This Heroine's Friend Has the Power of Botany

Chapter 91

Decision

As Ellie exited the private dining room reserved under Professor Medik’s name, the first people she encountered were two noble ladies, along with 3 or 4 other companions from the upper class. It seemed they too sought to indulge in the luxurious dining room, having endured a long period of deprivation.

Ellie intended to pass by the noble group without interaction, but a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks.

“Are you here to celebrate as well?” Aria asked haughtily.

Typically, nobles would not greet someone they considered beneath them first. It was seen as lowering themselves, and it was an unspoken rule that those of lower status should initiate greetings and show respect. Although the institute was not strictly formal in this regard, everyone understood that maintaining these good relations would be crucial after graduation. Many times, making enemies within the institute could have long-lasting repercussions on their future lives. Thus, no one dared to show disrespect toward the high-ranking ladies.

Ellie herself followed all the rules meticulously. She wasn’t the heroine of the story who would run headlong into trouble, demanding equality from the institution’s regulations, which stated that all students were equal.

As she was about to pass by Lady Aria from the Femon family, she prepared to bow her head quietly in greeting and then let the entire group pass. Greeting with silence and stepping aside to allow the nobles to pass first was also a form of etiquette. If one didn’t wish to be a follower of another, there was no need to attract attention with grand greetings. Simply making oneself as inconspicuous as air would suffice.

However, Aria didn’t look at Ellie the same way she used to. Others in the institution were the same. If it were before, and they saw Ellie in the high-class dining hall, she would have been criticized and scorned. However, now Ellie had changed from a scholarship student to “Lady Ellie,” part of the Setter family. Consequently, many people now treated her as if she were a noble.

No one knew what the future held. Ellie might actually become the lady of the Setter family, or she might not. But no one dared to take that risk.

They had to think in the best possible way. If Ellie didn’t become the lady of the family, it wouldn’t matter. At least there wouldn’t be any disasters later. But if Ellie did become the lady and had been treated like a low-class person during her time at the institution, causing her to feel resentment, that would indeed be a true disaster.

Of course, others thought this way. What was most unexpected was Aria’s and Vida’s behavior towards Ellie. It didn’t seem merely courteous; there was a considerable amount of friendliness in their eyes.

Ellie hesitated slightly before politely responding to Aria’s question as she always did.

“Yes, Lady Aria. The professor celebrated for the hard work we’ve put in.” Hearing Ellie speak so politely to her, Aria paused slightly, a warm feeling rising in her heart.

She didn’t expect the other party to maintain such steadiness. Ellie’s demeanor remained unchanged, even though she was now receiving significant attention and care from the Setter family. Perhaps her charm and the respect she garnered stemmed from this very humility. With a true maturity beyond her years, Ellie felt that the pursuit of superiority and posturing was merely fleeting happiness. In contrast, lasting happiness lies in blending in with everyone and living joyfully in her own way.

Ellie’s nature was not to bother anyone, as long as no one bothered her first. She didn’t mind bowing ten or a hundred times as long as things passed quickly and without trouble.

While Ellie didn’t overthink things and behaved like an office worker who would bow to their boss regardless of how much the latter’s lack of leadership, others viewed her actions very differently.

No one had ever encountered a lady classified as an elite who remained so humble. Ellie, now practically the Setter family’s people, did not oppress anyone, did not change her nature to become arrogant, did not look down on those below her, and did not wield her power over others. Her persona had become quite a mystery.

"You don’t need to be so polite with me. Regarding the meal your professor treated you to, I think you probably couldn’t eat much as you can’t be rude in front of him, right? So, you can join us for another meal. We’ve already reserved a dining room. I’ll treat you as a way to repay you for the many meals you’ve shared with us."

Aria’s invitation prompted nods of agreement from those following her. After all...if the head nods, the tail must follow. If Aria didn’t show interest in Ellie, no matter how much others wanted to ingratiate themselves with Ellie, they wouldn’t dare do so in front of true nobility.

"Thank you for your invitation, Lady Aria. But my professor provided a large meal, and since we botanic elements are just the 2 of us without many students like the other elements, I’m quite close to my professor. So, I was able to eat my fill. Please, enjoy your meal."

Ellie declined the invitation. If it were anyone else receiving such an offer, they wouldn’t dare refuse because it would seem disrespectful to the inviter. If someone else had declined her, Aria would have been displeased. However, since the person in front of her was Ellie, who came from the countryside, and considering her past kindness, Aria didn’t take it personally.

"In that case, alright. Another day, Lady Vida and I will invite you for a special treat," Aria waved her hand. She linked arms with Vida and passed by, not letting Ellie’s refusal become an issue.

The others quickly followed Aria and Vida, but they bowed to Ellie as they would to a noble lady. Many still wanted to find a chance to talk to Ellie, but that would have to wait for another opportunity.

"Lady Ellie."

"Lady Ellie, are you here to celebrate too?"

"Lady Ellie, the scores will be announced tomorrow. Your scores should be comparable to our third years, right?"

"Lady Ellie, please rest well."

Greetings echoed all along the way. Thinking back to the first time Ellie entered the dining hall, her status was entirely different, wasn’t it? At first, coming to enjoy delicious food in the dining hall meant enduring scorn and ridicule. Now, there were only friendly greetings, with people calling her "Lady Ellie" all the way.

If it were someone else, they might have become spoiled by now. Suddenly rising from the lowest status to a much higher one, they might have lost sight of whether their feet were still on the ground. But Ellie wasn’t like that.

She understood that if someone from the lowest position could rise to a high one, it meant that those in high positions could also fall to lower ones. This latter change would be much more painful than the former. If she let her heart and emotions get played by the games of society, she would become a person who could never return to her former self.

The young girl left the dining hall and headed straight to her room. In truth, Ellie wanted to check on her planting plot, but she didn’t want to disturb the time of the two professors. She expected that after Professor Medik returned to the Botanical Building, Professor Lucien would likely follow.

So, with the time she had, Ellie used it to read the details of cultivation techniques instead. Today was the last day she had set for herself to choose a training technique.

Once a technique was chosen, it was difficult to change. People often said that creating the core of a technique from nothing was easier, but if there was already an existing foundation, changing it required destroying the old one first. And destroying it perfectly to avoid obstacles in creating a new foundation was very challenging.

As mentioned earlier, people feared the destruction of their cultivation foundation because, if done perfectly, it was fine. But if the destruction left obstacles for the cultivation, resolving them would be extremely difficult. It meant that even if one started training anew from the beginning, they wouldn’t be able to progress well.

"The Foundations of the Immortal technique has the advantage that when absorbing natural energy, only pure energy is taken in. Its name indicates that it is a cultivation technique of the immortals, meaning it requires extra effort for perfection."

"But the Introduction to Stream technique, as its name suggests, allows one to encounter streams of energy wherever they go, making it easy to absorb into the body. However, it has many impurities. This means that if one wants to refine it to retain only the good energy, they will need to use various kinds of herbs, potions, and crystals. This technique is one that the major families don’t favor, even though it is a high-level technique."

"But..." Ellie thought for a moment. In the end, she needed to make a choice.

She was now at level 3, and her next plan was to enter the Tower of Eternity to develop her skills as quickly as possible. While most fourth-year students were at level 3, she aimed to become a level 4 practitioner first.

During this time, she would need to spend time cultivating her power with concentration, absorbing energy from permanent magic crystals, and drawing life force from the surrounding trees. Ellie believed her ability to divide her focus was insufficient. Even though she could allocate time for all these activities, it would still take up additional time.

It would be better if she could surge forward quickly, using all her training methods simultaneously. As for resources, Ellie wasn’t worried about lacking any.

If she needed to, she could use the valuable herbs and money she currently had to buy more. Advancing to level 5 or 6 wouldn’t be too difficult with the resources she had.

After that, it would be up to luck and fortune. Reaching level 5 was already considered very strong. Many people couldn’t break through level 5 but still became powerful and renowned. Additionally...whether she chose the Foundations of the Immortal technique or the Introduction to Stream technique, they would both encounter a bottleneck at levels 5 or 6. It was very challenging to advance to level 7.

Although the Foundations of the Immortal technique offered more permanent and stable growth, promising a level 7 if continued, it took too much time. Some reached level 7 at the age of 200, and some even died before reaching that age unless they encountered special circumstances that granted them abundant and pure natural energy.

"Slow is indeed steady, but it might be too slow," Ellie finally decided. She picked up the Introduction to Stream manual.

Having reviewed it over 10 times in recent days, she thoroughly understood the first Chapter of cultivation. The first Chapter of all cultivation techniques was the same: they first needed to build a foundation for their cultivation.

The Introduction to Stream technique involves creating small streams of water that continuously move to various points on the body, called opening the points to receive natural energy. The more points that were opened, the more natural energy could be absorbed.

However, even creating the water streams, which were the heart of cultivation, was challenging. If it weren’t for Ellie’s familiarity with absorbing life force into her body through her special ability, her progress might have been slower.

- Detected development of life force absorption properties. Added option to absorb life force from complete life force absorption upon command. Developed into botanic power that can absorb life force upon command with full functionality, along with continuously absorbing life force under vitality maintenance conditions.

Current status: No continuous life force absorption points under vitality maintenance conditions. -

As Ellie was understanding how to create the streams in her magic power veins, she suddenly received intriguing information. She immediately paused her training. Initially, Ellie felt that she could create small water streams within her spirit. However, before she could proceed to the next stage of training, new knowledge appeared.

Her power of botany had never provided information before, and Ellie didn’t know how to request it. She had been experimenting, using her botanic power to examine plants and various objects, often finding different options. She didn’t expect that as soon as she started learning about energy cultivation, it turned out to be using power to check the power.

Although she didn’t fully understand what "absorb life force upon command with full functionality" versus "continuously absorb life force under conditions" truly meant, Ellie felt it wouldn’t be too hard to figure out.

She just needed to open the first point in the middle of her forehead. After that, it would likely provide her with the correct answers...

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