A wave of fragrance washes over me as I take in the herbs in front of me. The mana radiating off them seems so much higher than all the herbs we passed as we were walking down the cavern pass just a few days ago. I start to question whether these are uncommon or if Sagaryn is just showing me what I’m missing out on by not accepting the rare resources he offered before.
I look over at the professor, who is studying my reactions intently. “Are these all uncommon herbs?”
He gives me a short nod. “Yes, as we agreed, you can pick any three of these herbs. After this we will walk to the sect’s resource hall where you will also be able to pick your monthly spirit herb allotment. Keep in mind that those will only be common spirit herbs. To get anything rarer, you will have to complete missions and trade in contribution points for them.”
Realizing that I now have free rein over the herbs in front of me I activate Tea Connoisseur. The mana tied to each of the herbs light up in different colors in front of me giving off the feeling of strength, healing, mana restoration and calm. One of the herbs gives off a sickly green color that sends shivers down my spine. A burst of clarity runs through my mind accompanied by the telltale ding of a System notification.
[Tea Connoisseur: Level 4]
It seems that just identifying such potent herbs is beneficial for my class's progression. I can only imagine the benefits I will see to my practice once I get ChaCha’s herb garden cheating for me. Speaking of ChaCha, I should really consider which of these will be most beneficial for his garden. He mentioned that these plants will influence the quality of mana that he is able to generate which will benefit both of our practices. Thinking about it a little more, I wonder if it is actually possible to communicate with the spirit outside of his Spirit Space. If so, I’m sure he would be able to identify which of these herbs will be most beneficial for him.
I turn to Sagaryn. “Professor, is there a known way to communicate with my weapon spirit outside of his Spirit Space?”
“Wait, you were able to enter his Spirit Space? Why didn’t you think of mentioning that earlier? I’ve never seen a documented case where the bonded user was able to enter the weapon spirit’s world.”
My face reddens a little bit and I shrug embarrassed. “Sorry, I would’ve said something earlier… I just didn’t know it was a big deal. Again, I’m still very new to all of this super powerful sect stuff.”
Sagaryn scribbles frantically in a pocket-sized journal he keeps stored in his robes. “It’s a good thing I’m expecting the unordinary from you now. I will just have to make sure I keep something on me at all times to document your insanity. I’ll make you a deal—describe the Spirit Space to me right now and I will tell you how to communicate with your spirit.”
I quickly describe the rows of tilled earth and the completely empty garden. I tell the professor about the quality of mana and how difficult it is to grab it and run it through my cycling techniques. The brief recap ends with me describing ChaLong’s appearance and personality. All of this is fervently recorded by the passionate academic; his pen finally ceases its panicked writing.
“Thank you, Camden. You are able to bring this lifelong student new information and for that I truly appreciate you. To speak with your spirit, ChaLong, just run mana through the weapon while thinking about your intent to speak with him. It should create a connection the spirit can accept and you can then speak to him telepathically. Take your time looking at the herbs, I’m going to go add these notes to the tome I’m compiling on growth type spirits.”
With that, the crazed scholar leaves me alone with the twenty herbs… completely unsupervised. Deciding to be on my best behavior so I don’t already get kicked out of the super powerful sect that is funneling insane amounts of resources my way, I take the monk’s spade off my back and flow mana into it, thinking about speaking with the weapon spirit.
A few seconds later I hear a quiet voice I quickly identify as ChaLong fill my head. [Hello, is this thing on?]
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I quickly reply to the young spirit. [Yes, ChaLong. I’ve already got us the opportunity to pick three uncommon spirit herbs for your garden. Before I pick the herbs, I wanted to know if you have a way to identify which herbs will be most beneficial for your growth? Hopefully, they will also be useful for my practice so we can both grow from them.]
Across the telepathic bond I can feel excitement explode out from ChaCha. [Three uncommon herbs already!!! I take everything mean I said about you back. This was the best choice I ever made. Of course I can identify the herbs, I’m not a chump. Just hold the weapon over the herbs and I will let you know which ones we should pick.]
I sit there for a second, confused about what mean things the little spirit said about me. Also, I don’t think he really made the choice which was the whole reason I felt really bad and why he was so angry at me. Pushing those thoughts away, I continue funneling mana into the monk’s spade and I hold it over the box of spirit herbs. Silence ensues for a few minutes and I start to think that I will have to try to reestablish the link with ChaCha for me to hear his thoughts.
Before I have the chance to push my intent across the bond to reinitiate the bond I jump at the little voice shouting at me telepathically. [YOU DID GOOD KID! YOU DID GOOD!]
I cut him off before a migraine settles in on me. [ChaCha, please stop yelling directly into my mind. You’re going to give me a terrible headache.]
The spirit doesn’t acknowledge what I said, but in his defense he at least stops yelling. [Okay, there are two herbs that I definitely need to have. They will help you a little bit, but not that much. There is a third herb that I think will really help you with your inheritance though, so we will both get something really good out of this.]
Somehow I can hear the spirit take a deep breath across our bond even though he’s not actually using air to speak. [We need the Dragonroot Vine, Elderbark Sprout, and the Serene Bloom Moss. The first two are for me, but the Elderbark Sprout will actually make a really good tea blend with the moss I’ve picked out for you.]
I nod my head along with ChaCha’s descriptions, but I’m only able to identify the moss—and that’s only because there are no other mossy herbs to pick from. [ChaCha, can you do me a favor and give me a description for each of those herbs? I can’t see their names.]
Another deep breath across our bond. This time it feels like that came from exasperation rather than the adrenaline fueled excitement of earlier. [dumb human.] I get the feeling I wasn’t supposed to hear that part. [Okay, the Dragonroot Vine is the green vine with red-tipped leaves. The roots look like flickering flames and the bud looks like a dragon head. The Elderbark Sprout is the plain looking stick with roots on it. We will have to let that one grow for a few weeks before it can be used. And the Serene Bloom Moss is the only moss in the group…]
That last one definitely felt like a dig at me. I am able to easily identify each of the herbs with the directions from the annoyed dragon and I put them in the pouch by my side. [ChaCha, when I get back to my pavilion we will make sure you get these herbs for your garden. I will need your help harvesting some for my own use, but the priority is that you have enough to plant them. I’ll cut off the connection for now and I’ll reach back out when I’m ready.]
I hear nothing for a second so I go to disconnect the bond, but before I can I hear a soft voice come across. [thank you, Cam.] Then the connection ends before I can say anything back.
I reenter the professor’s office and show him the herbs I chose which he seems to agree will be beneficial for developing the vitality and resilience of my bonded spirit. He seems surprised by the Serene Bloom Moss, but doesn’t say anything about it. I leave myself a mental note to ask ChaCha, why that herb in particular will be so beneficial for me inheritance.
Sagaryn decides that we will save the resource hall for another day, and instead takes me to a training hall a few buildings down from his office. “Today, Camden, I want you to put everything into your training. This will give me a point of comparison for your growth.”
I nod along, my eyes continue scanning the room looking for any kind of array that might summon a monster to come kill me. I voice my question, nervously. “Wasn’t that what the whole minotaur trial was for?”
“Well, you’ve grown so much in the last few days, I didn’t think that would be a good point of reference.”
I say nothing waiting for the other shoe to drop. Then it does.
Sagaryn looks deep into my eyes. “Try to kill me, disciple.”
