WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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◈ Got a Gallery in the Wild ◈

Chapter 141: Combination (4)

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Ice-Snow Flowers are herbs found only in cold regions, and even there, they are exceedingly rare.

What’s more, they tend to melt if the temperature rises even a little, and their blooming period is short.

A limited season called winter, a short lifespan, and the fragility of an ocean sunfish.

On top of that, the ground needs to be rich in mana, making them incredibly rare herbs.

But as always, the Forest of Four Seasons seemed to be an exception. There was no need to explain the mana situation.

The seasons changed every week, so their short lifespan wasn’t a problem either.

Whenever I searched around the shelter, I could find them easily enough.

So to me, Ice-Snow Flowers were nothing more than seasonal flowers.

Seasonal flowers that came around once every four weeks, at that.

[Post title] Found Another Ice-Snow Flower

[Author] Wild Grylls

[Post] (Ice-Snow Flower photo)

[Post] (Ice-Snow Flower photo 2)

[Post] (Ice-Snow Flower photo 3)

[Post] Are these like seasonal greens or something? There are quite a lot of them.

└ [Heavenly Demon]: You may be the only one who would call such a precious medicinal herb seasonal greens.

└ [SwordTasteMaster]: All kinds of supposedly rare herbs are gathered there. Those are genuinely valuable.

└ So does that mean Ice-Snow Flowers can be found every winter from now on?

└ Looks that way. Wouldn’t other herbs be the same? Different herbs grow in each season.

└ What herbs grow in spring again? All sorts of herbs grow from spring through summer.

└ No idea. But it feels like anything picked up there would count as a medicinal herb lol.

└ [Starlight Princess]: You found several, not just one! Are you going to make something with those?

└ [Wild Grylls]: I think it’d be good if I could gain cold resistance. I have enough ingredients right now, so it should work.

└ [Starlight Princess]: All right. In exchange, could you give me an Adult Mandrake like you mentioned yesterday?

└ [Wild Grylls]: I’ll give you an Adult Mandrake, along with a blue Mandrake made using the same method as yesterday. It should be easier to research that way.

└ [Starlight Princess]: I’ll definitely repay your trust!

└ [Wild Grylls]: Thank you.

└ [Passing Dwarf]: Hey, what about me? Give me one too.

└ [Wild Grylls]: You smell like alcohol, so get lost. And I can’t spare any for making booze. I’ll consider it once I get what I want.

└ [Passing Dwarf]: k

└ [Wild Grylls]: Worst case, I’ll make it into booze myself lol.

└ [Passing Dwarf]: You little shit?

└ Don’t worry. There’ll be other medicinal herbs besides those anyway lol.

└ Won’t they find Sun Herb in summer?

└ Nope. Sun Herb only grows in deserts. It’s like how Snow Ginseng only grows in snowy mountains.

└ Then shouldn’t Ice-Snow Flowers only grow in snowy mountains too?

└ They’ll find them on their own. We just have to sit back and watch lol.

Now that I’d found Ice-Snow Flowers, I ate a light breakfast and got to work.

The first thing I needed to do was gather Mandrakes. This time, I collected several instead of just one.

I gave one to Starlight Princess and prepared another the same way I had yesterday.

I started by boiling an Ice-Snow Flower and an Adult Mandrake together until it turned blue.

“Grrk?! Grrk!!”

It was time to force Elixir into its mouth again.

That suddenly reminded me of foie gras, a dish made from goose liver.

They shove a funnel into a goose’s beak and force-feed it to enlarge its liver.

Mandrakes were plants, so it was better than doing that to an animal, but their reaction still made me feel awful.

I was giving it medicine, not food, though.

“Kiiiyaaaat!!”

Thud! Smack!

As soon as I fed it the Elixir and its effects kicked in, I beat the Mandrake until it calmed down.

‘Now I can send these, right?’

I sent three Mandrakes in total.

One normal Mandrake, one Mandrake combined with an Ice-Snow Flower, and one Mandrake fed both an Ice-Snow Flower and Elixir.

If Starlight Princess researched them one by one, she should be able to get somewhere.

I wanted to send one to Allfather and ask for research help too, but I didn’t have enough.

[Starlight Princess]: Thank you.

[Starlight Princess]: I’ll let you know the research results by lunchtime.

[You]: All right.

[You]: Is the Mandrake combined with the Ice-Snow Flower okay?

[Starlight Princess]: It’s still blue, probably because it absorbed the flower.

[You]: I should’ve gotten it yesterday.

[You]: Neither of us knew.

[You]: Then I’ll wait.

Since I’d left the research to Starlight Princess, I needed to get back to my own work.

First, I had to control my ability. I’d stressed this repeatedly, but if I couldn’t control it, it would cause trouble in all sorts of ways.

I used aura not only in battle, but for all kinds of labor.

Logging, mining, digging, processing, and more. It was useful in many ways.

If everything froze solid whenever cold energy gathered around me, it would be a real headache.

‘Let’s find out why this cold energy is gathering. Did the mana itself really change?’

I quietly closed my eyes and operated my cultivation method.

I could clearly feel the mana inside my body circulating through every part of me.

Along with it came a biting cold sensation. The mana itself carried cold energy.

Still, contrary to Starlight Princess’s concerns, my circuits weren’t freezing solid like Severed Meridian Syndrome.

My body seemed to have completely adapted, and the mana circulated smoothly without any strain.

‘How should I put this...?’

Was it like how the oceans around the North and South Poles didn’t freeze easily?

I wasn’t saying my mana had become salty. I meant that perhaps the Essence I consumed yesterday had caused something similar.

It wasn’t a bad phenomenon, but avoiding the worst outcome didn’t make it any less troublesome.

‘If only it had an on-off function.’

How could I separate the aura from the cold energy? I was thinking about that when something occurred to me.

‘Wait. All mana gathers in the dantian, doesn’t it?’

The Inner Energy Cultivation Method built mana in the dantian through breathing.

In other words, even if mana spread throughout my whole body, it had no choice but to return to the dantian.

Then what if I separated and stored the cold energy whenever the mana gathered there?

‘The dantian won’t freeze solid, right?’

That was terrifying too, so I stopped my cultivation method for a moment.

This was when I needed an expert opinion.

[You]: Heavenly Demon.

[You]: May I ask you something?

[Heavenly Demon]: What are you curious about?

[You]: Well...

I gave Heavenly Demon a rough explanation.

I wanted to separate cold energy from mana and store it in my dantian.

But I was worried that the cold energy might negatively affect my dantian.

I asked her to tell me whether I was worrying over nothing or whether it was a realistic concern.

Heavenly Demon seemed to think for a while after hearing my question before responding.

[Heavenly Demon]: I understand what you mean.

[Heavenly Demon]: It is not strange for you to worry.

[You]: Is it dangerous?

[Heavenly Demon]: It is dangerous if you separate them incorrectly.

[Heavenly Demon]: As you said, your dantian could freeze solid.

[Heavenly Demon]: But if you use the proper method, you can separate them properly.

[You]: Could you tell me how?

[Heavenly Demon]: Of course.

[Heavenly Demon]: The principle is to make another dantian within your dantian.

[You]: That sounds incredibly difficult just hearing it.

[Heavenly Demon]: It is nothing special.

[Heavenly Demon]: If the dantian is for pure energy,

[Heavenly Demon]: then the dantian you create anew will be only for cold energy.

[Heavenly Demon]: Wait a moment.

Heavenly Demon left after saying that.

I tilted my head, unable to understand the idea of making a dantian inside my dantian.

I didn’t doubt her, since she was the expert in this area. I just couldn’t understand it.

‘Maybe I’ll have to work without aura for a while.’

My body was really suffering because of this strange ability. I could only laugh bitterly.

After waiting for some time, Heavenly Demon sent me a message.

[Heavenly Demon]: (A picture of a human body and an Inner Core)

[Heavenly Demon]: Can you see it clearly?

[Heavenly Demon]: You should be able to see a small circle inside this Inner Core.

[Heavenly Demon]: You gather the Essence in this manner to create another Inner Core.

[You]: Ah.

[You]: So it’s like a set.

[Heavenly Demon]: Isn’t a set a word for things gathered together?

[You]: It’s a term used in mathematics.

[You]: Not one people use very often.

[Heavenly Demon]: I see.

[Heavenly Demon]: In any case, it is enough if you understand.

[Heavenly Demon]: Now that you know the principle, it would be best to practice.

[You]: Do you have any other advice?

[Heavenly Demon]: The second set of mnemonic verses I taught you will be of great help.

[Heavenly Demon]: I would like to teach you the third set of mnemonic verses,

[Heavenly Demon]: but it seems you would grow stronger in another strange direction, so it would be best to hold off.

[Heavenly Demon]: Especially now that cold energy has settled within your energy.

[You]: All right.

[You]: Thank you so much, even just for the advice.

[Heavenly Demon]: I will always be waiting.

[Heavenly Demon]: Tell me anytime you need help.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized how incredibly lucky I was to know Heavenly Demon. She gave me useful tips without any hesitation.

Heavenly Demon added that it would be better to learn the third set of mnemonic verses only after controlling the cold energy and aura became easier.

Ideally, she said I should wait until I could use Sword Force, in other words, Aura Blade.

I agreed with that too.

‘If I get ridiculously strong in some idiotic way again, I’m the only one who loses.’

Like someone once said, my aura might pierce the heavens.

Praying that wouldn’t happen, I began operating the Inner Energy Cultivation Method again.

I recited the second set of mnemonic verses Heavenly Demon had taught me, pictured the image, and separated the mana from the cold energy.

Shhhhh-

The cold energy slowly separated, as if a chemical reaction were taking place.

Following Heavenly Demon’s instructions, I placed that energy in the center of the Inner Core.

Like creating another circle within a round circle, I forced it together.

Crack-

Maybe because the principle was similar to Aura Blade, it wasn’t easy.

Whenever I thought I’d barely gathered it together, it would crumble apart.

The circulating mana moved as quickly as waves, making even the separation difficult.

‘I can’t give up.’

Aura Blade manifested outside the body, but this was inside it. It should be comparatively easier.

Without getting discouraged, I steadily separated each kind of energy.

How much time passed?

My efforts finally produced results.

Just before lunchtime, I managed to form an Essence the size of a millet grain.

‘Now, if I want to use the cold energy...’

When I touched it as if popping a balloon, the Essence burst immediately.

It wasn’t difficult to form it again. I’d already walked that path once.

If I gradually increased it, I would be able to use normal aura in everyday life.

Until then, I would have no choice but to work without aura whenever possible.

‘I can just think of it as exercise.’

I checked the time. It had already flown by, and it was lunchtime.

At that exact moment, Starlight Princess sent me a message. Her timing was perfect.

She had said she would tell me the results before lunch, so it was the right time.

[You]: What did you find out?

[Starlight Princess]: There’s good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?

[You]: Tell me the bad news first.

[Starlight Princess]: I think gaining cold resistance through Ice-Snow Flowers is practically impossible.

[Starlight Princess]: Unless we disregard safety, no matter how hard I think about it, there’s still too much risk.

To gain cold resistance, I’d need to risk eating an Ice-Snow Flower.

I was disappointed for only a moment before a question came to me.

‘Then what about the people who gained cold resistance? Were they just lucky?’

As soon as that thought occurred to me, I asked.

[You]: Then what about people in the past?

[You]: You said some people ate Ice-Snow Flowers and died, but others gained cold resistance.

[Starlight Princess]: You know pufferfish, which you mentioned before, right?

[Starlight Princess]: This is a completely different case.

[You]: A different case?

[Starlight Princess]: Yes.

[Starlight Princess]: With ordinary pufferfish, people found the nonpoisonous parts after countless attempts.

[Starlight Princess]: But Ice-Snow Flowers are different. They just ate them.

[You]: They just ate them?

[You]: Then how did they survive?

Starlight Princess gave me an intuitive explanation of the difference.

[Starlight Princess]: To put it in terms of pufferfish, they were people who could chew up raw pufferfish and be completely fine.

[Starlight Princess]: You could say strong people simply ate them.

[You]: ;;;

[You]: So only people born freakishly strong can eat them.

Footnotes:

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