Back inside the room, she imdiately opened Cassian’s storage pouch.
As a seasoned Rank-3 Alchemist, Cassian’s lifeti of accumulation was bound to be substantial—but even so, the sight still exceeded expectations.
In an instant, Zora, Black, White, and Shihtzu all froze, their eyes glittering as they saw piles of gold coins gleaming brilliantly, stacked so densely that even the air seed to shimr.
"We struck it rich... no, we struck it rich again!" Black cried out, clutching a handful of coins, his eyes bubbling over with joy. Lately, their fortunes had been rising one wave after another, almost unreal.
White was no better off, already calculating how many things he could buy with this mountain of wealth.
Shihtzu hugged a heap of coins, drool nearly dripping from the corner of its mouth, its claws absentmindedly rubbing against a colorful demon crystal as it pondered which one to snack on first.
Zora watched the three beasts’ undisguised delight and couldn’t help shaking her head, though the smile at her lips deepened despite herself.
Just as Prince Kael had said, none of this compared to the original hundred gold coins.
Most of Cassian’s collection consisted of currency, with a smaller portion made up of potion formulas and dicinal herbs. She flipped through the formulas briefly; all of them were familiar to her, offering nothing new.
Still, these formulas would fetch an excellent price at auction. For Alchemists, formulas were priceless.
Her gaze then swept over the dicinal herbs. The majority were valuable, commonly used ingredients, mostly suited for refining third-grade potions.... nothing extraordinary for her, but undeniably useful and profitable.
With this harvest alone, the troubles of the past days seed almost worth it.
In the end, Zora’s gaze settled on a strand of erald-green dicinal vine.
It was translucent and lustrous, its surface smooth as polished porcelain without the slightest trace of impurity. At first glance, it resembled an ordinary creeping vine, yet a faint, lingering fragrance drifted from it.
A flicker of delight flashed through Zora’s eyes. She truly hadn’t expected Cassian to possess such a treasure. "A fragrant vine?"
This was a fragrant vine, an extrely precious dicinal ingredient.
Strictly speaking, it was not unique, and there were several variants she knew of.
However, its growth conditions were notoriously harsh.
The environnt it required was so demanding that its yield was pitifully low. In most cases, fragrant vines could only be seen at large auctions, and even then, their prices were outrageously high.
"To think this old fellow would finally do one decent thing after dying," Zora muttered with a faint smile.
She carefully wrapped the fragrant vine and stored it away. Although the whole affair with Cassian had been troubleso, the final outco was undeniably satisfying.
Compared to the complete collapse of Morgana Frost and the others’ reputations, Zora’s own standing within the academy only rose higher. Even though everyone now knew she was already married to Prince Kael, countless male students still regarded her as a goddess, while many female students quietly took her as their role model.
Facing Cassian head-on and arguing her case with logic and composure—this alone was enough to inspire awe. That kind of courage was not sothing most people possessed.
Life gradually returned to calm.
Zora spent her days cultivating in the Spirit Tower, using the points she had earned from the auction.
Black, White, and Shihtzu accompanied her in seclusion as well. Although the points were being consud at a terrifying rate, her strength was also rising rapidly in return.
Seven days later, a piece of news swept through the entire city.
The rcenary Union released a mission with exceptionally high rewards—a blue-rank task.
Ever since the incident involving monster beasts in the White Mountain Range, sothing strange had occurred. No one knew when it began, but to the east of the White Mountains, a forest shrouded in oppressive miasma had suddenly appeared.
So claid they had heard the roars of powerful beasts echoing from within that forest. Others tried to venture inside, only to be driven back by an overwhelming sense of danger before they could go far.
After gathering this information, the rcenary Union officially issued a blue-rank mission. The task was simple in description: investigate the suffocating forest and determine what was happening there. The rewards, however, were generous.
Such missions were rare in the history of the rcenary Union, though not unheard of. They were essentially exploratory tasks—until soone entered and uncovered the truth, no one could say what truly awaited inside.
Based on the intelligence available, the guild classified it as a blue-rank mission. Among the five ranks—yellow, green, blue, purple, and red—blue represented a middle tier. There was danger involved, but it was not considered overwhelmingly lethal.
As soon as the mission was announced, many spirit warriors eagerly set out toward the White Mountain Range.
On this particular day, Zora and the others headed together toward the academy’s back mountain.
Since their last encounter with monster beasts in the White Mountains, they hadn’t visited the mountains for quite so ti. Compared to ordinary students, special-enrollnt students truly enjoyed much more freedom.
If not for Prince Kael reminding her, Zora would likely have spent the entire day secluded in the Spirit Tower.
Before long, the group gathered at the back mountain—and soon after, Sebastian and Miel arrived as well.
"Everyone’s here."
Sebastian’s face carried his usual gentle, approachable smile. "The fright from the beast tide incident last ti... I trust everyone has had enough ti to settle down?"
A ripple of smiles passed through the group.
That incident had indeed been thrilling, even dangerous, but they were spirit warriors. After this much ti, who would still be unable to steady their emotions?
Almost instinctively, several gazes drifted toward Baldwin and Marcus. If anyone had been left with lingering shadows, it would be those two.
After all, their injuries back then had been severe.
Noticing the unspoken concern, Baldwin and Marcus exchanged a glance before smiling and shaking their heads, silently indicating that they were fine.
"Good."
Satisfaction flickered in Sebastian’s eyes as he nodded. "As spirit warriors, battle and danger are unavoidable. Now then, the blue-rank mission released by the rcenary Union... I assu everyone is already aware of it?"
Everyone nodded in unison.
The blue mission had been the hottest topic in the city these past few days. On the streets, in teahouses, even in inns, it was all anyone talked about.
Plenty of people had already rushed toward the so-called suffocating forest, yet so far, no concrete news had co back.
"Tutor Miel and I have decided," Sebastian continued, "to lead you all to the Forest."
The mont his words fell, eyes across the group lit up in excitent.
"They were leading?"
The mont they’d heard about the blue mission, their hearts had already begun to itch. Even without the academy’s arrangent, many of them had planned to go on their own.
Now that the ntors were organizing it, the matter beca even better.
"Treat this as a practical trial," Sebastian said calmly, although a subtle frown developed on his face. "It should not escalate into a life-and-death situation. Tutor Miel and I will accompany you, but we will not interfere unless we see a life-threatening situation. Everything that happens in the White Mountains must be for you to handle by yourselves. Any objections?"
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