Chapter 14: Leaving the Forest

Once they returned to Livian's hut, they promptly collapsed while painting their bodies sweaty and scratched up by the branches they had pushed through. Their mentor clapped slowly and declared, with amusement in her voice, "Excellent job, you two. You're now both Guardians of Nature."

Nathaniel flopped onto his back and gasped, "That was way too hard. I thought I was going to die."

The She-Elf chuckled at this and responded, "The wilderness is perilous even to its defenders. You either learn fast or die." She paused and added, "Anyways, seeing how I've reached a bottleneck in my research and you've finished your training, we should move on." Eyeing the youth, she finished, "Tomorrow, I'll guide you through the darkest part of the forest, and from there, you can find a road and head to your next destination."

Looking up earnestly, Alexander responded, "Thank you so much. At this point, we were completely lost."

The she-elf smiled at him and added, "It's the least I could do." She also took out a small wooden token and tossed it to him, adding, "Kid, your Magic is incredible, but it would be a waste for a bright kid like you to just learn spells. Seeing how you're an honorable elf, my Master would happily teach you the ways of Medicine Synthesizing and Potion Synthesizing. You can find her in the Emerald Forest. "

This touched the youth, who responded happily, "I definitely will, thank you."

Livian nodded back, pleased, and added, "The two of you wash up and get some rest. We leave at first light."

Nathaniel looked back and forth between his mentor, friend, and companion. "And what am I? Chopped liver."

The she-elf rolled her eyes and tossed him a different token. "Brat, your skills are half-baked, but your obsession with books is interesting. That token will get you in the door of the Elven Library in the Emerald Forest. Whether or not they will trade with you is not my concern."

Turning obedient and cheerful, the youth blurted, "Thank you so much, Ms. Livian. You're the best."

Tired of dealing with children only a few decades old, the female turned around while grumbling, "Whatever, just be ready to leave by tomorrow." Glancing back, she added, "That means gathering your own food and water. I'm not going to bring any for either of you."

At this point, she left and returned to her hut to pack. At the same time, Netahnial looked at his friend happily and commented, "Well, this adventure of yours is a lot more dangerous and exciting than you said it would be, but it isn't going half bad."

Alexander also rolled his eyes and responded, "I told you I had no expectations, and anything could happen."

Nathaniel shrugged and complained, "I thought you meant like not knowing what inns you were staying at, not that we were going to disappear into the wilderness."

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Alexander smiled wryly and counted, "Hey, that's what makes it an adventure."

They fist-bumped at this as Netahiel responded," Hell yeah." He sat up and asked, "But could you help me find some food? My Plant Identification level sucks."

The Elf rolled his eyes and countered, "For all the transcribing you do, you're not that smart."

The Half-Elf smiled and countered, "Hey, I just need to copy the letters, not read them." Considering his reputation, he added, "Plus, I pay attention to the cool stuff. I just don't find the differences in leaf striation all that interesting."

Feeling like Livian, Alexander rolled his eyes and got up while responding, "Whatever, let's get cleaned up first. Then I'll help you find some food."

Netahiel also stood up with a smile and remarked, "Alatar, you're a real brother. You know that?"

Alexander nodded and responded proudly, "Of course I do."

The two traveled together to the nearby river while messing around. Alexander couldn't help thinking about their time together in the forest. They had struggled together through hours of toilsome training and almost died numerous times. As for how many times they had each been poisoned, it was countless. This forest's plants, animals, bugs, and even rivers were all somewhat toxic. Only by shielding oneself or taking antidotes could one survive.

Livian had ordered them to stop shielding their bodies with Magic, which only allowed them to make antidotes, which they were expected to make themselves. Nathaniel was trash at this, so Alexander had to do nearly all the synthesizing. This, along with his grueling lesions, helped him raise his Basic Medicine Synthesis from level 6 to the evolved Medicine Synthesis Skill level 2, allowing him to make common medicines.

Likewise, his staff training with Livian had raised Staffmanship skill to level 7, which was a huge leap. The young man had grown curious about his rapid skill leveling. However, he found it was partly due to his mentor's level, 6 Teaching skills, and the fact that they were of the same race, which gave an added bonus to imparting elf-specific skills. Like so, his Plant Identification skill, which had been at level 7, and his Elven Running, which was at level 8, had both reached their MAX levels.

The lack of this effect could be seen in his other skills, like Hermit's Tranquility, which he used often over the last month to avoid Mobs but had only increased by one level.

Similarly, his various other skills had increased due to general use but only marginally. His Mana Manipulation skill went up once recently, as did his Magic Affinity skill. From his tutoring and helping Nathaniel, his Teaching skill had increased once. At the same time, his Studying and Magic Transcription skills had also increased by one level each. He had better luck with Mana Forming and Basic Magic Theory, which both went up by two levels thanks to his dedicated daily practice.

In terms of his Basic Magic, he managed to raise his Earth, Fire, and Water magics by one level due to his camping needs. The Elf had considered doing some hard-core grinding by just repeatedly casting his basic spells to forcefully raise the level of these skills; however, he didn't have enough time, given his recent curriculum.

Overall, the improvement in each individual skill wasn't too impressive, but when he considered everything together, he could definitely determine that the last month had not been wasted.

The two youths enjoy their last day in the forest, full of cheer and excitement about finally leaving the Poison Woods.

They might have gotten too relaxed, which resulted in a small screen snake biting into Alexander's calf. After removing the creature, he identified the animal's breed and took a suitable antidote. As he did so, a notification appeared before him.

image [https://imgur.com/h2rbhUg.png]

Seeing this title made the Elf laugh, pleased that all his suffering had at least paid off a little.