Chapter 27: Meat, Stones, and Flowers

Early in the morning, a man with dark circles under his eyes slowly walked into a shop named White Rose by the main road. It was an alchemy shop, owned by a kind old lady, that served as a low-priced store, where the common folk could get the necessary items for everyday life.

Apart from a few cheap potions and healing herbs it also sold sugar, salt, and traveling rations such as dried meat and crispy bread, as well as many other everyday items.

"Good morning, Gerald!"

"Yawn. Good morning, Miss Rose," Gerald replied.

The old lady chuckled, "Oh you. Did you forget to buy something yesterday or…?" She looked with interest at this young man.

"No, actually I came to sell a few things." He took a pouch off of his belt and placed it on the counter.

"Oh?" She opened the pouch with surprise on her old face. Inside was the result of his hard work during the last night. "What is this? Healing Potions? You-" She looked at him "Did you make these?"

This unexpected question finally woke Gerald up from his lethargic state. "What? Err… No, actually my, um… My master made them. I am just selling them in his place," he lied through his teeth.

He got the idea from fantasy books from Earth, and it just happened to be the first thing that came to mind. The story was stupid and absolutely full of holes but the shopkeeper seemed content with the explanation.

"I see. Well then, thank your master in my place. I am glad to buy more of his creations."

With a sniff, she confirmed the authenticity of the potions. Gerald was a little bit surprised at the method at first, but he quickly figured out he should not judge this world by the standards of his old one.

"These potions are really good quality! It could be the best I have ever seen in my life," Rose said in surprise. "Your master must be a great alchemist, make sure to learn as much as possible from him," she advised.

"Err, right, of course," Gerald replied with an awkward smile. It felt weird being complimented as a great alchemist with only a day's worth of experience.

The total from his ten potions came to be two gold coins. It was great money for just a few hours of hard work. Definitely better than hunting dangerous monsters in the woods.

Gerald took the money with a satisfied smile. He then grabbed a few more ingredients for Healing Potions. He wanted to also make an attempt at making some different potions. Unfortunately, there wasn't much of a choice.

Although there were some herbs he needed, there were also some missing. Because of that, he decided not to buy any. After all, herbs also have a period, after which they go bad.

Alchemists loved to experiment and through the centuries they discovered many useful potion effects.

There were potions that boosted your strength for a short time, some compounds that replenished your energy quicker or they could even extend the endurance of whoever drank it.

The most desirable one in Geldern was Stoneskin Potion. If smeared on the skin it would force the body to grow a layer of calcified armor that would be as strong as a millimeter of steel.

It wasn't much, and it was definitely not comparable to real armor, but it was great against weak monsters or those that relied on poison to fight. It was also great for preventing scratches in the dense woods.

The potion took a day to take effect and it lasted about a week. After that, the user would shed the extra layer just as snakes do with their old skin.

After leaving the shop, Gerald headed back to the Guild. The inside was really crowded, as there were many people deciding on the job for the day.

5 to 10% of the population was actually actively participating in the Warriors Guild jobs at least once a week. The pay was decent and not every job required strength or fighting skills.

Gerald had to wait quite a while in line to be able to speak with Luna. That's one of the reasons he came here in the first place.

"Hey Luna"' he greeted her when it eventually became his turn. "I came here to thank you for helping me last week," Gerald said and then placed two vials of Health Potion on the counter.

"Oh, don't worry about that. I didn't expect anything in return, I was just doing my part" she waved her hands like it was nothing, but she still quickly stored the Potions away.

Gerald just gently smiled when he saw her accept the potions. "Then just consider it as a gift. Also, I'm here to take on a new job. I wonder if you have some work for me that takes place in the forest. ''

"Why would you want to take the job specifically in the forest?" Luna asked a bit confused.

"I plan on collecting some herbs and it would be great if I could complete a quest at the same time," he answered truthfully. He really wanted to collect some herbs. But not the normal ones, instead he wanted some special long forgotten herbs for his new experiments.

"Some extra money by selling herbs to the alchemists, eh? As you wish," Luna just shrugged her shoulders and took out a few papers and looked through them. "Here is something that might interest you. Recently we got a request from The Burning Bottle for fifty Black-Iron Moonglow plants. They are ready to pay two silver coins for each one."

Gerald slightly frowned. He didn't really have a good impression of The Burning Bottle and doing a job for them definitely wasn't in his plans. "Do you have any other options?"

"Certainly!" Luna nodded and started reading again. "There is a request for Grey Wolf pelts and claws. Then there is also a request for the extermination of Goblins near the river and…"

"Wait, hold on. Are there any jobs that don't require combat?"

Luna was a little bit surprised to hear that, but she still looked through the list one more time and said, "I'm afraid not. Others already took all of them and only the Black-Iron Moonglow collection was left because they only bloom during the night."

Gerald sighed, "I guess I'll take it. It's not the time to be picky."

While they were discussing the mission, a head came poking out from the crowd behind Gerald. "Hey! Whatcha doing?"

Gerald didn't even need to turn around to know who it was. Of course, it was Sera, acting immature as usual. "Hey, you came just in time. I'm going on a short expedition through the surrounding wilderness. Wanna come?" he asked.

Sera's eyes lighted up "Are we going on a hunt?"

"No, I'm going to collect some herbs for The Burning Bottle."

"Boring!" Sera immediately expressed her dissatisfaction.

Gerald shrugged and said, "Suit yourself. I'm not going to force you to come with me." He took the paper with the instructions for the job and started walking towards the exit.

Sera quickly ran after him, "Wait! I didn't say that I'm not going. Just give me twenty minutes to eat something and get ready."

Gerald stopped and a slight smile came to his face before he turned around and said, "Take your time. I also haven't eaten yet. Just meet me at the north city gates in an hour."

Sera intensely nodded and then ran away saying "I'll be there, don't go on without me!"

As Gerald watched her disappear into the crowd he shook his head "This girl… She's so full of energy… Well, I should be going as well."

As per usual he ordered roasted meat with a few eggs to the side, along with a big mug of beer. Although on Earth it was common knowledge that plants were really healthy and the meat was not, that did not stop him from doing the exact opposite.

Like all things that interested him, Gerald researched the ins and outs of the origin of this claim. There was no surprise when he found out that it was all a sham and that plant agriculture created much bigger profits and was much easier to mass-produce than meat.

Most plants that were considered edible and even healthy were, in fact, full of weak toxins that kept people sickly and miserable. It was a double win for the wealthy who controlled the world. Keeping the masses under control with food, drugs, and mindless entertainment was the best and easiest way to rule.

Gerald quickly noticed this contrast between the worlds. Since he came to Geldern he almost didn't see a single green plant, at least not for human consumption. There were, of course, some herbs, but those were used exclusively for medicinal purposes.

The diet consisted of meat that came from raising animals or from hunting. There were, of course, also fish, dairy, and eggs, however, they only accounted for a fifth of the food people ate.

The only plants that were consumed were grains, usually made into alcohol or bread. Prisoners and poorer people, like those in Bloodhorn Village, were the only ones that ate the bulk of food that came from plants. Because of that, they were often irritable, sickly, and weak, which further prevented them from succeeding in life.

Tough luck if you were lacking vitamins or nutrients. There were no supplements in this world, after all.

After the meal, Gerald quickly went to the shop that was selling armor and got himself a pair of leather gloves with iron forearm guards. He already suffered once from the lack of protection and he didn't plan on going through that again. He, of course, wanted to buy chest armor and maybe some better leg protection, however metal and especially iron armor, were extremely expensive.

Just the gloves cost him a whole gold coin. "Oh man, I really need to make more money soon. The economy here is just brutal! They almost value iron as high as gold, this is ridiculous!" Gerald lamented after he left the shop. There was no mass production of iron or steel, and what little was produced was quite valuable.

After a while, he reached the northern city gates. There were about ten minutes left until the one-hour mark. Gerald leaned against the wall and relaxed while watching the busy people running in all directions. In his mind, he was going over the recent discovery in the manipulation of Water. He was curious if he could use the same principles to manipulate other Elements as well.

He was just about to test his hypothesis on a pebble he just picked up, when Sera jumped out from behind him, trying to scare him.

"You are early," Gerald commented, not at all amused by her actions.

Sera waved her hand, "Oh, you know, I had to change my attire, and then I had some eggs with cheese and…"

"Mhm, yeah. Let's go." Gerald once again interrupted her rambling and walked through the gate. He was frowning at the pebble in his hand, trying to connect his mind to it. Sera ran beside him with a confused face, attempting to figure out what this crazy guy was trying to do.

Gerald scratched his head as beads of sweat gathered on his forehead. "Phew. This is much harder than I thought. Maybe I should try a more gentle approach?" he muttered to himself.

For the last few minutes, he was trying to forcefully seize control over the stone. It seemed that the harder he tried, the harder the stone resisted his manipulation. When he manipulated the water in the fountain for the first time he was able to use a lot of force, but that was only after he established a connection with it first.

Once again he sent his will into the stone, but this time he did it much gentler. As expected, he managed to succeed but only slightly. The stone started to reject his advance once again. That frustrated Gerald to no end and a deep frown came even more pronounced on his face.

"If you think you can discourage me from controlling you, you are severely mistaken," Gerald hissed through clenched teeth. 'In terms of stubbornness, I won't lose to anyone, not even a stone!'

Plop!

As soon as the thought came into his mind, Gerald felt the barriers in the pebble completely vanish without a trace. It was so sudden and unexpected that he almost forgot how to walk and nearly tripped on the uneven ground.

Under Sera's astonished gaze, the pebble slowly stood up and floated above Gerald's palm. At the same time, Gerald had a big smile on his face and he just took a big breath of air to celebrate his achievement, when the stone suddenly fell down and landed on his palm once more.

"What?!" Gerald almost roared. His connection with the stone was cut off once again. "What… why! What's wrong?! Why can't you listen to me for more than a second?!" Gerald's blood boiled as he intensely shook the stone in his hand.

Meanwhile, Sera was watching from the side as she carefully took a few steps back with her hand on her throwing knives ready for action, just in case Gerald went completely nuts.

Pa!

Fueled by rage, Gerald threw the stone in his hand in a random direction. It only stopped when it hit a nearby tree, giving off a loud sound.

"Huff, huff." Gerald was breathing deeply and fast. Slowly he calmed down and returned to his calm state. He looked at Sera who was carefully observing him, ready to fight at any moment. "Uhm, I didn't sleep much tonight," he explained.

An awkward silence followed that statement. " Anyway…" Gerald scratched his head in embarrassment and turned around, "Let's continue on our way." He picked up a new stone and continued on his way as if nothing happened.

"Wait, what? What was that?" Sera was once again left behind, completely shaken and confused as to what just happened.

Meanwhile, Gerald racked his brains as to why he suddenly lost control over the stone. It made no sense. One second he is easily controlling the stone, and in the next second, the connection got cut off, for no apparent reason.

"Hmph. If I managed to do it once I can do it again! Just, you wait and see!" He murmured at the pebble in his hand. The determination was clearly showing in his eyes.

Plop!

Once again, the connection with the rock was established just like that. "Huh?" Gerald raised his eyebrow and looked at it with great suspicion. Then he tried to control it with his mind.

The pebble slowly lifted up and then started flying around him, just as he willed it. "Seems to be responding just fine," he frowned. "Maybe that was just a fluke? I'm sure I'm missing something." As doubt set in, Gerald once again lost control over the pebble.

"Again? Why does this keep happening?" he muttered to himself and picked up another stone. "I didn't do anything that would break the connection…unless…" He extended his hand with the stone in front of himself. This time, his face was devoid of any emotion.

Whop!

The stone once again rose up… and fell back down immediately after. Then it raised again and fell back down right after.

"Haha, so that's how it is! I should have known," Gerald started to laugh to himself. It turned out that to control the Element of Earth it was all about the mindset. To control any Element, he had to have a different mindset for each one. Those were his thoughts.

Unyielding, confident, and stubborn, this was the mindset required for the Earth Element. Gerald did it a few times by mistake before he figured out what was necessary.

After about an hour of the leisurely walk, they finally saw the forest in front of them. Gerald was playing with the pebble the whole time, which made Sera kinda annoyed and jealous of him. He had such good control over magic, while she struggled with the basics.

He had the pebble flying around him in all kinds of trajectories, floating above the ground and blasting through the greenery on the way back. It was extremely entertaining and educational for him. During his playing, Gerald familiarised himself with the control as well as the advantages and disadvantages of Element control.

Luckily the pebble was small and it required close to no Mana to operate, so Gerald could use it without worry. But, as all good things come to an end, so too did the playtime run its course.

Gerald casually tossed the pebble to the side and rubbed his hands in excitement, "Now… It's time to stop fooling around and get serious! It is time…to pick some flowers!"