Chapter 272 272: Bellmond Valley

Bellmond Valley

From a public shuttle, a young man of 18 to 19 years old of age stepped down. The moment his foot landed on the ground, he immediately scanned his surroundings

This place is outside the more populous part of the city but there are still some people living in this area

"So this is the Bellmond Valley..." Rezen muttered while looking at the large expanse of land in front of him

On both sides of this flowery large stretch of land were small hills. The vegetation was lush on those hills as it was covered by bright green leaves

As for the valley itself, it was more colorful thanks to the various flowers growing inside of it

Maybe because it was naturally part of nature and not like the other parts of the city that were artificially created by humans, the mana level in the valley is even a bit higher. Meditating inside this valley would be easier and the benefits are also bigger

However, at the entrance of the valley, some military mages are stationed to prevent just anyone from entering the valley

Since the valley is a place where natural resources grew, it is easily exploited if the city doesn't manage it and just lets everyone freely enter to take the resources for themselves

If that was the case, the valley's resources would be collected faster than it can grow them and in time, it might become a place where no cultivation materials could be seen anymore

With a deep breath, Rezen approached the booth at the valley entrance all while enduring the stares of the military mages

They look like people that would attack on sight if Rezen were to show any abnormal action which is natural

Humanity constantly faced the threats of magic beasts. If they want to have the chance to fight back, they must nourish strong mages and that required enough resources

The mages cannot let anything bad happen to the valley as it is one of the city's resource points

While Rezen is not sure, in his mind, this place at the very least should have mages at the Senior Rank guarding it against intruders and other threats

As Rezen doesn't plan on doing anything bad... for now, he calmly approached the booth while taking out his identity card from his leather bag

Every tribesman was given identity cards that contained basic information about them such as their names, age, and sex

However, the most important of it was that identity card absorbs a drop of their blood, registering their aura

The aura was then recorded by the magic artifacts of the city and if the aura was the same, using the right artifacts, the city management could know if the card was fake or not

This is similar to the ids of the earth realm but one works using magic while the other works using technology

The person assigned to the booth took out another card which was red in color

Rezen's identity card is white, his alchemist identity card is yellow, and the card used to scan his identity card was red

The staff placed the red card above Rezen's white card and it released a red light that soon turned into a green light

The red card then projected Rezen's information and while the staff could already sense Rezen's rank, after it was proven by his identity card, the staff can't help but purse his lips

"Another forager that was accepted because of a connection and he's only at the 1st cycle. Can he even bring resources back? He might just clumsily destroy them while trying to harvest them" the staff thought in his head

Since the Guardian wants the tribal people to genuinely become part of the city, their identity cards didn't show anything about their background. As such, the staff assumed that Rezen was born in the city and he only became a forager because of his connections which are not that far from the truth

While the job of the foragers is only to search and bring back the resources from the resource points, it's a job that everyone wished to have

First of all, the danger of the job is not high. In fact, it was very safe yet the returns were quite spectacular

The foragers depending on the number and preciousness of the resources they brought back could earn a lot of money

Not to mention, there is no way to prevent the foragers from consuming the resources they found while they are still inside the valley

It was illegal to hide the resources they found from the city management but it was perfectly fine for them to consume the resources while they are inside the valley

Of course, they shouldn't say that out loud or they would be punished but even if the management can guess what they did, they could only turn a blind eye to it

Anyway, the foragers are also part of the city. If they become stronger then it means that the city also grew strong

Besides, everything is up to their luck and if they are really lucky, they might find resources that could forever change their lives and turn them into geniuses

That was the reason why this job is sought by many to the point that oftentimes, one could only become a forager if they have luck

A 1st cycle Junior Mage like Rezen is not someone that would be given this job if he doesn't have any connection

"Take these things with you. This is the Flower of Protection. Each of the petals corresponds to a cycle in the Junior Rank. It could automatically detect danger and if your life is threatened, the petals would automatically activate to create a protective barrier around you and we will be immediately notified"

"If the petal that stores a barrier was activated, you would have to pay us depending on what petal was activated. If all of the petals are activated, it means that the danger reached the Senior Rank"

"This is I assumed you already know; a spatial pouch. While it was not as easy to store and take things from it when using spatial rings, it can store more items for a cheaper price. You could store as many resources as you found and bring them back. You can only store the resources you found in the spatial pouch, before you are allowed to return, we will inspect you to make sure you didn't smuggle anything"

As much as the staff was displeased that a person that don't have the qualification as a forager was given the job, he was still professional and explained things that he should explain

Even if he assumed that Rezen already know the basic things he explained, it was still a protocol to explain them every time a forager would enter the valley

"Thank you" Rezen replied while taking the Flower of Protection that seems like was made from bronze along with the spatial pouch that looks like your normal pouch made from a simple piece of cloth

After a body inspection to record whatever kind of spatial storage he has, Rezen was finally allowed to enter the valley as he placed the Flower of Protection on his chest

This Flower of Protection was what Philome meant when she said there are safety measures for the foragers

It could protect Rezen from dangers that even he cannot detect and the moment that the flower was activated, the people managing the valley would be notified

They would receive his location and they would hurry to save him. This was one of the reasons why the foragers have little to no casualties every year

"Ivy, activate the assist mode" Rezen ordered and Ivy started to scan his surroundings for the nearby resources

Most of the flowers and grass in the valley are normal and cannot be used by the mages for anything special but there were some of them that are at the very least useful

"The most common Spirit Plant in the valley is the Bellmond Flower, a main ingredient of the nutrition liquid" Rezen muttered as in his vision, blue screens appeared that showed him where the Bellmond Flowers are amongst the sea of normal flowers and grass

If this was other foragers, they have to use their eyes and spirit to discover what are Spirit Plants and what is not

It's like they are working manually while Rezen has a device to help him search

This made his confidence as a forager grow and he can already hear the sound of money entering his pockets

As Rezen is still near the entrance, he didn't dare act abnormally and just like most people, even though the Bellmond Flowers are not exactly rare and precious ingredients, he still collected them when he found them

The commission is based on the overall number and types of ingredients that Rezen would submit and for most people, even 'mosquito meat' is still meat