It's been a month and a half since I started living in this world, and currently I'm in a tiny forest within the south gate.
This is the area where I have been collecting herbs to complete the collection quest of mine.
My daily routine is still the same. Wake up, do my morning run around the town center, meet up with her in the guild, take a quest, then finally go to the library to study.
Thanks to this routine of mine, my energy stats have increased significantly, along with my agility and spirit stats. Today, I took a break from studying and decided to take on three herb-collecting quests.
I like this place, since there's barely anyone here who is willing to do their collecting quest. This forest I'm in is filled with tiny uphills that make it hard for people to traverse, along with a tiny amount of herbs growing here.
Most of the people who are doing the same quest as mine would be in the west and east gates, where one can find them without a problem. The only competition there is the people fighting over the herbs.
Technically, I can just go there and complete my quest too, but if I'm here, I can take the high-quality herbs for myself. This forest is basically untouched by the herb collectors, allowing them to grow stronger and have much higher quality than the other areas.
After a few minutes of walking deeper into the forest, I paused for a bit and looked around my surroundings, taking in the fresh air within the area. Another reason for why I'm here is because I have a skill that allows me to find these herbs.
Because I have been doing this kind of work for the last month without missing a single day, I have developed a skill called: [Comparison], a skill that allows me to compare something to another thing.
Just by having the same herb on me that I'm trying to find, I can use the skill of mine, which will then show me the same herb around the forest.
So far, the skill indication only shows a tiny circle above the same herb and can only compare three of them to the one I used. With this skill, I can now just move around the forest and keep an eye out for the skill indication.
A few more minutes of walking, I found my first herb. It was in between tree roots. Plucking it out, I placed it in my bag. This herb I found is a mushroom-type one.
I don't really know what it could be used for, but the guild is offering 1 silver coin for three pieces of it.
Today I just want to lay down in a grass field and take a nap, so I decided to hurry up with this. Activating my skill the whole time, I moved through the forest finding the other two herbs.
The other two are flower-type herbs. Earlier this morning I decided to buy one of them costing only 3 silver coins. As long as I have these three in my hand and my skill on, I can find them within an hour.
...
...
An hour later, I have found all three herbs I needed and left the forest. With these three on me, the amount of money I'll get would be around 8 silver coins, and this is only for completing them.
If the quality of theirs is good, I'll receive a small amount of money from them. So I might earn 10–12 silver coins today. Making my way to the guild, I bought a rabbit skewer from a stall on the street and ate it.
Entering the guild, I found that the receptionist table had only four members at it. Looks like that blonde guy is off duty..... Ignoring that, I made my way to the red-haired lady at the table and placed down the herbs I got.
"Please wait for a bit." The lady said, taking the herbs I collected and putting them in a tiny bowl.
"Let's see, these herbs you got are all high quality, so the guild will buy them all for 14 silver coins." The lady said, satisfied. I answered:
"Thank you." Waiting for the money to be placed on the table. After a bit, the lady placed down the silver coins on the table, I stretched my hand to it and placed them in the money slot in my string bracelet.
I said my goodbye to the lady and made my way back into the Inn I'm staying at. I ordered some food for lunch and decided to take a break in the library to take a nap there.
"Status." I called out, checking my progress.
— — — — —
Name: Nine. | Level: 6. | Class: None. | Title: 1.
[Physical stats]: Strength: 15. | Agility: 29. | Defense: 15.
[Energy stats]: Vitality: 46. | Mana: 18. | Stamina: 32.
[Existence stats]: Intelligence: 54. | Spirit: 17. | Luck: 10.
[Skills]: 1. | [Items]: 1. | AP: 0. | SP: 5.
— — — — —
Looking at my status window, I smiled, seeing the progress on it. A while ago, I decided to use all my AP on my Vitality stat, making it the second-highest stat of mine, second to Intelligence.
Because of my studying here, my Intelligence stat increased the most. Each time I learned and moved a milestone, it would increase. Pressing the skill option in status, I looked at the skill of mine.
[Skill: Comparison. Type: Manifested.
Level: 1. Proficiency: 87%
Description: Allows you to compare the difference between the same thing within a 10x10 meter range, up to 3 items at the same time.]
As I admired the skill of mine, a voice suddenly called out from the first floor of the library. Looking at the stairs, I found Marie standing there.
"Nine!" She screamed, holding a pen and a book in her hand. Slamming them onto the table before my face: "I ask you this again, tell me the recipe for those foods you made!" She demanded.
Because of the time I have spent with her here, I would occasionally bring a dish from my previous world that I made the night before and shared it with her.
So far the foods I have brought and shared with her are: a simple egg and eggplant fried dish, a leche flan, and an egg, fish, and tomato dish.
She already knew the ingredients for the other two, but because I kept the methods on how to make them, she's unable to recreate them on her own, making her do this each time we meet.
"No." I answered to her words.
"Why? Come on, just tell me how to make them will you!?" Marie said, sitting beside me. I simply ignored her, not wanting to give her the instructions on how to make those dishes I made.
"Why are you even here? We only have to meet three times a week." I said to her, reminding her that the deal we made is simply her teaching me three days a week.
"Yeah right, you act like you don't want my company." She said, her tone carrying pride on it.
"I kinda regret paying you so much for those lessons by the way." I said to her. Since I took down the quest I made in the guild, I can pay her with the agreed amount of money we made back then.
Which is 1 gold coin for three days a week. These days, we would lock ourselves here in the library from morning to night, till it closed, with her teaching me how to understand and talk in this world's language.
Because I received the additional reward from my first quest, paying her is not a problem. And thanks to these lessons with her, my understanding of this world's language increased significantly.
"Come on, Nine! Just tell me how to make them will you?" She said. With the money I gave her, she decided to create a tiny stall to start a business of hers after we are done with the deal we made.
Seeing how she won't leave me until I tell her how to make those dishes, I gave up and took the pen from her and wrote the instructions and recipes for them, adding other dishes I haven't made yet in here.
"Your writing really improved so much, you know." Marie said, watching me write them. "Just another week with me and you probably won't need me anymore in learning our world language."
Hearing her words, I remembered my reason for being here. Although she may be right about me only needing her help for another week, I decided to spend the rest of the summer studying here.
And the moment fall comes, I would start taking another quest that isn't herb collecting, and start leveling up again.
Marie took the book from my hand and admired it above her head. She leaned over to me and said: "I promise this. If you ever want to eat, just come to my stall and I will serve you without asking for money."
Then she patted my head before leaving the library, giving me the silence I wanted. With her gone and silence being with me, I finally took the nap I wanted.
*****
End of chapter 16.