Waking up in a comfortable bed without the sounds of people either being sick or random tavern noises was a nice change.
Getting out of bed and walking over to the window, I opened the wooden shutters, as things like fabric were too expensive to have, so no curtains. However, I was glad that windows had glass in them at the very least. The kids playing their games in the streets were proof enough of how thin the glass was. But that was somewhat charming and pleasant, so it didn't matter at the moment, so I forgot about it and moved on to the bathroom.
After getting washed and ready for the day, I walked down to the kitchen and had a quick breakfast of dried fruit. I made sure to pack some lunch and headed out for the day.
The streets weren't particularly packed this morning, but I did leave on the late side of the morning. It was easy to assume that most people were already working, which I didn't mind, I wasn't the biggest fan of crowds.
I continued on my way and was soon outside of the city. My destination for today was the east side of town where a lot of root types and grass types of ingredients are. But as it was grassland, a lot of beasts that live there are either fast or stealthy, and because of that, I need to be careful with my exploration, as I didn't want to end up inside somethings stomach.
Thankfully, the going was easy because of the flat road so I arrived at a suitable location within half an hour of walking. I then began to focus on my surroundings as I didn't want a repeat of when I looked for rife flowers. So, this time, I made sure to picture what I was looking for, with the help of the herbalism manual I received, what felt like an eternity ago.
I was looking at something called spiky grass was exactly what it sounded like, it looked like aloe vera but going through its punk phase. Because of that, many avoid it as the spikes can piece the skin if you're not careful.
I was also looking for hanal flowers which looked like a wild carrot, and they actually had a vegetable-like root that could either be eaten or used in alchemy. But the flowers are the most potent part of the plant. But that being said, most people who couldn't afford to buy food, would come looking for it for the potato-like root, which made the flower part cheap and easy to buy, as a lot of people would sell it for some extra coin.
These ingredients are mainly used in either a healing tonic or as a basic antidote. In fact, they have such a potential to be either one that all it takes is to change the temperature by a few degrees to shift it from either one.
However, it was impossible to create a potion with both of their properties, as they were considered to be low-grade and would need a vast amount of them to create something that had both effects, but each effect would be severely weakened because of it. So, it was cheaper to just create separate potions completely.
By the time I had finished reciting their properties in my head, I spotted some spiky grass peeking through the overgrown grass. But like last time, I didn't rush ahead, though I didn't think a giant snake would be keeping guard here. I had bad luck, but not that bad, at least I'd like to hope.
But that being said, it has been known that some monsters use herbs and such to heal their wounds and ailments just as humans do. And the shifting grass was all the validation I needed for not rushing ahead.
'Times like these, I was glad that I was overcautious.' I thought as I lowered myself down as I could, into the deep, long grass.
Putting my stealth skill into practice, I crept forward, one inch at a time, careful to avoid making any sound or making any big movements. By the time I was a few feet away, I could finally spot what rustled the grass. It was a grey rabbit, a foot and a half in length and with a single horn growing on its head. This beast was aptly named horned rabbit and was an omnivore.
Most new players and adventurers alike, underestimate these monsters and ultimately, end up getting wounded or worse. In some cases, I've heard about, they have been known to even attack and eat goblins. As someone who has witnessed a certain incident first hand, involving one of these horned rabbits drenched in blood of its victims, while feeding on a corpse. I couldn't forget that horrific scene for as long as I lived and was the reason I kill them on site.
But with that being said, if I were to attack it now, I could kill it before it even noticed me. But the problem was I'd run the risk of danger or ruining the grass. The only choice I have is to make my presence known, but then there is a chance that it'll call for help and with its advantage of speed, that would be a problem.
There was another way, however. That was to use less intrusive magic, such as earth magic. Since I only really have experience with controlling an element, earth seemed to be the best bet, as earth was mainly about creation and manipulation instead of destruction. And since last night, I felt more confident with my magic. I also felt the urge to practice more.
Placing my hand onto the ground, I sent my mana out into the ground and tried to picture how I wanted to earth to move. Imagination was an important step in spell casting, as having a solid idea of how you want the spell to develop helps your brain in understanding how to construct it.
At first, I started with something small and that was how my mana travelled through the ground. As I focused on my extended mana, it allowed me to sense the area around it, similar to scouting magic.
Once it reached the limits of my range, which was just enough to reach below the creature. At first, I wanted to form something to bind the rabbit, but that was far too difficult for me to attempt at my current skill level. So, I settled for the easiest form and that was a spike made out of stone. With a template of a spike formed out of my mana, just below the earth, I sent a signal for it to burst forth with as much force as I could muster.
With a yelp of surprise, the rabbit looked up towards the horizon, thinking that something was approaching. However, that mistake cost it its life as a spike shot out of the ground and impaled the creature without any resistance.
*Ping*
Standing up from my cover, I wiped my brow as I walked over to the rabbit. I was feeling pretty proud of myself, it was my first time using earth magic and I was able to create a stone spike just big enough to piece the rabbit's body and heart, instead of eviscerating the whole body. This way, I can harvest not only the horn, which can be used for stamina tonics but also the meat. Even if it was a fantasy creature, it was still a rabbit.
I picked the rabbit's corpse off the spike and threw it into my inventory. The xp gain wasn't worth hunting, but if I came across more, the ingredients were worth the time investment.
Taking out my gathering knife, I knelt beside the spike grass patch and felt the ground around it. Clearing the ground around it, I gently lifted the leaves and cut them at the base, being careful not to break the thick leaves, or punching my skin on the spikes.
After a minute or two, I managed to harvest ten of them. I did notice that a few of them bloomed a few flowers that had seeds in them, so after taking a few, I planted a couple around the area, using magic which helped to speed things up a lot.
Before I left, I took a cutting of one of the spiky grass and as soon as my knife cut into the plant's flesh, a thick liquid spilled out. It had a very grassy smell and would get sticky if you rubbed the liquid in between your fingers. I put a drop on my tongue and left it there for a few seconds before spitting it out. It tasted the same as it smelt, however, my tongue started to go a little numb, so I was glad that I spat it out or I could imagine that you can get an upset stomach from eating, even a little bit of this leaf.