An overwhelming smell assaulted Sett’s nose as he pushed open the door with the last of his strength. He had finally arrived at the herbalist’s store. A long journey, that would only have taken a fraction of the time if not for his leg injury, was finally complete.

As he closed the door with the last of his strength, Sett felt many times safer. He was still in a horrendous situation but being indoors rather than out in the open nonetheless made him feel many times safer.

Sett shivered as he sighed deeply. The eruption had only been half an hour ago, but Sett felt as if had been many days. He wanted to just lay on one of the herbalist’s tables to lie down. To allow his battered body a moment of respite but knew deep down that that was not a possibility. If he laid down, there was a great risk of never getting back up again.

With the adrenaline gone, all the pain that had been relegated to the back of his mind had come back in full force. When Sett began to move forward once again, he almost crumbled to his knees.

He had to do something about the injury and the pain quickly.

A cursory glance around the store made a grimace appear on Sett’s face.

The first problem was that the place was simply too big. It had to be known that this store was not only the most well-known store in the town but also the biggest. There had to hundreds of different herbs scattered around in the store. If the store’s owner had been here it would be no problem to find the required herbs, but she was not.

As Sett thought to here, he suddenly realized. The old woman had been part of the baron’s group.

The second problem was that Sett hardly knew any of the herbs and flowers here. Sett and his mother would often scavenge in the woods, but only a tenth of the herbs that could be found locally was part of the store’s inventory. The rest were more than likely to be acquired from elsewhere. Sett had no idea what exactly he was looking for.

Even worse, most of the things in here were more than likely to poisons rather than helpful if used in the wrong way or if the dosage was too big.

But Sett had already gotten this far, and he was not going to fall over dead before he had at least made the attempt to save himself. There had to be some way to differentiate between the different herbs.

His mother had a large book of different illnesses, perhaps the herbalist had a corresponding herb book.

With a dizzy mind, Sett began to look behind the counter. He found ledgers. Countless of them. It was to some extent a display of wealth. After all, paper was a rarity so far out in the country. To most, it would seem like a waste to use them as ledgers.

Sett quickly moved on. Then he found it. A large leatherbound book, openly displayed on top of the counter. The herbalist’s personal herbal compendium. All the knowledge which the herbalist had gathered throughout the years had been placed in this one book. Not only was the object itself immensely costly, but the knowledge which it contained could simply not be measured in gold.

To leave it out in open like this, the herbalist must have left for the baron’s manor in quite a hurry.

Sett gingerly placed his hands on the book, scared that it might suddenly combust into flames. If he ruined this book and the herbalist found out, he would never be able to pay it back.

The book opened with a heavy thud. It opened on a page in which a small piece of paper had been inserted.

‘Commission from the city guard.

20 regenerative alchemical potions of grade 1.

To be delivered on the 30th day of spring.

Client: Captain Orland.’

It read.

Regenerative potions! Sett was over the moon, even briefly forgetting to not too heavily on his injured leg.

It was currently the twentieth day of spring, but maybe the herbalist had made some potions in advance. On a battlefield, a standard regenerative potion could be the difference between life and death. In some instances, they could even send a soldier back into battle only minutes after drinking one. It was truly a miracle drink.

If Sett could get his hands on such a potion, he did not doubt that his worries would be something of the past.

Alas, his wishful thinking was a bit too naïve. No matter where he looked, he could not find the potion. Even if she had made them, she probably stored them in a more secure location.

Not willing to waste any more time looking for something that might not be there, Sett turned to look at the page on which the note was on.

‘Sylkeria standard regenerative potion.’

It was the recipe for a regenerative potion. The recipe itself was useless to Sett. After all, it took countless years to become a full-fledged alchemist. Sett had minutes. What he was after was the ingredient list.

Potions were often composed of herbs that had similar effects on their own. Naturally, the regenerative potion would have to contain herbs that promoted regeneration. The herbs, by themselves, would not be as strong as the potion, but they would have to do.

‘Root of a Barlian Brightroot – catalyst’

‘Leaves of a Sylkeria Seven Shade – Main Ingredient’

‘Moss of a Sylkeria Seven Shade – Alternative Main Ingredient’

Sett read the ingredient list and his eyes lit up. The Moss specifically was useful. Sett quickly turned the pages and found the ones that referenced moss. The moss of a Sylkeria Seven Shade was mostly like normal moss but had absorbed the powers of the Seven Shade. They could be found by looking for the seven differently coloured speckles found in it.

Sett immediately went for the storage area for moss. Luckily, the herbalist store’s owner was good at organizing.

The moss, being very distinctive, was quickly found. Now came the hard part.

Sett awkwardly turned his body, looking at where the vine had penetrated his body. His face turned grim.

Till now, he had not even looked at it. It looked horrible. It was bad enough that the hole was huge, but the thorns that had dug into his flesh left small tears in the flesh surrounding the wound. Fortunately, as far as Sett could see, there were no thorns in the vine that remained in the wound.

He would have to work fast, very fast. Even now, his consciousness was barely holding. Any lapse in concentration might send him directly to sleep.

Sett thought for a moment. He would have to remove the vine, shove the moss into the hole, and finally, he would have to bandage the wound. It was a lot. Sett, however, knew that it was not a good idea to think too much about such situations.

Steeling himself, Sett brought his hands to the back of his thigh. He lightly pinched the vine and dug his fingers inside his own wound to gain a grip. Cold sweat began to appear on his forehead. The pain was unbearable.

“Argh…”

A pained groan escaped his lips. Then he did it. In one smooth movement, it was out. The remnant of the vine was on the floor. Blood gushed out of the wound. Any other kind of pain was incomparable to this. Time was ticking.

Fighting through the pain, Sett brought the moss to the wound and shoved it in. Then the pain became overwhelming. He collapsed heavily on the floor. He could not summon even a bit of strength.

He had not made it. He would die here on the herbalist’s floor, bathed in his own blood.

‘Mother, Jess… I am sorry… I was not strong enough…’

“Miss Alyssa! Are you here!”

A voice penetrated the thick shroud that obscured Sett’s consciousness. Someone had entered the store, obviously looking for the herbalist. They quickly moved around in the store, until they came upon the gruesome scene of Sett’s almost dead body.

“Sett?! What are you doing here?! By the gods, what’s with all this blood?! Oy! Wake up, damn it!”

Someone took hold of him and shook him violently, then quickly reconsidered their actions.

“Damnit, can’t be doing that. You’re almost half-dead kid.”

They then rummaged through something nearby and took something out. They moved closer.

“Here, Sett. Breathe in. Nice and deep. Good kid.”

Sett shot up from his prone position. It smelt so bad he immediately regained consciousness. The smell combined with the pain made Sett consider if he had gone to hell for a moment.

“Cough, cough…” Sett coughed and wretched from the smell. Then he looked around. “Jack?”

“Gods kid, what the hell happened to you. Actually, wait with that… here drink this.”

Jack, the guardsman from earlier in the day and childhood friend, pointed a small, bottled potion in Sett’s direction. The mixture was green and viscous, but Sett drank it obediently. At this point, he did not care. Only after Sett had drunk half of the mixture did Jack let him back away.

“Alright, that should do it. That was a mind-numbing potion, in case you were wondering. From the looks of things, I’m guessing you were in a lot of pain.”

As he talked, Sett felt as if everything became duller. The mind did not change much, but everything else felt less. Particularly the wound.

“Alright, let’s get that nasty wound bandaged.” Jack took hold of Sett and carried him onto the counter. “Jeez, that’s deep. Never seen a wound like that before. What did you do?”

Jack asked him while he got his bandage out.

“Ahh… It was the huge tree in the middle of the park… It turned different… Its vines…” Sett paused as he suddenly thought of something more important. “Jack! Where is Jess?”

“Right. This is going to hurt.” Jack muttered as he finished off the bandage with finesse and skill that was surprising for someone of his post. “We were hoping to find her with you. Unless Daniel or some of the others found her, then I can honestly only say that we have no idea.”

Sett blanched. Jess was still out there in the thunderstorm. She was probably out there fearing for her life at every turn. While they sat on their butt and lazed around, she could be facing death. They had to do something.

Now that his leg injury was taken care of, they did not have any excuse not to get out there immediately.

Sett stood up and took a step forward… and promptly fell over. He would have fallen face-first into the hardwood floor if not for Jack’s quick reaction.

“Woah, kid! I know you’re eager to get out there and search for Jess, but there is a time for everything.” Jack tightly supported Sett, not allowing him to move a centimetre. “It might not feel like it because of the mind-numbing potion, but you’re still at death’s door. You must take it easy. Do I make myself clear?”

Sett slightly diverted his eyes in embarrassment and lightly nodded his head.

“Good gods… It’s bad enough that this whole thing happened, but why did you kids have to be involved” Jack lightly pressed his free hand’s fingers against his nose, something he often did when he was stressed. “Don’t know what I would do with myself if either of you got hurt on my watch… What would I say to Elaine and Alina?”

Sett felt bad. He had been too selfish and eager, and Jack had suffered because of it.

“I am sorry, Jack. I promise I will follow your instructions.”

Sett looked up at Jack and offered him his most kind-hearted smile.

“That’s good.” Jack looked a little better. “Now then, do you have any idea where Jess is?”

In Sett’s mind, there was only one place where she could be.

“Thyria royal magi craft company.”