The Greenwood's embrace faded with every southward step. The air grew drier, the trees smaller and farther apart, their whispered conversations replaced by the wind's lonely whistle over rocky hills. I wore the moss cloak from Elder Ilana, its earthy hues helping me blend, and carried a pack made of woven bark containing my few possessions: the Duskwood pack (emptied), the Heartwood Seeds, a waterskin, a fire-striker, and a small pouch of enhanced, nutrient-rich nuts I'd prepared as travel rations.
I was a ghost between worlds. No longer the boy of Whitefall, not yet a student of the Academy, and only a fleeting guest of the elves. My only solid identity was the power thrumming under my skin and the scars holding it back.
I travelled by day, resting under whatever shelter I could find at night. My Deep-Sight, a byproduct of my bloodline and skill, allowed me to find clean water and sense the safest paths. My primary tool for survival was the lowest setting of Verdant Sovereign's Touch. I didn't create food; I encouraged it. A patch of wild tubers would swell at my focused attention. A berry thicket would offer up its most potent, nourishing fruit. It was efficient, costing little mana, and left no obvious magical trace—just unusually bountiful forage for any animal that came after.
After a week, I reached the edge of the human-controlled borderlands. A dirt road appeared, worn by wagon wheels and hoofprints. The first settlement was a trading post called Crossroads Watch. It was a rough collection of timber buildings surrounded by a palisade, a place where elven goods from the north met dwarven metalwork from the east and human ambition from the south.
Here, I would need to interact with the world. And I would need money.
I entered the main gate, pulling my moss hood low. The air was thick with the smells of smoked meat, ale, and unwashed bodies. Adventurers, merchants, and travellers of all races mingled in the muddy yard. My appearance drew glances—the white hair was unusual, the pale skin marked me as perhaps sickly or noble-born, and the faint, earthy scent of the Greenwood clung to me. But in a border post full of oddities, I was just another strange face.
I found the Adventurer's Guild outpost, a smaller, grimier version of Whitefall's. The board had local jobs: guard duty for merchant caravans heading south, monster clearing in the nearby Whispering Canyons, herb collection. I needed something quick, discreet, and that used my specific skills.
Then I saw it, pinned in a corner:
"Botanical Survey - Whispering Canyons.
Requirement: Identify and document all rare flora in the eastern tributary. Map fungal growth patterns.
Payment: 8 Silver, plus a 10% finder's fee on any newly documented species verified by the Alchemist's Guild.
Hazard: Canyons are home to Rock-Tails (E-rank reptiles) and unstable terrain."
It was perfect. It required knowledge, not combat. And the "finder's fee" for new species was the key. With my skill, I could "discover" a new plant variant every day.
I took the notice to the grizzled human clerk. He looked me over, skepticism etched on his face. "You a botanist? You look a bit young for canyon work."
"I have elven training," I said, keeping my voice low. It wasn't a lie.
He grunted, pushing a contract and a basic map across the counter. "Three days. Mark what you find on the map. Bring back samples. No samples, no pay. Get eaten by a Rock-Tail, not our problem."
I spent a silver on a cheap journal and graphite stick for notes, and another on a set of sample pouches. My funds were dwindling, but this job would replenish them.
The Whispering Canyons were a maze of red sandstone, sculpted by wind and ancient water. The air did whisper—a soft, eerie sigh as it flowed through narrow passages. My Deep-Sight was invaluable here, helping me sense unstable rock shelves and find pockets of moisture where life clung.
The work was methodical, peaceful. I found common herbs, noting their locations. Then, on the second day, I found a small, blue-grey lichen growing in a shaded crevice. A quick, analytical pulse from my skill told me it was a common Stone-Lick lichen, but its chemical composition was subtly different due to a unique mineral deposit in this canyon wall. It produced a mild alkaline compound that could neutralize certain acidic venoms.
To the guild, it would be a "new variant." To me, it was a minor twist in a common formula.
I carefully scraped a sample into a pouch, marking its location. I used my skill at its most delicate to encourage the lichen to produce a tiny bit more of the unique compound, making the sample more potent and convincing.
Over the three days, I "discovered" two more variants: a Sun-Thistle with unusually deep roots (suggesting drought resistance) and a Canyon-Moss that fluoresced under moonlight (a curiosity for alchemists). Each time, I used a whisper of my power to enhance the unique trait just enough to be notable.
I encountered no Rock-Tails, though I saw their scat and heard distant skittering. My heightened senses and cautious movement kept me safe.
On the evening of the third day, I returned to Crossroads Watch, my pack full of samples and my map meticulously marked. The guild's resident appraiser, a tired-looking half-elf with an alchemist's lens strapped to his eye, examined my finds.
He spent a long time on the blue lichen, testing it with droplets from various vials. "Hmm. Alkaline shift. Noted in Stone-Lick from the Ironpeak region, but not here. Verifiable new micro-variant." He stamped a form. "The thistle root structure is anomalous. The moss... well, glowing moss is always a seller. Good work, kid. Sharp eyes."
He awarded me the 8 silver, plus a bonus of 5 silver for the three "new variants." Thirteen silver total. It was a fortune compared to my Whitefall earnings. More importantly, it was clean, legal money earned with my expertise, not stolen or fought for.
As I collected my coins, I overheard conversation at the main board.
"—Dragon Academy trials registration is open at all major guild outposts. Heard they're swamped in the capital."
"Fee is a gold coin just to apply! Robbery, I say."
"But the prizes for the top entrants... connections, artifacts, noble patronage..."
My next destination was clear. I needed to register. And I needed one gold coin.
Thirteen silver was a long way from a gold. I needed a bigger score.
As I left the guild, a hand fell on my shoulder. I turned, my instincts flaring. It was a man in well-made but travel-stained leathers, with the keen eyes of a scout or a hunter. Not a guard. A freelancer.
"You're the botanist," he said, his voice low. "The one who found the Glow-Moss variant."
"Yes?"
"My employer has a... sensitive job. Requires someone with a delicate touch with plants. And discretion. Pays two gold upfront, five on completion."
Two gold. More than enough for the Academy fee and travel. It was also screamed trouble.
"Who is your employer, and what is the job?"
"Employer prefers anonymity. The job is retrieval. A specific orchid grows in a certain noble's private garden within a day's ride. The garden is magically warded. We need the orchid retrieved without triggering the wards or harming the plant. Your kind of work."
He was asking me to be a thief. A plant thief for some noble's grudge or alchemical recipe.
For a second, the gold glittered in my mind. Then I thought of the Bloom, of Gorek, of the cost of taking what wasn't mine. I thought of the elven glade, of harmony. This was the opposite.
"I'm not a thief," I said, removing his hand from my shoulder.
His eyes hardened. "A shame. A boy with your talents could go far in the right circles. Or vanish in the wrong ones." It was a threat, veiled but clear. He knew I had unusual skills, and in a place like this, that made me a target to be recruited or removed.
I walked away, feeling his gaze on my back. The easy money was a trap. I had to earn my gold the hard way.
I returned to the job board. There was one listing I'd ignored before, due to its danger.
"Extermination: Cave Fisher infestation in the Old Iron Mine.
Threat: Multiple Cave Fishers (E+ rank), acidic webbing.
Reward: 1 Gold, 5 Silver.
Requirement: Party of 3 minimum. Fire or acid resistance recommended."
A gold and five silver. It was the only job on the board that paid enough. And it required a party. I was a specialist with a broken core and no combat team.
I was staring at the notice, weighing the madness of it, when a voice spoke beside me.
"Looking at the Fisher job? You got the look of a mage, but not the burn scars for a firebug. You a healer?"
I turned. A young woman, maybe sixteen, stood there. She had a practical short sword at her hip and wore studded leather. Her brown hair was tied back, and her eyes held a sharp, assessing intelligence. Beside her was a hulking young man with a tower shield strapped to his back—a Vanguard.
"I'm a specialist," I said cautiously. "Plant and biological magic. Support and control."
The woman's eyes lit up. "Control? Can you make the webs brittle? Or something to slow the Fishers down? I'm Lena, C-rank Vanguard. This is my brother, Bren, D-rank Vanguard. We need a third who isn't just another sword-arm. We tried it yesterday with a fire mage who panicked and nearly cooked us. We split the gold three ways."
Three ways. That would still be over half a gold for me. More than enough.
It was dangerous. It played directly to my weaknesses—close-quarters combat against fast, armored monsters. But it played to my strength too: environmental control.
I looked at Lena's open, pragmatic face, at Bren's silent, solid presence. They needed me. And I needed them.
"I can do control," I said, feeling a thread of the old determination return. "I can give you openings. But I can't take a hit. My mana pool is... shallow."
Lena grinned. "That's what the wall of meat is for." She jerked a thumb at Bren, who gave a solemn nod. "Deal. We move at first light. Meet at the east gate."
I had just joined my first real adventuring party. To hunt monsters in the dark.
For a chance at a golden ticket.
The path to the Academy was no longer a lonely road. It was a treacherous mine, and I had just found someone to watch my back.