Chapter 29 - Kaith's Apprentice Pt.2

As they kept insisting, Kaith had no other choice but to accept. "Okay then, but try not to slow me down." Kaith let out a diabolical grin as he accepted.

Edward felt a rush of excitement and dread as he watched Kaith's expression. Kaith was a skilled trainer, but he also seemed grumpy and petty, so he was bound to create some problems for Edward.

"I'm in your care," Edward softly whispered, preparing himself for whatever was about to come.

"Don't worry, it can't be that hard, right?" Kaith laughed loudly as he threw Edward's own words back at him. "Now, why don't we start with something simple? Go prepare those herbs." With a wave of his hands, a bunch of jars filled with herbs suddenly appeared on the ground.

"Prepare them?" Edward scratched his head, thinking that the man's instructions were a little vague. "Can't you be a little more specific?"

"A simple decoction, or are you now going to tell me that you don't even know this?" Kaith's lips twisted up in a victorious smile.

"A decoction?" Edward's head fell as he stared at the ground, carefully trying to remember where he had heard this word previously. "Like boiling the plants?" Edward's eyes flashed in realization as he finally remembered where he had heard about the process that Kaith had mentioned.

"It's not just boiling plants." Kaith didn't expect the boy to know what a decoction was, so he was instantly thrown back by his words.

Uh... drying, smashing, or slicing it, and then you bring it to a boil." A smile blossomed on Edward's face as he slowly thought back to his time at the university. "I can do it, but it may take some time to dry all the herbs." Without a dryer machine, Edward could only let the herbs rest in the sun.

"You can use your spiritual energy to dry them." Kaith looked at the boy with interest and decided to explain the technique to dry the herb. "Listen well, I will only show you this one time." Kaith opened one of the jars and grabbed a handful of herbs.

"Try to follow what I do." He then passed a few stalks to Edward before starting his explanation. "First, what you need to do is slowly sense all the spiritual energy in the plant."

Edward nodded in understanding as he closed his eyes and tried to follow his steps. He had heard about using spiritual energy to manipulate objects or even control the elements, but he had never tried it himself.

As he focused on the plant, he began to notice a myriad of colors and shapes inside it, and he immediately knew that it represented all the elemental energy in the spiritual plant.

"So? How is it going? Can you feel it?" Kaith gazed at Edward with eagerness, his eyes glowing with excitement.

Edward slowly opened his eyes, a smile spreading across his face as he nodded in satisfaction. "I can feel it."

"Good, now you need to draw out the water in the plant by using your spiritual energy to control the moisture content. Once you remove enough water, the herbs will be dry." Kaith watched as Edward concentrated on the task at hand, his hands moving in a graceful dance as he manipulated the energy around the plants.

It took some time, but eventually, the first herb was dried and ready to be used for the decoction. Edward couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment as he held the dry herbs in his hands.

"Good…" Kaith was impressed that the boy was able to succeed on his first try and sat down to meditate. "Now finish drying the other herbs, I want them all ready in ten minutes."

Edward looked at Kaith with a dumbfounded expression, but he didn't say anything and quickly focused on the task at hand. There were three types of herbs, all of them being Silver Rank. Two of them were of the Nature Element, while the last one was of the Fire Element.

[Info Window]

Nature Bloom| Silver Ranked Spiritual | Element: Nature | Energy Value: 13

[Info Window]

Emberleaf | Silver Ranked Spiritual | Element: Fire | Energy Value: 12

[Info Window]

Blaze Berry| Silver Ranked Spiritual | Element: Fire | Energy Value: 13

[Info Window]

Before long, the ten minutes that Kaith had given Edward came to an end, and he finally opened his eyes to look at Edward, who still held one of the plants in his hands. "Not finished yet?"

Edward didn't give an answer right away, trying his best to not lose control as he continued to slowly control the moisture of the plant. "Almost finished. This is the last one."

"The last one?" Kaith looked around the room and noticed three plates stacked with dried herbs. "Good, continue like this." He jolted up and went to check the quality of Edward's work.

Some of the herbs could have been dried a bit more, yet, he didn't find any reason to complain. Kaith was pleased with Edward's progress, and just as he had finished checking the quality of the three plates, Edward finally finished the herb he was working on.

"So? Approved?" Edward smiled happily as he put the herb on the plate and began to stretch himself.

"Not bad for a useless brat like you." Kaith let out a sneer and decided not to compliment the boy too much. "Besides that, I gave you ten minutes, not eleven…"

"Can you at least say 'good work' or something?" Edward finished stretching his arms and turned to meet Kaith. "What's next?" He had just begun to help Kaith, and he had already started to learn many useful things, so he didn't want to waste any time.

"Start the decoction of all the plants. They should be made separately." Seeing how eager the young man was to learn, Kaith immediately gave him another round of tasks. "And go prepare some hot water, enough to fill that recipient two times."

Edward gazed at the big bathtub where the Firebrand Steed would be bathed with the medicinal mixture. "How many buckets does it take to fill it?"

"Find it out by yourself," Kaith said. He now viewed the boy in a better light, but he still wasn't going to give him an easier time.

"Okay then." Edward chuckled as he quickly lit two stone stoves and began to prepare the water to boil. "So, I don't have a time limit?"

"Do you want one?" Kaith sat down again, but this time he held a stalk of Sun Bathing Weed in his hands while cultivating. "Just finish before I'm done with my preparations."

Just like before, Edward wasted no time and put all his effort into finishing the tasks that Kaith had given him. He first began to slice all three types of herbs before starting to mash them to a paste, always carefully checking the temperature of the water he put to boil.

Those tasks were way easier than the first one, so Edward didn't think he would have any difficulties. However, he found some problems when it came to filling the bathtub. He had to take care not to get scalded by the hot water, and after the fourth bucket, he felt the need to take some rest as his frail body already started to hurt.

"Did I tell you to stop?" Even while meditating, Kaith noticed that Edward had paused his task.

"Sorry…" Edward clenched his teeth and rose to his feet, enduring the pain and returning to work. "I have some condition that made my body very weak, so I don't match very well with menial work."

"Body condition?" Kaith opened his eyes and gazed at Edward. "Come here and give me your pulse."

Edward wasn't sure what the man wanted, but nevertheless, he complied and walked toward Kaith. He waited patiently as Kaith studied his pulse.

Kaith's face was completely serious as he sent a strain of Spiritual Energy through Edward's body. "Hmmm… It seems that your body lacks vitality… Is this from birth or did you get seriously injured when you were younger?"

"From birth, it seems that my father also had the same condition…" Edward smiled awkwardly as he explained his condition.

"Interesting…" Kaith rubbed his chin in thought. "I may have a solution for you, but it won't be easy."

Edward's mouth widened as he never expected the man to have a solution. "What is it?"

"You should be constantly supplementing your vitality. You can use some herbs rich in vitality." Kaith continued observing Edward's pulse and then continued. "This won't completely resolve the matter, but it will strengthen your body."

Leo, who was watching the situation with a bored expression, suddenly spoke. "Like the Sun Bathing Weed?" He had a nervous tone as he gazed at the stalk of the herb in Kaith's left hand.

"Well, it could work." Kaith looked at Edward and let out a sigh. "But he sold them to you, right?"

Leo let out a deep breath. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach as he realized that he might have scammed Edward. "I didn't expect this… If you want some of them back, don't be afraid to ask." Leo's eyes were filled with regret, and he knew that he had to make things right with Edward, even if it meant returning some of the items he had purchased.

"This won't matter. The Sun Bathing Weed is too powerful for him to use." Kaith laughed as he played with the plant. "If he used this, his body would likely be overwhelmed."

"Overwhelmed?" Edward was instantly dejected, as the solution to his problem seemed to evaporate right in front of his eyes. "Does that mean that I need to look for another spiritual plant to resolve my problem?"

"Well, if you were a bit stronger, you could have used the Sun Bathing Weed, but at your level, it may be impossible." Kaith fiddled with his fingers as he thought about the situation. "You could also try to use some other herb to counteract the vitality of the Sun Bathing Weed. However, this will also cause the effect of the plant to fall."

"Something of the water element?" Edward studied the possibilities he had. He knew that experimenting with different herbs could be risky, but he was determined to find a solution for his condition.

"No, you didn't understand…" Kaith let out a deep breath as he began to explain to Edward. "You would only counteract the fire elemental energy of the herb if you used a water element plant. What you need is some herb that can dilute the aspect of vitality present in the herb."