Red tried recalling every detail about the insectoid crystal. Viran had told him the stone was equivalent to hundreds of moonstones, and now the boy could understand that was probably the insectoid's monster core. However, this still didn't explain what those crimson lines represented. Was it even possible for something like a core to be infected?

"Is there a problem?" Eiwin asked once she noticed the youth's prolonged silence.

Red looked up at her and hesitated. In the end, though, he simply shook his head.

"Alright." The woman didn't linger on the topic. "I think this is enough information for today. Unless you still have something you want to ask?"

"It's fine." The boy declined.

He obviously still had a lot to ask. However, after some consideration, he decided to hold it back for now.

"Is there anything else I can do today?" Red asked as he got up from his chair.

"You've already had lessons with Master Goulth and Master Domeron, right?" Eiwin asked. "It's best if you take this time to rest and absorb what you learned. In fact, most cultivators choose to use this time of the night to open their acupoints. Maybe you should try using one of the Vein Opening Pills if you feel up for it."

"Right." The youth nodded.

The boy had been learning so much in the last few days that he had forgotten some of his time was supposed to be spent in cultivation, too. Without further delay, Red turned around and began to walk out of the library. Eiwin looked at a complete loss at his abrupt departure.

"Hey!" She shouted.

"Hm?" Red stopped in front of the door and looked back.

"Uh..." The woman didn't know what to say. "...Have a good night!"

The youth frowned in confusion, but he simply nodded back at her and walked out.

Eiwin just sighed in resignation and started to organize the books.

...

A few minutes later, Red found himself back in his room. Well, it wasn't his, but it was the one he was using right now. Fishing around his pocket, the boy grabbed the glass vial containing the pills and examined them.

At first, the youth had been confused regarding how these were meant to be consumed. After Hector's explanation, though, he found out the process was really just a matter of swallowing them whole. Yet, there were still some other things he had to be mindful of.

First of all, Red couldn't consume more than one Vein Opening Pill at a time. Goulth had already explained to him that these medicines contained toxins, but Hector had provided further context. The Spiritual Energy in a single one of those pills would still strain a person's Spiritual Vein, and consuming multiple of them in a row could do more harm than good. Then, there was also the fact the body would create a natural resistance towards the medicinal power of the pill, reducing its effectiveness.

These were just a few reasons why even rich cultivators couldn't simply rely on medicines to open their veins.

Hector also mentioned that even if these problems could be circumvented, it wasn't wise to be overly reliant on pills. According to him, at higher levels finding appropriate medicine would only get more difficult. Not to mention that the experience of cultivating with no external help would prove invaluable once one happened upon a bottleneck.

Red was able to see the logic behind his words, but could someone with inadequate talent afford to adhere to that thought process? It was hard to say, but it wasn't something the youth had time to worry about right now.

The other instruction he had received was to treat this as a normal cultivation session. That meant Red was supposed to go through all the warm-up exercises and only consume the pill once he was ready to attack his acupoint.

Hector had refused to provide any further instructions, saying that it was best if the boy experienced the effects of the pill for himself first. The youth was hesitant at first, but he couldn't help but agree with the elder. If there was no substantial risk, he would definitely like to figure these things out by himself.

Red set the glass vial aside and started to perform the exercises Viran had taught him. After a few minutes, he began feeling the familiar tingling sensation. This time the boy decided not to push himself past his usual limit to not hurt his concentration.

Sitting down cross-legged on the bed, Red could feel the Spiritual Energy entering into his veins. Picking up the vial, he uncorked it and popped one of the pills onto his hand. After a brief few seconds of hesitation, the youth decided to wait no longer.

He put the pill into his mouth and swallowed it in one go.

At first, Red felt nothing other than the pellet making its way down his throat. Ten seconds later, though, he started to feel a strange sensation in his stomach. A warmth suddenly rose through his abdomen and spread across his torso. The heat continued to grow until the youth felt like there was a fire burning inside his body.

It was a sudden and intense pain, but Red had been expecting it. He endured it for a few seconds and concentrated on this feeling. Strangely enough, though, the warmth started to disappear as quickly as it came. The youth was confused at first before he sensed something moving within his Spinal Spiritual Vein.

Red could immediately tell what it was.

'Spiritual Energy.'

And a lot of it. It was a sudden tide that invaded his body and started to wander through his veins. However, for some reason, it felt different compared to the energy he used to practice with in the past. There was no pain from the injection, and the energy felt more peaceful and slower.

Red tried to confirm his suspicions by directing this current towards his legs. Surprisingly enough, the Spiritual Energy was remarkably responsive and moved according to his will. It soon arrived at his partially opened Upper Leg Spiritual Vein. The boy barely had to direct it before it started to hit against the closed acupoint.

The youth, however, was quick to notice a problem. Although Red directed the energy towards his right leg, some of it split off and moved onto his left limb.

'The imbalance.'

The Spiritual Energy seemed eager to intensify his predicament rather than solve it. The boy immediately identified the problem, but he could do nothing about it other than try to make sure the energy stayed on the right path. There was no solution to this other than opening the acupoints he had neglected until now.

To his joy, though, he could physically feel the acupoint in his right thigh giving way. Twenty seconds later, and Red recognized the unmistakable and uncomfortable sensation of his Spiritual Vein opening up. The boy had managed to open the third acupoint in his Upper Leg Vein.

Almost immediately, there was a change with the remaining energy inside his veins. The runaway strands stopped moving towards his left leg and returned to the path the youth was directing them to. Surprisingly enough, there was still a substantial amount of Spiritual Energy left in his body.

He didn't let it go to waste and started to attack the next acupoint in his right thigh. A minute later, just as Red had made some progress in clearing that obstacle, the energy finally ran out. The youth guessed that if some of this power hadn't been wasted earlier due to his imbalance problem, he could have probably opened another acupoint.

Still, there was hardly any reason for him to be angry. The medicine had proved to be effective beyond his imagination and had spared him weeks of training. Red could only sigh in amazement at that.

It was no wonder these medicines were so valuable. With the two remaining pills, the boy could open the rest of his Upper Leg Vein in less than a month. Of course, he was going to follow Hector's advice and wait before consuming the next one. Not to mention, he still needed to recover his stash with the insectoid crystal, or else he wouldn't be able to open the two special acupoints.

'How can I go back there?'

He hesitated to ask for any help. Those items directly related to his background, and the boy wouldn't reveal them unless he had to. In fact, he felt as if he had already been exposing too much about himself these last few days. It was why he hesitated to ask Eiwin more specific questions.

All of the information Red had revealed up until now was inconsequential for the most part. He doubted it would be enough to give away his background, but it could arouse the suspicion and curiosity of his Sect members, other than Narcha who already seemed to hold her own views. The Sect might not be able to get any answers from the boy, but what if they went snooping around on their own? Could the youth guarantee they wouldn't find anything by themselves?

Red was not familiar with the surface yet, so he couldn't be confident of anything. His main concern was still the mine guards, who most surely worked in the region. In fact, they might even be working for someone within this town. The boy couldn't be sure, but for now he had to be careful about what kind of questions he asked.

Just as the youth was trying to come up with a plan, he heard knocking at his door. Having learned how to respond to this yesterday, Red walked up and opened the door.

He was surprised to find Rog was staring at him on the other side.

"What is it?" Red frowned.

"We're going to hunt." The man responded.

"Now?"

"Yeah." The hunter nodded.

"Alright." Red closed the door behind him and stepped outside.

"Follow me." Rog spoke as he walked away.

The man led him to another wooden house on the other side of the courtyard. The boy still hadn't visited many of these houses, but he guessed this must be where Rog slept. Right by the entrance, there were two large backpacks, a pair of wooden bows, and two quivers full of arrows.

"Get one of each." The hunter pointed at the items.

"Are we going to travel?" Red asked, noticing the bedrolls.

"We're gonna spend the night out." Rog nodded. "Only gonna be back tomorrow."

This journey seemed rather abrupt, but the youth didn't complain. Following the man's example, he started to strap the equipment around his body. There was one problem the boy noticed, though. Everything seemed a bit too big for a ten-year-old child. Both the bow and the bag were almost as tall as him, and Red had difficulty walking around while carrying this unwieldy equipment.

"Oh, I forgot you're just a child." Rog commented once he noticed the boy's struggle. "Give me a second."

The hunter went around him and started to unstrap some sacks and items from Red's bag before putting them on his own.

"What about now?" He stepped back and asked.

The youth immediately felt it was much easier to walk around, but just taking out these items didn't change the fact the bag and bow were still much too big. In the end, though, Red simply nodded.

"Good." Rog nodded. "Let's go then."

The man walked off, and the boy followed in tow. Curiously, the youth noticed that they weren't taking the same route he had become used to in these last few days.

"Is there a reason we're taking this path?" Red asked. "Actually, why are we going out during the night? Isn't it easier to hunt during the day?"

"It's easier, yeah." The hunter replied, scratching his scraggly beard. "But we go during the night so that we're not followed by anyone. Plenty of times I needed to dodge some people who were keen on killing and robbing me out there. Then they started to follow me during the night too, so I started to take a different route... It's very annoying."

The boy began to have a bad feeling about this trip.