Seth looked at the ceiling, trying to ignore the searing pain spreading all over his body. He felt as though every fibre of his body had been submerged in acid and then mashed into a sore, pulpy paste. Incapable of lifting a finger, he was forced to lay immobile on the soft mattress of his bed for hours.

It wasn’t a good experience, honestly.

So, to divert his attention from the pain, he had closed his eyes at some point and let his thoughts wander around his spar with Vincent. And, he had to say it went better than expected.

The spar… he was still feeling like shit.

It didn't mean Seth was thoroughly satisfied with the outcome, as he knew that Vincent had not shown all his power. But it didn’t matter. He had already tested the effects of utilising his aspect and the advantages and disadvantages that come with it—it was enough.

Only after a few hours of rest did Seth manage to force his unresponsive body into a cross-legged position, uttering a few loud curses in the process.

Seth took a deep breath while sizing a green crystal from his desk, he stared at it for a few seconds before squeezing it with all his strength.

As it broke into pieces, a pleasant stream of soothing energy began to course through his channels, easing the unbearable pain in his muscles, tendons and bones. The blissful sensation lasted for a few minutes, leaving a light itch behind as the last flickers of energy were used up.

“It seems Lucas wasn't kidding about these ororus seeds,” Seth muttered, glancing at the remaining three crystals on his desk and to the dull grey dust in his palm. “I should buy a few more pieces tomorrow,”

Ororus seeds weren't the most efficient resource when it came to tissue or bone regeneration, but they did provide a soothing effect that worked splendidly in diminishing inflammation, soreness and healing some minor wounds. Bearly enough to let him regain his mobility after a short period of time—but it got the job done. And they weren't that expensive either… in comparison with elixirs and pills at least.

Seth pushed himself out of the bed and shook his legs out to try to get some feeling back into them. He took the wooden, octagonal badge resting on his desk. Tracing the carved emblem of the Adventure Guild with his fingers.

I should take a look at the trading halls tomorrow, Seth said to himself. A stream of light flashed in his eyes as he remembered the large shops brimming with resources at the trading halls. He sighed, a pity there is a more pressing matter at hand.

Seth’s brows furrowed as he asserted himself, focusing on the fiery red sphere in his heart.

He knew that the physical and spiritual burden of tainting his mana was too high for his frail body—for the moment. Not to mention the terrifying mana requirements it had. But he still didn't like the minuscule lapse of time it gives when he goes all out.

Seth shook his head, not the moment to be upset about things out of your control Seth.

Concentrating on his core, Seth released a trickle of mana and focused it on his right hand. A tiny, black-red flame condensed itself above it. A hot and disturbing tingle travelled through Seth’s channels as he pushed more mana out of his core, letting it grow until it reached the size of a fist.

Seth studied it with fascination.

The flame didn't radiate any sort of heat or follow any of the behaviours that many aspects of a similar nature followed, or at least those he knew about. But then again, aspects were mysterious and, more often than then, unreasonable in the shape and nature they could assume.

Seth remembered a book explaining how it was possible to influence them at a low level—something about how things like environmental factors or lineages could play a role in the maturation of an aspect.

An example could be the Wiccan Clan’s members tendency of wielding aspects with corroding and decaying properties, but again, those were tendencies. It didn't mean all of them were born with aspects of similar properties.

Aspects or affinities were generally explained as the process by which the core of an organism could taint its mana into a specific form and nature that suited the body. Some people also claimed that aspects were that ethereal representation of the spirit, with the core being the physical one, but Seth had his doubts…

As the flame died, a knock from the door snapped him out of his thoughts.

“I should have told him to come a bit later,” Seth muttered, the large figure of his friend welcoming him as he opened the door.

Lucas’ green eyes narrowed as he studied him intensely.

“I knew you were a genius in making money and swordsmanship,” he paused, forming the best creepy smile he could. “But it seems you’re much more special than that, buddy haha!”

Seth stared at him, deadpan.

“Stop it. It’s not funny.”

Lucas froze, “I…

“Just a joke buddy,” Seth said, “Come inside, we have work to do.”

As Lucas walked inside, he caught sight of the three forest green seeds resting on the desk. His lips couldn't help but curved upwards, “It seems you follow my advice.”

Seth nodded, slowly. “Yeah, but the guy still tried to give me the bad stuff. Though, he was less cautious when I told him your name.” Seth had to admit Lucas had been right about the ororus seeds—even if he’d wasted half an hour to convince the seller to give him the goods.

Lucas shrugged, “I told you it wouldn’t be easy to get them regardless if you have the money or not.” he continued, puffing out his potbell- chest. “Without my name, they would have probably charged you with two or three times of overpricing. If they sell you the goods at all. And that’s considering that guy from the Northern Templ…”

Seth raised an eyebrow but decided to let him continue with his speech. His gaze fell on the seeds on his desk.

Aside from being used as a medical product, ororus seeds were a highly sought product due to the mana enriched sap that could be extracted from the trunk of a fully matured ororus tree. Sap that could be processed into ororus syrup. A delicacy desired not only for its unique flavour but its attuning properties that were of great help even for yellow core stage practitioners. To summarise—great stuff.

Though, it had a minor drawback.

It took ten entire cycles for a plant to reach its maturation phase and produce the mana enriched sap, and even then, the production wouldn’t be copious until the fifteenth cycle. The ideal mana, humidity, and light levels for its growth weren’t easily achieved either. As the plant was quite susceptible to the smallest of changes in the atmosphere.

Anyway, alchemists and refiners could still make some coin selling the seeds as a single plant could produce thousands of them every year, the soothing and healing properties were quite useful in some elixir and pill recipes. There was the option of consuming them directly, but aside from the top-quality seeds, as those Seth had acquired, the others weren’t that useful for awakened people.

Even black core stage practitioners would barely feel its effects.

One could probably make up for the loss of quality with quantity, but it would require a few dozens of them to achieve the result of a single top-quality ororus seed. And you would probably end up spending the same money, or more, compared to an elixir of the same tier.

It wasn’t worth it.

And no, there wasn’t anything they could do as the Sacred Church owned the majority of the lands suited for the ororus-tree-growing business, giving them a monopoly over the lime-green tree. Meaning; limited stock and high prices.

A pity he didn’t let me buy more than five pieces, Seth thought, shaking his head. Focusing his attention back on Lucas' speech.

“...you know how greedy those bastards from Sacred Church could get, especially now with all the ranking competition going on.” Lucas ended, pausing at his mention of the ranking competition, not taking notice of Seth’s lack of attention.

“You think we can get a place?”

Getting out of his stupor, Seth looked at him. “Probably not, but we can try.

“We have to.”

Lucas nodded, absentmindedly.

They were just about to seep back into the worlds in their heads when Lucas remembered something.

“I don't want to sound rude, but…” he rubbed the back of his neck, “Why did you call me? I mean, it wasn't as though I wasn't going to visit you, but you know, Robert isn’t giving me many breaks lately.”

The messy hair, the dark circles under his eyes and his gloomy bearing were proof of that. It didn't make Seth feel particularly good, but desperate times call for desperate measures. “I need something from Robert’s store,” he said, his hand sliding inside his pocket.

Lucas raised an eyebrow, looking at Seth take his communicator and tap something on it. A notification rang out from his own a second later. Opening it, his eyes almost popped out of their sockets from the shock.

“You’re crazy!”