That night—
Stars dotted the sky. The nightscape, illuminated by starlight and moonlight, was surprisingly bright; a sight Irvine Wolf had never witnessed in his previous life, not even in the deepest countryside.
Crackling, crackling!
The wood in the campfire ignited, the flames dancing and popping.
Nfirea Bareare sat by the campfire, holding several herbs and studying them intently. He would occasionally sniff them, and sometimes even bite off a small piece to taste.
Grandma Lizzie Bareare stood by the carriage not far away, checking the condition of the herbs on board.
Of the "Stone" team, only the captain, Dosari, and Rand, the elder of the twin shield-bearing brothers, stood guard on the periphery. The other two members had gone to scout the surrounding area.
They were camping in the wilderness. According to Captain Dosari, there was a village not far away where they could seek lodging. However, Grandma Lizzie had refused, not wanting to take a detour. The carriage contained a box of relatively valuable herbs purchased in the capital that needed to be refined in E-Rantel as soon as possible, so they had chosen the fastest route, bypassing some towns along the way.
Such a client decision undoubtedly increased the dangers of the journey. Under normal circumstances, this would have caused discontent within the adventurer team. After all, the client-adventurer relationship was purely contractual; if the client acted in a way the adventurers found unacceptable during the commission, the adventurers could terminate the contract mid-way, though it would require paying a considerable penalty to the Adventurer's Guild.
Being forced into hard labor and denied a safe route would normally have led to a clash. However, when the Stone team learned that Grandma Lizzie was the owner of a potion shop in E-Rantel and renowned as the city's finest alchemist, their initial dissatisfaction vanished completely. They even became markedly more attentive throughout the journey!
This made Irvine sigh inwardly at the Stone team's exceptionally pragmatic nature.
Irvine sat by the campfire, observing Nfirea's focused study of the herbs. Nfirea was currently holding a slender, root-like plant about the length of a thumb and had just bitten off a small piece to put in his mouth.
The next moment, he spat it out. "So it's Bitter Root? They look completely identical from the outside."
Finally noticing Irvine watching him, Nfirea's eyes lit up. "This herb is called Bitter Root. It looks exactly like this one, called Sweet Root. You can't tell them apart by appearance; you can only distinguish them by taste. Their effects are different too. Bitter Root is suitable for brewing and has certain detoxifying properties; it's a base ingredient for antidotes. Sweet Root also tastes bitter but has an additional hint of sweetness, making it a base ingredient for healing potions."
Nfirea, usually somewhat shy, became much more confident and articulate when discussing herbs.
"I see," Irvine nodded, appearing to listen intently. In reality, he was testing whether learning about herbs could trigger the acquisition of the "Alchemist" class. So far, his status panel showed no prompts.
"Irvine, are you very interested in herbs?" Nfirea asked, his bright blue eyes fixed on him.
"I am quite interested," Irvine nodded.
"Hmph!"
A soft snort sounded before Nfirea could continue. Grandma Lizzie walked over with her hands behind her back. "Nfirea, don't show off your superficial knowledge. Tasting with your mouth is the most basic and lowest-level method of distinction. Your nose isn't incapable of smelling!" Her voice carried a hint of reprimand.
"I understand, Grandma," Nfirea replied, lowering his head in slight shame.
Irvine averted his gaze. He didn't know if Grandma Lizzie's reprimand of Nfirea was also an indirect warning to him. In a world where knowledge dissemination was clearly restricted, his behavior of questioning Nfirea about herbal knowledge could indeed be seen as inappropriate.
"No need to be nervous," Grandma Lizzie said, looking at Irvine. "Although I can be a bit petty, I won't get angry over something like this."
Uh… She called herself petty. Even if it was true, as an outsider, Irvine knew anything he said now would be inappropriate.
"You want to make healing potions just by understanding the characteristics of a few herbs? Don't even think about it," she continued, her tone measured. "Since you have some talent in Faith-based magic, don't waste your energy on other things. Whether it's martial arts or herbal knowledge, it's all a distraction for you right now."
Irvine was startled, realizing she was offering him a kind reminder. He quickly collected himself and said, "Thank you for the advice, Lady Bareare."
Hearing him use her surname, the wrinkles on Grandma Lizzie's face smoothed out considerably; she seemed quite pleased with the respectful address. Irvine had learned the surname "Bareare" from Nfirea, though he had known it all along.
Thump! Thump!
Two sets of footsteps approached from the darkness. It was Ler, the younger of the twins, and Basck, the archer, returning from their scouting trip. The expressions of the other two Stone members subtly relaxed upon their return.
Oink… oink.
A weak groan came from behind Ler. He was carrying a wild boar weighing over 200 pounds, looking unusually relaxed. "Good luck tonight. We have dinner," he announced.
"An arrow through the brow? And it's not dead yet? Hey, Basck, your archery has improved," Rand said, hands on his hips, examining the visible, bloodied hole on the boar's forehead.
"Just a wild boar," Basck replied with a light chuckle.
Thud!
Ler walked to the campfire and dropped the boar onto the ground with a heavy thud.
"Irvine, it's still hanging on," Ler grinned at Irvine, then pointed to a spot on the boar's neck. "Strike here, and you can finish it with one blow."
"Thank you," Irvine said, rising from the campfire and walking towards the twitching boar.
Because Grandma Lizzie insisted on the fastest route to E-Rantel, bypassing towns, she had come prepared with provisions—but these clearly did not include supplies for the Stone team or Irvine. Therefore, the Stone team conserved their own rations and supplemented them through hunting, a standard practice for adventurers.
During this process, Irvine had requested that if possible, he be allowed to deliver the final blow to any captured prey. His stated reason was that he was considering becoming an adventurer but had never experienced bloodshed and wanted to adapt in advance.
The Stone team had no doubts about this explanation. Irvine truly didn't look like an adventurer; even the lowest-level adventurers carried essential tools for long travel, something Irvine completely lacked. They might question his strength, but they could recognize his inexperience. Thus, they readily agreed, keeping captured beasts alive for Irvine to kill during this journey.
Swish!
Irvine drew the short sword from his waist and walked to the side of the weakly twitching boar. Without the slightest hesitation, he raised the sword and plunged it into the precise spot on the boar's neck that Ler had indicated.