Learning To Live As A Cultivator

Chapter Six - I harvest wild herbs

Carving a rod for fishing turned out fairly simple and using plaited thread from the discarded, bloodstained robes for string meant he had the bones of a fishing rod. Creating a hook proved more difficult, but in the end he found a simple hair pin hidden in the corner of the chest and bent it to an acceptable shape. It was a bit light, but he added a couple of charms for good fortune to add a small amount of weight. He tried not to hurl as he pierced a small beetle onto the hook and made an attempt at fishing.

The first two fish got away and the third was so small he felt guilty for capturing it and let it go, hoping it survived. The fourth and fifth fish were not particularly well sized, but enough to provide something different for his stomach. He felt this whole thing had taken far too long so gave up trying anymore, instead taking his booty home to cook.

As he walked home, he noticed a large patch of small flowering plants that seemed familiar, but he couldn't think why, so didn't dwell on it. Instead, he gathered an amount of wood that he knew would burn on route. He swept away an area of dead leaves and dug a small hole, which he lined with stones and pottery shards, creating a fire pit that hopefully would contain the fire he needed. There was no kitchen in the hut or fireplace. It seemed students usually ate in a large hall at the central compound and used furs and blankets to keep warm in cooler months.

Leon didn't feel like returning to a place that had turned on the original student, so had been seeking edible plants and things in the forest. It seemed the original student had made notes of things he had found that could be eaten when he moved out here, in case he need food to hand when he was creating large batches of pills. The fruit in the barrel was from a harvest made just two days before he died. Leon had found some tubers and large roots both edible and poisonous and a patch of delicious wild berries. He also had seen some wild fowl, but he had nothing to hunt with. He did notice that the season was beginning to change, so he needed to increase his supplies soon, even if it meant returning to the compound sooner than he wished.

Using a flint and tinder, he carefully watched the fire spark, feeding it dry grasses and wood shavings until the firewood caught nicely. Then he slowly added some more wood, before skewering his catch and slowly roasting it over the fire. When he was sure it was done, he let the fire die down and tossed a tuber into its embers to slowly roast.

While he ate his well deserved meal, he slowly reread one of the diaries; there wasn't exactly much entertainment out here after all.

He had lived here now for a week, or rather seven days, he wasn't entirely sure how time was divided here, except that people still aged in years. His injuries had healed quickly, too quickly making him realise he had been fed a basic level two blood pill. This pill aided the healing of internal injuries and helped strengthen the flow of blood. Normally, it would only do this for an hour or two, but it was enough for this body to jumpstart it's own processes. The writer had made a lot of these and had even begun speculations of how to improve the recipe.

Leon turned the page and took a close look at the herb drawn on it. It looked the same as the wild plants he saw earlier! According to the description, it was sweet sunclover, a very common plant that grew fairly fast and quickly spread. It was used in many basic recipes as it had detoxifying qualities in the leaves meaning that impurities in the pills that could build within the body due to the overuse, were lessened. It was also the main ingredient, when flowering, for the basic purifying potion. This potion could break down those some of the impurities in the body, but drinking more than one of these potions a week could be harmful. Still, it was a very common potion of choice amongst the martial artists, who often relied on various pills.

Seeing as there was still some time until dusk, Leon picked up an old pot, a basket and a shovel and wandered back over to where he had seen the herbs. If he was fortunate to find these growing wild, what else could he find here? He would have to investigate both the surrounding woods and the diaries again, sure that the writer would not have left out details such as where the plants grew.

Leon had never harvested anything before, he had never had a garden, so he could only hope that he didn't kill the whole patch. Fortunately for him, sweet sunclover was a known weed, hardy and self seeding. It would take a lot more than an ignorant gardener to kill it off! He dug up one batch of clover, dirt, roots and all and 'plonked' it into the pot. He then harvested half of the flowering plant, leaving the roots in the ground. Upon the wild patch, he felt compelled to leave behind a talisman of good health behind, before scooping up the basket, tool and pot and returning home.