Chương 6

"Girl, have you ever practiced a proper cultivation method?" Cedric asked the question after a moment of thought. He was genuinely curious now. Was Elara simply more talented than he had first realized, or was there something else behind her sudden improvement?

"A cultivation method?" Elara blinked, then gave an embarrassed smile.

"I haven't exactly had the chance. That's why I've been selling herbs here. I was hoping to save enough Spirit Coins to buy one."

"I see." Cedric stroked his beard. Then he turned toward Henry.

"Henry, aren't we still short a few people to tend the spirit fields?" Henry hesitated.

"The head manager said he planned to recruit a few apprentices from outside—""One position won't matter." Cedric looked back at Elara.

"Would you be interested in becoming a Spirit Garden apprentice at Dawnmere Trading House?" Elara froze. Cedric continued.

"The monthly stipend is five Spirit Stones. You'll also receive a share of the profits from any mature spirit plants you help produce. You should earn considerably more than an independent Spirit Gardener." Five Spirit Stones a month? Elara almost thought she had misheard him. That was just the base stipend. It already covered her rent several times over. Once bonuses were included, she would have no trouble feeding herself and saving money at the same time. She had only come here to sell herbs.

She certainly hadn't expected to walk away with a job offer. More importantly, Dawnmere Trading House operated directly under the Moonwatch Sect. By Earth standards, this was the cultivation-world equivalent of landing a stable government job with benefits.

"Thank you, Master Cedric. I'd be happy to accept." Elara smiled.

"My name is Elara Lin. You can just call me Elara." There was no reason to turn down an opportunity like this.

"No need to thank me." Cedric's eyes held a trace of amusement.

"You earned the opportunity." He turned toward Henry.

"Take Elara to the back. Get her an apprentice token and two sets of work clothes. When you have time, show her the spirit fields outside the city."

"Of course." Henry gestured toward the rear of the shop.

"This way, Elara." They didn't go upstairs. Instead, Henry led her through a narrow door behind the main trading floor. Beyond it lay a surprisingly large courtyard surrounded by rows of small rooms.

"This is apprentice housing," Henry explained as they walked.

"You need at least six months of service before you qualify, though. Most of the people living here are senior apprentices." They crossed a narrow passage and reached a storeroom. A broad-shouldered man sat behind a desk near the entrance, half asleep. Henry knocked twice on the tabletop. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Steward Bram. Master Cedric sent me. We need to register a new apprentice." The man yawned and forced one eye open.

"Cedric took another apprentice?" That seemed to wake him up slightly.

"He hasn't done that in years." Bram looked Elara over.

"Looks harmless enough. Guess we'll see whether she can actually work." He didn't seem particularly impressed. Bram disappeared into the storeroom and returned with two sets of clothing and a small identification token. The clothes were simple. Brown tunic. Brown trousers. The emblem of Dawnmere Trading House stitched over the chest. The token was more interesting. A gray crescent moon had been engraved across the back. Elara stared at it. That symbol looked familiar. Wasn't that the Moonwatch Sect's crest?

But she was only a trading-house apprentice. Barely more than hired help. Elara wisely kept the question to herself. Following Bram's instructions, she pricked her finger and let a drop of blood fall onto the token. The surface flashed. A number appeared. [Contribution Points: 5]"That's your starting balance." Bram's expression finally softened into something vaguely resembling a smile.

"Master Cedric hasn't personally recruited an apprentice in years, so the contribution allotments assigned to his apprentice quota have been piling up." He tapped the token.

"You got lucky." After collecting her token and uniforms, Elara followed Henry back toward the front of the shop.

"You really did get lucky," Henry said. Elara nodded.

"I know. If Master Cedric hadn't given me this job—""Job?" Henry glanced at her. Then he laughed.

"You still don't get it." Elara looked at him. Henry pointed toward the token in her hand.

"You're not just an employee of Dawnmere anymore. You're officially registered as an apprentice under the Moonwatch Sect." Elara slowed.

"Seriously?"

"You're not a formal disciple," Henry said, "but your name is attached to the sect now." There was unmistakable envy in his voice.

"Most of us came from families here in Valehaven. Our families spent a fortune just getting us placed under the head manager." Elara looked down at the crescent-moon token again. So that was what it meant. She had thought Cedric was simply offering her steady work. Instead, she had somehow taken her first real step into the Moonwatch Sect. Maybe Cedric had noticed her gardening skills. Maybe it was the change in her cultivation foundation. Either way, this identity alone was worth far more than the monthly stipend.

By the time Elara finished processing that revelation, they had already returned to the trading floor. Henry approached the counter.

"Master Cedric, when should I take Elara to the spirit fields?"

"Not yet." Cedric shook his head.

"Let her spend a few days learning a cultivation method first." He looked toward Elara.

"The apprentice contribution allotments from the last few years were placed on your token. Five points isn't a fortune, but it should be more than enough for you right now."

"I'd appreciate your guidance." Elara clasped her hands politely.

"I still know very little about cultivation methods." That was the truth. She had no idea what five Contribution Points were actually worth. And while she knew plenty about Seed of Ascension as a game, choosing a real cultivation method for herself was another matter entirely. Cedric took out a thin catalog and pushed it across the counter.

"These are the cultivation methods available to entry-level apprentices." The booklet listed dozens of arts, medicinal materials, and cultivation supplies. Cedric pointed to three entries.

"All three are Low Basic Grade, but they're among the better methods available at that level." His finger stopped at the first.

"The first is the Flamebreath Art. It's a fire-aspected cultivation method. Once you reach basic mastery, your qi will naturally carry a trace of heat, making fire-based attacks more effective." [Flamebreath Art] [Grade: Low Basic] [Cost: 2 Contribution Points] Cedric moved to the next entry.

"The second is the Clearwater Harmony Art. It improves your affinity with water-aspected qi and makes water-based cultivation arts easier to perform." [Clearwater Harmony Art] [Grade: Low Basic] [Cost: 3 Contribution Points] Then he tapped the third.

"The last one is a little unusual." [Minor Origin Breathing Art] [Grade: Low Basic] [Cost: 3 Contribution Points]"It has no elemental alignment and provides no special combat effect." Cedric glanced at Elara.

"But for Spirit Gardeners, who often need to use cultivation arts tied to several different elements, that lack of specialization can actually be an advantage." Elara barely needed to think. For someone else, the three methods might have required serious consideration. For her, there was only one real choice. She was already a Spirit Gardener. She had Practice Makes Perfect. And she now possessed Spirit-Touched Foundation.

A neutral cultivation method that let qi shift smoothly between different elemental applications suited her perfectly.

"I'll take the Minor Origin Breathing Art." Elara handed over her token without hesitation. Cedric smiled faintly.

"You're sure?" He gave her one last warning.

"It won't help much if your goal is direct combat."

"I spend most of my time studying cultivation arts for spirit plants," Elara said.

"Those require different elemental affinities. A specialized method would probably make things harder for me, not easier." Cedric nodded approvingly.

"Good." He deducted three Contribution Points from her token and handed over the cultivation manual.

"Spend the next few days practicing at home. Once you reach basic mastery, come back here. Henry will take you to the spirit fields and show you your duties." Cedric paused.

"You're only at Qi Refining Tier 2. No matter how skilled your cultivation arts are, your current qi reserves are too small to maintain a proper spirit field for long." He tapped the manual.

"Once you establish the Minor Origin Breathing Art, your qi reserves should increase considerably. How much depends on your aptitude." Elara held the manual carefully. Three Contribution Points. That sounded modest. But the Minor Origin Breathing Art was considered an excellent cultivation method even among Low Basic-grade techniques. On the open market, it would probably sell for around thirty Spirit Stones.

And even then, Dawnmere—or rather, the Moonwatch Sect—would never casually allow a method like this to circulate outside its organization. Originally, Elara had planned to scrape together five Spirit Stones and buy the cheapest breathing method she could find. Instead, she had just received something several times better. Elara glanced at the two remaining points on her token. If three Contribution Points were already worth around thirty Spirit Stones...

Then simply becoming a Moonwatch Sect apprentice had granted her benefits worth well over fifty Spirit Stones.