Jianhua University, Harvest Orchard.
Mifa put on her work clothes and came out of the tree house, ready to start her day of duty. She looked up, and the dazzling sunlight clung to her shamelessly, making the entire orchard a forbidden area under the sun. The weather station clearly stated that today would be sunny with some clouds, but it seemed that Garlean’s clouds were as capricious as nobles, starting to deviate in the morning.
Although the glass curtain wall of the orchard had isolated the heat, Mifa didn’t like such a bright working environment.
Her hometown was known as the City of Fruits and Melons, but the price to pay was at least twenty hours of sufficient sunlight every day. During the first few days in Garlean, she would lie on the lawn every night and gaze at the stars, sometimes even falling asleep directly on the grass – the feeling of sleeping without the light piercing her eyes was just fantastic.
After greeting the other part-time students, Mifa sat down at her tree counter. In front of her were “fruit trees,” but the trees didn’t bear fruit; instead, they stored “fireflies” containing sorcery spirits.
The orchard, covered by the glass curtain wall, had hundreds of trees, each with at least twenty fruits, meaning there were thousands of sealed sorcery spirits in the orchard, including high-level spirits with two or three wings.
This was the Sorcery Spirit Trading Center of Jianhua University, the Harvest Orchard.
Similar to the Forest Library, Jianhua University did not want to build a conventional Sorcery Spirit Trading Center, but chose the orchard as a way to allow students to see various rare sorcery spirits hanging above them every time they entered the orchard. This was much more exciting than browsing the sorcery spirit catalog.
You can see them, but you can’t pick them. Hey, it’s a real tease.
Although it seemed defenseless, this orchard was the work of legendary sorcerers. The last student who tried to steal the fruit almost became a part of the fruit tree. Not only could it imprison the sorcery spirits to counteract thieves, but it could also continuously feed the spirits through the trees as a medium. Even in Garlean, it was considered a well-known sorcery spirit trading platform – although the quality of the spirits was not as good as the “Knowledge Tomb” of True University.
However, when it came to the working environment, Mifa had nothing to complain about. After all, most of the time, she was sitting behind the counter browsing the curtain forums.
Although she was not a local of Garlean, Mifa was not poor. Both of her parents were sorcerer commissioners of the City Agricultural Bureau, and they were considered well-off in the local area. It was precisely because of her family’s influence that Mifa was able to enter Jianhua University.
Also because of her parents’ advice, Mifa had been participating in the work-study program at Jianhua University since her freshman year. She didn’t need the money, but the rewards for working at the university were not just money; there were also Jianhua points.
Jianhua points were not a form of currency, but rather an indicator of a student’s status. Students who excelled in their studies, won competitions, ranked high in final exams, or invented miraculous sorcery techniques would earn points. When the points reached a certain level, the student’s status would rise, with four levels: ordinary white student, outstanding green student, honorable gold student, and legendary orange student.
Naturally, there were benefits to a student’s status rising, and most students were willing to actively participate in campus life to earn points.
However, most students were local prodigies before entering Jianhua University, and they naturally believed that they had the ability to earn points by excelling in their studies and competitions. Even on her first day at the university, Mifa had thoughts like, “I will study hard,” “I will be in the top three of my class,” “I will participate in competitions,” and “If I am recruited by Jianhua and poached by True University, should I accept?”
Reality quickly woke up these arrogant students. They were now competing with peers of the same age, and only a small handful of the most outstanding students could stand out. The rest were just green leaves to set off the atmosphere.
However, it would take a year or two for most students to truly recognize and accept their mediocrity, but by then, they would have few ways to earn points and would likely graduate as “ordinary students.”
Mifa, who had been repeatedly reminded by her parents, chose the most stable path from the beginning: working.
Although it wasn’t much, working for Jianhua University was the most stable way to earn points.
Her parents had already calculated that as long as Mifa continued to work for four years and graduated as a sorcerer, she would be able to graduate as an “honorable student.”
Being an “honorable student” had great benefits. Not only could she retain her student status forever and continue to use the university facilities even after graduation, but there was also one more thing – Jianhua University’s faculty positions were given priority to honorable students!
If she could join Jianhua University, Mifa could settle in Garlean!
Unlike her parents, who were assigned to agricultural cities where they had to endure twenty hours of sunlight every day after graduation, even though the quality of life was good, they could only catch a glimpse of the bustling city life through curtain dramas.
Settling in Garlean and becoming a “prospective noble” was her parents’ hope and Mifa’s aspiration.
However, she wasn’t just working for points. In fact, she really enjoyed this part-time job in the orchard.
Every day, students would come to buy and sell sorcery spirits, and Mifa could catch a glimpse of their lives. Some students were not well-known, but they were quite successful in the virtual realm; some students bought many sorcery spirits from different factions, seemingly intending to switch factions; some students spent a lot of money to buy sorcery spirits that were not from their own faction, perhaps as a birthday gift for a lover…
Buying and selling sorcery spirits required real money, and there was no more direct form of voting than this.
In addition, it was very easy to encounter celebrities from the school in the Harvest Orchard, such as the orange dancer, Fusoya, the noble son, and…
Creak.
The glass door was pushed open, and the first guest of the day walked out onto the orchard path. Mifa looked at the guest and subconsciously held her breath, feeling the sunlight on her body suddenly getting hotter.
“Mifa, good morning.”
Sonia sat down in front of her and smiled. “What a coincidence, it’s your shift again today.”
Mifa suppressed her excitement and nodded vigorously. “Yeah, what a coincidence.”
It was not a coincidence at all. Mifa had requested to be scheduled for the morning shift and hadn’t taken a break for a month. She knew that Sonia would come to the Harvest Orchard to sell her spoils after entering the virtual realm, so she had been guarding the counter.
If anyone in the school knew the most about the growth of the red-haired Sword Girl, Mifa dared to say that it was herself, even more so than Professor Teluozan.Sonia came to sell Artisan for the first time, and it was Mifa who received her. Because of her beautiful appearance and the fact that they were both from out of town, they became friends who could chat the first time they met. At that time, Mifa’s impression of her was “a friendly genius female Artificer.”
However, Mifa quickly realized that “genius” was far from enough to describe the weight of Sonia. The red-haired Sword Girl would come to sell Artisan almost every two or three days, and the large number of Artisan made Mifa have to pay attention to whether there was any recent news about “Artisan warehouse theft” or “Red-haired female thief.”
Later, it was not just a matter of the quantity of Artisan. She found that most of the Artisan Sonia sold were the ones that “Slayer Dragons” would drop, as if she was being chased by the Slayer Dragon Protection Association in the Virtual Realm. It should be noted that the Slayer Dragon is the most knowledgeable creature that is most likely to drop Sword Art Beads. According to the number of monsters Sonia killed, she must have absorbed Sword Art Beads, and she might have even absorbed two—this speculation, if spoken out, could cure the low blood pressure of Sword Art students.
In addition, the rumors of Sonia entering the vortex and becoming a full-winged spread like wildfire, and Mifa’s gaze towards her gradually became full of admiration.
Sonia was not a genius female Artificer at all.
She was a girl loved by the gods, an Artisan watched by the stars!
Mifa firmly believed that the next era’s name would be Sonia Seway!
So Mifa joined Sonia’s support club, paying attention to Sonia’s life, hoping that the club president would provide more daily life of the red-haired Sword Girl. It’s hard to describe this feeling, but just knowing that Sonia was working hard to practice every day and had recently summoned new Sword Artisan, Mifa felt as if she was also full of energy.
She was destined to be a silent and unknown star, but she also longed to follow the trajectory of a legendary shooting star.
“Let’s sell these Artisan first.” Sonia displayed four Artisan, and Mifa immediately used her work bracelet to scan and determine the price.
As early as the night before, Sonia’s soul had recovered, and the news of her leaving the exploration of the Virtual Realm midway during a friend gathering had already spread throughout the school. Mifa was not surprised by Sonia’s gains.
But there was something strange here—although all four were one-winged Artisan, the “Ferocious Claw” Artisan was relatively rare in the Sea of Knowledge. If Mifa remembered correctly, the main source of the “Ferocious Claw” Artisan should be the gregarious creature, the Ferocious Wolf Dragon, from the Time Continent.
A bold guess turned in Mifa’s mind, but she didn’t say anything, and instead, as always, served Sonia, gave the purchase price of the Artisan, and finally said, “Because your student level is ‘Excellent Student,’ the selling price is increased by 5%, which is already included.”
Sonia had received a scholarship in the previous semester, so she naturally earned a lot of Sword Flower points, and selling Artisan to the Harvest Orchard would also increase her points—Sword Flower University encourages students to sell their Virtual Realm harvest to the school to expand the variety of Artisan in the school.
However, due to the issue of student quality, the number one student Artisan platform in Garlean was naturally the “Knowledge Tomb” of True University, and as for the “Harvest Orchard”… at most, it would rank in the top three, but there were five candidate universities in the top three.
As an “Excellent Student,” Sonia’s selling price at the Harvest Orchard was increased by 5%, the purchase price was reduced by 5%, and the consignment of Artisan was exempt from handling fees. For ordinary Artificers, this discount might be better than nothing, but for a heavyweight seller like Sonia, this 5% favor would probably make the school lose money.
Of course, it had nothing to do with Mifa if the school lost money. If she could, Mifa would have wanted to give a 500% favor.
Sonia chose to sell all of them and said, “I want to buy Miracles and Artisan.”
The “Harvest Orchard” was associated with the Star Hall, which compiled the “Starry Miracle Catalog,” and students could directly purchase Miracles here.
“Please go ahead.”
“First, it’s an attack Miracle based on Sword Marks and Heart Sword, preferably without other rare Artisan.”
Mifa checked and said, “There are three Miracles that meet the requirements. The True Gold mid-level ‘Heart Pen’ is worth 15 gold coins, the Radiant Gold low-level ‘Sword Prison’ is worth 58 gold coins, and the Radiant Color high-level ‘Heart Style’ is worth 100 Rainbow Coins. Do you need to see the effect images of these Miracles?”
“No need.” Sonia’s face darkened. “I can’t afford any of them.”
This was the downside of rare Artisan—’Heart Sword’ was one of the Five Spirits of Unparalleled Secret Swords, and the level of the Miracles based on it was too high. The most expensive “Heart Style” was even an extremely powerful Radiant Color high-level Miracle even in the hands of a Sanctuary Artisan. If it were changed to ‘Slayer Sword’ + ‘Sword Marks,’ it would definitely yield a large number of cheap Radiant Silver high-level Miracles.
However, after Sonia finished speaking, she hesitated for a moment and said, “Let me see the effect of ‘Heart Pen.’”
Mifa turned the light screen over and let Sonia watch the combat footage of Heart Pen.
The light screen was transparent, and while Sonia was watching the light screen, Mifa pretended to look at her nonchalantly behind the light screen.
The red-haired Sword Girl was really amazing! You always surprise me, and only you, the red-haired Sword Girl of tomorrow, can make me feel even more surprised! The way you dressed when you fought the Orange Dancer before was so cool, even though you’ve always been so cool! How can you be so powerful! A super powerful Sword Girl, remember to take good care of yourself, eat well, sleep well, and be happy every day!
It’s a pity that you’re going to the Virtual Realm and won’t be able to sleep. I really wish the club president would take more pictures of your sleeping face… Sorry, I’m being too much, but I really want to see it!
“…Okay, thank you.”
“Do you want to buy it?”
The Farm women subconsciously bit her finger, not caring at all that her small gesture was stimulating to her fans. “…I won’t buy it for now.”
It’s not that she didn’t have 15 gold coins, and it’s not that she was unwilling to spend 15 gold coins to buy a Miracle for her viewers, but if she bought it, then half of her liquid assets would be gone, and her risk resistance would be extremely low. And… well, she just couldn’t bear to spend 15 gold coins for her viewers.
She hadn’t even spent 15 gold coins on herself!
If only she could exchange Artisan in the Virtual Realm, Sonia would rather research new Miracles for her viewers than spend 15 gold coins to buy someone else’s Artisan!
Just the thought of spending such a large sum of money, even if her wallet could bear it, her body couldn’t bear it, and she wouldn’t be able to eat!
And the viewer’s “Sword Painting” Miracle wasn’t unusable, it was just a bit rubbish…
Perhaps in the future, she could get Artisan that would better complement the ‘Heart Sword’…
The current strength of the team was also sufficient…Sonia convinced herself in three sentences not to spend 15 gold coins and continued to ask, “Is there a Sorcery Spirit that can quickly calm one’s mind?”
“There are many,” Mifa said. “Peace of Mind, Tranquility, Banishment of Thoughts… They are mostly from the mental discipline of Sorcery Spirits.”
Mental discipline Sorcery Spirits have no real drawbacks other than being expensive. Although cheaper than miracle spells, they still cost enough to make farm women weep in the middle of the night. Suddenly remembering something, she asked, “Is there a miracle spell that includes the ‘Sincerity’ Sorcery Spirit and has the effect of quickly calming a Sorcerer?”
Mifa affirmed, “Yes.”
…
…
When the transaction was over, not only had Sonia not increased her assets, but she had also lost one-sixth of her wealth. However, the farm women were in good spirits, evidently expecting a satisfactory return on their investment.
Watching Sonia get ready to leave, Mifa couldn’t suppress her fervent admiration for her idol and whispered, “Good luck!”
The farm women looked at her, puzzled: “What?”
“Good luck tonight!” Mifa said with a clenched fist. “I believe you will definitely win at Trajectory University!”
Trajectory University?
Sonia was taken aback, “Wait, what do you mean?”
“There’s a mixer with Trajectory University tonight!” Mifa explained. “Didn’t you know?”
“I knew about it.” Sonia had indeed heard about this event, just as Truth University would seek a mixer with Sword Flower University, and Sword Flower University would naturally seek mixers with other universities, “But what does that have to do with me?”
Mifa was startled: “You’re one of the students participating in the mixer, and I heard that Leonie voluntarily gave up her spot as the lead, letting you take charge of the lead battle.”
A friendly match typically consists of five battles: the vanguard battle, the forward battle, the center battle, the deputy battle, and the lead battle. Sonia’s first reaction to being in charge of the lead battle was excitement, as the lead battle was a showdown between the strongest of both sides, publicly acknowledging her as the strongest student of this term at Sword Flower University!
But she quickly realized a problem: because the lead battle was the most anticipated, it was usually held last.
“…Mifa, do you know until what time the friendly matches at the mixer usually last?”
“They usually go on until 3 a.m.,” Mifa thought for a moment and said, “After each battle, teachers from both schools will give reviews and guidance, and there might even be a rematch on the spot, allowing students to fight again under the teachers’ guidance… After the five friendly matches, there will also be a professors’ exhibition match.”
“That is, one professor against five students from the mixer university. That’s the most explosive event.”
“If it weren’t for an accident last time, it would have probably lasted until 3 a.m. as well.”
In the world of Fanxing, the more important the Sorcerer competition, the later it is held at night, the better, because the stars represent the gaze of the Adeptus of Fanxing. Although the faith of the Adeptus of Fanxing is not deliberately spread on a regular basis, everyone subconsciously reveres the starry sky above and yearns for the favor of the starlight.
Sonia blinked, “So when does the lead battle start?”
“Midnight.”