The Verdant Merchant

Taking a breath, Rowen stepped forward, his eyes fixed on the tall glass doors of the Cornerstone. As he approached, the doors slid open with a quiet hiss, and the cool air from inside brushed against his skin.

Rowen was puzzled. So there were actually people like him—those who could fully awaken after the official ceremony? He hadn't known that was even possible.

Anyone could step inside to ask questions, but actual guidance wasn't free. A person needed to pay in mana stones, and the cost depended on the depth of advice they wanted. Basic information might only need a few stones, while detailed guidance or entry-level training paths require more.

Rowen glanced around and saw several people moving between the rooms. Some were students like him, nervously clutching their bags, while others looked like mercenaries or hunters hoping to advance further.

For the first time, he stood in a place where the paths of Mage, Knight, and Tamer were laid out in front of him. Now, it was up to him to decide which door to step through.

Taking a slow breath, he turned toward the far end of the hall. The General Guidance Room looked plain compared to the others, smaller and without a crowd waiting outside.

He walked over and placed his hand on the glass panel by the door. The screen lit up, and with a soft click, the door slid open.

The room was small and quiet, a sharp contrast to the busy hall outside. At the center stood a plain wooden table, and on it rested a crystal ball, faintly glowing from within.

Behind the table sat a middle-aged man in a neat uniform. He looked up as Rowen entered, his expression flat but not unkind.

"Assessment fee," the man said, tapping the crystal ball lightly. "Ten low-grade mana stones."

Rowen froze for a moment, surprised by the straightforward demand.

Rowen slid the ten mana stones across the table. The middle-aged man swept them into a drawer and then nodded toward the crystal ball.

"Place your hand on it. Don't resist; just let your energy flow," the guide instructed.

Rowen swallowed hard. His palms were damp, but he stepped closer and pressed his hand against the cool surface of the crystal. At once, the sphere flared with a soft glow. Lines of light swirled and converged inside before a thin screen of text shimmered above it.

[Detected compatibility path: Mage]

Rowen froze, staring at the text above the crystal ball. Mage?

The guide blinked, frowning. "Hmm… this is interesting," he muttered. "You've awakened… or at least your potential is showing Mage compatibility."

Rowen's mind spun. Inside his portal space, Fern had already confirmed he was awakened as a Farmer. Yet the crystal here in this guidance room showed him as Mage. Why?

The guide gestured toward the crystal. "If you like, we can assess your potential in this path. The crystal will measure just how far your aptitude goes."

Rowen placed his hand on the cool surface of the crystal ball. The sphere pulsed, light flowing from white to green, then yellow, as it measured his potential as a mage.

Though his heart raced, he remained calm. The mystery of why the crystal detected him as a mage rather than a farmer only made him more curious. For now, the guide saw only what the crystal revealed: Rowen as a potential mage.

The crystal ball pulsed again, this time assessing Rowen's potential more deeply. Colors began shifting within its core, flowing from white to green, then yellow, orange, red, purple, silver… and suddenly gold.

The guide's eyes widened in shock. "W-what…?" he stammered, taking a step back.

He watched as the colors continued to shift rapidly, bypassing silver and settling briefly on gold. Confusion clouded his face.

The crystal then flashed black, and a faint crack snaked across its surface. The guide's hand flew up instinctively. "Impossible! No, no one should reach that level, even as a mage!"

The ball shuddered slightly, then broke with a sharp pop, shards of crystal glinting on the table. The guide's face turned pale, panic replacing his earlier shock. "This… this crystal… it's malfunctioned!"

Rowen remained calm, observing quietly. The guide continued muttering to himself, his hands hovering over the cracked sphere.

Rowen's pulse remained steady. Relief and clarity mingled in his mind. The crystal's chaos didn't change the truth: his potential was strong, but not impossibly so. The malfunction was the only explanation for the impossible readings.

Rowen watched quietly as the guide panicked over the broken crystal, but his thoughts were elsewhere. A part of him felt a surge of excitement; if the assessment had been accurate, he could level up as a mage far beyond what he could imagine.

Yet confusion gnawed at him. Inside his personal panel within the portal space, he had seen something different. There, it had clearly indicated that he could develop another path as well; he wasn't limited to just farming. But here, in front of the crystal, it had only recognized him as a mage.

Rowen frowned, tilting his head. Why? Why did the crystal see only the mage path?

Rowen pulled out another tomato from his space, the fresh scent calming his restless mind. He bit into it, letting the faint surge of focus wash over him.

Alright… Let's try again.

This time, instead of forcing only earth, he reached out for something different—the gentle, vibrant flow of wood element mana. Unlike the heaviness of earth, this one felt alive, almost like sap coursing through unseen roots. When he drew it in, a soothing green warmth mingled with the solid brown strength already within him.

For a moment, they resonated. The two forces didn't clash; instead, they wrapped around each other like tree roots gripping soil. Inside his body, the outline of his mana ring grew brighter and steadier than before.

Rowen's eyes widened. It's working!

But just as his excitement peaked, cracks spread across the fragile ring. The green and brown energies wavered, unable to hold under his unstable control. After nearly two minutes, the whole construct shattered with a painful recoil, leaving his chest aching.

"Damn it…" he muttered, wiping sweat from his forehead. His breathing was ragged, his clothes damp. Two minutes was progress, but nowhere near enough.

Rowen leaned back against the wall, chest rising and falling as he caught his breath. His head still rang from the collapse of the last attempt. Reaching into his space again, he pulled out a few tomatoes. The familiar taste steadied his focus, pushing back the haze of exhaustion.

"...One more try," he muttered.

He closed his eyes and reached for the flow of air element mana. Compared to earth's heaviness and wood's steady vitality, air was light and elusive—like chasing the wind with bare hands. The moment he tugged on it, the faint streams of green and brown inside him shifted, making room for the pale silver threads of air.

At first, it felt chaotic. The solidity of earth, the growth of wood, and the freedom of air spun together in a messy spiral. His whole body tensed as if it might rip apart. But slowly, almost painfully, he forced them to align soil-supporting roots, roots swaying with the breeze.

A flickering three-colored ring formed inside him, more stable than before. Rowen's heartbeat raced.

This is it… It's holding.

For nearly three minutes, the ring glowed faintly. Then the air element slipped loose, the balance shattered, and the structure collapsed with a sharp jolt that knocked the breath out of him.

Rowen clutched his chest, grimacing. "Three minutes… that's all?"

He had made progress, but it was clear the path forward would demand more than stubbornness.

Rowen wiped the sweat from his brow, forcing his breathing to steady. His body still ached from the last collapse, but he wasn't ready to quit yet. After a brief rest, he sat cross-legged again.

Rowen sat quietly, trying to steady the fragile flow of mana. He only meant to focus on air, but the moment the wind's threads twined into his ring, another element stirred on its own.

Fire.

He hadn't reached for it, yet fire answered anyway—a sudden, hungry surge that pressed against him like a beast demanding to be let in.

Rowen's eyes snapped open in alarm, but it was too late. The crimson threads rushed toward him, slipping past his defenses and forcing themselves into the incomplete ring.

The warmth quickly grew into a searing blaze. His veins burned, his chest felt tight, and every breath came with heat like swallowing smoke. He tried to push it back, but the fire element locked into place, claiming its spot beside earth, wood, and air.

For a moment, the ring pulsed brighter than ever, as though this was how it was always meant to be. His body thrummed with power, hot and wild, and he almost believed he could hold it.

But then the balance shattered. The fire mana surged too strongly, drowning the others. The unstable ring cracked apart with a violent backlash.

Rowen gasped, coughing hard, his vision swimming. A thin line of blood traced down from the corner of his mouth. "I… didn't even… call for fire…" he muttered weakly, staring at his trembling hands.