Chapter 890: Agriculture, Grains, and the Goddess of Harvest 4k
Professor Metia was already dressed in a witch-like attire, and with a long dress added on top, it looked extremely out of place.
However, everyone’s attention was focused on the long dress, so no one paid much heed.
“Metia, have you sensed anything?” Professor Shylph asked seriously.
Professor Metia narrowed her eyes slightly, actively enhancing her perception by channeling mana.
After a moment, she suddenly spread her arms, and the long dress glowed faintly with green light. A gentle breeze swept through, lifting the hem of the dress as it swayed in the air.
Professor Metia floated up!
…
Despite this, the professors remained unmoved.
If the only function of this dress was to float, then its value would be negligible.
However, Professor Kazel had observed it with the Eye of Truth and reached the same conclusion as Dark.
This dress was extraordinary in value!
…
Professor Metia floated in mid-air, slowly closing her eyes.
Suddenly, countless green lights appeared in the void.
These green lights grew larger and brighter, emitting dazzling green light.
Professor Metia raised her hands slightly, and these green lights rapidly converged towards her head.
More lights entered from outside the lab, forming a dense green elemental tide.
Professor Metia drew a large amount of grass elemental energy from the surrounding environment.
These grass elements quickly condensed above her head, resembling an angelic halo made of thorny flowers.
The thorny halo slowly rotated and descended, settling on her head.
Professor Metia opened her eyes abruptly, and flowers bloomed spontaneously on the thorny halo, exuding a fresh, delicate fragrance.
…
In the stunned gaze of the others, Professor Metia said calmly, “After activating this dress, my control over grass elemental energy instantly reached an unimaginable level, as if I could command the life and death of all plants. Without a doubt, this is a grass elemental artifact!”
Having understood the power of the dress, the professors subconsciously compared it to the scabbard.
However, these two items were fundamentally different.
The scabbard could absorb the essence of the Holy Sword, changing its power with the sword.
After manifesting, the dress only displayed grass elemental power.
Since Professor Metia had no special affinity for grass elements, it was clear that the dress’s power did not reflect her mana traits.
To further prove this point:
Professor Metia quickly removed the dress— it did not revert to an unremarkable blouse, nor did the thorny halo disappear.
It seemed that the blouse-like appearance was merely a phenomenon akin to being sealed.
From a magus’s perspective, however, it was like an Armed Card.
A magus injects mana into an Armed Card, ultimately manifesting powerful armor.
Further consideration showed that the original blouse was more like a formula. As long as the unknown variable “mana” was plugged into the formula, the final result would be the dress.
Thus, it explained why the blouse had no value under the Eye of Truth.
A basic formula naturally has no value.
…
Afterwards, Professor Shylph put on the dress, wore the flower halo, and injected mana to synchronize with it.
Indeed, the dress remained unchanged, still looking as it did when Professor Metia wore it.
However, Professor Shylph had a much higher affinity for grass elements than Professor Metia, so her instant insight far exceeded Metia’s.
“How is it?” Professor Metia asked.
Professor Shylph pondered for a moment, then suddenly lifted her right arm, spreading her fingers with her palm facing upwards.
Immediately, elements gathered in her palm—the grass elemental energy summoned by Professor Metia was almost instantly cleared away.
All the grass elemental energy in the air gathered at one point in her palm, finally forming a dark green “seed.”
“This… is it an Elemental Seed?” Professor Kazel’s eyes showed surprise.
Professor Metia nodded, “It is a Grass Elemental Seed, also known as a Wood Elemental Seed!”
Professor Kazel couldn’t help but move closer, “Using this dress can actually produce a wood elemental seed… let’s see what it can grow!”
Professor Metia said, “Wait.”
Then, she began to catalyze the Wood Elemental Seed right there.
…
“Wood Elemental Seed?”
Dark recalled relevant knowledge.
An Elemental Seed, as the name suggests, is the seed of an element.
Under certain conditions, an Elemental Seed can grow into an Elemental Flower, an Elemental Tree, or even directly give birth to an Elemental Spirit.
Therefore, it is an extremely precious resource.
However, after Professor Shylph put on the dress, she could create Elemental Seeds without any cost. It was unknown how high the quality of these seeds was and how many Professor Shylph could create consecutively.
Dark’s gaze fell on the Jade Holy Sword.
If the Wood Elemental Seeds created by Professor Shylph were numerous enough, he could ask for a couple to use as secondary materials for the grass elemental holy sword.
But doing so meant leaving the final outcome of the Jade Holy Sword to chance.
However, such high-grade material accumulation usually wouldn’t result in poor outcomes.
As for feeding the scabbard with the Jade Holy Sword?
For now, Dark was still somewhat reluctant.
He quickly thought about it.
Their ultimate goal was still to rescue Principal Altair on the Mountain of Gods.
If he wanted to participate in this matter, he must push his abilities to their limits.
Otherwise, he could only watch as the professors took risks.
…
At this moment, Dark wasn’t thinking about the Golden Cup anymore.
Compared to the matter of Principal Altair, the Golden Cup was insignificant.
…
Professor Shylph acted swiftly.
With Professor Kazel’s assistance, she managed to catalyze the grass elemental seed within a short time.
The grass elemental energy gradually gathered and was absorbed by the seed once again.
The dark green seed floated in the air, and a fresh green sprout emerged from the tip, trembling slightly before suddenly bursting with immense force, growing twenty centimeters taller in an instant. At the tip, light flickered continuously, and a small white flower with a faint green glow bloomed!
This seemingly common white flower emitted an extremely vibrant life force.
And hidden within it was an incredibly weak divine aura!
Dark concentrated intensely, his eyes glowing with golden light as he activated the Eye of Truth.
Substances with divine properties typically held significant value.
This white flower was no exception.
However, during his observation, Dark’s eyelids twitched.
In the Eye of Truth’s perspective, the value of this white flower was even higher than the dress itself!
This was theoretically impossible.
How could a dress that produced such a valuable flower be considered cheap?
It didn’t make sense.
Yet, the facts were undeniable.
Dark looked at Professor Kazel in disbelief, finding him with a similar expression.
Only, unlike Dark, Professor Kazel’s expression also contained a hint of uncertain delight.
“Could this flower be…”
Professor Kazel clearly became excited.
Professor Shylph and Professor Metia also leaned in to listen closely.
Finally, Professor Kazel spoke the name of the flower, “Could this be the legendary Demeter’s Flower?”
Demeter.
In Dark’s original world, she was one of the twelve chief gods of Olympus, the goddess of agriculture, grains, and harvest.
In this world, she was the Agricultural God!
The Agricultural God Demeter presided over plants, harvests, earth, and life, embodying kindness and benevolence.
The Demeter’s Flower was naturally one of her symbols.
The Demeter’s Flower had light green pistils that gradually faded towards the petals, eventually becoming completely white. Calling it a “white flower” was somewhat inaccurate.
Its shape was unremarkable, and Professor Kazel deduced its type through various factors.
Dark knew only one thing about the Demeter’s Flower.
The Demeter’s Flower could transform the environment!
…
The Agricultural God sowed the seeds of Demeter’s Flowers in the smokeless desert, causing elemental flowers to bloom across the sands.
Making the desert instantly transform into a vast and climate-appropriate oasis.
This has always been a legend.
Additionally, 【Demeter】 is the deity most revered by the Elemental Race, aside from the 【Hunting Goddess·Artemis】.
Therefore, when Professor Kazel called out the name of 【Demeter’s Flower】, some mysteries were suddenly solved, while at the same time, new mysteries arose.
Professor Shylph hesitated and asked, “Can this Demeter’s Flower purify pollutants?”
This was a common question among everyone.
However, after a brief moment of surprise, Professor Kazel expressed regret, saying, “The Demeter’s Flower must be better than general purification magic, but if the legends about the Heavenly Court being filled with Demeter’s Flowers were true, and it had an effect on high-concentration pollutants, then the Heavenly Court wouldn’t have been polluted. This contradicts our previous assumptions.”
Professor Shylph frowned and said, “Then why did Cynthia give us this dress? It can’t be that she just happened to find it, right?”
As soon as this guess was made, everyone fell into an awkward silence.
“I don’t think so,” Professor Metia said somewhat uncertainly.
She still didn’t fully understand Principal Altair.
Professor Kazel quickly tried to boost confidence, saying, “In any case, since Principal Altair entrusted these items to us, there must be a reason. Even if the Demeter’s Flower cannot completely purify high-concentration pollutants, it should be able to handle small amounts without issue. It might help us enter the Heavenly Court.”
Professor Shylph took a deep breath and said, “Understood, I’ll try to create as many Demeter’s Flowers as possible.”
…
Professor Shylph’s experiment was completed swiftly.
The final result was a room full of Demeter’s Flowers!
Not only could Professor Shylph continuously create 【Elemental Seeds】 without interruption, but she could also produce large quantities of them simultaneously, then catalyze them all at once.
And after getting used to it, she could catalyze them into Demeter’s Flowers faster and faster.
Throughout the entire process, there was almost no consumption besides mana.
Finally, Professor Shylph took off her long skirt and thorny wreath, letting the male Da’ke try it on.
It turned out that the long skirt and wreath were limited to women.
This might be its only restriction.
But afterwards, Da’ke received a whole jar of Grass Elemental Seeds from Professor Shylph!
…
“Let’s call this long skirt the 【Demeter’s Skirt】,” Professor Shylph named the skirt.
Then she added, “The emblem on the skirt is likely Demeter’s… Although it differs slightly from the known Demeter emblem, we can assume it’s due to the passage of time causing transmission errors.”
Professor Kazel asked, “What about the hair found on the skirt?”
Professor Shylph shook her head and said, “I hoped it was Demeter’s hair, but it seems unlikely.”
After all, the design of the dress before unsealing was too plain and not like something a celestial deity would wear.
Da’ke said, “Since that’s the case, I’ll inform Aurora and the others.”
Professor Shylph replied, “Go ahead.”
Da’ke put on the jar filled with Grass Elemental Seeds and left the hidden place quickly.
He left his sword scabbard in the lab.
…
When he arrived at the castle gate, it was nearly ten o’clock.
Looking back, the Outdoor Duel Arena was bustling with activity. The students of the Mana Academy must be enjoying the chaos of the Preliminary Duels.
I wonder if Tudor and the others caught up?
Ah, and that drunk 【Saint Son】…
Coincidentally, the Easter Duel Festival is coming up, and Evan Pearson would definitely want to participate, especially in the senior group.
But the rules of the Easter Duel Festival are clear; if he truly wants to participate, he can only show off in the junior group.
Yet, because of his special status, other contestants might gang up against him. It’s unclear whether he can hold his own.
Da’ke shook his head slightly and entered the castle, quickly arriving at the library.
At this hour, the library was almost empty. The Reading Room only had Aurora, Rose, and Da’ke’s Golems.
The addition of the Golems undoubtedly accelerated their progress, with stacks of books covering several tables.
Da’ke was about to speak when Diana, spotting him, brightened and rushed over.
“Da’ke, Da’ke, we found something!”
…
…
[Another free day pass is gone… I’ll write another chapter to make up for it (before six in the morning).]
Chapter 891
“Found something? What did you find? The source of the sword scabbard’s pattern, or Demeter’s emblem?”
Thinking this, Da’ke spoke out.
Diana abruptly stopped in front of him, puzzled, “What Demeter?”
Da’ke continued walking inside and said, “The 【Agricultural Goddess】 Demeter, haven’t you investigated the twelve gods of Polobos?”
“Hmm.” Diana stuck out her tongue and said, “Didn’t hear clearly. Anyway, come over, we’ve discovered many things.”
“Isn’t it about Demeter’s emblem? Then it should be the source of the sword scabbard’s pattern, right?” Da’ke thought as he followed Diana, “Finding the source of the sword scabbard’s pattern is good too, at least we can know whose weapon it belongs to and whether the scabbard originally contained a sword.”
A scabbard without a sword is inherently unreasonable.
And if this scabbard indeed came with a sword, the sword that matches it might be a higher-tier existence than the 【Holy Sword】!
…
After a while, Da’ke walked to a table under Diana’s lead.
Aurora and Rose were both gathered around this table.
A thick stack of books was placed at one corner of the table, with three books open in the middle.
“Any good news?” Da’ke asked as he approached Aurora.
Aurora looked up, about to speak, but Meow, standing on a chair beside her, crossed her arms and gave a slight cold hum.
Aurora quickly said, “Two of these three books were found by Meow, we should thank her.”
“Well done!” Da’ke stretched out his hand and rubbed Meow’s head, smiling, “What about the other book?”
Aurora said, “The other book was found by the Destroyer God Miss.”
“【Magical Beast: Destroyer God】? Where is it?” Da’ke asked.
Aurora said, “It went back inside with Miss Goddess of Heartful Eyes to continue searching.”
Da’ke nodded slightly and looked at the three books on the table, asking, “What are these three books about?”
Aurora said, “Two of them are about the patterns on the sword scabbard, and one is about the emblem on the clothes. Oh, do you have any new discoveries?”
“Of course,” Da’ke said, “That piece of clothing should be related to one of the twelve main gods of Polobos, the 【Agricultural Goddess】 Demeter.”
“Demeter? Hold on.” Aurora turned around and searched through the pile of books on the table behind her.
Book Title: “Praise the Earth Mother Who Grants Abundance”
Aurora said, “There’s a book specifically about Demeter here, we can take a look later.”
“Okay.” Da’ke nodded in agreement, yet he couldn’t help but feel a bit puzzled.
He clearly mentioned that the clothing was related to Demeter, yet Aurora showed no reaction.
So he asked, “Which book is about the emblem on the clothing?”
Diana immediately pointed to a book and said, “This one!”
Da’ke picked up the book from the table and saw a complete illustration on the opened page — exactly the same as the emblem on the clothing!
“This…”
He first turned the book to the cover, which read clearly — “Elemental: Lost Arts”.
Indeed, this was a book documenting various soon-to-be-lost artistic items of the Elemental Race.
From the title alone, it had nothing to do with the emblem.
Using normal logic, it would be impossible to find this book among countless others just to search for an emblem.
But this book was indeed found.
Da’ke flipped back to the page describing the emblem.
After a moment, he put down the book, filled with confusion.
Although the illustration matched the emblem perfectly, there wasn’t a single word mentioning a deity, let alone the 【Agricultural Goddess】 Demeter.
The description in the book stated that it was the family crest of an ancient extinct Elemental Race.
Though this description didn’t directly relate to Demeter, considering that she is the most revered deity among the Elemental Race aside from the 【Hunting Goddess】, it wouldn’t be out of place if an ancient Elemental tribe had adopted it as a family crest.
— But this couldn’t hide the doubts within Da’ke.
A sense of discomfort welled up in his heart.
To dispel this unease, he picked up the book “Praise Be, Goddess of Fertility and Earth” and flipped through it quickly.
Among Demeter’s domains were earth and life, and as a deity with obvious feminine traits, she was also known as the Earth Mother.
After flipping through the pages, he found that the book was filled with praises for Demeter.
Apart from that, the rest of the content mostly consisted of legends and stories about Demeter, all of which were positive.
Until he reached the last page.
Dark finally found what he had been looking for—the Symbol of Demeter!
“Indeed, there’s no similarity at all.”
“In this situation, it’s hard to convince anyone that this discrepancy is due to the passage of time causing errors in the records.”
“On the other hand, the description in ‘The Lost Art of Elementals’ feels more reliable.”
“What if the description in ‘The Lost Art of Elementals’ is correct? Could the emblem on the clothes actually belong to the ancient Elemental race, rather than being the Symbol of Demeter? Could that long dress have been made by the ancient Elementals?”
“If so, could the Elementals spying around the Mountain of Gods be related to this?”
Dark’s mind raced with various thoughts.
“Dark, what are you thinking?” Aurora looked up and asked.
Dark put down the book, “I’m thinking, since this emblem is related to the Elemental race, should we find an Elemental to ask?”
Aurora replied, “There’s Professor Shylph, who’s a half-Elemental, right?”
Dark shook his head, “Professor Shylph doesn’t seem particularly familiar with the Elemental race either. But I think I know who to ask.”
Aurora asked, “Who?”
Dark said, “Uncle Simmons.”
…
For now, he put aside the matter of asking Uncle Simmons for information.
Dark then turned to the other two books and asked, “Are these two books about the patterns on the sword sheath?”
“Yes,” Aurora took one of the books and said, “You can start with this one. It’s a book about the totems of beasts, and it has the exact pattern you’re looking for.”
Dark looked at the cover, “War Totem?”
The beastmen’s totem system was unique.
Items paired with totems were usually Totem Poles.
Beastmen carved the totem patterns onto Totem Poles, and then infused them with magical blood or other substances, allowing the Totem Pole to emit various halos.
Whether it was the beastman shamans and medicine men, warriors, or architects, they all had a fondness for Totem Poles.
Shamans used small Totem Poles as wands.
Warriors used metal Totem Poles as weapons.
Architects placed large Totem Poles in buildings or tribal territories to achieve various effects.
Among these, the war totem needed to be carved by beastman architects onto huge totem poles to activate.
However, war totems were not set up within tribal territories but on battlefields or positions.
The various war halos released by war totem poles could greatly enhance the strength of beastman warriors.
Dark quickly found a totem in the book “War Totem” that was very similar to the pattern on the sword sheath.
It was the most commonly used totem in battles by beastmen—the Battle Cry Totem!
The aura released by the Battle Cry Totem could greatly stimulate the blood and morale of warriors, enhancing their attack and defense while making them fearless in battle.
“It’s indeed very similar, but is there an exact match?” Dark said after finishing reading.
Perhaps because the emblem in “The Lost Art of Elementals” and the god symbol on the clothes were exactly the same, Dark’s standards had unknowingly risen.
But Aurora just shook her head, “Let’s look at this one.”
Dark took the second book and read out the title, “Discussion of the God of War Ares… one of the twelve gods, the God of War Ares?”
“Yes,” Aurora said solemnly, “the emblem of the God of War Ares is very similar to the pattern on the sword sheath.”
“Only similar?” Dark said, though he had already opened the book “Discussion of the God of War Ares.”
On the first page of the book, there was a depiction of Ares’s emblem.
—Although there were slight differences in detail, for some reason, Dark felt that it must be the same thing at first glance.
Unlike the emblems on clothes, these hollow patterns carved on the sheath sometimes added “artistic elements” for aesthetic purposes.
Thus, it could result in discrepancies between the pattern on the sheath and its source.
This kind of situation was not uncommon.
Dark compared the Battle Cry Totem and the Emblem of the God of War Ares with the pattern on the sword sheath.
The difference between the Battle Cry Totem and the sheath pattern was smaller.
However, carving the Battle Cry Totem on the sheath made no sense.
Instead, the Emblem of the God of War Ares seemed to fit the sheath perfectly.
As Dark continued to look, he suddenly had an epiphany and said, “Could it be a matter of inheritance?”
“What do you mean?” Aurora asked.
Dark said, “If there were no sheath, and we only looked at the emblem of the God of War Ares and the pattern of the Battle Cry Totem, what conclusion would we draw?”
Diana, who had been like a hidden ice cream assassin, suddenly raised her hand, “I know! The Battle Cry Totem must have been created based on the emblem of the God of War Ares!”
Dark agreed, “That’s quite likely. Because the Battle Cry Totem has its function, it was passed down more completely. As for the emblem of the God of War Ares… after his fall, it became just an ordinary pattern, so it changed over time and became quite different from the original pattern.”
Diana’s eyes lit up, “So, the pattern on the sword sheath is the true emblem of the God of War Ares?”
Dark nodded, “It’s quite possible. Only the sword sheath of a god could be so extraordinary.”
Perhaps the inheritance system of the Hero is something created by the Holy by imitating the ability of the sword sheath.
Of course, it’s also possible that the God of War Ares forged the sword sheath by imitating the Hero system.
The cause and effect should be judged by the sequence of time.
…
Dark sat down and, while flipping through the books again, asked Rose, “Didn’t I tell you to go to sleep?”
Rose hurriedly said, “I just woke up and came over.”
Dark frowned, “How long did you sleep?”
Rose replied, “I’ve already found the data, haven’t I? After having lunch with Diana and the others, I’ll take another nap.”
Aurora said, “Yes. We should rest too. We can take a nap together when we get back.”
Dark relaxed his brows and said somewhat helplessly, “After waking up, we might still catch the end of the Duel Festival. You can rest well, and there’s no need to…”
Diana quickly interrupted, “No! Professor Kazel has assigned a ritual for tonight, right? This is a great opportunity to learn! We absolutely can’t miss it!”
Dark laughed, “When did you become so eager to learn?”
Diana immediately said, “I’ve always been like this!”
Dark sighed, “Fine, you guys decide.”
As he spoke, he remembered something and took out the jar of Grass Elemental Seeds from his bag, saying, “By the way, we’ve figured out how to use that piece of clothing. Professor Shylph named it Demeter’s Skirt…”
Then, Dark detailed the research process and results of Demeter’s Skirt.
He then distributed some of the Grass Elemental Seeds from the jar to them.
Elemental Seeds were extremely rare items.
Even if they weren’t used for magical alchemy, planting a Demeter’s Flower in their room could bring them significant benefits.
The three girls were overjoyed, their faces filled with joy.
Seeing them happy, Dark naturally felt happy too.
Then he thought for a moment and said, “I’ll take these books with me. You can go to the cafeteria first. Next, leave it to the Golems. Since we now know the general source of those two items, finding more information should be easier.”
So, Dark sent the three girls to the cafeteria and returned to the laboratory in the secret place with the three books.
—
—
[Originally, I wanted to get a good night’s sleep after updating yesterday, but something came up and I ended up staying up late writing (actually, I wanted to write eight thousand words but only managed four thousand). I’ll catch up on some sleep, and try to write more today.]
[Moon Tickets, come to my bowl!]
