BXBX NOVEL Chapter 264 Meanwhile In Argentum (1)
As the things in the capital unraveled, Eli was training nonstop while cultivating the herbs back in the Silver Dew Forest.
Due to the success of the cure potion, she had to go back to the forest to improve the farming land to have it as a designated cultivation area for the herbs nourished by her holy powers.
As for the normal herbs, this would be done by the other temple servants back in the Capital.
"Ahhh, finally! My work is finished today!!! And I am still standing!" Eli couldn't help but feel a little bit helpless upon realizing the change brought by her descent into Prasinos.
From being an overworked employee and a frustrated musician, she became a single mother. She started learning the ways of homemaking and child-rearing while she figure out what she had to do to survive in this fantasy world.
Along the way, she entered the realm of being a summoner and found Wisey and Baobao to assist her in the journey.
After months of learning how to live as a single pregnant woman, she met a lot of people, that paved the way for her to become an inventor, an educator, a friend, and a daughter.
Then came the time she became a mother and a lover, with Leon and Little Han by her side.
Afterward, she had to do her best to honor the commitment that came with all the roles she had taken by fulfilling another heavy role - the Subject of the Oracle.
Never in her life did she expect these things to happen. She thought that she would only face the normal problems a typical mother would experience. However, being a mother required more than being a good steward of the home she was making.
It even required her to be a gardener at this point!
Nevertheless, Eli couldn't discount the fact that all of this contributed to her growth as a better person and ultimately, as a better mother to Little Han and companion to Leon.
Stretching her hands that stayed outstretched for around five minutes, Eli looked around the land that she was currently managing.
It still surprised her to think that she was able to care for this land like a true-blooded farmer!
The multiple areas in the garden were nursing hundreds of tiny saplings of medicinal herbs.
Around half of the area was allotted to cultivate the main ingredient - the silver woodbine flower, which was also a type of vine.
So unlike normal farming, the cultivating area didn't require Eli, Baobao, and her helpers to cut trees.
They just have to clean up the weeds around the spaces between the forest trees and let the saplings grow and naturally crawl into the trees.
With the help of the Silver Dew Elves, they selected a plot of land where the trees, which were also an ingredient to the potion, grow. By doing this, Eli would only need to cast her holy powers on the trees and it will give an amount of nourishment to the Silver Woodbine Flower as well.
Moreover, most of the ingredients were also from the Silver Dew Forest, as such, they do not necessarily require sunlight, but the silver dew which was produced by the combination of abundant mana on the ground and the moonlight.
"I wish that this kind of farming could be also applied to the modern earth! As such, no trees have to be cut to produce farmland! Alas… there's no magic in the modern earth…" Eli couldn't help but lament after realizing these things.
Seeing that the sun was about to set, Eli wrapped up the work in her farmland to go back to Silvertown.
Her routine comprised of taking care of the farmland and nourishing them with her holy powers during the daytime and training the rest of her paths at night.
Since her little cottage was transported to the Forgeworn Estate, she had no choice but to temporarily stay in the Argentum.
Her night training might also cause a lot of commotion among the peaceful Silver Dew Elves, so she had no choice but to stay in Argentum.
"Lady Eli! Welcome back!" The butler of Argentum happily greeted her as she reached the private rooms and removed her disguise. He had an expression of great relief on his aged face.
Nothing had changed in the Argentum, it was as busy and prestigious as when she last visited the shop.
The only thing that changed was, that she was no longer treated as a very important guest in the Argentum but as a full-fledged member of the Forgeworn Family.
The shopkeepers and the servants treated her even better than before. She could even trace the excitement in their eyes whenever she met these people as she train and rest in the Argentum quarters.
"The Esteemed Teacher has already arrived from the teleportation portal. He is waiting on the training grounds. Milady, do you want to change your attire first before you proceed to meet the Great Teacher?" The butler politely suggested.
"No need, the training today might require me to be dirtied as well. It doesn't matter." Eli looked at her attire.
It was a pair of simple pants and a shirt that was appropriate for strenuous physical activities. However, it was already full of mud and dirt because of spending a whole day farming.
"Then, let me escort you to the training grounds, Milady." The butler gently smiled and escorted Eli.
The servants in the house loved how straightforward she was. Although sometimes they worry that Eli, as their lady, might act a little too nonchalant about the society's standards of etiquette.
But knowing her dignified works as a renowned inventor, they respected her choices for they understood that no amount of superficial etiquette or gracefulness can invalidate the brilliance of her works.
They respected her not only as a member of the Forgeworn family but as one of the people who benevolently brought groundbreaking reforms to the lower class of society through her inventions.
Reaching the underground training ground, Eli looked at the hooded figure that was patiently waiting on the wooden bench beside the training grounds.
After politely dismissing the butler, she walked toward the figure and bowed respectfully, "Greetings, Esteemed High Priest!"
The hooded figure stood up and took off his disguise, revealing the High Priest underneath the covers of the hood.
"En, remember to call me Teacher here as we aren't in the temple. You seemed to appear less tired today. I want to check your progress."
"Responding to Teacher! Today, I was able to easily cast my holy powers on the plants for five minutes within a forty-five-minute interval. On my first day of arrival here, I was able to recast my holy powers after an hour. But now speed in casting my powers decreased by fifteen minutes in just a few days!" Eli reported her progress proudly.
"And I managed to go home now without Baobao sending me back to Argentum unconscious!" She happily continued.
The very act of staying in the forest to cultivate the herbs was also part of her training. After opening her paths, the High Priest had her concentrate to improve her holy powers and caster abilities at the same time.
By using her casting powers to increase the growth rate of the plants, her mind and body became more accustomed to the act of casting. After a day of purely stretching her limits in casting magic, the High Priest had her try to use her holy powers instead of her mana.
The result surprised them as they witnessed that the holy powers came out!
This proved that using her casting abilities was the easiest way for Eli to make her holy powers come out.
After alternating between casting mana and holy powers, the two worked on decreasing the cast interval and increasing the duration of her casting of the holy powers.
However, as they were trying to stretch her limits, she would always come home dead tired that Baobao could only send her back like an injured person.
"En! You did a good job! Now, have you measured the area of effect where your holy powers could expand to?" The High Priest, Enoch inquired.
Eli took her notebook and handed it over to High Priest Enoch, "Yes, Teacher, here are my notes."
High Priest Enoch looked at the numbers and graphs in Eli's notebook. It was one of the things he liked about teaching Eli.
Unbeknownst to many, High Priest Enoch's ways of training were through an extremely systematic approach. He liked to take notes and analyze data recorded in his notebooks.
After Eli showed him the graphs and mathematical analyses, he became extremely enamored with them. Thus, he required Eli to document her progress numerically in her notebook for him to see and analyze further.
"Hmm… from twenty-five square meters you were able to double it to fifty. Not bad! Not Bad! The rate of your improvement was also relatively increasing as you go with your daily training! Now all we needed to work on was decreasing your intervals in using the holy powers." High Priest Enoch nodded approvingly.
Looking at Eli who was listening to him intently, he continued, "Looking at the data, the rate of usage of your holy powers was proportionate to your performance when you use your mana.
That only means one thing! You have to unlearn the mindset of a caster, which is avoiding receptor fatigue.
Let's start your training as a devourer! This will enable you to think that your holy power is one with your body, not something you have to collect nor store!"