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Chapter 36: Rainy Day
Chapter 36: Rainy Day
Tap, tap, tap...
The quiet autumn day in the Hidden Frontier was interrupted by a heavy downpour.
The raindrops pattered on the roof, waking the slumbering Plant Scholar.
Finn opened his eyes, feeling a dull ache in his bones. In his old age, he could no longer endure the dampness of a rainy day and hoped the sun would come out soon to warm his body.
"..."
"Today, Linsey is supposed to come."
Thinking of the tasks for the day, Finn got out of bed.
He took a breath and rested for a while before putting on his robe and standing up from the bed.
Finn couldn't help but sigh again.
Three years ago, when his student Linsey first arrived in this town, Finn, with all his might, could still walk to the Lord's Manor across the town.
But now, time had carved its mark deep into his bones.
Without help, Finn struggled even to walk 500 meters to check on the more distant fields.
"The Volcanic City Plant Guide (Volume 4), Linsey has already learned this; The Sympathy of Life, this one too; Essence Cultivation Secrets, this one, he seemed to have borrowed and finished reading it last year; Mo Wen Annotations, oh, that's right, it's this one..."
After getting up, the Plant Scholar walked into his study.
He organized his bookshelf, searching for the content he should teach Linsey today.
Thinking of his student, a smile appeared on Finn's face.
Linsey was an exceptionally smart kid, perhaps now a young man.
In the three years since he came to the frontier town, Linsey had studied knowledge and skills under the guidance of the town's Awakened. Under Finn's tutelage, Linsey had performed exceptionally well, always completing his lessons with both speed and excellence.
According to what Finn had heard, Linsey's performance with the other Awakened was equally outstanding.
"If it weren't for the Hidden Frontier, this kid should have gone to Volcanic City."
Finn whispered to himself as he finished preparing the study materials for the day.
At this moment, he felt too tired to walk.
So he sat down in the study, restoring his rapidly depleting and slowly regenerating stamina.
Half an hour passed.
Feeling his breathing stabilize, Finn got up and returned to the front hall, listening to the rain on the eaves, his gaze naturally falling on the rain hat at the entrance.
"It's time to feed the Daylily..."
Daylily was the name of one of his hens.
Finn hadn't raised poultry before, but two years ago, Linsey helped him build a chicken coop outside the house. Since then, Finn occasionally collected a few eggs, making his life much easier.
This was something Finn, who had been focused on plants, never thought of or did before.
Moving slowly, Finn picked up the rain hat and stepped outside.
At the edge of the courtyard, he braved the weakening rain, stepping on the muddy ground, and scattered some millet and carrot seeds for Daylily.
He wanted to check the chicken coop.
But the cold, damp rain made Finn's waist ache, and he couldn't even bend down to inspect the coop for eggs.
"Daylily, you're getting old too, be careful on rainy days."
Finn whispered to the chicken coop.
He watched the hen peck at the food, then adjusted the rain hat and returned to the house.
"Cough, cough..."
Finn put down the rain hat and coughed twice.
He lit the fireplace, and as the firelight warmed his body, he immediately felt much better.
With this renewed energy, Finn walked over, filled a ladle with water, poured it into the kettle, and hung it over the fireplace.
Staring at the flames, Finn's thoughts returned to his experiment.
These past two years, the winter temperatures have been increasingly colder, and even the average temperatures of other seasons have shown a slight decrease.
The subtle changes are not easily noticeable to humans.
However, for the crops in the fields, the situation has become increasingly dire.
Finn's knowledge allowed him to foresee this, so even in his old age and exhaustion, he continues his research.
Since Linsey occasionally accompanies the hunting party on their expeditions.
He tasked his students with finding several wild cold-resistant plants, cultivating them at home, and attempting to crossbreed them with existing grains.
This is a long-term project.
If successful, and with Finn's skills in the School of Life, it might take seven to eight years to cultivate an entirely new cold-resistant crop.
But this period of time seems too long for Finn.
He can feel that his life has reached its end.
This winter... or perhaps this autumn, will be the last river this old vessel can navigate.
"I am truly a talentless person."
Finn sighed and shook his head.
"If I could elevate my skills once more, touching the boundaries of life, perhaps I could achieve it."
In the distant frontier, people know that Finn is a plant scholar.
But in the School of Life's headquarters, the Volcanic City, this is a common title, as it signifies the basic designation for those under the Life Scholars.
In the School of Life, one must elevate their skills five times to earn the title of Life Scholar in Volcanic City.
Those in the first four stages can only focus on their specialized research areas.
For example, Finn's title of Plant Scholar.
Whoosh—
As Finn's thoughts wandered, the kettle on the fireplace began to whistle.
The sound roused Finn from his thoughts, and he quickly lifted the kettle with trembling hands, pouring himself a cup of hot water.
Holding the cup of water with his dry hands, his gaze fell on the slightly rippling surface.
This elder, whose life has reached its end, thought of something else.
His Essence.
Finn's Essence is the most common and versatile among Awakened individuals.
And among the other types of Essence, there is a unique path.
The path of the merchants.
When one becomes a merchant, they extract their Essence and infuse it into external objects.
This method is like externalizing an energy core, but it doesn't hinder their use of skills.
At the same time, the infused object gains certain magical effects.
So, on a day long ago, something changed.
An elderly Awakened individual, nearing death, renounced his skills and abilities, extracting his lifelong Essence and infusing it into an object using the merchant's method, crafting an artifact with the power to discern lies.
Even well-crafted artifacts by skilled blacksmiths rarely possess such an effect.
At this moment, Finn ponders if he can achieve such a feat.
To his knowledge, in the hidden frontier, the only person capable of this technique is the one in the church outside the town.
"Perhaps I should seek Lady Red Moon..."
Knock knock knock—
"Teacher Finn, I'm here."
Just then, someone knocked on the door of Finn's wooden house from the outside.
Hearing the familiar voice, Finn looked up and said, "Linsey, you're here."
"The door's unlocked, come in quickly, it's raining outside."
(End of Chapter)
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