The next morning, everyone was in high spirits. I successfully carved a rune into two more melons and reached Level 2 in Carving Touch. But when I looked through Char's notebook, I was immediately reminded of how truly out of my depth I was.

Even the most basic runes in that notebook looked incredibly complicated compared to the barrier I had done. Still, I would persist.

I also cooked up several more batches of cookies that night until Hari suggested we visit an alchemy shop before we headed out on patrol for the next couple of days. The idea was to see if we could purchase herbs related to health and restoration—maybe even create cookies that provided regeneration.

After a simple breakfast of smoked boar belly, eggs, and rolls, Hari, Liane, and I went out to find the alchemy shop. We'd need to head to the guild, since there was only one other alchemist in town—and they only sold end products, never raw materials.

"It's really busy compared to the last time we were here," I said, looking around. The streets were bustling with life and activity.

"A lot of people are stranded here at the moment," Hari replied. "We caught up with Londor yesterday—he mentioned most people got out in time, but a few quarry workers are still unaccounted for."

That was upsetting. I didn't like the idea of more death because of all this. Over the past week, I'd been doing my best to push down that lingering guilt.

I was pulled from my thoughts by the most wonderful smell. Freshly baked bread, with something sweet mixed in. The scent was intoxicating.

Looking around, I spotted the source—a bakery, loading up racks with fresh rolls.

"Uh, sorry—could we stop at the bakery?" I asked, glancing at Hari, who just shrugged.

As we entered the store, I saw they had more than just rolls. There was an assortment of sweet pastries as well. I wanted to buy everything, but I knew that wouldn't be fair to the rest of the townsfolk.

I caught the attention of the baker behind the counter, who seemed more focused on convincing Hari and Liane to buy something.

"Excuse me, sir—do you take bulk orders?" I asked.

The question seemed to take him off guard. "Is what I have here not enough?" he asked, looking around.

"Oh, sorry—no! That's not it. I didn't want to buy too much and leave nothing for the residents," I said quickly, feeling a bit silly. Of course he'd take it as an insult if I acted like his stock wasn't good enough.

To my surprise, the man let out a laugh. "I'm just playing with you, kid. What did you have in mind? I've still got a large amount of dough out back for rolls I need to prepare today," he said, folding his arms but still smiling broadly.

Then the thought struck me—could I cook the dough and infuse it?

Nobody had cooked it yet, and the storage should stop the yeast growth, right?

"Actually, that might be perfect. How much for the dough, not cooked, for say, a hundred or so rolls?" I asked curiously. "I'll also want to get some sweet pastries from you, but the dough would be really useful."

The man clearly hadn't been expecting that question. "The dough? Err... unbaked?"

"Yeah, if you'd be willing to sell it?" I wasn't sure he would go for it, but to my surprise, he did.

"Sure, I'll sell you the dough. Usually it's two copper a roll, so let's say four silver for the whole dough ball I've got sitting out there. You'll get a couple hundred rolls from it. But how are you even going to take it?" he asked, curious.

"That's perfect! I can store it right now," I said, pulling out the four silver. Two hundred rolls would last me a long time.

"Whoa, hold up," the man said with a chuckle. "It's not finished proving yet. It'll be another half an hour or so. While we wait, you said you were interested in pastries too?"

What followed was Jen excitedly pointing to all the pastries she thought looked good—from sweet buns to fruit tarts—and I purchased… most of them.

After chatting with the man and explaining why I wanted the dough (though I didn't tell him about infusing it, just that I wanted fresh bread on the road and couldn't resist the smell), the time finally came. He pushed a finger into the dough, and when it slowly rose back up, he declared it ready. He cut it into five even-sized chunks to make working with it easier, and I stored it all.

We shook hands—his name was Smith, which I'd somehow only just learned. He wanted to chat more, especially after asking about Crisplet and finding out it helped me cook and bake. He actually looked a bit sad to see us go, and I promised I'd return one day to say hi.

From there, we made our way to the guild. Entering, we headed to the secured door that led into the merchant area of this guild. I wondered if the loot house would still have any of the Treant wood we sold them, and if it would be worth seeing if we could buy some back?

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Honestly though, without Milo here to haggle, I wasn't too comfortable with that.

As we entered the store, I noticed Liane had vanished again. I knew she'd be close by, but it was always unnerving to see her simply gone. The next thing that hit me was the smell—an intense blend of dried herbs and potions that stung my nostrils.

"Greetings!" a young-looking woman called from behind the counter. "If you need help finding anything, just ask!"

"Uh, actually, I will need a hand," I said, unsure how to approach it.

"Oh, absolutely. How can I help today?" she asked brightly.

"I'm looking for any raw ingredients that would be useful in the production of health or mana potions. Fresh or dried," I said.

"You're an alchemist? Didn't know we had any others in town. Hmm, hold on—I'll get Sal. I'm just the apprentice, so he'll know better." She disappeared into the back room, and a moment later, a man who looked to be in his mid-twenties—barely older than Hari or Milo—appeared at the front.

"Hello, my name is Sal. I was told you're looking for ingredients. Did you have specific ones in mind?" he asked, glancing between me and Hari. His eyes lingered on Crisplet for a moment, clearly surprised, before the polite smile returned.

"No, not in particular. I'm familiar with Virfolium, Mana Tears, and Blood Tears," I said, surprising him a little—he must've expected Hari to be the one speaking.

"I see. The basics, then. New to alchemy?" he asked.

"Something like that. Sorry—I've not had a lot of training," I replied, trying to brush it off.

"That's fine. Yes, we have those dried. The Blood Tears we carry as a powder. I also have some Whisperbark and Virella, which is mostly used in mana restoration potions. Although, I warn you, you'll need to remove the toxic nature of Virella before using it," he said, his tone turning serious.

"I also have Heartroot—the juice from that is commonly used in health potions," he added, before quickly warning, "They're not cheap, mind you."

I just nodded. I wasn't expecting cheap—I'd come prepared today. Since I was already talking to an alchemist, now seemed like the best time to ask.

"Are you familiar with Dawnroot or Pyrrhosite Crystal?" I asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.

The man looked at me hard—for an uncomfortably long time.

"Yes… I've heard of both. But, young lad, I would caution you against playing around with such expensive and dangerous items. We don't have them here. You'd only find them in the capital's alchemist stores—and even then, they almost certainly wouldn't sell to anyone who isn't part of the Alchemist Guild, at least at master rank."

Then something seemed to click for the man, and he looked at me suspiciously.

"Why do you ask about those items specifically?" he asked.

"Uh, well, I have a textbook, you see. It mentions them, but gives no details. I thought they sounded very interesting, so I figured I could ask." I scrambled to come up with an excuse, inwardly kicking myself. Trevor, you idiot! Stop exposing yourself.

"I see…" the man said, still sceptical. "And what do you wish to know about them?"

"Well, I was hoping you could tell me what they were used for. The book only mentioned them by name and description—nothing else," I said, trying to recover.

"What book?" the man asked, staring at me. When I didn't respond, he waved it off. "It's fine; we all have our secret books."

"The crystal is an incredibly rich mana salt. It's said to be the condensed mana veins that branch off the ley lines of the world. It's normally used in very advanced fire-based elixirs." He explained,

"Dawnroot, though… I haven't seen that in a long time. It's most commonly used in high-tier fear immunity and Calm Mind mixtures. It's what you take when you want to stare into the void and keep your sanity."

"Now—let's move on, shall we?" he finished, clearly done with the topic.

"So, which and how much of the other ingredients would you like to buy?" he asked.

After a bit of haggling, I left with three vials of Blood Tear powder, a small pile of bark, a sealed glass jar holding the Virella—which appeared to be magically sealed, as the vibrant purple flowers inside still looked fresh—and two bundles each of Virfolium and Mana Tears. All up, it cost me two gold and forty-six silver.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, young…" Sal offered his hand, clearly prompting an introduction.

"Trevor, sir. And it has been a pleasure—thank you for your help," I said, shaking his hand.

"Do be careful with the Virella. It is quite dangerous. Best of luck!" Sal said before turning and heading into the back room again.

Outside the shop, I stopped Hari, noticing that Liane had reappeared.

"Before we leave—Hari, I don't suppose we'd be able to check the Loot House? Maybe see if we can buy back any of the special woods, or even some of the Treant wood that Milo and I sold?" I asked.

"Hmm. Not a bad idea. Since you're the one who sold it to them, though, best you stay out here with Liane. If they recognise you, they'll try to gouge you on price. Let me handle it. If they try to rip me off, at least it'll be a fair fight." Hari chuckled as he wandered towards the Loot House.

Hari was gone for a while, but when he came out, he had a massive smile on his face.

"You're going to love this, Trev! I got four new types of wood, and he still had a bunch of the low-quality Treant wood left. Seems when I showed interest in the scrap-grade stuff, he jumped at the chance to offload stock. I got Ironwood, Thornroot, Echoheart, and Storm Pine—plus more Treant wood!" Hari said, clearly proud of his haul.

I hadn't heard of any of them before. While we waited for Hari to talk to a clerk at the counter in the guild's main hall, Liane started teaching me what each one was used for.

Ironwood was an incredibly strong wood, often used in weapon handles, but also in shields.

Thornroot was an odd one. Its thorns caused bleeding that was very hard to stop, so its most common use was in ritual work where a steady stream of blood was required.

Echoheart was the most interesting in my opinion. When it was struck, a note rang out—according to Liane, the mana resonated inside the wood and created the sound. It was mostly used by mages due to its incredibly high mana conductivity.

Lastly, the Storm Pine was a lightning-infused tree that could rarely be found on the mountain. Although I supposed now, with the dragon gone, this wood would become incredibly rare. It was mostly used in creating bows, which left a lot of leftover wood scraps.

Today had been incredibly successful, and I couldn't wait to experiment with all the new materials I'd picked up. But I also knew we'd be heading out on patrol this afternoon and would be gone for several days.

Once Hari returned, we made our way back to the house to get ready for the trip.

Once inside, Hari quickly filled Micca in on the plan since she'd be staying behind. There would be two guild members stationed to watch over the house and keep an eye on her. They shouldn't be intrusive.

Matthew would also be returning to manage the house while we were away, so she wouldn't be alone.

And finally, as an emergency measure, she could retreat to the guild itself and seek refuge if needed.

Once everything was sorted, and Milo had finally packed up all his books and notes, we waved goodbye to Micca and set off for the stables. From there, we'd hit the road.

At least this time, we weren't leaving town because we were being chased by a terrifying creature or forced to flee.

According to Hari, we'd be heading towards the forest's edge, then travelling north along it before turning around at the mountain base and returning the way we came, until we reached the path we had originally used.

Liane was convinced we wouldn't run into anything, and Jen kept telling her off for jinxing us. Now Liane was convinced we were about to run into the dragon itself—or something worse.

Heading out of town on Sable, I felt relieved. I enjoyed the towns and cities, but being on the road—out in the wilderness—it just felt right. It was more freeing. I was beginning to always feel on edge in populated places.

But on the road, it all just seemed so simple.

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