Chapter 245: The Golden Apple and a Rekindled Flame
Awe. This overpowering emotion captured Moira's state of mind perfectly in that moment. Her heart pounded fiercely within her chest, breaking the shackles of age and experience. A surge of emotion she had not tasted in years, excitement, began to stir, spreading through her soul like fire kindling dry leaves.
Unable to restrain herself, she reached out toward the test tube in Wang Yu's hand.
Her slightly withered, wrinkled fingers brushed the glass. Without a hint of hesitation, Wang Yu placed the vial, filled with the core ingredient of the Wish Elixir, into her hand.
She looked up at Wang Yu's face, which remained calm and unshaken. Inexplicably, her own frenzy of emotion subsided.
She raised the tube before her eyes and carefully examined the swirling, iridescent liquid within. She was certain that this was true stardew.
Years ago, she had once glimpsed a small remnant of this rare substance, left behind by the alchemist who first succeeded in brewing the Wish Elixir. The only difference was the quantity; in composition and color, it was identical.
Wang Yu's poised demeanor, and the casual way with which he surrendered such a precious, priceless gift, evoked a strange clarity in Moira. The fire that had ignited her heart upon seeing the stardew began to dim.
Was this truly all that important to her? In this age, would anyone still be able to craft the legendary Wish Elixir? After all, the legend who had once succeeded was long gone. Among the continent's foremost herbalists—herself included—none had ever managed to replicate that bottled miracle.
"I owe you and your companions an apology," she said softly. "My pride and experience made me overlook the possibility that you might achieve what others have not.
"You are welcome to learn from me. I will hold nothing back. And as recompense for delivering this stardew into my hands, I will offer you something of comparable worth—though I fear it may fall short."
With some effort, Moira bent at the waist and gave a deep bow, a traditional human gesture of respect, leaving Wang Yu somewhat dumbfounded.
"Uh... what?" he muttered, unsure what exactly had just happened. He had no idea what this stardew really was. Instinctively, he moved to help the old woman up, but the young woman behind her had already stepped forward to assist.
"Come," Moira said simply. She beckoned, and leaning on her cane, made her way into the treehouse.
Wang Yu glanced at Avia, who now supported Moira's arm. There was a spark of satisfaction in the old herbalist's expression as she looked at her new apprentice—pleased, perhaps, by her intuition when Wang Yu had first knocked on their door, and by her presence now. Already the duo had brought her far more surprises than she had anticipated.
Carrying the stone cube that once housed the stardew, Wang Yu followed Avia and Moira into the treehouse that had been barred to him earlier.
Moira led them to the far corner of the living room. She tapped her cane rhythmically against the wooden floor, murmuring a string of arcane incantations. Green sigils, infused with strange elemental energy, shimmered into existence along her cane and then melted into the wall.
Built from living wood, the treehouse was still alive in a sense, its inner nature unchanged. This was no ordinary home; it breathed.
In response to her command, the wooden wall shifted and parted, revealing a hidden chamber. A vine not unlike the one Wang Yu had seen in Gewen's home snaked forth from within, bearing a metal coffer upon its leafy palm.
Moira took the coffer, opened the lid, and retrieved something from inside. Then she carefully placed the test tube containing the stardew within and let the vine return it to its resting place before sealing it once more.
Then, she handed Wang Yu the object she had withdrawn.
It was a lustrous apple, its skin shimmering with a soft golden glow. It wasn't just gilded—the golden sheen looked entirely natural and permeated the apple to its core. And though its surface gleamed like pure gold, it held the ripeness and fragrance of freshly plucked fruit.
It was the very embodiment of temptation—an object so alluring, so richly evocative of sweetness and crispness, that it was difficult not to bite into it immediately. One could almost imagine the syrupy nectar bursting from within, the texture not quite that of ordinary fruit—firmer, crispier, more otherworldly.
"A golden apple... could it be like those consumables from my world, the kind that grants powerful healing?" Wang Yu mused inwardly. "It really does look delicious."
He had no idea exactly what this golden apple was, but its worth was evident at a glance.
Wang Yu didn't hesitate. Moira had to be handing it over for a reason. He accepted the apple. The moment his fingers touched its skin, he felt a thrill of joy ripple through his body.
This apple was no mere curative. It wasn't something that simply offered fleeting vitality like a healing potion in a game. He could feel it deep within. It bore an immense vitality and contained a peculiar, pulsing energy, which he sensed even without actively engaging the Chariot's power. His body had begun to stir with excitement of its own accord.
"Easy now," he murmured to himself, soothing the surge of anticipation that had risen unbidden within.
Moira spoke again. "This may fall short in value compared to the stardew, but I believe it will provide tremendous growth for both of you.
"This is a fruit from the Tree of Life within the past century. Its function is simultaneously simple and rare: it enhances natural talent. While it has no effect on wizardry, it can raise the innate talent of knights and magicians alike. Even those born without such gifts may awaken to them after consuming it."
Her voice was calm, almost matter-of-fact, as she explained the effects of something most would guard with their lives. Both Avia and Wang Yu listened intently.
Wang Yu arched a brow in surprise. The apple was far more valuable than he had anticipated.
Talent was something that accompanied a person for life, determining both their path and their limits. Things that could alter or enhance it were vanishingly rare.
To his knowledge, most such enhancements came with a cost—trading the body's potential for magical affinity, for example, or even burning away fragments of the soul just to gain entry into magic.
Only the Keys—those strange artifacts crafted by the brilliant and peerless legendary wizard Roland—could grant affinity with the Void without exacting a toll. And even then, void affinity was a double-edged sword.
Given Moira's explanation and his own senses, he believed this apple to be more like a catalyst, one that could push life itself toward the transcendent.
Moira sighed. "As an herbalist, I always dreamed of refining such fruit into a potion. But at the time, I wasn't confident enough. I gave up.
"And now that I've grown old, my skills have dulled. I no longer possess the confidence to craft a new elixir with the golden apple as a base.
She paused. "In truth, this stardew—this key to the highest achievement of alchemy, the Wish Elixir—is now almost meaningless to me. I cannot even refine a basic elixir from this golden apple. What use do I have for stardew? My abilities are no longer sufficient to give it purpose."
A shadow of weariness crept into her voice.
"I believe that," said Avia beside her gently, "whether you are an alchemist or herbalist, if your craft is born of passion, then there is no such thing as the impossible. What you cannot do today, you might accomplish tomorrow. You simply need to break through, and every step forward begins by taking a risk.
"If you don't try, how will you ever know? It's better to have no regrets."
Moira stood silent for a moment.
"..."
To try again... indeed. Once, she had never feared failure.
Time had withered her body, but her soul—her true self—had never aged. If she were to die with regret festering in her heart, would she ever rest easy?
"Exactly! If I don't refine the stardew into a potion, then obtaining it would be meaningless. I've spent over a decade doing nothing—it's high time I found something to occupy myself with. But now's not the time to talk about that. Since I agreed to teach you herbalism, then I shall do so to the best of my ability."
Moira's raspy voice suddenly rose in pitch. Her growing excitement was plain for all to see.
Leaning on her cane, Moira ascended to the second floor of the treehouse, gesturing for Wang Yu and Avia to follow. As their instructor in herbalism, she was about to begin their very first lesson in the elven capital Liaheim.
Shortly thereafter, Wang Yu considered the flameheart blossom before him as he silently rehearsed the next steps in his mind. "Heat... separate... dehydrate... isolate the gases... add solvent..."
The flameheart blossom, a flower wreathed in fire atop his worktable, was a rare and notoriously temperamental magical plant.
A single misstep could either cause a fiery explosion, or worse, render the plant inert and deactivating its unique property of boosting fire mana.
To process such a specimen, an herbalist had to be equipped with extensive protections to avoid injury and make use of precision instruments to handle the material without flaw.
Yet Wang Yu did none of this. He simply cupped his hands around the flameheart bloom. The power of the Chariot cloaked the flower as an invisible force manipulated the simple tools on the table with exacting finesse to dissect the plant and refine its essence.
Some of the steps didn't require the use of any tools at all. The Chariot's power enveloped the flower, locking onto the trace moisture within it and drawing it out of the petals with surgical precision. The dehydration step was completed with ease.
Sequestering the flower in an inert environment was no different. With total concentration, Wang Yu manipulated the surrounding air into a vacuum. What would normally require specialized apparatus was, to him, laughably simple.
"I finally understand why you said you didn't need to worry about processing ingredients... This boy is ridiculously effective..."
Moira, leaning on her cane, watched Wang Yu manipulate the flameheart using the Chariot's power. Her heart stirred. As a master herbalist, she had seen many practitioners use wizardry or magical techniques to enhance their precision and replace the use of tools.
But never had she seen someone command matter itself with such impossible finesse. In her eyes, Wang Yu was less an apprentice and more a fully automated, human-shaped herbalism workbench.
"Right?"
Avia smiled softly, a trace of pride on her lips. "Back in the capital, he only used ripples and his knight's physique to assist me. But now that he's awakened to his power, the Chariot, it's like he's leapt across a threshold."
Despite being dehydrated and sealed in a vacuum, the flameheart continued to burn with living fire as Wang Yu gently lowered it into a solution of fire mana. Suspended in the liquid, the petals unfurled, glowing with a mesmerizing beauty.
"It's done. Madam Moira, what do you think?"
Wang Yu handed the vial containing the burning flower to Moira for evaluation.
"Perfect. It's flawless Your ability is remarkably suited to handling raw materials. To be completely honest, even if I were doing this myself, I couldn't have produced a sample this pristine. Many factors go into such results, but facts are facts. When it comes to ingredient refinement, your capabilities far exceed mine—and even Avia's."
Moira studied the flower burning slowly in the vial. She fell into deep thought. The way Wang Yu's Chariot aligned with herbalism was nothing short of extraordinary.
"How about this," she said at last, turning to Wang Yu. "While I'm teaching you, I'd also like to hire you to help me process some of my stock. You two young ones have rekindled my passion for herbalism. It's time I limbered up these stiff old bones. As for your payment—how about access to my collection of magical plants?"
Wang Yu blinked in surprise at the offer.
"Of course—I'd be happy to."
He could think of no reason to refuse. And so, without hesitation, he agreed.