This Heroine's Friend Has the Power of Botany

Chapter 204

Professor Nico’s Pitfall

The task at hand involved 3 stratagems. The first was a Level 1 Vortex Stratagem, designed to create a swirling air current in a designated area. This stratagem was particularly useful for hunters entering the Tower of Eternity and decided to rest in tower, whether during the day or night. The swirling air would prevent predator beasts from tracking them by scent and keep out any toxins while they rested.

This stratagem could also be adapted for hunting, making the air around the enemy swirl with poison without their knowledge. Just discreetly set the stratagem well. Some could choose to spread the poison into the beast’s burrows by only setting the stratagem and activating it when beasts rested nearby.

These functions were within the scope of a level 1-star stratagem, so it was effective on the 1st and 2nd floors of the tower. However, from the 3rd floor onwards, the beasts would likely detect it and escape. Or...some type of beasts also used other senses to hunt, requiring more advanced stratagems to combat with the higher-level beasts. Nonetheless...this stratagem could sell for up to 10 gold coins in the market!

The girl quietly considered the stratagem in front of her while Professor Nico observed all the students with satisfaction, seeing their enthusiasm.

"All students have collected their resources, Professor. Only 1 student hasn’t yet."

"Hmm? Who?" When the assistant professor reported this, Professor Nico asked, surprised. Usually, students hurried to gather their materials and start experimenting. Why was this student different...?

"It’s Student Ellie, the special one."

"..............Did she have any problem?" Professor Nico raised his eyebrows, asking the assistant, who shook his head.

"No problem, Professor. But after receiving her assignment, Student Ellie hasn’t left her seat, unlike Student Nadia, the other second-year student, who has already started working."

"Is that so? Do you think I should check on her?" Professor Nico smiled and, not waiting for an answer, slowly walked around the room, acting as if he was not specifically heading towards Ellie.

Fourth-year students began arranging their equipment for easy access, planning to spend as much time as possible in the classroom, as if here were their bedrooms. Third-year students, though a bit awkward, were also making progress. Professor Nico strolled around, briefly watching Nadia’s work, which made her very happy.

He narrowed his eyes when he saw how Student Nadia was working. Her worktable was cluttered, yet she impatiently started her first task without even organizing her tools. Her high confidence was evident.

"Hmph," Professor Nico chuckled softly and walked away. Nadia didn’t understand the laugh but noticed that Professor Nico had lingered at her table longer than others, fueling her thoughts to wander far ahead.

Previously, the professor had praised her as a genius of the Ryuger family. So, after seeing her working on the stratagem with such ease, perhaps he might be admiring her secretly.

Nadia glanced over at Ellie’s workstation. Although she couldn’t see her, Nadia constantly checked on what Ellie was doing. What she observed was that...the second-year student, who had shown such fake brilliance, had not even begun working or collected the necessary resources for the assignments. Actually...Nadia felt like asking directly—was Ellie not collecting resources because she didn’t understand them? Did she need Nadia to explain? After all...Nadia was the genius of the Ryuger family. Explaining these basic things wouldn’t be difficult for her.

While Nadia was having fun daydreaming, Professor Nico and an assistant stopped at Ellie’s workstation. They saw Ellie busily jotting down notes and drawing strange diagrams.

The drawings were not clear shapes, but they resembled a tree with branching limbs. At the end of each branch, there were words. Even though it wasn’t entirely clear...the words Ellie was writing were the names of the components for the stratagem...

"What are you doing?" Professor Nico eyes were gleaming. Even though he didn’t fully understand Ellie’s strange drawings, he could see she was engaged in something intriguing, which piqued his interest.

"Professor..." Ellie stood up hesitantly, her brows furrowed as if she was close to solving a problem but had been interrupted. Still, it was just a playful exercise; a level 1-star stratagem shouldn’t be too challenging.

"I noticed you haven’t collected your resources yet, which is a bit surprising."

"Yes," Ellie replied. She hadn’t collected the resources because she was engrossed in creating a diagram, or a mind map as it was called in her previous world, to compare the differences between the information provided by Professor Nico and the textbooks. Ellie felt something was off.

"So, what are you spending your time on?" Professor Nico asked. He noticed that Ellie had thickly underlined the words "Hollow Button" and "Lunar Pyramid." From her notes, it was clear that Ellie possessed a high level of intelligence.

In truth, he didn’t even need to ask what Ellie was doing because this was a trap he had set to teach second-year students the first lesson in stratagem creation: "Be observant," "Remember well," and "Never be careless." Without these skills, they could never become proficient stratagem creators.

This was a pitfall he had laid for the second-year students. These students just entered the branch to study, so they often carried high confidence, leading them to overlook important details—much like Student Nadia was doing. The moment they saw it was a Level 1 Vortex Stratagem with familiar resource lists, they would proceed recklessly, unaware that the stratagem instructions he provided were different.

This was not a standard Vortex Stratagem but a simplified complex Vortex Stratagem. It was almost at the level of a complex stratagem but not quite. This was a stratagem he had adapted after spending his entire life studying stratagem creation.

The efficiency of this stratagem differed from ordinary stratagems in that it could be installed on moving objects. This meant it required a “Hollow Button” and a “Lunar Pyramid” to maintain the stratagem’s stability. Additionally, a place needed to be created for spirit crystals to keep the stratagem active with only these spirit crystals, involving removing some construction methods and adding others.

If you looked at it superficially, you might not understand. Even with a detailed examination, the differences were subtle. That’s because the secret wasn’t just in the materials but in the materials within materials.

If you didn’t extract the Hollow Button and Lunar Pyramid from the components of the Golden Bee Hive and adjust them correctly, the stratagem would fail!

However, Professor Nico did not criticize the second-year students who fell into this trap almost every year. This was because they had just transitioned from standard learning, where their professors likely taught them to "follow" everything precisely, almost like "following orders."

In contrast, he let his students learn independently, hoping that in the future, they would use their refined skills to uncover hidden knowledge. He hoped that one day, his students would create special stratagems or even replicate stratagems from high-ranking species. Therefore...teaching them to help themselves was essential.

“So, what are you doing?” Professor Nico asked the remarkable student in front of him again. Ellie looked at her handwriting and couldn’t help but feel embarrassed.

Nadia, eavesdropping, laughed. Seeing Ellie’s embarrassed expression, she assumed Ellie was shy because she lacked knowledge in stratagem creation. In reality, it was quite the opposite.

Ellie sat down again and began explaining what she had written. She had broken down her knowledge into a mind map. The name of the stratagem was in a circle in the center, with the next circle listing the refined materials, and the outer circle containing the raw resources. This meant they would need to be processed in some way, whether combined or partially dissolved. Naturally, all of this would take time.

This was Ellie’s simple understanding, as she realized that the information in Professor Nico’s assignment had small differences from what the textbooks explained. She had spent time reading about creating level 1 stratagems, so she was familiar with all level 1 stratagems. She remembered that this stratagem required combining the “Hollow Button” and the “Lunar Pyramid” within the Golden Bee Hive as usual. Therefore, there wasn’t much explanation needed about this, as the Golden Bee Hive already contained both components.

However, this assignment specified the “Hollow Button” and the “Lunar Pyramid” as separate resources, even though the term "Golden Bee Hive" would suffice, right? This was what stated in the assignment documents. After spending time reviewing and summarizing the key points, she found that there was more to integrating these two components into the Golden Bee Hive than simply putting them in as usual or leaving them inside.

The Hollow Button within the Golden Bee Hive needed to be cleared of any sediment, creating a proper hollow. Then the Lunar Pyramid had to be connected, not just placed next to it as usual. Once arranged correctly, a small cavity would form. There should be an explanation in Professor Nico’s documents, but he had arrived before she could reach that point.

"I’m trying to understand the “Hollow Button” and “Lunar Pyramid,” Professor. I think the next page should explain their correct usage," Ellie pointed to her mind map. Professor Nico exchanged a glance with his assistant, impressed that Ellie had grasped the concept correctly on her first try.

The other direct students also paused to listen when they heard Ellie explaining to Professor Nico. Nadia, however, still didn’t understand what was going on. She assumed Ellie was clueless. So, when Ellie mentioned wanting to do something with the “Hollow Button” and “Lunar Pyramid,” Nadia laughed loudly for everyone to hear.

"Keke, Duchess Ellie...it seems you really aren’t suited to be a stratagem creator. I think...you should stick to potion concocting or...help the secondary disciples hone Rattus A rods. Aren’t you supposed to be very talented? As for the things you don’t understand, just let it go."

Nadia stood up, delivering sarcastic remarks while looking at Ellie with utter disdain. This was because she was very confident in her own methods. Based on what she had learned, the Hollow Button and Lunar Pyramid were components of the Golden Bee Hive that weren’t particularly significant. The instructor only mentioned them briefly because they were already present in the Golden Bee Hive. There was no need to spend much time on them. Unless they were missing or detached, that would be considered unusable.

However, Professor Nico’s expression darkened after hearing Student Nadia’s words. She had the audacity to suggest that his genius student should only focus on potion concocting? He was nearly ecstatic to have such a prodigious student in his branch. And suggesting she only practice honing Rattus A rods? It should be Nadia herself who did that task!!

“Student Nadia, if it doesn’t concern you, then don’t speak. I think you should focus on your own training. Providing guidance should be left to Professor Nico.”

A fourth-year senior said. He was slightly annoyed by the overly confident student. As seniors, they were aware of the pitfalls the professor had set for the new students, knowing it was a good teaching method. Therefore, none of them disclosed the truth beforehand; otherwise, their juniors wouldn’t learn anything.

Yet...all Student Ellie did was elaborate. Hearing her mention the "Hollow Button" and "Lunar Pyramid" right on the first day of the assignments had already made them tremble. However...another junior was acting all-knowing while being clueless...How could he not intervene?

Nadia was slightly taken aback, not understanding why the senior was defending Ellie. She opened her mouth to retort but fell silent upon seeing Professor Nico’s expression.

“Understood, Senior. I just wanted to help Professor Nico avoid unnecessary effort. Besides...who wouldn’t know about the “Hollow Button” and “Lunar Pyramid” inside the Golden Bee Hive? Clearly, the high and mighty Lady Ellie knows nothing!”

Nadia sat down forcefully, feeling deeply aggrieved by the situation. If the professor wanted to trouble himself with an incompetent student, then let him do it!

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!