Definitely Plant Magic

"Here you are Mr… Zorgus—"

Pfff, I chuckled, fully basking in the stupidity of my chosen alias. I mean, could anyone really blame me? I got transmigrated into this goddamn world with a name like Quarth. A week later, I'm running around with my own slaves and the appearance to match some of the most over-the-top anime characters ever conceived.

I might as well have fun with the situation if I'm going to have to endure it.

"—Your Black Alchemist Insignia, and the 786,567 Zenicopper you are entitled to for selling us the pills you concocted during your First Rank Examination; net of the ingredient costs, of course," the receptionist said.

Given the ridiculously large sum of money I was going to get, I offered my Soul Mirror to the receptionist and he transferred the money into it as a line of credit to the Yverian Empire's Central Bank.

It was a shame that despite its name, the Soul Mirror could not be conveniently bound to my soul to mitigate the risk of my money being stolen or lost. But, by that same token, I was spared from the trouble of having the receptionist or anyone else — shy of brainwashing magicians like the Emperor's Court Mage — be able to pry into my personal details through my Status.

When you considered that the Soul Mirror could act as a debit card, the benefits outweighed the detriments by two to one, so I thought it was overall a good artifact to have. After all, I didn't even have to pay for it and with my ability to transform my clothes, the chances that I lost my Soul Mirror drastically dropped when all it took was a thought to fit it securely at any given time.

"Thanks," I said before retrieving my Soul Mirror and leaving the Yyverian Alchemists Guild. From there I started picking some gems out of the smaller sellers of Alchemical Ingredients spread out within the bazaar.

I could have just rattled off the ingredients I wanted in the Yyverian Alchemists Guild. But that would have cost me significantly more because they marked up the costs of all their products to ensure their quality. It was a service that I didn't need at all thanks to [Plant Identification]; once again, proving just how utterly broken it was.

Moreover, as some of the sellers I met were uninformed Adventurer Parties who most of the time didn't have a clue as to the true value of the ingredients they managed to find, oftentimes I found useless trash. But occasionally, I found treasures the likes of which many would struggle to believe.

Like now…

[Skill: Plant Identification triggered.]

[Appraised Status:

Name: Crystal Ginseng

Cultivar: Crystalline Ginseng (98%), Earthroot Ginseng (~1.99%), Other (~0.01%)

Quality: Unique

Description: A true diamond in the rough, covered up by the outer appearance of any other common Earthroot Ginseng, its interior is almost completely saturated with the essences of a thousand-year-old Crystalline Ginseng. It has an appraised value of around 20,000 Aliphsilver.]

"That? I guess I could give it to you for… 350 Zenicopper," the vendor feigned seriousness, while I kept silently gawking at him. "Ha! Just kidding, even the Imperial Alchemist Guild would probably only go as high as 300 for this. So… Deal?"

We shook on it. He withdrew 300 Zenicopper from the bank account tied to my Soul Mirror, and… I left his booth as a multi-trillionaire — in theory, anyway; I wasn't about to go telling anyone about the Ginseng's true value and try to sell it.

I continued to buy ingredients from various sellers around the bazaar, always at a profit when compared to their appraised values, until I started struggling to carry the various ingredients in my possession.

"Hmm, this simply won't do," I grumbled as the weight of the bags I was carrying started making my back sore.

If only I had some bullshit way to instantly resolve my problem… Oh, wait. I do.

I snickered.

[Title: Botany Incarnate effect triggered.]

[New Skill Alert!

Name: Plant Magic: Plant Pocket Dimension

Grade: F

Description: So long as a nonliving organic target is made of 50%, or higher, plant-based material, this Skill allows you to store the target in question into stasis within a pocket dimension that only you have access to. Storage Capacity exponentially increases in direct proportion to this Skill's Grade and your Spirit Parameter.

Current Capacity: 10 cubic meters.]

Yeah, sure… This is totally somehow Plant Magic and not Space Magic. How? I haven't the slightest idea, but I'm not going to complain.

According to my Creed, "With regards to plants, any Skill you can imagine can be realized," and I'm still not sure just how far I can take that hilariously broad statement. If I really think about it, I think I could rationalize just about anything to make it "relate" to plants.

For now, I'll just continue to buy up ingredients until I run out of options and then rejoin Alex and the others back at the farmhouse. I'll eventually get around to experimenting with the limits of my Creed later.

…

[New Skills Alert!

New Branching Transcendence Path Unlocked!

Titles:

Name: Novice Earth Mage

Grade: F

Effect: Earth-type Spells are 5% easier to learn or improve, and 10% more cost-efficient.

Skills:

Name: Earth Magic: Land Surfing

Grade: F

Description: Propels the user over the ground regardless of the terrain. Maximum speed and acceleration are determined by Skill Grade and Magic Potency.]

I had spent most of the day walking…

From the farmhouse to the city. From Deanon's Slave Trade to the Yyverian Alchemist's Guild. And then after exhausting myself several times over in the process of pill-concocting, I decided to walk for another three hours within the Heisan Bazaar.

After all of that, I didn't make it more than a couple hundred meters out of the city before the soles of my feet felt like they were starting to peel off.

I probably could have made the journey back home by still walking regardless, if I needed to. But since I didn't really "need" to do anything when I had the methods to learn and improve hundreds of Skills ready for deployment within my mind palace… Well, I wasn't going to make my life any harder than need be.

So, I started "surfing" on the ground as the earth itself drove my planted feet onward to my destination. I'm not ashamed to admit that I stumbled and fell a lot during my first hour in trying to get used to "driving" the technique, even if it took longer than I'd hoped to find the balance to hold myself up while moving about as fast as a car in a residential area.

But, at least, thanks to my relatively developed Magic Reserves and trained Magic Potency I only had to rest twice before getting back to the farmhouse. If I had tried this on my first day at the farmhouse, I doubt I would have been able to last even a minute.

Anyway, the first thing I did when I returned was head straight for the bathroom on the second floor and take a quick shower before dropping dead on my bed. I saw neither Alex nor any of the slaves the entire time, but I wasn't too worried about them since I heard them in the kitchen.

I was too tired to even feel hungry, though… So I slept instead.