Edward spent the night meditating, as the mana was settling inside of him, he felt something change. Mana was usually intangible, as if it was part of another reality, not interacting with ordinary matter. But as the mana inside of him increased, the mana condensed together to form a liquid. A sphere of mana five centimeters in radius collapsed to form a single drop of liquid. This liquid didn’t circulate through his body, instead, it reached an equilibrium between the liquid and floating particles phase. Floating particles left the drop of liquid mana to stream through his body while others came back from his body to the drop, and fused with the liquid.

Edward raised his eyebrows in surprise. I don’t know if something like that is meant to happen. I don’t have enough information. But I suppose it is a good thing, a higher concentration means I can store more mana. It would be nice if I had someone to teach me about such things though. The condensation of mana in liquid marks a qualitative jump. All those meditation seances are paying off.

However, I have no idea if this is amazing or just to be expected. Damkinans begin meditation when they are still children. I began far later and I must be lagging behind compared to Damkinan criteria. But at the same time, I’m benefitting from increased mana due to the monster surge, I was able to hunt some monsters having their own mana, and I was able to absorb mana stored in crystals. Even if I began meditation late, I should be slowly catching up on my tardiness. Besides I don’t need to compare myself to Damkinans, they relied mostly on mana, why I rely more on aura.

Getting up, Edward noticed that the mana level in the cavern had returned back to only slightly above average inside the cavern. Did I absorb all the excess mana by myself? I didn’t realize I absorbed so much. It’s no wonder it provoked a qualitative change in my mana.

Having nothing else to do in the cavern, Edward left, teleporting past the exit. He climbed on top of the lone peak on the island and contemplated the sunrise reflecting above the sea, appreciating the natural beauty of the landscape. He stayed there for a few minutes, enjoying the view.

Time to go back.

Edward didn’t bother climbing down and he jumped directly from the mountain, forming aura steps, and running through the air, heading in Gobéliard’s direction. His encounter with the Mare Irae was still fresh in his mind he kept his distance from the water, running a good twenty meters above the sea. Encounters with such monsters were supposed to be rare but he didn’t want to take any risk.

He didn’t encounter any trouble in his journey and reached Gobéliard only a few hours later, actually moving much faster than the ship that had brought him to Egregius’ folly. He swooped down on the docks, surprising the sail men on the docks. A city guard even took out his weapon before recognizing Edward and freeing the way.

Edward headed directly to Leyla’s office, expecting that Cornelius would have already received the news from the expedition.

He sensed that Leyla was currently in her room, focused on her work, and he knocked on her door waiting for her answer before entering.

“You are back. How did it go? No attack from any monsters?” she asked him.

“No, it was a peaceful night, I wasn’t bothered by even a single monster, and I made significant progress in my mana reserve.”

“That’s good to hear. Although I’m sad you are choosing to spend the night with hard cold mana crystals instead of me.” Leyla pouted.

“What…I didn’t…It’s not like that, I just couldn’t miss the occasion.” Edward stammered.

“I know.” Leyla gave him an impish smile before hugging him.

Edward gave back the hug before asking. “What are you doing today? You are already busy studying the mana crystals?”

“Yes, actually I had a talk with Cornelius.” Leyla’s voice grew anxious. “He told me provisions are decreasing quickly with the addition of Agripin’s population. Gobéliard’s food output is not enough to accommodate the arrival of so many people at once. I’m working on something to accelerate plant growth. But I’m afraid a simple growth rune won’t be enough. If I want it to be ready in time, I will need to add mana to accelerate the growth. The mana crystals are perfect for that but I need more specific runes to create a growth system. There is just so much stuff to do. I don’t know if I will be able to manage everything.”

Edward embraced her to show his support. “I’m here. I’ll go the Damkinan’s library and give you the runes you need. Besides, you don’t have to do everything on your own. Gobéliard is a whole city, you can’t be the only one providing the solutions to all the problems. The city needs to form a rune guild of its own. Already the rune knowledge has been spread within the population, and the time when the nobles’ families had control over the runemasters is over. I think it’s about time to form an official association to manage all runes problems. I’ll talk with Cornelius about it.”

“Thank you,” Leyla said in relief.

After talking for some more time, Edward left for Cornelius’ office. Just like Leyla, he was busy in his office reviewing reports and documents spread on his desk. Edward announced himself before entering.

“Edward, it’s nice to see you. Please take a seat, what makes you come into my office?”

“Can’t I come to you just to see how you are doing?” Edward answered jokingly.

Cornelius chuckled dryly. “From our past interactions, every time you come to me something is happening. The city has changed more since you are here than in the last decade.”

Edward chuckled as well. “What can I say? You guess right. I’m coming to you regarding Gobéliard’s rune revolution. Leyla is getting swamped by work. She can’t manage all the city work just by herself. I think it’s about time to organize a rune association managed by the city.”

Cornelius’s gaze grew distant as he was thinking. “This is going to be a problem. Until now the runes have only been managed by the nobles’ families. Of course, since you overturn Gobéliard’s political situation, runes have become more widespread, but mentalities haven’t changed yet. Establishing a rune organization under the city’s direct orders will attract opposition from the nobles’ families.”

“But it’s for the common good of the city. Are they still so attached to their power and privileges that they would threaten the whole city for their short-term interest?” Edward protested.

Cornelius shook his head. “They will see it as a personal attack without considering the impact on the city. You have to understand that they have been in power without facing challenges for a long time. The idea of the city falling to monsters must seem preposterous to them. They won’t even consider the possibility. However, I may be able to do something. I will propose that the new rune organization requisition their runes masters.”

“Isn’t it worst for them?” Edward asked not understanding where Cornelius was going.

“Exactly, which is why they will refuse. When I will propose the formation of a rune organization without requisitioning anyone, they won’t have any other choice but to accept if they don’t want to look unreasonable. And what people think of them does matter nowadays since the voting power is divided equally between the families and the city.” Cornelius explained.

“You are a devious old fox.” Edward laughed.

Now that the matter was settled Edward focused on his future travel to Oshle Tirion, where the Damkinan’s library was situated. I only have one healing syringe left. I need to buy a few more, they are too useful to ignore. The Vipin Forest is wild and teeming with monsters. I may have eliminated most of the wolves on the path but I’m sure that they would only have been replaced by other monsters. At least, I will be alone for this travel, I don’t have to confront every monster I encounter, and I don’t have anyone to protect.

Edward walked to the apothecary where he had bought his healing syringes. The clerk was happy to see him back, however, Edward had a bad surprise when he discussed the price.

“What do you mean the price of one healing syringe is five gold coins? The last time I went here it was only one gold coin. The price has quintupled.” Edward complained.

The vendor kept his smile. “Oh, but that was before you killed the Vega family master. And before tales of strange and dangerous monsters spread into the city. Besides those healing syringes are quite hard to produce. The three you bought back then were already a not insignificant portion of our stock. With both an abundance of dangerous monsters in the wilds and the lack of the usual monsters in the vicinity, it is hard to replenish our stock. Naturally, with the change of situation, the price had to change as well.”

Five gold coins is too high a price. And if their stocks are indeed low, it means I will deprive Gobéliard of its last healing syringes. Still, it could save my life.

Edward sighed. “You are ripping me off. Forget it, I will take only one.”

The vendor was all smiles. He didn’t care if he was out of stock, all he cared about was profit. And with such a price, the healing syringes were a luxury item, few were able to pay such a price and even fewer were ready to spend so much for a consumable.

Even though he bought it, Edward wasn’t in a good mood. Such jerks are only profiting from the current crisis. It certainly didn’t cost them so much to make those syringes. They are only increasing their profit. If they really cared about the rarity of the product, they should have stopped to sell it and reserved it for an emergency like an attack on the city. What use is their money if the city falls? Throwing coins at a monster won’t stop it from eating you.

Edward shook his head. Hopefully, with the new council in place, things should evolve for the better with a reduction of inequalities.

After coming back from Egregius’ Folly, the several conversations he had, and his recent purchase it was already the middle of the afternoon. It’s too late to head out to Oshle Tirion. Edward headed to his room and close his eyes to think.

With my fight against the Mare Irae and my recent night in the mana crystal cavern, my mana and aura have increased. What I need to do is work on my techniques. I should work on aura concentration. If I could create a highly concentrated aura blade, I bet I could pierce through aura armor without having to wait for the monster I’m fighting to become exhausted.