“Train? What are we going to do?
“Well, first I’m going to need you to teach me the Lesser Heal spell.”
“Lesser Heal?”
“Yes, Lesser Heal, and I bet you have a tome hidden somewhere in your inventory pouch there?”
“Well… no.”
“Ehh…” I said in a frozen expression. “But everything has been so convenient so far for my plan…”
“Th-that doesn’t mean I can’t get you it.”
“Well, since you’re offering can you also get Oakflesh, Ironflesh, Candlelight, and Detect Life spells?”
“That’s going to cost me a pretty coin, you know?”
“Why should I care, it’s your fault for offering to help me at first.”
“Yes, bu-”
“But you swore on my father, Charles Tudor, name.”
Gordon sighed.
“Y-you’re right.”
“Well thank you.”
“I guess that’s what I’m going to spend my day doing, but what about you are going to do while I’m waiting?
“Well can you give me an inventory pouch?”
“S-sure.”
“Heh… Well, I’m going to go grab some herbs.” I said with an innocent expression.”
“Why do I have a feeling that you are planning something really stupid.”
“Why do you say that?” I said while still holding my innocent expression.
“Because of your Charles’s daughter.”
“I have no idea what you are talking about.”
He sighed again.
“Well here you go; I have a spare small one.”
“Well thank you.”
----------------------------------------
After 30 minutes or so of me receiving the inventory pouch, I went to the corners of the prisoners to look for ingredients for alchemical potions. The herbs that I was looking for were an Orange Lily, Green Mushrooms, White Mushrooms, and Roots.
These ingredients are typically found near mossy boulders, lakes, and trees. Luckily, this prison camp is quite convenient where I can find mossy boulders near large trees in the 4 corners of the prison. Helheim also has a giant tree in the center of the camp. It’s as if I’m in a terribly written web novel where the author does not know how to foreshadow properly or even follow their outline.
But to be fair, it’s not like I’m in a crappy power fantasy light novel. Why? Because I actually have to work hard to become overpowered, God wasn’t nice enough to make me overpowered.
As I was walking around, I realized that I needed to hide my inventory pouch, after all this item was considered contraband in this prison camp. Well, the best thing that I can do is hide it in my shorts.
The first location I visited was the northeastern corner of the prison. The northeastern corner of the prison had multiple trees like a miniature forest that was about 150 square meters. It is a nice place to hide and get away from people. The trees were dried out and the roots were poking out of the ground. The tree itself resembled Spruce trees and some of the leaves were beginning to dry. Meanwhile, spruce cones were dropping from the trees. Unfortunately, that was not what I needed.
After some exploring of the miniature forest, I finally decided to look for the mushrooms. The green mushrooms would grow on the east side of the trees while the white mushrooms would grow on the west side of the trees.
Collecting the mushrooms was quite complicated because I forgot to ask Gordon to give me a dagger. I swear I would’ve spent less time pulling out the mushrooms from the ground if I did. Well, that’s another tally to put on my luck running out.
After a solid 30-45 minutes or so, I emptied the forest of the mushrooms. In total, I was able to get 20 White Mushrooms, 14 Mushrooms, and 34 Fungal Roots.
Oh, right I guess I should probably check my status to see how large my inventory is.
| Name: Mary Tudor | Race: Dark Elf | Sub-race: N/A |
Level: 14 | HP: 100 | MP: 120 | SP: 100 | IS: 120 |
| Branches: 13 | Dragon Tongue: Yes |
Skills:
Alteration: 55 | Light Armor: 55 | Archery: 50
Conjuration: 120 | Lock Picking: 50 | Heavy Armor: 50
Destruction: 60 | Manipulation: 50 | One-handed: 50
Illusion: 55 | Stealth: 65 | Smithing: 50
Restoration: 50 | Speechcraft: 50 | Two-handed: 50
Alchemy: 55 | Blocking: 50 | Enchanting: 50
Abilities:
| Wrath | Spark | Fireball | Raise Lesser Dead | Soulbound | | Rose’s Blessing | Princess of Conjuration | (Temp) Blessing of the Flames |
Ehh… my Inventory Space was a lot smaller than I thought. Well, I cannot complain. I could only carry 60 kg worth of stuff. Damn this stupid math that decides how much IS you get.
The next place to gather herbs, the southeastern corner of the prison. The southeastern corner of the prison was similar to the northeastern corner of the prison. They were spruce trees and some of them had leaves browning or pinecones falling on the ground. This time, however, these trees were quite active because some pinecones were falling on me.
“Ouchie. These pieces of shit are so annoying.”
I swear some Deva out there is messing with me. Well, I cannot complain too much, after all, I have been living a pretty serene life so far. After spending another 30-45 minutes of gathering the mushrooms I was able to get 16 White Mushrooms, 18 Green Mushrooms, and 32 Fungal Roots.
Now it is time for the fun part, gathering herbs in the center, and western corners. Why was it fun? Because these areas are densely packed full of people. So far, I have been able to avoid any suspicion by being able to avoid people entirely. The central area is where most of the prisoners and guards hang out doing absolutely nothing. Like seriously what do these people do for fun or at least trying to pass the time. Meanwhile, the western corner has the Main Gate between them.
I needed to find an excuse. Well luckily, I could ask someone to provide me a pretext for gathering herbs. That bastard Liam, I could use him once again. Still… I don’t feel bad about using him. I wonder what he has been doing these past few hours.
----------------------------------------
It has been 24 hours since I have slept. Well, it’s not like I have been inexperienced in that. After all, crunch time is a pain. My skin was beginning to crack and bags around my eyes were also beginning to appear.
I sighed.
“Why is the process of becoming rich in such a difficult process.”
I look back at my book. Then I smelled my mortar and pestle.
“What am I doing wrong! Just work you, stupid perfume! Smell. Good. Please! For the love Devas!”
“Geez, why are you yelling so loud.” said my superior officer as he walked into the room.
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
“Sorry Sir, it’s just that I have been working on this recipe for over a month and it still hasn’t produced any results.”
“Well can you tell me what you have been doing?”
“Well, I’ve been trying to make scented potions.”
“Scented potions?”
“Yes sir, I bet you that they would sell like there’s no tomorrow.”
“But… who would buy these kinds of things?”
“Women sir?”
“Really now? Well even then, I doubt that women would buy them at this kind of time.”
“How come, sir?”
“Do you not know? Our country is on the brink of financial collapse.”
“Financial collapse, has our great empire not made any money in this war?”
“The Saxon Kingdom is quite a small country, there’s nothing in that damn place except ancient cities.”
“Ancient cities?”
“The ancient cities of the Snow Elves.”
“Snow Elves? I have never heard of them before.”
“That’s because they were forcibly removed from history after they were killed en masse 300 years ago.”
“En masse? Why sir?”
“They were developing a ritual for an eternal Blood Moon.”
“An eternal Blood Moon, but why?”
“No idea, but that is just a military fairy tale.”
"The fuck is a military fairy tale?" I thought to myself.
“Understood sir.”
“Well, I’m going to go report to Camp Commander now. Make sure to take care of yourself now.”
“Will do sir.”
When my superior officer left, I sat on my chair almost passed out for 20 minutes thinking.
“What can I do now? If no one is going to buy perfume because they are poor, what will they buy?”
Will they even buy potions when they can’t even buy food? They must buy potions after stamina potions are needed to aid production-related workloads. Stamina potions? Stamina…
“Stamina… production… If I remember correctly, during times after wars people reproduce like crazy. If I mass-produce stamina potions that stimulate sexual drive while restoring sexual stamina, I can make millions, no billions of coins. I will be rich! HAHAHA!”
Now let’s dig into my books to figure out what ingredients I need.
----------------------------------------
“Hi hi, Mr. Liam!” I said as I entered into his shared office with a bright smile.
“Oh, little one, how are you feeling today?” said Liam as he lifted his head and placed down his book.
“Great, I had an amazing sleep, and I was able to walk around without any problems yesterday.”
“Wonderful! Now is there anything I can help you with today?”
“More like is there anything I can help with you today?” I said with an innocent look.
“Ohho,” he said with a suspicious expression. “Anything I need help with today?”
“Yessir!”
“Well, there are two things I need you to get.”
“What will it be Mr. Liam?”
“I need you to get me some bees and dragonflies.”
“Ehh...”
Just make fucking luck today.
“Are there any problems with that?”
“N-no problems at all!”
“Excellent, I will get you some supplies right now,” said Liam as he stood up and walked to the chest with empty potion bottles sat right to it. As he opened the chest I sneakily approached while crouching. I mean I might as well try to see if this is how I gain skill points in Stealth right?
When it looked like he was finished looking for the items that he needed in the chest and began to turn around I tapped on his shoulder.
“Boo!” I said in the scariest way possible.
He flinched backward.
“Jes- I mean for the love of Deva don’t scare me like that.”
“Sowy” I said with a sad pouting face.
“I-I mean just… there’s a time and place for everything young one.”
“Okay… I understand.” I said with a disappointed face.
He blushed.
“Fine… it’s your win.”
“Yay!” I said gleaming with joy.
“Children…” He mumbled.
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
“Hmmm… okay I will believe you that it was nothing.”
“Anyways… Here are some items that you need to catch the bees and dragonflies.
He handed me a net and a green satchel.
“Now this net is special because anything that is caught within it will be sent to the green satchel. Once it gets in there the entity will be in suspended animation until they are dispelled.”
I look at him with a smug face.
“Don’t even think about it.”
“Damn it, this guy is no fun.” I thought while showing my pouting face.
“Even if you tried, it wouldn’t work, after all this net only works on things that can fit inside it entirely.”
Okay, now that’s even more disappointing. But I can’t be entirely disappointed after all, this was all an act, after all, I am, mentally, a mature 17-year-old boy, I think… There is the possibility that I was given the memories of someone else.
“Is there anything else you want to know before I send you off?”
“Is there anywhere you want me to go specifically?”
“No, you’re free to run around anywhere you please.”
“Is there a certain amount that you need me to catch?”
“As much as you can. I don’t want to burden you too much.”
“What do I do if someone tries to stop me?”
“Ummm… Hmm… here have this,” he said as he handed me a strange wooden crest with dark ink on it.
“If any guard tries to stop you, just show them this while telling them that you are on official business sent by me.”
“Thank you, Mr. Liam!”
“Are there any other things you want to ask me again?”
“I don’t think so…”
“Alright diligent one, go off now.”
“Yessir,” I said with a serious expression while saluting.
Liam saluted back.
I then turned around and scurried out.
“That girl really is something else,” said Liam as Mary left the room.
----------------------------------------
When I reached the central tree, it was surrounded by a lot of flowers. The flowers provided a variety of colors that made it look aesthetic. Like if people from my old life were here, they would post it on their social media because they were basic as fuck or claimed to be an “influencer.” The tree itself was colossal, and the leaves were a beautiful evergreen color. The tree bark was dark brown with a rough texture. Some cones had fallen near the roots.
Meanwhile, the sunlight that was coming from behind the tree and that piercing through the openings from the leaves provided a beautiful image. Now, this would be an awesome backdrop to a picture.
As I approached the tree, I saw that there were several of the smaller prisoners just lying on the ground with their eyes closed. I could not tell if they were napping or just lying on the ground just for the sake of passing time. I couldn’t blame them for either one since you either help the people who killed your parents or you’re just really tired from trying to fall asleep from the uncomfortable beds that they have in the dorms.
It was a nice day though, the temperature was warm and the sky was partially cloudy and bright, so if you weren’t at least trying to do something outside to pass the time, then you have a depressing life.
When I reached the flower beds, I noticed that they were a lot of bees just buzzing around without minding me. What is even better is that in this world bees are fully passive mobs without stingers, meaning I am completely safe from being stung, or so, that’s what I thought, because these bees kept on crashing into me.
The feeling of them crashing into me was more a light tap but it kept on happening so often it was getting annoying. I know these little don’t mean anything by it since they won’t go hostile nor were they that ignorant in the belief that they can simply take down a humanoid-like by simply headbutting me, even if they were hundreds of them.
As I began swatting my net around, I began catching the bees at a rapid pace. Then I realized something. Where am I going to find dragonflies? Dragonflies are typically found in humid climates like marshlands or jungles. Not a place like Helheim was the climate shifted from arid to boreal rapidly for a stupid reason.
I deliberated for what felt like a solid 5 minutes (it was actually 20 seconds) until I just gave up and began picking up the mushrooms and uprooted roots. When I was finished, I managed to pick up 30 Green Mushrooms, 30 White Mushrooms, 10 Orange Lilies, and 80 roots.
Then I headed to the northwestern corner of the prison camp. The northwestern corner was just a tree with an abandoned shack right next to it. There was nothing special there at all, except for the fuck that is where a spider breeding ground is. I was not really too bothered since the spiders were really small. They were no bigger than my thumb, but their eggs were huge in comparison to their size, about the size of my pinky.
When I look at the spiders, they were brown and fuzzy, but they were venomous in any form. These spiders were also quite docile, so they would never attack on sight. I believe they were “Silkweavers” in the game.
After I collected 5 Green Mushrooms, 5 White Mushrooms, 1 Orange Lily, and 11 roots, I left without a hitch. What was strange, since I swear, I was hallucinating for a fat second, was that I saw a white spider with black and pink accents waving at me.
----------------------------------------
As I was making my way to the final Southwestern corner of the prisoner, I was stopped by a prison guard near the main gate.
“Halt!”
“W-what is it sir?”
“How did you get that green satchel?”
“Oooooh this…” I said as I pulled out the wooden crest from inside the green satchel.
The guard looked at the crest and suddenly his eyes widened.
“I-is that the crest of the Imperial Mage College?”
“So, what if it is?”
“W-why do you have it?”
“Isn’t it obvious, I’m serving a Mage who attended that college, like a good prisoner,” I said with a smug face.
“F-fine…” he said with a sigh. “You’re free to go.”
“Well thank you.”
I made the rest of the way to the Southwestern corner without any hitches or problems. When I arrived, there was a boulder with roots growing into it. On top of the boulder was a tree that was deformed with a hole in it. There were also other trees around that surrounded this area. The wind here was blowing strangely and the sun did not seem as bright here.
The area also was a lot greener and cleaner than the other corners and the central area. If this was a game instead of real life, this area would be a boss fight especially with the fact that I was stopped by the guard beforehand, which would act as a final warning that I was approaching the dungeon boss.
As I approached the tree the winds started blowing faster and the sunlight around me became green. I really had to think that thought, didn’t I?
When I was 6 meters away from the tree out of the hole came a strange feminine figure. She had green skin and leaves covering her body. Her eyes were glowing brown but were quite beautiful. Her face was symmetrical and smooth. Her hair looked like vines and her lips were a bright red. A druid.
When I took my final step forward, she charged out at me, without making a sound and began blasting green lights at me. I decided to nope the fuck around the tree and dodge all her attacks. Each green light felt hot and when it shot near me, I would feel a prickly feeling as if it were sparks spelled except poorly retextured to green.
As we ran in circles around the tree I began to panic even more.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck, what do I do now? I am going to run out of stamina soon, come on Mary think, think, I mean she is like a plant, right? Even though her skin looks humanoid, she is a plant. I mean look at her hair… What do I do now? Plants… If I wonder in a game I played when I was a kid that plants were weak against fire… fire yes… fire.”
As she fired her last green light past me, I quickly turned around and cast [Fireball] at her. With one shot she disappeared in a blaze of glory without making a single sound.
“Ehh… what the hell? I thought that would take more than one shot.”
I checked my status screen to see if I was going crazy.
“[Blessing of the Flames]”
What is that ability? I tapped on it.
“Doubles the amount of damage fire-based spells do, lasts 1 year. Only those who possess one of the 14 catalysts can gain this ability by drinking Liquid Fire. Those who do not will combust.”
“Finally, my luck for today is picking up today, also holy shit that Liquid Fire is cooler than I thought.”
As the sky began to become normal again, I saw dragonflies beginning to flutter around. Hmmm…. How convenient.
I spent around 2 hours in this area clearing it before returning to Liam and giving him his supplies while returning the satchel and net that he gave me.
“How were you able to get these dragonflies?” said Liam in a dazed state.
“Guess I’m just lucky.” I shrugged.
“You really are a strange girl, aren’t you?”
“Guess I am… By the way, do you have an Alchemy Station?”
“A what now?”
“An Alchemy Station? You know a place where you brew potions?”
“You mean that thing in the mage tower’s 5 floor that’s pulsing green and blue?”
“Oh yes.”
“Oh…” he said with a blank face.
“Well… anyways I’m off to the mage tower then, bye Mr. Liam!”
“See ya later little one!” he said while waving. “What a strange girl indeed…”