Isaac stared at her for a second, then nodded slowly.
“Let’s try it.”
Professor Catherine and Isaac walked side by side toward the treant, who patrolled the field’s edge.
Tyr stopped and turned to them.
“Tyr, can you see your evolution conditions on your status screen?”
Tyr blinked once, then nodded slowly.
That caught Isaac off guard.
He hadn’t expected such a quick answer.
“That’s… good news. Can you write it down?”
Tyr gave another nod.
He extended his right hand, letting it stretch into a long, flexible branch. The wood twisted and sharpened at the end, forming a writing tip.
He leaned down and began scratching into the dirt.
Letters formed, uneven but legible:
Current Race: Verdant Grove Treant
Evolution Requirements: Ash Bark from a Centenarian Flame Tree. Bloodfruit Core. Spirit-Fused Mycelium. One liter of Pure Lakewater from a Mana Convergence Spring
Evolution Race: Ironwood Sentinel of Life
“Ironwood Sentinel of Life…”
Professor Catherine leaned forward, one brow raised. “You really are a bottomless pit of expenses.”
Isaac looked at her. “Is this going to be that expensive?”
“Yes,” she replied with no hesitation. “But since Tyr is related to increasing your combat potential, and Tyr’s potential by itself is enormous, I doubt Sanctum of Masters will make you pay. I’ll send the request tonight.”
She folded her arms. “Hopefully, they reply quickly. Though the logistics might take longer.”
Isaac nodded and turned to head back inside.
Catherine followed him toward the house, over the stairs, and almost into his room.
He glanced over his shoulder.
“Why are you coming with me?”
“I’m afraid of the dark and being alone. So I wanted to sleep together with you,” she said innocently.
He shut the door in her face.
Just then, Leora stepped into the hallway. Her door was adjacent to Isaac’s.
Catherine approached her. “Master, can I sleep with you?”
Leora paused halfway through closing her door. She looked straight at Catherine and said, “Hope you enjoyed dinner.”
Then she slammed the door in her face too.
Catherine stood there for a second, expression blank.
“…Maybe I teased her too much today.”
In his room, Isaac settled onto the bed and tapped his wristband.
Emily’s face appeared on the screen.
Her expression was unusually bright. Her smile was wider, and her eyes glowed with quiet excitement.
“You seem cheerful,” Isaac said. “Something good happen?”
“It’s a surprise. I’ll tell you when we meet.”
She put a finger to her lips.
He raised a brow.
“Alright.”
Their conversation was short.
Emily looked tired. She said she had to sleep early tonight, and within minutes, her breathing evened out and she drifted off.
Curious, Isaac pulled up her status screen.
He asked the status screen to show what had changed since the last time, and it complied.
Strength: 26 → 30
Agility: 45 → 49
Spirit Power: 59 → 61
Mana: 70 → 73
Spectral Claws (SSS rank) Level 2 → Level 3
Life Drain (S rank) Level 1 → Level 2
Phantom Step (SSS rank) Level 1 → Level 2
Demonic Eyes (SS rank) Level 1 → Level 3
Phantom Parade (SSS rank) Level 1 → Level 3
Phantom Ward (SSS rank) Level 1 → Level 2
“Huh?”
Isaac had to double-check to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating.
“…How hard is she training to see a growth rate of this level?”
Emily had leveled multiple skills to level 3.
While one could say her growth rate was slower than Isaac since two of Isaac’s skill were already at Level 4, it did not diminish her achievement.
“She must be fighting against multiple opponents, which is helping her level up all her combat skills together.”
Isaac wondered if she was pushing herself too much, but he knew Emily would say she was training normally if he asked her about it.
He messaged Professor Catherine.
You: Prof. Catherine, sorry for messaging you late at night, but is Emily’s training going okay these days? She seemed to be tired a lot.
Landlord: Emily? Don’t worry about her training. It’s nothing too difficult. She is training under Vice Principal, and going through special training for ghost lineage demihumans.
Her reply came within a minute.
“Under Vice Principal? But vice principal is here.”
His brows creased.
“Maybe she has a skill that allows her to create clones.”
Landlord: Are you curious about her training? It’s related to the surprise Emily is going to give you soon.
You: ….how you know about the surprise thing already? She told me just a few minutes ago about this.
Landlord: Hehe, secret.
Isaac asked her about the training, but she diverted the topic.
Their talk went from Emily, to his combat training, to his crops, to mundane things like which food he liked, and what crop would he grow to make the crop better when he had more land.
Then, the topic shifted to Professor Catherine’s favorite food, to her likes, and other mundane things.
By the time Isaac realized it, they had been talking for three hours.
You: It’s late. So let’s end this here. Good night.
Landlord: Goodnight
Landlord: FyingkissEmoji
Isaac’s smile vanished when he saw the emoji.
A moment later, he laughed.
It was so much like her.
Smiling, he brought up the System.
“Share!”
Strength: 56 → 60
Agility: 80 → 84
Spirit Power: 100 → 100 [2]
Mana: 100 [265 → 268]
Spectral Claws (SSS rank) Level 2 → Level 3
Life Drain (S rank) Level 1 → Level 2
Phantom Step (SSS rank) Level 1 → Level 2
Demonic Eyes (SS rank) Level 1 → Level 3
Phantom Parade (SSS rank) Level 1 → Level 3
Phantom Ward (SSS rank) Level 1 → Level 2
While the skill level increase was nice, Isaac could not help but look at the locked stats.
They were useless right now.
“If only I can find a way to break the stat limit.”
The next morning started early.
Isaac went through his routine, stepping outside to the field. His eyes scanned the Vitality Grain Crops.
Still ten seeds per plant.
“The numbers didn’t increase,” he said, crouching beside one. “Is this the limit?”
He closed his eyes, reaching out with his mana.
He let his senses sink into the earth, following the pulse of Sovereign of Land. He could feel the nutrients moving, flowing to each root.
But something was off.
Most of the nutrients weren’t being absorbed.
He opened his eyes.
“It’s not the soil. It’s the seed.
“It’s like trying to pour water into a bucket that’s already full. These seeds have reached their cap.”
He stood and began harvesting.
200 Tier 1 Vitality Grain Crops harvested. Mana +100. Constitution +100.
You have obtained 1000 Tier 1 Vitality Grains.
Constitution: 100 [225 → 325]
Mana: 100 [268 → 368]
He burned the stalks, spread the ash, tilled the soil, replanted the seeds.
Once he was done, he brought the harvested grains back into the house.
Professor Catherine was already sitting in the living room, lounging in a chair and waiting for breakfast like she lived here.
Isaac walked over.
“How do you get the seed of a Vitality Grain?”
Catherine turned slightly. “Why?”
“The crops I’m growing can’t improve anymore just by giving them more land or nutrients. If I could plant the seed-producing tree in my own land and enhance it, I could increase the seed quality directly.”
She nodded thought about it and shook her head.
“I don’t think we can give you that.”
“How so?”
“Vitality Grain Seed Trees are artificially enhanced to produce the seeds,” she explained. “It makes them delicate, and difficult to grow. Their immune systems are extremely weak, so even a few harmful microorganisms can kill them.”
She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees.
“They have to be grown in sterile environments. Even Sanctum of Masters can only maintain five. If we move one out of its protected chamber, it dies within a few hours.”
Isaac rubbed his chin.
“So… if I can fix the ’disease vulnerability’ part, then I can have one?”
