondering something.

Although the outcome of yesterday's battle was good, with no serious injuries and Karl recovering quickly, the perilous moments during it still left the group with lingering fear. Today, they rested extra long, not rushing to set off.

As Sylutia was nearly finished with her breakfast, the captain, 'Bad Apple,' walked back from outside the woods. He glanced at the situation in the camp and gave a slight nod.

"I just scouted the surrounding area. Nothing special, this place is still relatively safe."

"How did you sleep last night, Tia?"

"I slept very well during the latter half of the night," Sylutia replied.

"That's good." He nodded, then sat down as well, casually patting Karl on the back.

"Feeling better?"

"Heh, much better. It wasn't really a major injury anyway," Karl chuckled.

"That's precisely what's serious," the short-statured captain shook his head.

"Normally, you speak coldly. Today, you actually smiled. Clearly, something's not right."

"How about for the rest of the journey, we take the safest route and avoid any more risks, returning steadily?" If they took the safest route, their harvest would be much smaller, a choice they wouldn't normally make.

"No need for that. Just proceed as usual, slightly reducing the risks is enough." Karl didn't want to hold everyone back because of himself.

Preparing for an expedition often required a lot of preparation and considerable effort. After returning, they also needed a period of rest to dispel the Distortion erosion from the Shadow World before they could re-enter the gray-white Shadow World.

This meant apprentices could only go on one expedition per month on average. Wasting this one meant waiting a considerable time for the next.

"Alright then, we'll stick to the planned route, but avoid areas of higher danger." Bad Apple stood up.

He then called Yan and Pona over and informed them of the decision. Everyone basically agreed, with no objections.

"Rest well today. We'll leave after lunch."

To recover from yesterday's big battle, they took an extra morning of rest. While Karl spent it daydreaming and sleeping, the others busied themselves with their own tasks.

Yan processed the snake skin and scales collected yesterday, removing excess rotten flesh and leaving behind relatively clean, intact snake skin. Pona took out the ingredients she had brought to prepare a sumptuous lunch, aiming to restore everyone's physical strength and vitality properly.

Captain Bad Apple planned the subsequent route and then took stock and redistributed various items from their luggage.

As for Sylutia, she used her 'Verdant Nectar' Aspect ability to stabilize the 'Crimson Blood Fruit' collected yesterday, preventing the condensed Aspect power within the fruit from dissipating and weakening.

By noon, the five of them gathered around a stone table and enjoyed a rare, lavish lunch. It included large pieces of roasted meat, deliciously seasoned mashed potatoes, mushroom soup made from ingredients gathered along the way, and a plate of freshly baked small bread rolls.

After eating and drinking their fill, everyone recovered a good deal of physical strength and energy. They then got up and set off once more.

...

Over the next two days, Sylutia followed the group through the long canyon and mountainous terrain, searching among the hills for the grayish-white 'Ash Evil Fruit,' which they found the following evening.

"Didn't expect that skeleton monster guarding the fruit to be so tough. It even chipped the edge of my sword."

After the battle ended, Yan looked at his greatsword with some surprise.

[Semi-Beast Skeleton] (Second Tier · Dead Embers): Formed from the spliced-together bones of multiple humans and beasts. A twisted living-death entity that acts based on chaotic soul consciousness.

"Beating that thing didn't yield any valuable loot either," Bad Apple shook his head.

"But at least we finally found the 'Ash Evil Fruit' that Karl needed."

Everyone looked at the two fist-sized fruits in the package. Their skin was pale as bone, yet felt relatively soft to the touch. If the outer skin was torn open, inside was a pure, fine gray powder.

According to Karl's explanation, this gray powder could be used to refine and produce 'Ash Coagulation Potion,' which could enhance the soul resilience of ghostly entities and increase their chances of advancing.

"That skeleton monster just instinctively felt this thing was useful. But it's a physical skeleton;

it can't use items meant for ghostly entities. It could only linger around it aimlessly."

After finding these two fruits, the main objective of their secret realm expedition was basically complete. Anything after this would be additional, non-essential gains.

They then spent another two days traversing the 'Deepwood Forest Path,' gradually turning back towards the direction of the town.

On the way back, although they encountered some strange things—like the kind of creature Sylutia had seen before that devoured dreams, monsters that could turn invisible and ambush, etc.—the group, relying on their reliable and stable strength, safely crushed their way through without any incidents.

By the seventh day, Sylutia and the others finally walked out of the gray-white world they had been immersed in for so long, returning once more to the edge of the 'Fir Black Forest.'

"Whew, finally breathing decent air again." Bad Apple walked ahead, his figure nimbly leaping onto a tree branch. He looked around at the environment for a good while before jumping down, satisfied.

"Just a few more kilometers ahead, and we'll see the town."

"Finally almost there." Yan, wearing the team's thickest armor and carrying the heaviest luggage, was also feeling a bit tired by now.

"Hard work, Yan. Always having you carry the spoils." Bad Apple said this, but showed no intention of helping.

As the captain who needed to maintain flexible reaction speed at all times, of course he couldn't carry overly heavy things. Naturally, the reason he pulled Yan into the team from the very beginning was precisely because he valued this young man who could both tank hits and fight well, and was willing to endure hardship.

Everyone was in a good mood now, after all, having escaped that tense, uneasy secret realm environment.

"After we get back this time, I'm definitely taking a good, long bath." Bathing in the wild was too difficult;

you could only wipe your face and sweat.

"Me too," Pona raised her hand.

"Tia, how about we go take a bath together after we get back?" She suddenly thought of something.

"Uh, bathing together..." Sylutia wasn't actually opposed to bathing. In fact, she really wanted to take a proper bath right now. But doing it with others, even of the same gender, made her feel a bit shy and uncomfortable.

"Ah, Little Tia is shy, hehe." After these days of traveling together, Pona had naturally figured out this young girl's personality.

Although exceptionally reliable in scouting and combat, she truly was like a young girl who rarely went out, sometimes being rather shy and introverted.

"Alright, alright, I won't force you. But tonight, we can indeed take a good bath and sleep comfortably."

At noon, the group finally arrived at the town's tavern. Summoning their last bit of patience, they reported on the expedition to the association personnel. Then, unable to hold back any longer, they disbanded the team, each running off to take a bath, sleep, and drink something cool and refreshing to relieve the stress.

"Haha, let's call it a day for now. We'll gather tomorrow to tally the harvest and distribute things."

Sylutia's first expedition, with some fright but no disaster, thus came to an end.

There were a few minor twists and turns along the way, but overall, it went very smoothly, and she made a few good friends.

That night, after comfortably taking a hot bath and changing into light pajamas, she sat at the desk by the window and recorded the experiences of this adventure.

Elegant handwriting appeared on the paper with a soft rustle. Then, the black pen tip drew a graceful arc, like a new bud on a flowering vine, placing a final period on this experience.