"Sigh, fine, whatever!" Xilia rolled her eyes.

"I trained in a breathing technique that is designed to make a person more in tune with his own body. A side-effect is that you can also start detecting traces of Mana around yourself. It takes a long time to do that, though."

"Hmm…" Gerald placed the knife on the table, leaned back into his armchair, and entered deep thought. 'As I expected… There is something more going on with meditation than just calming the mind… Then again, I didn't need to meditate before being able to sense Mana…'

Seeing Gerald close his eyes in the middle of his work and not pose any more questions, Xilia just sat there quietly for a moment, before taking a knife in hand, and helped work on the plants.

'But it seems that the state of mind is incredibly important when coming into contact with magic for the first time…' A frown appeared on Gerald's face. 'I could maybe use that recipe from Blood Codex to get some more capital… It's probably a quite useful tool for young people that just started dabbling in the world of magic!'

"I have decided!" He suddenly opened his eyes, slightly startling the Dark Elf.

"What? What happened?" she inquired.

"Hmm," Rubbing his beard Gerald went silent for a while again, before finally speaking, "No, never mind… I have to first make sure I can get my hands on… Well, anyway, I'll have to wait for Sebas."

"Huh?" The Dark Elf tilted her head sideways, unable to understand what Gerald was murmuring.

"Never mind, it's nothing… You can go back now, no need to keep me company." Waving his hands he indicated Xilia to leave the room.

After she left the lab, he focused his attention back on potion production. Since the amount of product was high and he was working alone, three hours passed before the final vial was finally sealed.

The bright-red liquid inside gave a mesmerizing feeling to those that observed it.

Knock, knock!

A knock came from the door and soon the old butler entered the room.

"Young master, I have visited all the reputable shops in the city and I'm here to report!" Sebas bowed with the stack of papers in one hand and a notebook in the other.

"Good job! Now tell me, what have you found?"

"Yes!" Returning the stack of papers to Gerald, he opened the notebook and announced, "Most of the shops I've visited had Star Flower, Nightingale, Liveroot… However, I wasn't able to find White Berry seeds, but they did have the White Bery tea leaves… As for God's Joke, this servant was unable of finding any trace of it."

"Really? Did you ask the shopkeepers if they know where it could be found?" Gerald posed this question as he was unable to comprehend that even the capital would be unable to produce God's Blood. 'How did Arthur get his hands on it then?'

Displaying an ashamed face the butler answered, "This servant asked, but nobody was able to give me any good clues… The herb supposedly grows in the west, near the border with the Empire. As such it is immensely difficult to acquire…"

"Near the empire?" Gerald almost wanted to cry. The border to the Empire was at least two hundred kilometers away if you go in a straight line. If he wanted to personally go there, it would take five days at least, maybe even a week.

He didn't have that much free time on his hands, and even if by chance, some God's Blood came to the capital, it would probably be ridiculously expensive.

"Sigh, never mind… Just make me a list of places where the rest of the herbs can be bought."

"As you wish, young master!"

After handing over a piece of paper with the gathered information, the old man left the lab.

Massaging his temples, Gerald looked over the list. "I knew it was going to be hard to get my hands on some God's Blood but to think it would be this hard! Whatever there's no point in despairing right now… At least the White Berry can be found close by… As for the rest, it's easy!"

Since the potions were done, Gerald packed them in two boxes and carried them on his shoulder to the merchant's guild place.

Needless to say that the boss there was extremely satisfied with the quality of the product. As such, Gerald received the agreed-upon amount without any problems.

After filling his pockets with gold, he went to visit one of the herb shops where White Berry tea leaves could be bought.

Stepping to the counter, a middle-aged man greeted him, "Welcome to the Flask of Wild Herbs, how can I help you?"

"Ah, yes, hello. I'm searching for a particular product, it's the seeds of the White Berry bush… Do you have any?" Gerald went straight to the point.

"Another one?" The shopkeeper was taken aback, "Another person asked the same thing just recently, but why would you need those poisonous seeds? It's the leaves that contain the medicinal properties, eating seeds will just make you feel sick…"

"Does it matter? I'm just asking if you have them," Gerald stuck to the point.

The shopkeeper, however, wasn't giving up so quickly, "Ah! Are you perhaps trying to start a plantation? But these things are difficult to cultivate… Without at least ten years of age, the medicinal properties would be still too weak and the leaves wouldn't be many to harvest…"

Now Gerald was getting a bit annoyed, "Listen, man, what does it matter what I want to do with the seeds? Even if I eat them and shit my brains out or use them to plant new bushes, what does it matter to you?!"

"Whoa, man! I was just asking, no need to get so agitated," the shopkeeper quickly tried to salvage the situation. "Usually we don't keep the seeds since they are useless, but I might have some from the last year's harvest..."

"Really?" Gerald lifted his eyebrow skeptically.

"Sure! A wise merchant always keeps a small stock of everything just in case. How many do you need?" the man asked with a smile.

"Hmm," Herald thought for a while and then spoke, "That will, of course, depend on the amount and price. Make me an offer!"

"Eh? Isn't this backward?" Scratching his head in confusion the shopkeeper said, "Err, wait here, I'll have to check what I have in the back…"

Leaving those words behind he left his place and went to the storage behind a curtain. Of course, he didn't leave Gerald alone. There was also an apprentice in the shop, paying attention to how the business was conducted, and at the same time, he also served as an extra pair of eyes to watch over the shop.

Soon the middle-aged man returned with a small sack in hand.

"Here they are, about two hundred of em'." He placed the sack on the counter and opened it to show the contents.

Small bean-shaped seeds appeared before Gerald's eyes. They were somewhat shriveled up and the size of a pea.

'This is it!' Gerald's eyes shined in excitement, but he quickly returned to his neutral state.

"How much?" he nonchalantly asked.

"Well," the shopkeeper started, "There are quite a few of them and they can only be harvested in the early summer…" He started speaking like the seeds were some praised goods and not waste products. "Besides, there aren't many that sell them… One gold coin!"

Bam!

"Deal!" Gerald slapped a coin on the table and the sack disappeared into his waist pouch.

"Eh?" The shopkeeper barely finished his words when the stuff was already gone.

Preparing to leave, Gerald turned his head around and spoke, "I might require some more of these seeds in the future… Do make sure to save a few thousand of them for me, alright?" Leaving these words behind, he left.

Waking up from his stupefied state, the shopkeeper grabbed the coin with a shaky hand. "It's… It's real! I actually sold a bunch of trash for a gold coin! I'm a genius!"

But then thinking about it for a bit longer he murmured, "Wait no, having two people come asking for such an obscure item in a single day. Hmm, perhaps it's not as worthless as I have imagined. Maybe there is something more to this…"

Rubbing his chin, the man's eyes fell on the young apprentice. "Boy!" He pointed his finger at him, "Go and bring a message to our supplier, tell him that I would like him to save a few hundred kilograms of White Berry seeds from this year's harvest for me! Go, quickly!"

The apprentice was confused as to what got his master suddenly so excited, but he didn't dare to disobey. Grabbing a light coat he quickly left the shop.

"Hehe, my intuition is rarely wrong! This just might be my chance to make it big!" The shopkeeper laughed by himself, completely unaware of how right he actually was.