A whole week has passed since I joined the Healing Temple. My life slowed down considerably; I had a lot of free time since no humans came to the Healing Temple and spent most of my time at the Medical Hall. I was committed to learning about the raw materials available in the tower. Unfortunately, I had yet to make much progress; everyday, Eliss, the dark elf would test my knowledge and I would miserably fail to answer her questions. I also went out a couple of times accompanied by Copperbane to act as a bait but fortunately, no incident took place this time. However, the situation worsened outside of the city as at least five Rights to be Judged were used over the course of the week and the use of other Rights were also reported.

Now that one week had passed, I finally received my first pay as a healer: Ten Intermediate-quality Mana Stones and twenty points. It was nothing compared to what I earned on the zeroth floor but that was the typical salary of a first circle healer; points were much harder to obtain outside of the zeroth floor.

I finished my lunch and made my way to the Medical Hall. My schedule was empty for the rest of the day and I was planning to get some reading done. ‘One week has passed and I have yet to try potion-making even once. I’ll persist for a little while longer but I still don’t make any progress, I’ll explore something else.’

I greeted the attendant at the entrance of the hall and was guided to Eliss’s laboratory. The attendants easily recognised me as the only human and were already aware that I was studying under Eliss.

The green gem of the laboratory’s door was lit up as usual. I knocked on the door and greeted the dark elf politely. To my surprise, the inside of the laboratory was not as warm as it usually was; no fire was burning and the workstations were rather clean. There were no strange smell or fumes either.

“Come in.” Eliss said as she let go of the door and walked back to a table with a large opened grimoire. “I won’t be doing any experiments today and will go out in a few moments. You can either pick up your books and read them in your room, or you can accompany me outside.”

“Huh? You want me to accompany you outside? Where are you even going?” I asked curiously, finding her request rather suspicious. During my week at the Healing Temple, Eliss would spend all her time in his laboratory. She seemed very passionate about potion-making but suddenly, she had to go out.

“Collecting materials. A potioneer needs to be there to verify the quality and this time, it’s my turn.” The dark elf explained vaguely.

‘Collecting materials? I guess this will be a good learning experience and I’ll also get to look around, outside of the Healing Temple.’ I felt tempted but asked cautiously. “Where will we be going? You know that I am human and things are rather sensitive right now.”

“Right.” She raised her head and glance at me coldly. “You don’t have to worry about that. Lady Alanna, the Hall Master of the Medical Hall suggested that you should accompany me outside. They will make the necessary preparations if you choose to do so. We’ll go outside the city, to a small farm that specialises in exotic herbs.”

‘So that’s why she asked me if I wanted to come. Knowing the temperament of the dark elf, she would have just left me here to self-study. I suppose that the Healing Temple wants me to bait people outside the city this time…’ I sat down at my desk and fell into deep thoughts. Eventaully, I made up my mind. “I’ll go with you.”

…

A few moments later, a small delegation of six healers stepped out of Tussock, riding elegant white horses. I rode my mount next to Eliss in silence as I eyed the Bangaas at the gate. I was internally hoping to that these guards were not the ones I tricked when I entered the city or the situation would be awkward. Fortunately, we were not even stopped at the gates.

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“How far away is the farm?” I asked Eliss curiously after we put some distance between us and the city.

“Not very far. At this speed, it will take about ten minutes.”

I grunted in response and focused my attention on controlling my horse. It has been a long time since I last rode a mount but the horses of the Healing Temple have all been well trained. I looked around and observed the landscape; I felt refreshed to have left Tussock even though I would soon return inside in a few hours.

‘The farm we are going to is not very far from the teleportation portal…’ I said to myself as I noticed the tall structure appearing in the background. ‘I wonder if there are humans who have already started climbing.’

The journey was short and peaceful. We soon arrived at the farm and dismounted our horses. There were many small greenhouses made of a transparent material. Elves were running around, taking care of the plants in the greenhouses as a group of gnomes was supervising the operation.

I stuck to Eliss’ side as the others healers took care of the formalities. After a brief exchange, we were escorted to a warehouse where the healers got to work. Eliss opened up a large crate and quickly started sorting out the herbs inside. Then, upon noticing how I stood next to her in a daze, she said: “Since you are here. Take a look at these plants. Tell me their names and possible uses.”

‘As I expected. This has turned into an educational outing.’ Nevertheless, I did not voice out my thoughts and started examining the plants. I recognised most of them from the experiences of my past life but at the same time, the long hours I spent studying the plants were also starting to pay off. “These ones are called Chicory. It’s edible but mostly used as a binder for other materials. These bark-like plants are called Cassia…”

…

“Not bad. You’ve memorised a few things at least.” Eliss commented as she finished examining the plants. She tossed away a few after frowning but most of the herbs were considered to be usable.

Once her job was completed, the healers took out a couple of storage equipment and all the crates of herbs vanished from the warehouse. Several cubic metres of raw materials disappeared in an instant.

‘Is that it?’ I asked myself as I watched the gnomes conclude the transaction with a healer wearing a robe with three golden stripes. I glanced at Eliss and asked with a low voice. “Are we done already? I thought it would take longer…”

“The part where we look at the herbs is over but there are still some business discussions that are going to take place. In the meanwhile, the Healing Temple also prepared a task for you.”

“A task?” I asked, puzzled by the mention of a task.

“Yes. A group of humans has been spotted not far from this location. Your task is to get in contact with them and offer to recruit those with the Healing element. If they agree, you can escort them here and we will test them. If not, just let them go.”

“You want me to recruit humans with the Healing element?”

“That’s why you are here. You are a human; your fellow humans are more likely to listen to you than us.” Eliss said nonchalantly.

“Well… What should I tell them though? They will ask for what’s in store for them if they agree to join.”

“They’ll essentially be treated just like you. So you can just speak from your experience.”

I noticed the dark elf’s intense stare. I gulped down and fell silent. After spending a week with her, I had gotten used to reading her mood; this stare meant that this conversation was over and that she did not want to be disturbed any further.

“Fine. I’ll do it.”

“Their location is somewhere North.” Eliss replied and waved her hand to dismiss me.

I left her side and jumped on my horse before heading up North. There were not many places to hide on the first floor. As its name suggested, the floor was essentially an endless grassland, the main hiding places were the large wheat fields waiting to be harvested.

It took me a few minutes to reach the wheat fields and on top of the horse, I easily noticed the abnormal movements of the wheat plants. Riding a horse was not particularly discreet; I was certain that the humans hiding in the fields had already noticed me. However, they were retreating deeper into the fields, most likely afraid that I was an enemy.

I continued to move forward but came to a stop right in front of the wheat fields. “Hey!” I shouted loudly as I stared in the direction of the moving wheat plants. I made no other moves and waited for their reactions. I had no intentions of chasing after them in the wheat field.

At first, the humans hiding in the wheat fields did not come out and instead seemed to be discussing among themselves. However, after watching me for a few minutes, a person finally stepped out and approached me. He poked his head out of the field as he got closer, anxiously looking around for any possible traps. He was a young teenager, holding on a long wooden pole to guide himself.

“Who are you and why did you approach us?” The young teenager asked with a hesitant tone.