Chapter 157 - 83: Man-made Spirit Vein

Chapter 157: Chapter 83: Man-made Spirit Vein

"Okay, just a moment!"

While dealing with Victor, the stall owner turned to Lilia with a very serious tone. "Of course, when I say it’s not dangerous, I mean for seasoned professionals like us. A delicate young lady like you, on the other hand, should stay far away from a place like that. It’s easy to get into trouble, you understand?"

She spoke quickly, her tone incredibly serious, as if she feared Lilia might go exploring if she didn’t stress the point enough.

Lilia found this a little amusing and nodded obediently. "I understand."

Only then did the stall owner relax and go back to dealing with Victor.

Lilia turned her head to watch.

Victor had picked out several herbs and a good number of ores.

He knew the value of these stones very well and had no intention of taking advantage of the owner, so he paid her a generous amount in silver coins.

Looking at all the money in her hand, the owner was completely stunned. She’d never imagined the stones she had casually picked up were so valuable.

Victor had no intention of explaining and simply turned to leave.

Lilia continued to follow him. "Why did you buy so many herbs and ores?"

Victor’s pace faltered for a moment, but he restrained himself and remained silent.

A soft "tsk" sounded from behind him, followed by the girl’s feigned, sorrowful voice. "It’s one thing if you don’t want to see me, but now you won’t even answer my questions? It seems you really do hate me..."

Victor: "..."

He knew she was doing it on purpose—acting spoiled, using that pitiful tone to probe his attitude.

He should have just given her the cold shoulder; it wouldn’t have been difficult for him. But...

He sighed, almost inaudibly. "...To run some experiments."

"What kind of experiments can you do with these?"

Just as he’d expected.

The moment he responded, her pitiful tone vanished instantly.

In its place was a probing curiosity that pushed for more.

"Those herbs don’t seem to be any particularly rare variety; you can find them anywhere," Lilia mused.

And then there were the stones.

It was rare for ordinary stones to have residual Magic Power, but that didn’t mean they held any great research value.

Containing Magic Power wasn’t an inherent trait of the stones themselves; they had simply been steeped in an area of extremely high Magic Power concentration for too long.

"You’re not really interested in studying them, are you?"

Lilia asked. "It’s their source you’re really interested in studying: the Valgipps Mountain Range."

"Speaking of which, I’m a little curious myself... Is the Magic Power concentration there really that high? Why would even the stones at the foot of the mountains be affected?"

’I didn’t sense anything like that when I went there in my last playthrough.’

Victor didn’t answer her question directly. "Have you forgotten what the stall owner said? That place is dangerous. It’s best not to go near it."

"It’s dangerous for ordinary people, but I’m a Mage."

Lilia didn’t think she’d encounter any real danger there.

Besides...

’Even if there was danger, I could just load my save.’

’With save files, you can do whatever you want.’

Sensing her nonchalance, Victor subconsciously wanted to look at her, but he held back in the end.

He said nothing and simply walked toward the next stall.

They spent the whole day out, buying a lot of things.

Victor was finally heading back, his arms full.

By the time they returned to their lodgings, the sky was already dark.

He didn’t even say goodbye to Lilia. As soon as he was inside, he immediately shut the door, leaving her alone in the courtyard.

"Tsk."

Lilia folded her arms, staring at the tightly shut door.

’He’s so difficult.’

’He’s barely spoken to me all day, just leading me around the market like I’m his pet.’

’And yet, back when I wasn’t around, the only place he would ever go was the Valgipps Mountain Range.’

’Now that he knows I’ll follow him, he’s actually trying this trick to throw me off his trail.’

Of course, Lilia had no intention of letting him get his way.

She left the courtyard not through the gate, but by vaulting right over the wall.

She returned to her own lodgings and found Jennifer.

The talented woman from the Royal Capital Magic Academy had just returned and was in her room organizing her research reports.

After listening to Lilia’s account, she looked surprised. "The Valgipps Mountain Range?"

She had investigated many things over the past few days and naturally knew a little about that particular mountain range.

According to local folklore, the land there was barren and the area was extremely dangerous.

Even when the yearly harvest was poor, the farmers never considered trying to cultivate the wasteland there.

However, this was the first Jennifer had heard of medicine farmers going there to gather herbs. This was likely because she had only been dealing with regular farmers these past few days.

Jennifer pushed up her glasses. "Theoretically, the herbs you mentioned do indeed only grow in places rich with Magic Power. Additionally, the stones that contain Magic Power also prove that the Valgipps Mountain Range is special."

"However, the Magic Power concentration of a place can’t just increase or decrease out of thin air."

"Navia is a remote region, and the Magic Elements in the air are incredibly scarce. It’s basically impossible for a place like this to have a naturally occurring concentration of Magic Power."

Lilia asked curiously, "What if there’s a Spirit Vein hidden there?"

Hearing this question, Jennifer’s expression turned to one of satisfaction. "Not bad. You even know about Spirit Veins."

For a young girl who had never attended school, possessing such knowledge was truly remarkable.

Her opinion of Lilia improved. "Indeed. Even a senior professor at the Royal Capital Magic Academy couldn’t claim to fully grasp the patterns of how Spirit Veins appear. A remote place like Navia could very well have one waiting to be discovered."

"A Spirit Vein is a natural concentration of Magic Power. If there were one hidden beneath Valgipps, it would make perfect sense for both the herbs to grow and the special ores to appear there."

Jennifer adjusted her glasses, her tone certain. "But that’s impossible."

Lilia: "Why?"

"Because the presence of a Spirit Vein is far more distinct than you might imagine."

Jennifer continued, "I hear you are also a Mage. Do you get the feeling that when you’re in Hillflan, your Magic Power recovers much faster than it does elsewhere?"

Lilia nodded.

"There you have it."

Jennifer said, "If a Spirit Vein exists in a certain place, the surrounding Elemental Particles will become exceptionally active. Although Mages can’t see them directly, they can detect them indirectly through various means."

"If there really were a Spirit Vein beneath the Valgipps Mountain Range, the Magic Power concentration in Navia wouldn’t be as impoverished as it is now. As Mages, you and I would surely sense something."

"I see." Lilia now understood completely.

She wasn’t an ordinary Mage. With her extremely high Elemental Affinity, she could actually "see" the Elemental Particles when she meditated.

That was why she could perceive the difference between Hillflan and Navia so clearly.

The difference in the concentration of Elemental Particles was simply too vast.

In that case, it was indeed impossible for a Spirit Vein to be hidden here.

"Then..." Lilia continued, "what’s the situation with the Valgipps Mountain Range?"

"Since natural factors have been ruled out..."

Jennifer pushed up her glasses. "That only leaves a man-made cause."