I raised my hands to catch her attention as the vendor girl face grew more worried. "Hey, hey, calm down," I said while looking at her distressed face. "What's the matter? Is there something bothering you?"

The girl seems like she was avoiding eye contact, biting her lip and holding back her tears. "It's... my grandfather," she said, her voice cracked like she was crying. "He went to gather some herbs for us to sell, but all of a sudden in his normal routine, he went ill, the herbs he picked up near the elves ground poisoned him"

My expression became serious , "Poisoned? What happened? Is there a Cure?"

The girl's face became certain as she nodded. "Yes, there's a potion for that, but..."

She trailed off, cracking her fingers one by one as she looked away, I felt even more nervous, like I already knew she was going to say

The girl wiped away a tear with the back of her hand, taking a shaky breath. "The potion is at the apothecary in town. But the price..." Her voice cracked. "It's 20 silver. I am trying to make sales today so I have enough to buy it..."

I opened the pouch Kar'npaul gave me, dropping all the coins in my palm and slowly counted, "1...2...3..4..5.." the girl's expression grew more despaired than before, her tears growing back on her face as she tried to wipe it.

After a moment of awkward silence, I coughed a little. "So ugh, how much was the potion again?"

"Twenty silver," she said, with her voice cracking.

I nervously laughed, scratching the back of my head—the usual habit when I felt awkward or embarrassed. "Twenty silver, huh? Well, I've got five... that or nothing"

The girl grew more troubled as she tried to wipe more tears from her eyes.

Remembering Kar'npaul's help when I had nothing, I was determined to help someone in need to return the favor. I tried to create a way to help her without involving any money until I remembered...

"Maybe... maybe I can help in another way," I said hesitantly, pointing to myself. "I am a botanist and I might not be able to fight monsters, but I know plants, I can take a look at him and maybe find a way to help."

The girl looked at me suddenly, her sad expression fading away. "You-you really think you can do it??"

I shrugged, feeling confident. "I can try. If there is a way we can find what poisoned him, we can create the antidote for the poison."

The girl nodded quickly, her relief visible. "Alright let's go to my house, let me just pack all this up"

I followed the girl as she hurriedly packed up her cart. She stacked the glowing plants and potted herbs carefully, her movements quick and efficient despite the weight of her worry. Once the cart was loaded, she pushed it toward a small house tucked behind the vendor stalls.

I followed her inside, stepping into a small dining room with a single table and a few chairs. The kitchen, though small, was neatly organized, with herbs hanging to dry above the stove. A staircase led up to what he assumed was a sleeping area, while a single door on the left likely led to a bathroom.

"It's not much," the girl said, her voice barely above a whisper as she gestured around the small space. "But it's home."

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

I nodded in agreement, looking around, I remembered my visits to my grandparents. "It's a great place! and it's pretty cozy too"

The girl placed her cart by the wall and turned toward Jorr. "Thank you for coming with me. I believe in you, please help my grandfather."

I took a deep breath, I felt the responsibility in my shoulders, as if it was weights, I am not strong like Kar'npaul or smart like Nereus, but I can still prove myself even with this class.

"I'll try everything don't worry" I said with a determined expression to help this girl.

The girl exhaled, the tension easing a little now that they were back in her home. She turned toward me, with a small smile on her face. "By the way, my name's Olivia," she said, brushing a strand of her black hair behind her ear.

I smiled back, focusing on her face, I noticed slightly that she resembled someone I met on earth.

"My names Jorr, I am not from around here, so I am not familiar with the traditions or how things work here" I scratched the back of my head again, awkwardly avoiding her eye contact, "Nice to meet you Olivia"

Olivia gestured toward the staircase. "My grandfather's upstairs, resting. I... I don't know what else to do for him." She hesitated for a moment before looking at me, "Can you take a look?"

I nodded, following her up the narrow wooden stairs.

At the top of the stairs, Olivia opened a small door to a dimly lit room. The smell of herbs and faint decay hung in the air, Making my nose tingle slightly, In the middle of the room was a bed, and lying there, covered in sheets, was an old man. His face was pale and gaunt, his skin covered in sweat as he struggled to breathe.

His chest caught my attention quickly, purple dots can be seen across his body like a rash, his breathing was faint, but I was sure he was still alive.

Olivia stepped closer to the bed, her expression a mix of fear and helplessness. "He's been like this for days. The spots appeared after he collapsed. I... I tried using everything I know, but nothing's working."

I suddenly noticed the table on the far back of the room, it was filled with papers and drawing of herbs, on the middle of the table, a book that resembled a worn out journal.

"Is this? Have you been studying alchemy?" I asked Olivia as I skimmed thru her papers.

She nodded, her face filled with embarrassment. "Yes, but... I don't understand it enough to help him."

I went back to her grandfather, carefully examining the purple dots all around his body. "Do you know what kind of poisoning it was?" I asked quietly.

Olivia sighed, shaking her head. "I'm not entirely sure. It happened after he went to the forest near the elves' grounds. He's been gathering herbs and plants there for years, but something was different this time."

The elves' grounds, Lythael mentioned that before, but I barely have any knowledge about the outside of Windfall.

"So he was poisoned all of a sudden?" I asked her

Olivia bit her lip. "That's what I'm afraid of. I found an old alchemy book, but..."

She paused, walking over to the small wooden table in the far back of the room. She picked up a worn, tattered book and handed it to me. The pages were torn and yellowed, some sections barely readable.

I flipped through the tattered pages, trying to decipher the text. The ink was smudged in places, and entire chunks of the book seemed to be missing. "This... this is in pretty bad shape," I muttered while trying to comprehend what was written on the book.

Olivia, looking worried, "I know. I've been trying to read it, but I can't make sense of most of it."

As I scanned the book, something strange happened. A faint glow appeared around certain sections of the text, highlighting important information in blue. The system had kicked in, helping me read the sections of the book that was unreadable.

|——————————————————————————|

Examine - LVL 2: Alchemy Text Deciphering Active

Key information related to poisons detected.

|——————————————————————————|

The highlighted sections began to stand out, and my mind started piecing together the information more quickly than before. It was as if the system was streamlining the complex alchemical formulas and making them understandable. I smiled a little, feeling a confident and determined.

|——————————————————————————|

NAME: Justin Joe HP: 100/100

CLASS: Botanist MP: 100/100

LEVEL: 1 STATUS: Normal

SKILLS:

Examine - LVL 2

Harvest - LVL 1

|——————————————————————————|