SSS Ranked Awakening: All My Skills Are at Level 100

Chapter 724: Worth the Walk

Edda moved a tray back across the cloth.

”Those are the cloudy ones.”

The recorder checked his page. ”They’re the same size.”

”They won’t fetch the same price.”

Vyra crouched beside them and examined the cups. Then she took a clear one from the neighboring tray and set it among Edda’s share.

”Separate quality before counting,” she told the recorder. ”We’ll do this row again.”

Leon sat on a stone with his lunch cooling in his hand. He had expected the division to take time. Watching Edda catch the first mistake reassured him more than a quick acceptance would have done. A woman who knew the value of her tenth would also know whether the rest was worth bringing home.

They had left the hollow while there was still daylight for the return to the garden. Now the cases lay beneath Edda’s awning, sorted by species and condition. Nerin’s screens held the frost-thread clear of the damp ground.

The roots seized from Kesh remained on a separate cloth with his equipment and mineral stock. Edda’s payment came from what the party had gathered during the bloom. Vyra had made that distinction before opening the first case, and the grower had agreed without argument.

The wellheart needed more discussion. Loriel wanted to retain both living plants and her test sample. Edda valued them against a portion of good frost-thread; Vyra checked the comparison with the rest of the harvest, then adjusted the grower’s share accordingly.

When they finished, Edda examined her portion one last time.

”That will do.”

Leon took another bite of bread. ”Would you guide us again?”

”If there’s something worth gathering.” She looked at the packed trays. ”And if you still have people who listen.”

Lu Pei, seated nearby, lifted his bandaged finger in acknowledgment. He had cut himself on an ordinary fastening after handling spiritual plants all morning. Ira had found this much funnier than he did.

Nerin brought Leon water and lingered beside the stone.

”We did well,” he said, almost asking.

”Ask her.” Leon nodded toward Edda.

”I did. She said we’d know when we sold it.”

That sounded like Edda. Leon looked at the young man’s screen frames, repaired neatly despite their age.

”Which one are you hoping to buy?” he asked.

Nerin’s face brightened. He described a small frame with adjustable shelves, then admitted that he had only seen it once and the maker might have sold it. By the time he finished, Leon understood more about drying screens than he had intended to learn over lunch.

Edda overheard the last part.

”Trading day is in two days,” she said. ”You can look then. Finish covering these first.”

Nerin went back to work without losing his smile.

Before the party left the following morning, Edda dictated the important handling instructions to a recorder. Loriel added sketches and asked her to repeat one warning about heat. Bai Heng would receive intact plants and useful directions this time.

They said goodbye above the repaired channel. Edda returned to her beds; Nerin walked with them as far as the red-barked trees before turning back.

The cases made the descent slower. Leon helped at the bad crossing, and the carriers took turns with the heavier loads. His other body continued along the empty eastern ridge, far from the route. He let it rest while he gave most of his attention to getting the harvest home.

Wen Shu regained a clear reply from the spring during the afternoon. She reported their number, their condition, and the packed harvest. Bai Heng asked about preservation before asking what they had brought.

Leon could hear the relief in his voice when Wen Shu mentioned written instructions.

They reached the spring before dusk, as promised. All eighteen came in together. The twelve who had stayed behind helped with the cases, and Tian’s reply from the entrance base confirmed that her own eighteen remained safe. The gateway site was unchanged.

Bai Heng had cleared a worktable before the first lid came off.

He read Edda’s instructions, asked Loriel two questions, and set the unfamiliar roots aside. The sun cups interested him immediately. By the time Leon finished the return report, the old man had selected a few for a small preparation test.

”Tomorrow,” Bai Heng said, before Leon could ask. ”I want to see what remains after the first separation.”

Leon accepted that and went to find dinner.

The sample was ready after breakfast. Bai Heng presented a shallow sealed vial alongside a portion of the red mineral fuel they had already tested.

”The flower preparation releases more slowly,” he said. ”Less total energy in this amount, but it doesn’t fall away as sharply near the end. I kept the first batch small.”

”Can they be used together?” Leon asked.

”The preparations remain sound beside each other. What happens in your circulation is for you to tell me.”

Leon liked that answer. He took both portions to his tent, closed the wards, and entered his dimensional world where nobody outside could see the opening.

Xyra met him near his usual practice ground. She listened to his request, adjusted the local time without any visible effort, and left him with a few hours to compare the samples while little time passed at the spring.

He began with the mineral portion alone. Its familiar uneven release made the baseline easy to recognize: a stronger early supply, a dip, then another small rise as the remaining material yielded its energy. His circulation handled it, though he still had to adjust the intake.

With a modest amount of the flower extract added, the dip became shallower.

Leon repeated the cycle. The plant preparation continued releasing while the mineral portion weakened. There was still variation, but he no longer needed the same abrupt correction at that point.

He almost increased both amounts immediately.

Finish this one properly first.

He made himself record the result, then changed only the proportion of extract. More was worse. The slower release began lingering beyond the point where he wanted it, forcing an adjustment later in the cycle.

Leon returned to the earlier mixture. After several clean repetitions, he stood and continued circulating while walking across the practice ground. A familiar movement technique disturbed the flow briefly; he corrected the intake and tried again at a gentler pace.

Nothing in his foundation had changed. What had improved was the supply he was asking it to manage.

He grinned and sat down to write the quantities while they were fresh in his mind.

Back at the spring, Bai Heng read the practical part of his notes twice.

”This batch,” the old man said. ”The next flowers may vary.”

”Then keep the preparations separate until we check them,” Leon replied. ”But make more of this one.”

Bai Heng smiled and reached for a clean jar.

Outside, Vyra was sorting a small selection of trade goods. Trading day in Asterbank had begun that morning; there was still time for the five of them to reach it later in the day by the direct settlement path Edda had described.

Leon looked at the vial in his hand. One morning in a hollow had given him better fuel and Loriel a possibility she could hardly stop examining.

”Bring something a book seller might accept,” he told Vyra. ”I want to know what else we’ve been walking past.”