Cornflower Witch

Chapter 61 Future Goals
In early December, the sun shone obliquely in the sky, and the distant wind brought a slight chill.

In the forest filled with fallen leaves, Hilti stood with her eyes closed. She held a sword in one hand and left the other free, her fingertips hanging from her sleeve, slightly open, as if she could sense the breeze passing between her fingers.

A blunt-tipped arrow shot out from the distant woods, hurtling towards the girl. She swung her sword, drawing an arc from bottom to top, and struck the incoming arrow with pinpoint accuracy.

However, this was only the first time. After that, arrows attacked again from different directions and angles, sometimes even from two directions at the same time.

Hiltiya moved her feet, and the sword in her hand spun accordingly, slashing away the incoming arrows time and time again, becoming more and more skilled with each strike.

After a long while, the arrows stopped shooting, and several familiar figures emerged from the forest.

Karen approached the girl with a longbow in one hand and looked at the arrows scattered on the ground.

"There were 30 training arrows in total, and Tiya dodged and parried them all." She said with some curiosity.

"Did Tia learn the ability to 'listen to the wind and locate'?" This is an ability of the Hunter class.

“No, but when I advanced to ‘Tier 1: Emerald Honey’, I gained an enhancement related to perception.” She opened her eyes and answered, then picked up the arrows on the ground around her, putting away the ones that were still usable.

Mick looked at the broken arrows. He picked one up and examined the break. The cut was quite smooth, which indicated that the swordsman was highly skilled. Even in a rapid reaction, there was no misalignment of the blade.

He gained a new understanding of the girl's swordsmanship.

"Tiya, would you like to have a match with me?" He was itching to try.

Previously, he had always been guided by the other party in theory, but the two had never actually practiced in actual combat.

Before Hilti could answer, Komia jumped over and loudly stopped her.

“No, Mick, you’re a ‘First-Tier Blood Law’ now, and you’re so strong. What if you hurt Tia?” She felt that a girl’s appearance was the most important thing, and it would be such a pity if she got injured during this kind of training.

"How about I use the Thick Wood Sword?" Mick thought for a moment.

“The Atsuki Sword probably won’t work either,” Komia said again.

"Don't you remember that duel with Thorin? You broke the wooden sword right at the start."

Having mastered the breathing technique to the third stage, and with the added boost of the relative power of 'Blood Rhythm', Mick can now easily shatter a cow's skull with a full-force punch, so Komia's worries are not unfounded.

"Sigh, I should have had a duel with Tia before I advanced," Mick said regretfully.

Hearing their conversation, Hilti thought for a moment and shook her head slightly.

"I'm afraid not today. I don't have a suitable weapon." The short sword she had been using was a gift from Captain Frien, and now it was too light for her and not enough.

With the blessing of the third stage of the breathing technique, an ordinary iron sword can easily break in a fierce battle, resulting in an accident.

"Now that you mention it," Mick said, glancing at the tattered iron sword at his waist. He also felt it was time to replace it.

His iron sword was rather thick; to put it bluntly, it was just a lump of pig iron that barely managed to form the shape of a sword.

Because the cost wasn't high, he didn't mind cutting gaps in the walls occasionally, and would just smooth them out and continue using them as is.

"Karen, I see your ash wood longbow is getting a bit old. Do you want to replace it?"

"I'm in pretty good shape, so I'm not in a rush to change it," Karen shook her head.

"What are you talking about?" At this moment, Komia approached with Ray and put the arrows they were holding together.

“I’m thinking about switching weapons.” Mick put his hands behind his head.

"Weapons?" Komia looked at Mike's battered iron sword and couldn't help but cover her mouth and laugh.

"Wow, you're really shameless to use this thing, hehe."

“That’s how it is when you’re an adventurer; you have to be careful with everything.” Mick shook his head dismissively.

"If a good sword worth 50 silver coins is used for hunting and all sorts of strange purposes, and it breaks down in less than a month, that would be a huge waste."

"So adventurers usually prepare several weapons: cheap ones for odd jobs, and real ones for life-or-death situations."

"Brother Jero's sword is made entirely of black steel. It is not only extremely heavy, but also very sturdy. Ordinary steel cannot break it."

"Black steel, huh? That stuff isn't cheap." Komia thought of something.

“My dad once went to Forging Stone City with a representative from the Chamber of Commerce to negotiate a deal to purchase two hundred ingots of black steel. He negotiated with the blacksmiths’ guild there for a long time and made many additional promises before finally securing the deal.” “How much did it cost?” Mick was interested in buying a sword made of black steel.

"It was very expensive. A black steel ingot cost about 5 gold coins, and that ingot was smaller than my hand," Komia recalled.

“If you forge a sword with black steel, even if it’s just for the blade and the interior is made of other steels, the price will be at least 6-7 gold coins.”

"It's so expensive!" Mick groaned, realizing he couldn't afford it now.

"Looking at it this way, blacksmithing must be very lucrative, even better than being an adventurer," he thought to himself.

"Of course, blacksmiths are usually from the wealthiest families in the village, followed by tailors and doctors," Komia sighed, touching her forehead.

Suddenly, Komia looked at Ray as if she had just remembered something.

“Lei, I think you’d be an excellent blacksmith.” Lei was burly and strong, which certainly met the requirements of a blacksmith.

Karen and Siltiah also thought it was a good idea.

"I don't know anything too complicated," Ray said, sounding somewhat unsure.

"A blacksmith shouldn't need to be that smart," Komia thought to herself.

“Actually, Lei isn’t stupid, it’s just…” She glanced at the black-haired girl beside her, but this girl was so intelligent that it made them all wonder if they were just naturally a little slow.

Before meeting Sylvia, Komia was known among her peers for her quick wit and excellent memory.

The conversation shifted from the competition to the matching of weapons, then from black steel to blacksmithing, and finally from blacksmithing to their respective future plans.

"I will become a hunter." Karen had already decided on her future direction from the very beginning.

"I'll probably become an adventurer, but it doesn't feel that strong anymore." As he gradually gained more knowledge and broadened his horizons, Mick slowly realized that being an adventurer wasn't such a perfect profession.

"Lei said he didn't know, but after listening to our suggestion, he said he would go to Forging Stone City next year to see if he could learn the blacksmith's skills."

"As for me..." Komia leaned against the tree trunk and thought carefully.

"Actually, I love to have fun. I don't know what I want to do in the future. Anyway, I'll learn some interesting and useful things first, and then travel around."

"Tiya, what are your plans?"

"I'm planning," Hiltiya leaned against the tree trunk, looking up at the dense leaves rustling in the autumn wind.

To be honest, because she has no memories of this life, she doesn't have anything she particularly cherishes or cares about.

While this certainly lacks a sense of belonging, like a dandelion drifting in the air, another advantage is that she is not too restricted and can try many things.

It's rare that I have a talent I couldn't have imagined in my previous life, allowing me to absorb the world's many amazing and new knowledge and learn various skills like a sponge.

On Earth, most people's lives are far from free and smooth due to environmental constraints, birth, and various rules and regulations. Many people are also numb and anxious under the impact of various information on the Internet. Even if they have ideas, it is difficult for them to persist under the impact of various concepts and facts.

'What kind of life do I want, or how should each life, which is destined to die, choose to live?' This is the ultimate root of almost all questions.

Thinking of this, Hilti shook her head slightly; it was too early to talk about these things now.

However, since we have the opportunity to see a wider world and experience more wonders, wouldn't it be too regrettable to miss it?

“I will probably study at Hyde University and with my teachers for a while until I am ready before embarking on my journey to try to further improve my sexual phase.”

“In that case, going to the Hidden Woods seems like a good option, Tia,” Komia suggested.

“That place…” Hiltiah recalled Maester Hyde’s description.

It is said that there are many schools of thought stationed in the 'Hidden Woods'. Young people who enter there can come into contact with the basic secret arts of each school. If you meet certain conditions, you can apply for the school's assessment. After completing the various assessments and trials, you can join the school and come into contact with the true lineage.

These extraordinary schools of thought are powerful organizations far exceeding the size of nations. They have branches throughout the continent and serve as the supporting force behind many countries. When the Kingdom of Regas was established, it relied on their assistance.

Without going to the Hidden Woods, ordinary people have very little access to advanced, extraordinary knowledge in the outside world, and the knowledge taught in various industry guilds mostly stops at the third level of spirituality.

From this perspective, going there is indeed the best choice, as it would allow her to access a wider world.

Since there was no other reason to reject it, let's make heading to the 'Hidden Woods' our next goal, Siltiya slowly decided in her heart.

(End of this chapter)