Chương 12

The larger cloud swayed unsteadily after taking shape. Instead of releasing its rain, however, someone deliberately steered it toward Elara's cloud. The two masses collided. Spiritual qi churned at the point of impact, disrupting both arts and threatening to tear the clouds apart. Workplace bullying, even in a spirit field? Elara adjusted her hand signs. The cloud that had begun to disperse immediately condensed again, becoming even denser than before.

While maintaining the art, she surveyed the other apprentices scattered throughout the field. Most of them had stopped working and were watching the confrontation with open interest. It didn't take long for Elara to figure out what was happening. There were two groups, each made up of exactly four apprentices. My arrival upset the balance between them. So one side decided to intimidate me before the other could recruit me? Unfortunately for them, their little warning had accomplished nothing.

Elara's cloud hadn't dispersed. If anything, it had become more stable after the collision.

"Alistair, it's been a while since I've seen you practice your arts. Have you really fallen so far that you can't even overpower a brand-new apprentice?" The apprentice being mocked appeared to be the leader of one of the groups. Alistair Li was tall and dressed in expensive clothes without a speck of dirt on them. The other three apprentices clustered around him like personal attendants. Alistair ignored the taunt. After a brief pause, he called across the field to Elara.

"Hey, new girl! I heard you're Cedric's apprentice. I work under Dawnmere's head manager, and I'm also the second son of House Li. Why don't you join my group and work for me?" An apprentice of the head manager. The second son of House Li. Elara's patience vanished. She had no interest in starting trouble, but she wasn't about to let anyone walk all over her. Prim seemed to sense her anger. The little straw servant bared its empty mouth and waved its arms threateningly at Alistair's group.

Spirit Gardeners might have been notoriously weak in combat, but the apprentices across from her were Spirit Gardeners too. Elara didn't bother answering. Instead, she drew on everything she remembered from playing Seed of Ascension and prepared to teach them a lesson. If she let this pass without responding, they would only assume she was an easy target.

"Soften Earth!" Elara formed the hand signs and sent spiritual qi spreading through the soil toward Alistair and his companions. Soften Earth actually had two separate applications. The first loosened and broke apart the soil. The second gathered the displaced earth and packed it back into place. In Elara's previous life, one player who specialized in the Spirit Gardener profession had used extraordinary control to pioneer an entire combat style based on gardening arts.

His endless assortment of bizarre techniques had caused no shortage of misery for other players. Elara's Soften Earth was only Level Two, but she didn't need to defeat a true combat cultivator. With enough qi and precise control over where the art took effect, it was more than sufficient to deal with a few Spirit Gardener apprentices who lacked combat skills of their own.

"What hand signs is she making?" Alistair noticed her movements first. Assuming she was about to cast Raincall again, he instinctively looked up. A moment later, the ground beneath his feet gave way. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. The firm earth turned loose and unstable, flowing around their legs like dry sand. Alistair and his companions struggled to pull themselves free, but every frantic movement only drove them deeper.

Within seconds, the loosened soil had risen to their waists. As the earth tightened around his lower body and robbed him of any leverage, Alistair's confidence collapsed.

"I was wrong! I know I was wrong! I swear I won't target you again. We'll do whatever you say!" His final words came out close to a sob. Alistair had grown up sheltered by his family and possessed little cultivation talent of his own. Becoming a Spirit Gardener apprentice had been little more than a comfortable way for House Li's second son to spend his days. He had never expected to encounter anyone truly dangerous in these fields. He certainly hadn't expected a basic gardening art to be used like this.

"Fine. I'll let you off this once." Elara was breathing hard. She forced herself to remain upright, but Prim noticed her unsteadiness and hurried behind her, bracing both tiny hands against her legs. Elara's memories had been correct. Soften Earth could be used against an enemy. By pouring qi into the ground and disrupting the structure that held the soil together, she could temporarily turn solid earth into something resembling loose sand or a bog. Unfortunately, she had already reached her limit.

Even if Alistair and his companions hadn't surrendered, Elara couldn't have maintained the technique much longer. Without the expanded reserves provided by the Minor Origin Breathing Art, she probably wouldn't have completed even the first stage. The full combat application had another step: after trapping the targets in loosened earth, the caster compressed the soil around them. That was the part capable of killing someone.

Elara estimated that she would need to raise Soften Earth to Level Three or break through to Qi Refining Tier 3 before she could complete the full trap technique. Still, the first stage had been enough. Now that's how you make an impression. Elara looked over the other apprentices with quiet satisfaction. Alistair and his three followers remained buried to their waists. The four apprentices working under Dawnmere's third manager stared at her with equal horror.

A Spirit Gardener had just used a gardening art to attack someone. As far as they were concerned, Elara had overturned everything they understood about their profession. Both groups had assumed that superior numbers and a little intimidation with Raincall would be enough to force the new apprentice to join one side. Instead, they had picked a fight with the most dangerous person in the field.

"Could you... get us out now?" Alistair tried to struggle free, but the soil remained too loose for him to gain any leverage. He gave Elara an awkward, pleading smile.

"You four, pull them out." Elara was already exhausted. There was no chance she could dig them free herself, and trying would only reveal how little strength she had left. Instead, she turned toward the four apprentices serving the third manager and gave the order as though their obedience were already settled. Their leader, Corin Hale, gave a dismissive scoff and lifted his chin, clearly preparing to object. The other three immediately covered his mouth.

"Have you lost your mind? Didn't you see what she just did?"

"Don't drag the rest of us into this!" Alistair's group consisted of one leader and three lackeys. The apprentices under the third manager were different. They had banded together on their own to keep the first group in check. Now that they had encountered someone far more dangerous than either side, their resistance collapsed immediately. The three apprentices shoved and dragged the still-uncooperative Corin over to Alistair. Then all four began working together to free the buried group.

They pulled, dug with their hands, and pushed from every possible angle. None of them dared use Soften Earth, afraid that a poorly controlled burst of qi might injure someone trapped below the surface. By the time they finally excavated all four apprentices, everyone involved was exhausted. They collapsed onto the ground and lay there panting. Elara had recovered enough to walk by then. She approached them directly.

"Are we done here?"

"Absolutely. Completely done," Alistair said at once.

"From now on, you're the boss. Whatever you tell me to do, I'll do it." The three followers behind him surrendered just as quickly. They were clearly accustomed to changing sides whenever circumstances demanded it.

"I—" Corin tried to speak. His companions immediately covered his mouth again.

"We're done too, boss. From now on, you're in charge of all of us." Elara was quite satisfied with the outcome. Now that both groups had accepted her as their leader, she saw no reason not to make use of her new authority. She surveyed the entire field. As her gaze passed over each section, maturity values appeared on her interface, revealing the condition of every patch of Mindveil Grass. Elara selected the most mature group she could find.

It grew near the boundary of the Rank Two fields and contained a little over twenty plants. They were also the healthiest plants in the area. Nearly all of them had maturity values around ninety-five. One more Raincall and a little loosening of the soil tomorrow should be enough to bring them to full maturity. Then Elara could collect another batch of random reward orbs.

"One more thing. I want that plot near the Rank Two fields. Does anyone have a problem with that?"

"Of course not, boss." Alistair scrambled to his feet and hurried over, rubbing his hands together with an ingratiating smile.

"That plot is yours. Just say the word and we'll take turns watering and tending it for you. You won't have to lift a finger. As for that technique you just used..." Alistair had never seen a gardening art used that way before. His desire to learn it was painfully obvious.

"I don't need anyone else tending my plot. I'll handle it myself," Elara replied.

"As for that technique, we'll see how you perform. If you prove useful, I might teach it to you someday. I know quite a few tricks like that." It was only a trap-style application of Soften Earth. Elara might never have been a top-ranked player, but she had spent enough time exploring Seed of Ascension to remember plenty of strange techniques developed by Spirit Gardeners.