I left the office feeling a little unsure. It had been a decent exchange to be sure, but it was also nerve-wracking too. I would need to be much more careful in the future. Still, I had a shield behind which to hide and make money from my potions. Additionally, I got the benefit of having access to enough cores to give my friends the Manasight ability. Like with everything else, I assumed that it would be harder and harder to raise the affinity as it got closer to 100%.

That evening, I told my friends the story and told them that I'd be able to help them. They were ecstatic. My enthusiasm was a bit more muted, however. I asked my mentor where to get the contract paper and was directed to a shop in town that sold paper goods in general. The magic contract paper wasn't inexpensive, though, costing 1 large silver per piece. I bought ten for 1 small gold just in case I needed more in the future.

I wrote the same contract on three of the pieces of paper, one for each friend. The terms were simple. I would assist them in getting all their affinities and, for a period of twenty years, they were not able to talk about this with anyone who wasn't involved in the contract... which meant just the four of us. There were a few carveouts in that, like for explaining your status during the intervening years, but it would serve me well enough to keep the secret until I could handle any potential backlash.

With my newfound wealth, I figured I'd drop by my parents' place and see Dad in his training area since he wouldn't be home. I left early on Sunday morning and went to the training area. it was slightly farther than the house, but it was a little more direct so the walking distances were about the same. I was greeted by one of the guards when I reached the barracks, and I asked for Dad.

"James!" I heard Dad say from behind me. "How have you been?"

"Good."

"I missed you a few weeks ago when you stopped by the house. School going well?"

"Yeah. My Skills have grown a lot since I left half a year ago. How's Max?"

"He's doing well enough. He struggles from time to time with his studies, but he'll pull through."

"That's good to hear."

"So what're your plans today?"

"I was going to stop by to see you then make another stop at the house to see Mom and Mary before going back to the school."

"Have a moment to spar with your old man?"

"Sure."

We each took a practice sword when we arrived at the training yard. I stood in a firm stance and looked at Dad. He did the same. Dad struck first and I parried before counter-striking. We went back and forth for nearly two minutes without either of us scoring a hit. I was running low on SP at this point, so it was only a matter of time. Dad looked winded, too, but he clearly had better stamina. Our skill levels with the sword were evenly matched otherwise.

"I yield," I said when my SP was dangerously low.

"Good fight, son!"

"Thanks, Dad. I still can't keep up with you."

"What are you saying? Your technique is as good as mine. When you're my age, you'll be better than I ever was."

"I appreciate it."

"It was good to see you, James," Dad said as he put his sword away.

"Good to see you, too. Say hi to Max for me. I'm going to see Mom after I take a break."

Dad nodded. He gave me a bear hug and waved. I watched him return to his work.

I got up about a quarter-hour later. The walk to my old house was a pleasant one. The walk took about an hour, and I arrived around lunchtime. I knocked on the door and waited.

"Coming!" I heard Mom say in the distance.

I heard the patter of little feet rushing to the door along with some banging on it when Mary arrived on the other side. Mom moved mary out of the way and opened the door for me.

"James! Good to see you again so soon."

"Good to see you, too. And you too, Mary!"

"'Amy!"

"Is there anything to eat?"

"Sure. I just made lunch. I can give you a plate if you like."

"Thanks, Mom."

We sat down at the table, Mary in her highchair.

"So what brings you home?"

"I wanted to see my parents?"

"James, I know you better than that. You want something."

"Well, I wanted to repay you both for what you gave me when you sent me off to school."

I took three small gold coins and placed them on the table.

"James!"

"It's ok, Mom. I've been making money, and I have a few more of those. I figure Max and Mary could use them more than me."

"That's kind of you. You didn't have to do that."

"But I did, Mom. What kind of son would I be if I didn't pay you guys back?"

"Thank you."

Mom rubbed tears from her eyes. I didn't know it at the time, but my parents had struggled to give us kids a good education. The money I gave was a real help for them.

After lunch, I played with Mary and then went back to the school.

The two weeks that I had to wait for the cores were murder. I picked up forty more vials in anticipation of getting the cores. Finally, on Saturday, I got a knock on the door. I opened the door to see a courier with a large package.

"James McPherson?" she asked.

"That's me."

"Sign here, please.'

I wrote my name on the line as indicated and took the package from her. It wasn't all that heavy, maybe fifty or sixty pounds, but there were over fifty cores inside so it was rather bulky. I placed the box down on the table in the common room and got the glassware from my room.

"Dave?" I asked, knocking on his door.

"James?"

"Let's get the girls. I got the cores."

"Ok!"

The girls came over after getting ready. Their roommate was the one who answered the door and passed our message along. When we all sat down, I opened the box and took out a few of the cores. The first I pulled was just Green. The next was Yellow, Red, and Purple... and interesting combination. There were several others inside with different kinds of mana in them.

I took the ones that my friends didn't have as part of their affinities and melted those first. We were able to get at least 1% for every affinity for everyone by the end of the day. I was also able to fill up a few vials, but not that man. I'd have to spend a lot of time on Sunday completing that work.

"Whoa!" Alicia exclaimed after coming over Sunday morning.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Manasight."

"Ahh."

"It really is amazing. I can see the mana holding the cores now."

"Then help me?"

"You mean pulling it out?"

"Yes."

"Ok."

Through the rest of the day, I was able to meet my quota of two vials per color while still having at least one vial per color for myself. Some colors had several. Those colors seemed more common... colors like Green, Orange, and Red. White and Black were about in the middle of rarity. Yellow and Blue were about the same as White and Black, but a little less common. Purple was by far the least common. I barely had enough to get a full vial of it for myself.

Time mana.

I had enough mana for my own experiments. Hopefully, I could discover a few potions. I'd tell the teacher about them if I found them and I hoped he'd do the same for me, but I had no guarantees on that.

In the rush to get all of the mana done, Alicia was able to get her affinities to about 5% and all of mine were around 20%.