The Cornflower Witch

Book 2: Chapter 48: Gifts and the Return

Vol 2 Chapter 48 Gifts and the Return

The secret realm expedition to the Distant Mountain Gate was over.

Facing the fallen corpse of the Petrification Lizard, the group spent a whole day handling it carefully;

after all, it was a rare Third Tier creature, and its body was full of treasures.

“The flesh and meat can’t be taken, but Sylutia, you still have the Demonic Blood Vine seeds, right? Why not directly convert them into Crimson Blood Fruit?” Bad Apple and Karl discussed for a while and decided on that.

“No problem.” Sylutia nodded, then placed the seeds into the dead lizard’s body.

“By the way, don’t touch the lizard’s eyeballs, those are very useful,” Karl remembered and warned.

In the afternoon, after cleaning off the excess flesh, Bad Apple carefully skinned the scales, then took a look.

“Too bad this guy’s scales are only average quality, about the same as some Second Tier creatures.”

“If it were really that strong, it would have been hard for Tia to beat it,” a companion scoffed.

“Ha, true. Surviving at all was already pretty good,” Bad Apple said, unusually sentimental for a moment.At dusk, the spoils were gathered and laid out beside the campfire.

[Petrification Lizard Eyeball] (Third Tier · Superior): An eyeball imbued with the Stiffening Gaze effect, usable in certain special constructs or as an offering in specific rituals.

[Petrification Lizard Scales] (Second Tier · Superior): Tough scales capable of resisting most attacks of the same tier.

[Petrification Lizard Bones] (Third Tier · Good): Can be used in Dead Embers spells or to create undead creatures.

“One eyeball is worth about 300 gold coins, so two would be 600. All the scales together are about 100 gold coins, and the bones roughly 200 gold coins. That’s a total of 900 gold coins,” Bad Apple tallied.

“Considering Sylutia saved all of us and she soloed it, these belong to her. Any objections?”

“No objections.” The other two didn’t mind. They all agreed that surviving this trip was pure luck.

“As for these materials, Sylutia, do you plan to sell them or keep them?” Bad Apple asked the girl who was cooking dinner.

“These… what do you suggest, captain?” She couldn’t decide and asked him directly.

“The eyeballs are quite precious, I suggest you keep them. The rest you can sell.”

“As for the bones, Karl, do you want any? If you need them, you can buy some from Sylutia.”

Karl thought it over and replied, “Just give me two.” He didn’t need many right now.

After dividing the lizard’s remains, they turned to the expedition’s main target, the Stone Mist Water.

Because of the earlier battle and the lizard dying in the pool, the original Stone Mist Water was heavily contaminated;

in the end they only managed to extract a small bottle that was still somewhat clean.

“This will do. I’ll give it to the alchemist and pay him to refine it further;

then he can make Mist Breath.”

They then checked other loot gathered along the way, including fruits and prey. Those added up to about 100 gold coins in total.

“Not a wasted trip, at least we accomplished the initial goal.” Bad Apple finished writing in the ledger and lay back on his blanket contentedly.

“The biggest luck this time was finding Tia that day, getting her to join the team.”

Upon hearing that, the other two nodded repeatedly, saying if not for Tia they would have truly gotten lost in the mountains.

Receiving so many compliments made Sylutia a little embarrassed, and she shared her own feelings.

“I actually learned a lot from everyone. Since this was my first adventure, there were many things I didn’t understand.” That was true — without the constant guidance from the other team members she would have made many mistakes and stepped in many traps.

“All right, no need to be so formal now.” Bad Apple turned over and stood up.

“Here, this is for you.” He handed over a piece of light veil.

[Mist Veil] (Second Tier · Mist Shadow): An extremely thin veil that doesn’t obstruct breathing, but can conceal the face, giving a hazy image and temperament, and has some ability to mask aura. (Concealment +3, Aura Masking +2)

“I saw you don’t like crowded places much. This should make you feel a lot more comfortable.”

“The captain’s being generous, giving away equipment,” Yan commented with a smile.

“I’ll see if I can find something else to give Tia.” He sat aside and rummaged through his things to recall possible gifts.

Karl also approached and handed Sylutia a recipe and some powder.

“My stuff, a lot of it isn’t suitable for you, but this you should find useful.”

[Manifestation Powder Recipe]: Used to make a revealing powder that causes ghosts, invisible, or color-changing creatures to appear.

[Revealing Powder] (Good): Made from firefly mushroom, pine powder, and shimmer grass as ingredients, it can reveal concealed creatures.

“Thanks.” Sylutia accepted it and put it into a small pouch beside her.

Yan searched in vain, then scratched his head awkwardly. “I don’t have anything suitable to give as a gift right now. I’ll give Tia something next time.”

“That’s fine, you don’t have to be so formal.” She hadn’t expected gifts in the first place.

“Of course we should give something. After all, Tia saved our lives. Even as teammates, you can’t just let it go with a single thanks,” Yan shook his head.

“Tell me an address later and I’ll have someone send it to you.”

“Then leave it at the Hidden Grove association in Glittergold Plains. I usually live there.”

“Got it.”

The four then passed a comfortable, safe night. The next day they packed and began the return journey.

The way back was just as long. It took them another three days to reach Berg Town, so with the two days lost at the Petrification Lizard, the trip totaled eight days.

“After this, we need a good period of recuperation.” Because they stayed in the secret realm too long, they had all suffered varying degrees of Distortion corruption, and had reached a dangerous verge.

“At least a month without heading out. The captain, after getting the Stone Mist Water, will probably be busy advancing, so our small team will likely be inactive for a while.”

“Then we’ll meet again next time.” Though a little reluctant, everyone understood they might not organize another expedition for half a year.

“Enough with the sad goodbyes. Let’s find Pona, have a big meal at her place, and share this strange, thrilling journey with her.”

“Oh, and of course we can’t forget our main star, Tia. We need to heap praise on her and Pona, ha ha~”

Laughter rose in the team as they spoke. Only the black-haired girl on horseback felt a little shy, lifting her head to look at the mountains and fields behind them.

Thick mist still hung there;

the dangers they had faced only a few days ago now seemed like distant memories.

Is this what adventure is? Just a few days and it already feels like a long time has passed.