Gardening

Chapter 50

Ray's face appeared pleased as he gazed at the phenomenon unfolding before him. There seemed to be a glimmer of hope for him to truly replicate that talent and make it his own.

Ray's eyes remained fixated on Garrett, not wanting to miss a single detail. As the phenomenon subsided, Ray, still lost in his observation, remained unconscious for a while.

The young bystander watched this with slight confusion but refrained from interrupting Ray's intense concentration. Gradually, Ray's smile, which had persisted for some time, transformed into a calm and familiar expression.

"Huffttt, damn it! Why is it so difficult!" Ray exclaimed as he regained consciousness. Just moments ago, his eyes had caught a peculiar configuration. He purposely activated his thief-concealment passive talent to compare it, much like when we compare mixed colors to discern any variations.

Ray's mind pondered aloud, "Why did it suddenly vanish after making contact? It's almost as if the object it touched was teleported somewhere else."

"Okay, here's your salary," Ray said as he handed over some pork to Garrett. In addition, he transferred the money directly to me.

With everything settled, Ray made his way home, his body and heart filled with pain. He was frustrated by his inability to replicate the other person's active talent. If others knew his thoughts, they might perceive him as foolish.

However, imitating or creating someone else's awakened talent is an arduous task. Typically, skills emerge as a result of accidental actions that give rise to unique phenomena. Once these abilities manifest, they can be utilized according to their distinct properties.

In ancient times, fire was discovered first, and it was through this discovery that humans learned fire's application in cooking. It was not as though humans wanted to cook and subsequently created fire. Before understanding fire, there was no concept of cooking food. The fire was an abstract concept, and its appearance, nature, and function were unknown.

Returning home, Ray spotted two small children happily playing with puppets. He couldn't help but feel a slight sense of joy. He wanted to join in their playfulness for a while. However, his attention was abruptly drawn to a familiar female voice.

"Ray, are you home yet?" Yuvra's voice called out.

"Yes, I just got home, Mom," Ray replied, avoiding direct eye contact with Yuvra.

Initially, Yuvra didn't think much of it and casually inquired, "Oh, were you safe outside?"

"Yeah, it was safe," Ray responded, feeling a tinge of guilt in his words.

Afraid of being discovered, Ray hastily moved as inconspicuous as possible towards his room. However, Yuvra, with her keen perception, noticed something amiss in her son's posture. She had assumed Ray's slightly awkward movements were due to his inherent clumsiness, but she now noticed a faint bruise on his elbow.

Concerned, she quickly moved closer to Ray, who winced in pain as she touched his body.

"Ah!"

Ray realized his misstep as Yuvra approached, and he regretted his behavior. Without seeking permission, Yuvra unbuttoned Ray's shirt to assess his condition. As expected, there were several deep cuts and bruises.

With this revelation, the familiar lecture-style parenting took shape within the confines of their home.

...

After some time, Ray finally ascended the stairs with a calm demeanor.

"Uhhhh, it's finally settled!" he exclaimed.

Ray proceeded to take a shower and resume his usual activities.

At night, he began to assess his loot. He had sold most of the pigs and given them to Garrett, with only the largest one remaining for Ray. As for the deer, he skinned it as usual and sold the hides at a high price.

Ray had gathered nearly all of the monster cores, but none of them possessed the desired passive talent. He could only hope that the lead core of the deer herd and the pig herd held a useful ability.

With that in mind, Ray retrieved the enormous carcasses of the pig and deer. Concerned about the table's stability, he contemplated taking his activities outdoors.

Skillfully, he extracted the core of the deer herd leader. However, upon closing his eyes, Ray felt a wave of disappointment. This core, too, lacked a passive talent.

Ray's mood dampened, and he felt a slight reluctance to continue. However, out of a sense of responsibility, he proceeded to retrieve the core belonging to the leader of the pigs. The carcass was nearly the size of a large adult cow.

Once retrieved, Ray discovered a pearl-sized crystal seed with a gray hue. Despite the pig's somewhat unattractive appearance, the essence within the seed was remarkably beautiful.

This lifted Ray's spirits slightly, and he decided to try his luck. With closed eyes, he activated his passive copying talent.

"Ehhhh..."

Ray was astonished as memory began to unfold within his mind. It depicted a little pig eating, sleeping, eating again, and repeating this pattern until adulthood.

"Heheheh, it seems this talent can be useful!" he exclaimed.

The [Stomach of Gluttony, rank C] was a passive talent of the pig monster that accelerated food digestion, converting it into energy. Even when overeating, the nutrients were efficiently digested, and the excess energy passively transformed into easily usable fat.

Considering the benefits of this talent, Ray nodded in satisfaction. However, after a moment, he felt a slight dissatisfaction, contemplating the roundness of his body as a side effect.

"At least the construction of the soul library can be accelerated with this. Well, I suppose I can tolerate being a little chubby for now," Ray compromised, weighing the pros and cons.

There were still four tiger carcasses for Ray to examine, but he was so fond of the scent of tea that he neglected to retrieve them.

Several tea leaves were scattered irregularly on Ray's table. He had no immediate plans for them, merely wanting to perfume the room for the time being.

Satisfied with the ambiance, Ray then retrieved the tea tree and bamboo plant he had brought along. Skillfully, he cultivated them in large pots, lining the balcony with dozens of them. To maintain order, Ray gathered the trees in a corner and watered them with a mixture of water, nutrient liquid, and a special sticky scorpion liquid.

"Phew, I finally finished gardening too!" Ray exclaimed with contentment as he gazed into the distance.

Feeling a bit dirty and with spare time, Ray proceeded to retrieve the tiger carcasses one by one. He was currently uninterested in cultivating the tiger corpses as he urgently sought passive talents.

Ray skillfully extracted the four essence cores from the carcasses. The first three cores yielded no noteworthy talents. He patiently awaited the refreshment of his talent corridor, devoid of any annoyance as he had already obtained a valuable talent from the pig.

With closed eyes, he activated the final corridor and couldn't help but be astounded.

"Ahhhh, it seems today is my lucky day!" Ray declared triumphantly.