Chapter 63 Weeds

63 Weeds

Before I could even notice, the day in the forest started to near the end of its cycle. The sun rose up and away, done with the daily dose of feeding its intense light to the earth. And with only its last few rays illuminating the forest, Leinei spoke out a few muted words and cast a spark onto a small pile of wood, starting a fire in a mere fraction of how long it would take me to do the same. 'Damn magic,' I cursed in my thoughts, the sense of jealousy taking over. 'I wonder what I need to do to cast spells myself.' Visit no(v)eLb(i)n.com for the best novel reading experience

Being able to wield magic was the wet dream of every nerd in existence. To wield the power that exceeded human understanding... And for how rational I strove to be, I couldn't ignore the allure of this mystical power. Yet, when the fire started to settle in the small logs, I couldn't help but raise my eyes and look at the dried. For how nice it was to feel the warmth from the fire to help in the fight against the late-night chill... Wasn't Leinei burning her brethren just to warm us up?

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Leinei asked when she raised her eyes from the fire and noticed my stare. Despite how I started to doubt her intelligence at times, she was quick enough to connect the dots and figure out what was puzzling me so much. "I do get cold too," she claimed while rolling her eyes. "In nature, everything gets used by everything. Today, I use this wood to warm myself. Tomorrow, the wood of my bones will serve as fodder for the new generation of the forest's undergrowth."

If I got Leinei to promise me something while drunk, I would have a much easier time enforcing it later on. But at the same, using this kind of lowly trick would drastically decrease the points I had in Leinei's eyes. But I wasn't worried at all. And from the long yet not-hostile look, the dryad gave me, I was perfectly on the spot with my prediction... again. "I need to find three specific herbs. Something that an extremely weak human could use to the benefit of their growth," I explained, trying to derive as much information from the mission status in my system as I could. 'Find the three precious herbs populating the forest that will help accelerate your growth."

A short description... but one that brought a lot of information. What I was looking for was a herb that even locals would consider precious yet one that wouldn't amount to much in Madam's or Leinei's eyes. "It should be something rather easy to find or obtain. And again, its effects should be somewhat limited," I explained all I could when directed by nothing but the fact that the mission of finding herbs was actually supposed to be an easy one. "Sure," Leinei simply shrugged her shoulders again before taking a long sip from her cup. "I can list out tens of herbs that fit your description," she bragged again, only to raise her chin and look at me along the edge of her nose. "And I know where they all grow!"

'She really isn't all that smart,' I thought, baffled by how easily this dryad would reveal what she knew and what she didn't, making my job all the easier in the process. "Let's save it for tonight, though." My request came right as Leinei's eyes filled with strangely serious anticipation. "I will ask if you want to help again, tomorrow," I revealed my plans, finally free to stop acting and actually say what I meant. "So, once you sober up and stop anyone from claiming I forced you to help out." I retreated a few steps only to grab my own cup and raise it high into the air while enjoying the warmth of Fay's sleepy head nodding off on my shoulders. "For today, though, let's have some fun!" I shouted out loud, shaking my cup as high above my head as I could before lowering my arm. "Cheers!" 2/3 daily 0/3 bonus