My Guardian System: The Trader

Chapter 35 - The Forest

Using a piece of a wooden stick that he found somewhere, he used it as his cane while he was wandering around in search of cures.

Jem noticed that even though it was a forest, it looked so different from the forest in his mind.

Although there were tall trees and bushes everywhere, it was still different from the forest he used to know.

The forest he knew was lush green. He could often hear the humming of birds and insects. The ground was either brown or green. The leaves were swinging and brushing. It was the very definition of life.

On the contrary, the forest where he was currently standing looked so 'dull'.

Everything around him was overcast with depressing color. All around him was the color of gray. Even the ground was the same.

Contrary to the forest in his mind, there were no humming insects and birds in this forest. There were only eerie howls coming from a distance. The leaves weren't swinging or brushing, as though time had stopped in this place.

It was Jem's impression when he looked around him.

Fortunately, even though the place looked ambiguous, he noticed the plants and trees looked fine after checking one of them.

He was walking cautiously. It would be bad if high-ranking beasts suddenly appeared in front of him.

Although he had a dependable bodyguard, it was only one. Facing multiple strong opponents would be difficult even for the baby beast.

If that is going to happen, he could only escape away as fast as he could.

After a couple of minutes of searching, he finally found a familiar plant under one of the tall trees.

"It's Fangs Aloera!" Jem muttered in an excited voice, though his face twisted in pain a second later.

On second look, it had a different color. But Jem knew that it was the same Fangs Aloera that he knew.

The original color of Fangs Aloera was dark green with bright pigment circle rashes all over its leaves.

Its leaves were long, narrow, and thick. Thorns that resembled fangs were lining up on each edge of the leaves. It was also the reason it was called Fangs Aloera.

Regardless, the Fangs Aloera in front of him had grayish leaves. But, he was optimistic that it was the Fangs Aloera he knew.

Jem carefully plucked one of its leaves. He must avoid another injury, no matter how superficial they are. Also, those fangs will cause smarting pain, which is troublesome in his current condition.

As expected, after plucking one of its leaves, a gel-like fluid dripped from the cut. It was the same gel-like fluid of the Fangs Aloera he knew. Even the aroma was the same.

But still, he was skeptical. Though, he had no choice.

Without wasting it, he let the juices dripped on his wounds.

Gah!

Jem groaned because of the prickly pain when the fluid touched his wound. He had to bear it for a couple of seconds.

He also found other healing herbs and plants after searching for quite a while.

Jem thought, 'Much better if there's water to wash them first to avoid any unforeseen complications.' But since he had none, he decided to do it without washing.

However, Jem paused for a moment, seemingly remembering something.

He remembered the ability used by Wendy when they first met. It was when they rode the locomotive train heading to the city.

She used an unusual skill that cleaned his hand when they did a handshake.

Since Wendy used it casually, he surmised that the skill only needs a little Ex-energy to activate.

The question is, what must be the skill name? And the composition?

According to Miss Sylva, in one of their lectures, to cast a spell, one must understand its composition.

She said, "There are four major components needed to follow to learn the skill. First, is the Training, second is Experience, third is Composition, and lastly, Execution."

"These four components were related to each other. Through extensive [Practice] or training, the body and mind would start to familiarize the activity, bit by bit gaining knowledge from it. And by gaining knowledge, this is what you called as [Experience]."

"Once your experience was high enough, your mind and body would subconsciously develop the [Composition]. Then once you've got the composition, the [Execution] will be next."

"Compositions refer to the components that are needed to develop the skill you want to learn. It can also involve objects or any materials."

"It was the understanding of the ability you want to learn."

An example of it was Jem's Fortification ability.

To learn the Fortification ability, he trained and trained until one day he was able to understand the composition of it. His mind subconsciously developed the components: Stone, Metal, Toughness, Boosting, Reinforcement, Muscle, and Muscle Fiber. These are the examples of the components that Jem learned when he formulated the composition of Fortification ability.

"In short, [Composition] is the reference for your skill."

He understood that if he reinforced his muscle or muscle fibers with toughness, he would toughen any parts of his body like a stone or metal. Thus, after understanding the composition, he got the word "Fortification." The end product or the name was also the [Execution].

In this case, to execute the skill, they needed to speak of the name of the skill as it was the trigger for activation.

There's no need to voice out the name of the skill, even mentioning it in mind was already enough.

With the help of Ex-energy, the supposedly impossible things had become possible.

Ex-energy acted as the fuel to make the skill possible. It was a very mysterious kind of energy. Even with the intensive research, the researchers had yet to understand this energy. It was also the reason they called it Ex-energy because they were yet to understand it.

It could make the impossible possible. And it opposes the law of nature or the law of science.

Aside from the name Ex-energy, they also called it Mana, or magical energy.

To summarize all of that, to learn the skill, they just needed a great understanding of it.

Although it looks simple, it wasn't actually. Some minor components are needed to consider. That's why most of them took a year or two to learn, though it also depends on their talent.

Aside from healing plants and herbs, he also found some valuable materials as he was searching. He was able to trade some of them and was able to unlock some useful materials for his survival.