Chapter 315 – Sylph’s Treehouse

Chapter 315 – Sylph’s Treehouse

It was past four in the afternoon when they finally flew near the old oak tree.

Looking at it from a distance, Mo Lan could barely recognize the place.

The old oak tree had originally grown alone atop a small hill, with other trees only at the base of the slope.

But now, the entire hillside had been transformed into layer upon layer of terraced fields, planted with all sorts of mutant plants.

And aside from the small patch of fields at the very top of the hill, everything else was planted with high-yield mutant crops.

Just looking at that vast field of Giant-Eared Wheat, Mo Lan understood how Sylph could claim she’d be able to feed Vasida!

Still, Mo Lan had some lingering questions. “Sylph, why did you plant so many crops? Didn’t you already finish researching the characteristics of these mutant crops back when you were in the greenhouse?”

“The crops on the outer perimeter were actually all planted by Bi’er. After she signed the magical familiar contract with me, her planting abilities went up another level. Growing more things helps her consolidate and improve her own abilities.

“There’s another purpose too—it lets the wild beasts attracted by my plants eat their fill in the outer fields, so they won’t come destroy the plants I’m cultivating in the center.

“And Bi’er has a very strong sense of awareness over the farmland she tends. When wild beasts intrude, she can detect them right away, then use these plants to cast Sprite magic similar to Vine Sorcery to drive them out.” Sylph explained.

“So these crops aren’t planted for you to eat—they’re planted for wild beasts to eat?” Vasida said in disbelief.

She herself often didn’t have enough to eat, yet Sylph had been feeding wild beasts this whole time!

Were Sprites really this capable? Such a tiny little thing, tending an entire hillside of fields?

If she could get one of her own, couldn’t she just have the Sprite farm and feed her?

“The point isn’t feeding the wild beasts! It’s preventing them from destroying the plants I’ve carefully cultivated!” Sylph said helplessly.

Vasida nodded. “Can I eat whatever I want?”

Better to let her benefit than the wild beasts!

If the Headmistress didn’t forbid them from living together for extended periods, Vasida would have wanted to move right into Sylph’s fields—let Sylph handle the meals while she took charge of driving away any wild beasts that wandered in.

“Go ahead, go ahead! It all grows back quickly after you eat it anyway,” Sylph said.

Vasida happily flew off toward the farmland.

Sylph then led Mo Lan and the others into the old oak tree’s canopy, landing on the platform in front of her dwelling.

“Fufu! You’re finally back!” A tiny Sprite appeared out of thin air and flew up to Sylph.

“No powerful wild beasts have come around lately, right?” Sylph extended her hand, letting the Sprite land on her palm.

“Nope! The herbivores left after eating their fill, and the carnivores behaved themselves after I had the plants give them a good thrashing,” Bi’er said, hugging Sylph’s thumb.

Sylph patted her on the head. “You’ve worked hard during this time, Bi’er.”

……

While Sylph was talking with Bi’er, Mo Lan and the others had already finished touring Sylph’s home.

Sylph’s dwelling was a treehouse with a wooden plank frame.

The roof was covered with dense, soft cushion grass. The walls were draped in climbing insect-repelling pothos, and on the windowsill sat a potted Screaming Wind Chime Flower in full bloom.

Both the front and back of the house had wooden platforms planted with many beautiful flowers and plants.

Inside the house, plants were visible everywhere too, as if they had become part of the house itself.

One could tell that the structure and style of this cabin were exactly the same as the basic model they had learned to build in Wilderness Survival Class.

There wasn’t much furniture inside, and it was all shaped using the Wood-Shaping Spell, with no additional decoration.

Without the plants, it would just be an ordinary house built in a tree. But with all these plants, it was instantly filled with color, making it look like a little garden.

“This is what an Elf’s home should look like!” Iris exclaimed in wonder. “And so many of them are magical plants! Sylph’s Plant magic must be really impressive by now!”

“Not at all! I’m still only at Beginner level. I mainly rely on mana that’s been influenced by the Box of Ten Thousand Seeds to nourish them.”

Sylph continued:

“Oh, let me take you to see something nice. The treehouse can’t fit all of us for sleeping, but that place can.”

Sylph led them around to the back of the treehouse. Remembering Vasida still eating in the fields, she had Bi’er go call her back first.

“Everyone, leave your broomsticks leaning against the wall! This will be more fun that way.”

“Fun?” Mo Lan and the other four were completely puzzled.

But Sylph offered no further explanation. She brought them to the platform behind the house and had them stand in a row at the edge.

It was at least twenty meters above the ground here.

One glance downward made it feel like you were about to fall.

Then Sylph plucked six small blue-green berries from an unidentifiable dwarf shrub growing in a clay pot nearby. She gave one to each of the five of them, then popped the remaining one into her own mouth.

“Eat up!”

Mo Lan eyed the berry hesitantly. With all the reading she’d done, she could identify every plant in the Academy’s Inner Region—but this berry didn’t match anything in her memory.

It looked somewhat like a blueberry, but its leaves—flat on one side and wavy on the other—were different from blueberry leaves, and the color of the fruit was slightly off too.

So in all likelihood, it was a new mutant plant that Sylph had cultivated.

The question was what exactly it did.

Seeing that Sylph had eaten hers without hesitation, it should be fine. Mo Lan popped it into her mouth—it tasted about the same as a blueberry.

“Is this a mutant blueberry?” Mo Lan turned to ask.

At some point, Sylph had taken a step back.

“That’s right,” Sylph said. Then, with a subtle flick of the Wand concealed in her sleeve, she sent a Wind Vortex blowing toward them.

Mo Lan, who had still been pondering what kind of mutation this blueberry had undergone, was caught completely off guard and blown right off the platform.

Vasida and the others suffered the same fate, shrieking in alarm—this was dozens of meters up!

But they had all learned Featherfall, and quickly reacted.

Without time to think about why Sylph would do this, they reached for their Wands to cast Featherfall and slow their descent.

Mo Lan had just drawn her Wand when she saw Sylph leap off the platform after them.

Wait—why were they falling so slowly?

Thinking about Sylph’s deliberate arrangements and that mutant blueberry, it clicked for Mo Lan all at once.

“Sylph? Is this a mutant blueberry with an effect similar to Featherfall?”

“Exactly!” Sylph said. “I call it the Featherfall Blueberry. I usually use it to get down from the tree to the fields below.”

Iris and Alba, who had been screaming for ages only to realize they’d fallen a mere three meters, were deeply aggrieved:

“Sylph! Since when did you start pulling pranks too?”