We pulled up to the first town after Ram-Son and, without saying much, headed straight for the inn. My whole body ached, and I felt utterly exhausted, even though I didn’t want to admit it. Al looked about the same, and as soon as we reached the room, I colpsed onto the bed, grateful for a few hours of rest. Rue y on the floor beside me and put his head on my belly for an ear scratch before sleep.

  Mahya stretched out by the window, rolling her shoulders. “We’ll get a few hours in, then ba the road?” she asked.

  “That’s the pn,” I muttered, closing my eyes. “Just o recharge.”

  Al mumbled something about being tired, too, already stretched on the bed, eyes half-closed. It wasn’t long before the room fell silent as we drifted off.

  When the m sun peeked through the window, I stretched and groaned. "All right, let's get going," I said, rubbing my neck.

  But of course, Al had different pns. “I have been informed that there is an alchemist present in this town,” he said.

  I stared at him, still blinking off the st remnants of sleep. “Really? We just got here. How did you hear bout it?”

  He grinned. “In Ram-Son. It will not e much time. I will return shortly.”

  “You do realize there’s a whole world ahead, right? Might be fun to enjoy it occasionally,” I said.

  Mahya chuckled softly from her spot he door, pulling her braids bato a ie.

  Al shrugged, already halfway out. “One must persist in achieving higher levels.”

  I sighed, watg him disappear out the door. “That boy’s obsessed,” I muttered.

  Mahya g me, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Not everybody is as zy as you."

  I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

  While Al was shopping, Mahya and I explored the town. It looked like something from a history book about Ameri the 1700s. The houses were sturdy, made of wood, with huge porches and snted roofs. The main street was a dusty road, all worn out and with watering tubs and hitg posts. Even though it was quaint, the pce had a lot of life to it. People iown were busy with their daily tasks, doing them quickly while also talking to each other in a way that made it seem like a close-knit unity. A assed, bang a basket of bread on her hip as she chatted with the woman beside her while two men leaned on a fence, ughing over some shared joke.

  The farm animals, different from anything I had seen bae, caught my eye immediately. Some animals looked like cows but had thick, fuzzy fur, making them seem like they would do better in colder climates. Chis walked around the town square. These chis had beautiful, shimmerihers that sparkled in the sun, and their tails were as long and graceful as a peacock’s. They resembled more the kikidas in Shimoor than the chis oh. Everywhere, I saw the horses with the pig snouts and big, round bodies.

  The smells and sounds of a busy market filled the air as we walked around town. People selling everything from freshly baked bread to intricately made tris called out what they offered. One booth had a variety of strange fruits, and some of them had a faint glow ihat made them look like they might have special powers, but when I sehem with my mana, they had very little of it. It looked like all their ma into making the glow. The people moved with both purpose and ease, like they didn’t o rush.

  The town’s structure was simple, with a well in the ter where people gathered. Different businesses were around it, like a bcksmith w, a general shop with a strange mix of items, and our inn. There was also a busy bakery with the smell of fresh bread filling the air, a tailor shop with everyday clothes and tough work clothes, a cobbler who made and fixed shoes, a cooper who looked like he worked hard all the time making barrels and casks, and a small, simple bookshop had a few books and scrolls for sale.

  A group of kids ran around the well, pying some chase game, their ughter cutting through the bustle of the town. Rue spotted them immediately, his ears perking up, and without a sed thought, he charged toward them. The kids barely had time to react before Rue was in the middle of their game, wagging his tail and trotting along as if he’d been part of their group all along. They squealed in surprise, but within seds, they patted his fur and ughed even harder as Rue pyfully bounced around with them.

  It was hard not to ugh watg the massive dog prance around with a bunch of kids half his size, easily keeping up with their energy. The sound of their ughter mixed with the usual noise of the market, making the pce feel even more alive.

  Mahya and I zeroed in on the bookstore. I spent the mana to learn the nguage—I didn’t bother until now since I didn’t , a Mahya do the same. We browsed the store but found nothing iing. A couple of books on magiitially surprised me until I read a page or two and uood. pared to the books I had from Lis, they looked like primers for kindergarten and talked only in generalities.

  There were some fi books that didn’t look iing, a couple of books on herbal remedies, and some basic cookbooks with easy dishes. Along with some light volumes on local history, some guides on gathering and basic survival skills, and even a children’s book with vibrant drawings of animals. I came across a dusty old book with myths and legends, but the author had dehem to sound like bedtime stories. Mahya grabbed a brochure on fual bcksmithing procedures, although it provided nothing more than what any apprentice would already know.

  The shopkeeper, an old man who read a book behind the ter, occasionally lifted his head and observed us with mild curiosity. He seemed happy to let us browse at our leisure. Looking around, I saw a little area devoted to local crafts, including a basic puide and another on basic weaving designs. Even a poorly illustrated handbook on the foundations of carpentry included more misleading than useful diagrams.

  Oh well, maybe in the own.

  Al returned after a few hours with iing news, his eyes shining. “Please look at the Map in the north-eastern dire. You will observe a substantial expanse of verdant terrain. Initially, we mistakenly identified the area as a forest due to the absence of any beling. However, the alchemist revealed that the area is a vast and renowned s, particurly esteemed by alchemists for its abundant colle of medial flora. Acc to her description, this s is signifitly more abundant than typical ss, and ss in general are known for their abundanedial and alchemical herbs.”

  “So you want to go to a s to collets?” I asked.

  “Ihis is an opportunity that I ot dee.” Al's eyes lit up as he spoke, and his words started ing out quicker. He walked bad forth with a bit more energy than usual. “She informed me that the mana levels in that location are exceedingly high, and based oain pnts I had seen at her residence, her statement seemed accurate. Their mana reserves were abundant, parable to worlds with mana levels beyond forty rather than being in the low thirties.” His fiwitched, like he could barely wait to mix up new potions.

  “S sounds muddy and gross,” Mahya muttered, wrinkling her nose—clearly not thrilled about the idea ing through the muck. “’t you find these pnts elsewhere?”

  “I , and I purchased the ey of the stock she was willing to sell. However, the quantity was quite minimal. I will deplete the supply in half a day of brewing. I have successfully sold all of the potions I had prepared thus far in Ram-Son, ating the produ of a fresh batch. Additionally, there is another aspect to sider. I experience greater professional growth by selling potions that I have personally collected pnts for, rather than purchasing them from others,” Al said, with his jaw set in a stubborn expression.

  "Well, the’s go visit a s,” I said, half-joking. But inside, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this would be far more trouble than it was worth. Ss, monsters, and unstable boats? This better pay off.

  “It is not as straightforward as you think,” Al said. “Drawing from my previous enters and making an assessment of the herbs observed at the alchemist’s, it is evident that we must make preparations.”

  “What kind of preparations?” I asked.

  “An abundance of earth, nature, water, and life mana is necessary for the formation of a marsh. These are precisely the categories of mana required to grow potent herbs, monsters, and mas. I ducted a thh inquiry with the alchemist, and she informed me that the majority of this s is filled with deep water. The depth of the waters is insuffit for our boat to navigate, but it is too deep to walk. We must also sider the fact that it is signifitly more challenging to move and dubat in water. sequently, we require a solution that allows us to move freely on water and a ptform from which to fight.”

  “We have the E-foils,” I said.

  “Won’t work,” Mahya said.

  “Why not? We move with them quite freely,” I said.

  “Move to fight, sure. But Al wants to harvest. He won’t be able to do it on the E-foil. It’s not stable enough,” Mahya said, and Al nodded in agreement.

  “I have two kayaks, one inftable and id, two oes, one inftable and id, a dinghy, and a rowboat,” I said.

  “Too slow,” Al said.

  “Why do I suspect you are trying to steer the versation so I e to the clusion that I o deploy my house?” I asked Al.

  He looked in every dire but at me, blushed, and fidgeted.

  Busted!

  Finally, he said, “It is the most logical clusion.”

  “First,” I told him, “If you wao open the house, you just ask. We travel as a group and ask each other if we need something. Sed, I’m not sure about the house. I have no problem opening it near or in the s si is our base of operations. But I don’t think it will work beyond the first location. After you harvest everything you want in the first spot, what then? Close the house, wade in deep water a few meters, and the again? And after you harvest the pnts again, do you close and open it again? This is not the solution. ut the house at the mouth of the s, then maybe move around the edge with a boat and harvest what we . Going deep into aeeming with monsters and mas on a slow boat isn’t the best solution.”

  “The edges will be devoid of beneficial pnts. The alchemist expihat the s is so perilous that everyone harvests only at the perimeter. She believes abstaining from harvesting for several years ihe s will yield pnts with abundant mana that are very potent. I am ied in finding a solution that will enable me to explore the depths and harvest there. Naturally, without jeopardizing our safety.”

  “I think I have a solution, but it will take time, and we’ll o fight,” Mahya said.

  “What?” All and I asked simultaneously.

  “We have the jet skis. I vert them to Magitech. With help from both of you, I believe the first one will take about a week or two weeks at the most. The others will take less time since we’ll already have a blueprint. The only problem is that we gave the boat all our mana crystals. To vert the jet skis, I need crystals, and for crystals, we o kill monsters.”

  “I ’t believe I’m saying this,” I admitted, rubbing the bay neck. “But we took care of the pims in the valley pretty easily and even quered a se dungeon. We’re a strong team, so let’s find monsters, harvest them, and start w o skis.”

  “It’s not that simple,” Mahya interjected. “At the mana levels here, there aren’t that many monsters, and it’s difficult to find them. You find individual monsters in the wilds, but to get the numbers we need, we’ll have tister with the Adventurer’s Guild to access their boards. They have all the information about monster trations.”

  “Adventurer’s Guild?” I asked.

  “Yes,” Mahya replied.

  “Like in the books?” I tinued with a huge grin.

  She shook her head and said, “You’re an idiot.” But I saw the smile she was trying to hide.

  We checked the Map aimated that the distao the s was about two days of traveling at a leisurely pace—our leisurely pace, with the vehicles, the locals probably needed a week. A retively rge city was on the way close to the s, with a rge river that cut the city in two and tioward the s. After sulting, we decided to go to the city—Pemisor—aer there with the Adventurer’s Guild.

  I’m going to be an adventurer like in the books! Yay me! And I’m not an idiot!

  I stuy mental to Mahya.