Chapter 13. Gardening for Fun and Profit
Rhys awoke with a start. He sat up, looking around. Lush bushes awaited him, and the air was clear, with a medicinal scent. His brows furrowed. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
No trash! He jumped to his feet and whirled. The trash pile was gone! Someone had stolen it—
His memories caught up with him, and he reeled. Almost to check as though it wasn’t a dream, he peered inside himself, but just as he recalled, his core was several sizes larger than it had been. Now, it rivaled some of the most powerful Tier 1 students in the pill class, instead of being so small that it ranked among the smallest. Not only that, but it was full to the brim with mana. Overfull, even.
There was only one problem. Impurities raged through him. His body resisted them passively to some extent, thanks to the Impurity Resist skill, but nonetheless, they damaged him and his mana passages. He coughed and tasted copper. Turning his head, he spat a mouthful of black blood on the ground. He was in better shape than he’d been before his impromptu nap, but he wasn’t in great shape. He needed to handle the impurities, and soon.
“Did you do this?”
Rhys startled. He whirled again, in the opposite direction this time.
The girl who’d invited him to the mountain, Tarais, knelt by the plants, taking a closer look at the herbs. Feeling his eyes on her, she looked up. “These plants. Did you grow them?”
“Yeah. They’re mine,” he replied forcefully.
She raised her hands. “Don’t misunderstand me. I’m impressed, but I’m not here to steal them from you. I’m simply shocked that a Tier 1 disciple could accomplish so much.”
Rhys raised a brow. She was Tier 2, and he was Tier 1. Commending it like that already implied she wanted it, but he wasn’t going to hand over his hard work for nothing. He crossed his arms, subtly sliding his hand toward the broken sword in his robes. “I’m honored you see me in such a light.”