Chapter 31: The Sapphire Dragon Scale

Chapter 31

The Sapphire Dragon Scale

"I came to see you." Aman looked at the small face that clearly showed displeasure. His thick eyebrows furrowed in surprise; he couldn’t recall ever causing her any trouble. Why would someone he just met show such displeasure? Nevertheless, Aman was not impatient. He let her reflect for a moment before responding.

"Do you have something you need me to do, sir?"

"No," Aman quickly replied. Ellie seemed at a loss. She looked at his stoic face and continued,

"In that case, why have you come to see me?" While the petite one began to show displeasure, she still managed to keep it well-contained. Aman couldn’t help but crack a smile, but of course, he wouldn’t tease this country girl too much; otherwise, he might make a mistake that could cause her to resent him, which could negatively affect his family.

"Isn’t it true that my father came to see you?" Aman raised his eyebrows, observing how the young woman would react, but Ellie responded with a calm gaze, showing no surprise or anxiety.

"And what did you come for, sir?" Ellie repeated her question.

"Why would I come to see you? Since my father wants to befriend you, I came here first just to show friendship," the future significant lord smiled, despite his ambiguous and cunning tone, Ellie felt as if he was genuinely enjoying this.

She chose not to engage with the annoying person in front of her. She turned to look around her planting plot as if she was busy, although she had just been observing the surrounding plots. Aman wouldn’t miss how she was simply trying to avoid further conversation with him, and it was indeed interesting to see someone disregarding a son of the Setter family for the first time like this.

If Ellie knew his thoughts, she would probably change her demeanor immediately. Who would want to attract the attention of a vicious hero?

Compared to the naïve heroine who didn’t realize that the person in front of her belonged to the notable Setter family, despite his white hair and fame in the institution, Ellie inadvertently acted disrespectfully, making her a point of interest. It seemed more reasonable for Ellie to ignore him, and it genuinely piqued the interest of the second son, "Aman Setter."

"Just now, I saw you looking at the surrounding plots. Are you interested in expanding your cultivation area?" Aman inquired. Although Ellie remained silent, this noble son was not one to easily give up.

"Actually, in my capacity as a senior at the institution, perhaps I could help you with something significant. For instance, you might not know that botanic elemental students can rent additional cultivation space. Though it may not earn points, you can still use them for experimentation, right?"

After hearing Aman mention this, Ellie was genuinely interested in what he had said. And yes! She had no prior knowledge about the possibility of renting space for experimental cultivation. This was a new piece of information for her.

Even the general details about studying at this institution for botanic elemental students did not mention it. She knew she would have 1 plot assigned by the institution, sized equally for fairness, after which she had to strive her best to exchange it for points to pass the academic year. But this "renting a cultivation space" was knowledge not found in any of those manuals.

However, after Ellie turned to look at Aman, the young man simply smiled, clearly pleased that he had managed to catch Ellie’s interest. She slightly pursed her lips, not wanting to show too much reaction, yet her aura of displeasure was evident. Therefore, it made Aman laugh even more.

"If you want to know more, you can also ask me. I might have many useful suggestions for you. Or...I could take you on missions to gather points."

"You should know my capabilities by now. I can easily handle high-level missions with my group. But if you want, I can take you along and assign you tasks. Initially, the points you get might be few, but as you take on more missions and participate more, you’ll earn more points."

Aman puffed up a bit, his offer almost sounding like he was handing out free points. As he said, the members of his group were all strong, mostly from the Setter family or their allies, some perhaps following Aman into the future. So, they could complete missions successfully without needing others. Even if Ellie joined them, she wouldn’t need to do much; just a little effort to document participation in the missions and easily collect the points.

Yet, what he was confident in was not what Ellie wanted. Regardless, she had decided she didn’t want to get too close to this man. With her powers, Ellie knew she could smoothly pass each year, even just by cultivating plants.

"I go out of my way to please you, and if you still ignore me, I think it’s a bit inconsiderate," Aman said after seeing that Ellie didn’t turn back to pay him any attention.

Of course, his tone was still playful. He just wanted to annoy the young woman a bit.

Even though this man was an important member of the Setter family, which could very well be the one to help his older brother regain his consciousness, with Ellie’s mature and thoughtful demeanor, there was no way she would stop helping the Setter family just because he teased her.

"Lord Aman, I think I don’t have anything to ask you. If I have any doubts, there is Professor Medik who can provide guidance. I won’t bother with your valuable time." Aman smiled at Ellie’s response.

"That’s right, don’t forget to inquire about renting a cultivation space. Although the rental is on an annual basis and you can’t include it in your academic scores, you can still experiment with many things. I expect you to graduate from this institution successfully."

"And...the reason I came here is to express my gratitude to you," Aman switched from his playful demeanor to a serious one. As he couldn’t enter Ellie’s cultivation area, he walked up to the barrier of the plot and placed a small vial there.

"This is the Sapphire Dragon Scale herb. Its properties are crucial for hunters; properly processed, it can create a potion that enhances physical strength and endurance for 40 seconds. Naturally, it’s a rare herb that you wouldn’t find in the market. I obtained it from a tomb raid recently, and now it’s yours."

"I don’t know how to cultivate it, and I don’t think anyone could teach you, even Professor Medik, as I heard that he is currently studying how to grow it himself to break the Fernal family’s monopoly on the market."

"If you manage to cultivate it, I’ve heard that 1 plant of Sapphire Dragon Scale herb yields about 10-15 leaves. The institution also has a high score for rare herbs. I don’t think 1 leaf would score less than 100 points," as Aman mentioned, Ellie couldn’t help but raised her eyebrows with interest.

This gift indeed interested her greatly. What Ellie lacked now were resources. Now that she was in the institution, she could find whatever she needed in the city of Erel, but how much time do students really have? To visit Erel City, they would need to set aside 2 days: 1 day for the journey there and another day for the return, as they needed to account for the time it took to descend and ascend the mountain back to the institution.

Of course, there were special means of travel, such as if one possessed an interesting magic device, these could be used to shorten travel time, just like the head of the Setter family and the priest used to travel here. However, such special devices weren’t simply available for purchase whenever one had the money. Without sufficient power, they were not allowed to possess such valuable equipment.

This was no surprise why the Setter family had become so powerful to this day. The family’s privileges allowed them to possess many weapons. It was said that they secretly own a cemetery as well.

In the Tower of Eternity, many things were kept secret. The royal inspection powers weren’t high enough to see everything within the tower. Even if the royal family knew what the Setter family was up to, they didn’t have enough authority to intervene or apply royal laws to them.

Because the tower’s area wasn’t within any country’s jurisdiction, legal rules couldn’t be applied. It’s not surprising that criminals gather there. Anyone entering must be capable of defending their own life, as any carelessness was seen as recklessness and overconfidence.

As for the rare herb Aman offered to Ellie, even if she went to look for it herself in the Tower of Eternity, it would be difficult, or even if she tried to find it in the marketplaces of Erel, it would be even harder. This meant she wouldn’t be able to obtain it on her own.

"I know it’s not possible to recklessly cultivate the plants in your own plot, so I suggested that you rent additional cultivation space. Initially, if you can successfully grow them there, you can still sell them until you’re confident enough to transplant them into your own plot later. That way, you could easily earn the points."

Aman concluded before leaving, allowing Ellie to ponder on her own. Given the gift he had presented, she would surely feel grateful to him in the future.

Ellie pressed her lips together, amazed by the incredible behavior of this second young lord of the Setter family. Although in the storyline, this lord did not fall in love with the heroine immediately, he will meet her in the Tower of Eternity 5 months after the first year has passed.

By then, the heroine had learned much from the Sage, enabling her to use her light magic powers to heal wounds. Nara had used her magic to save Aman’s life from an assassination attempt by bandits, which, like many classic plots, resulted in Aman falling deeply in love with the heroine because he owed his life to her.

However, with his arrogant nature, it’s unlikely he would behave so charmingly like this!

He had always believed he was above everyone else, and his family’s status had allowed him to act so. Thus, he often treated Nara harshly, frequently speaking without regard for her feelings, yet behind the scenes, he did many good deeds, which was why many readers love and hate him simultaneously.

But seeing how he dealt with villains who bothered the heroine in ways that other heroes would not dare, the readers gave their hearts to him, feeling vindicated by Aman’s punishment of the malevolent characters.

"It could be considered a good start," Ellie couldn’t look at the precious herb left in front of her for too long. She picked up the valuable herb and kept it with her immediately.

Although she was interested in renting cultivation space, Ellie was not without fear of the accompanying problems. Moreover, it would be better if she learned how to cultivate them secretly and gradually revealed the cultivation methods in her third year.

With the first and second years already figured out for passing the scores requirement, she would wait until the third year, by which she hoped to have learned more about using her magic powers—at least enough to protect herself better. This included the courage to confront the Fernal family in the future!