“Miss Lisa, you’re deceiving me, aren’t you? You must be deceiving me; you certainly have your reasons. Is it that mercenary who’s blackmailing Baron—”
“Buck, calm down, okay? Let me tell you about Mr. Ivan. When Ivan was younger, he was lively and naive, and a bit mischievous. After getting hurt once, he realized the importance of strength and decisively declared that he was going to change.
And he truly did make an effort, improving his abilities quickly. He learned various languages successfully, and became an outstanding pharmacist.
Who else could achieve what he has? No one, right? Mr. Ivan is like a hero straight out of a novel. No, he is a born hero, destined to become a notable figure. The small Flying Fish Port simply can’t hold him back—”
“No, it’s not like that. There are no such things as born heroes.”
“Of course, there are, and Mr. Ivan is one. I won’t allow you to spout nonsense, Buck. Out of respect for our past, I won’t hold you accountable this time.”
From the other side of the bushes, as Miss Church grew angry, Buck lost his words, and the two of them hurriedly left, one after the other.
“Pfft—hahaha!”
After a moment of silence, Beaman couldn’t help but chuckle softly.
Upon remembering something, Ivan clenched his teeth and spat out two words: “Peggy!”
It was clear that Peggy had caused some trouble. When Lisa came to the Marichadon family, it was Peggy who accompanied her, and only Peggy knew some of his secrets, including his learning other languages, and only Peggy would idealize her brother this much.
Peggy probably hadn’t expected that Miss Church, being a noble, thought differently from ordinary people and actually believed and admired what Peggy had told her about her brother.
Beaman, initially trying to hold back his laughter, made a jest and couldn’t help but laugh again: “So it was Peggy! In that case, big brother Paul lost to his sister Peggy, and he lost miserably, hahaha.”
The more this situation unfolded, the more Ivan became dumbfounded. He really couldn’t blame Peggy; after all, a sister can’t speak ill of her brother in front of outsiders. If anyone was to blame, it was the unusual person Lisa.
After a while, Beaman became serious.
“Ivan, to tell the truth, Miss Lisa isn’t so bad. Baron Church only has two daughters, one is married off, and the other is Miss Lisa; the title needs an heir, and that is a huge temptation.”
In stark contrast to the Giant Waves Marquis, Baron Church not only had few descendants but also had no sons, which was considered a disgrace among the nobility and was also quite rare among commoners.
Take the Marichadon family, for example, they had four brothers and a sister, Peggy. Like the nearby Benson, Rosyth, and others, they also had more than one son—three or more, with some having as many as seven or eight. The more people there are, the more talents emerge.
Ivan rolled his eyes at him: “You could try going back and have Peggy speak well of you or have her make up an impressive story; I can help with that.”
Seeing that he was genuinely interested, Beaman gave up: “All right, I’ll say no more; you handle it your way.”
Neither of them cared much for Miss Lisa; Paul was better suited to deal with that trouble.
Ivan, looking at his now silent elder brother, asked, “Beaman, do you have any plans?”
Beaman sighed: “Yes, I’m thinking of joining the army.”
Ivan was startled: “To serve the Aromatic Wheat Grand Duke?”
Beaman replied: “The Mercenary Group has father, Paul, and eventually Peggy and Sean, plus you as a pharmacist to help. Whether I’m there or not makes no difference; not staying in the Mercenary Group only leaves serving the nobility. I might as well find the most formidable; the Glory Knights Order of the Aromatic Wheat Grand Duke seems quite impressive.”
This was the first time he had expressed his true feelings to someone else. He didn’t want to always be stuck in the Giant Shield Mercenary Group, nor did he want to live forever under his father’s protection.
After a moment, Ivan patted his shoulder: “If you have a plan, go for it; father probably won’t object.”
Beaman smiled, “What about you? Surely you won’t stay in Flying Fish Port forever.”
Seeing him staring intently, eager to hear his true thoughts, Ivan’s mind was flooded with ideas, one of which persistently lingered: “I want to try and see if I can become a sorcerer who commands mysterious spells.”
Beaman looked at his brother, surprised. He knew the difficulty of the path Ivan was considering and silently patted Ivan’s shoulder to show his support.
Three days passed in a blink.
[Apothecary Skill Experience Point +1]
[Apothecary Skill: lv2 (192/200)]
Ivan had healed Marshall and earned a Gold Coin as his fee, also gaining some experience points.
As he was getting closer to level 3 in Apothecary Skill, not only would he be able to enjoy a portion of the Small Light of Wisdom, he would also receive a level 3 Light of Wisdom. So far, he had only one level 1 Light of Wisdom left over from his last exploration of the Ocean Blue Potion.
As for where to use it, he hadn’t yet decided.
In terms of strength, there had been no change over the past days. With his current level of strength, the Gushing Breath Method was unlikely to provide any further improvement unless it could break through to the Knight Class.
This was impossible; otherwise, the Knight Class would be common. He certainly didn’t feel any breakthrough opportunity, nor did he sense the presence of the Life Seed.
Moving from page class to Knight Class seemed simple enough: first, you had to reach squire strength, then sense the presence of a Life Seed, and finally, use the Breath of Life to reshape the Life Seed. Success meant advancing to the Knight Class.
According to Ivan’s understanding, the Life Seed and the Dantian were similar, or perhaps it existed in a place similar to the Dantian. This place was curious, you would only know its location if you sensed it; if not sensed, it might as well not exist at all.
High-quality Breathing Methods could refine high-quality Breath of Life, which helped in sensing the presence of a Life Seed. This was the fundamental reason for the difference in quality of Breathing Methods.
Strength: 2.8, Agility: 2.2, Constitution: 3.0, Spirit: 1.4.
“Take another dose of the Ocean Blue Potion.”
Looking at the data that hadn’t changed at all, Ivan quietly calculated and decided to try a fourth vial of the Ocean Blue Potion.
Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, he took out a small glass vial, uncorked it, and downed it in one go. As changes began to occur within his body, he also consumed another vial of Mountain Monster Potion.
This was his last vial of Mountain Monster Potion; he would have to return to Old Orio for more.
The Mountain Monster Potion he had given his father had already been assessed. It could relieve conditions but could not solve problems entirely.
Seeing his persistent inquiries, his father revealed an even more serious fact: there were two kinds of eruptions in the Goliath Frog Breathing Method. A common eruption merely caused physical fatigue, which could subside on its own without the need for the expensive Mountain Monster Potion.
A severe eruption could damage the root of the Combat Energy, just as it had during the battle with the tree monster. For that, the Mountain Monster Potion was not very effective.
That had stunned Ivan for quite a while.
“Huff––”
After consuming the two potions, Ivan began practicing the Gushing Breath Method.
However, what he did not know was that some people had much better vision than ordinary folks and could observe the scene from a great distance, contemplating the implications.
“Ivan, good news, those guys have started to stir,”
Just as Ivan was about to finish his practice, Beaman brought news from afar. The wild boar herd that plagued Black Pine Forest had finally shown some activity.