Lovers?

Gerald came in and sat down on an armchair in the most casual of ways. Nobody could sit more casually than him.

He then began by chatting them up, getting to know how things went while he was away. Soon he came to understand the situation, and so he went to the main point. "Everyone!" he began. "I am happy to announce that the hunt was a resounding success!"

They already knew why he left, so the implication of his words could only mean one thing. "You killed a Phoenix?!" Sera nearly jumped out of her skin. It was understandable since she completely misunderstood his words.

"Haha, no... That would be quite impossible, even for me. I just got some of its blood," Gerald elaborated and placed a few full vials on the small table beside the armchair.

The crimson liquid inside was slowly moving and swirling while producing a moderate amount of heat. It appeared as if the blood was still alive.

"Isn't this the main ingredient for the Elixir of Life?" Elly asked. In the last week, she had learned a lot of things about Alchemy from Qiona as they were both deeply interested in the subject. They have read nearly all of Gerald's books, including a crude translation of the Blood Codex.

Now that they had someone with similar interests, they could bounce ideas back and forth while also helping each other understand some more complex intricacies of both biological and magical systems.

"Indeed it is," Gerald confirmed and stored the vials in a separate Space Pouch. Despite the Phoenix blood still being active, it would not remain so indefinitely. It too had a limited time after which its magical properties would completely dissipate. For that reason, storing it in a place where time does not advance, was the best way of keeping it fresh.

"However!" he emphasized, "We don't yet have all the required ingredients. But worry now, that's exactly why I've gathered you all here!"

His words gave a few of his teammates a sense of foreboding, namely Sera. She felt worried every time he appeared cheerful and excited because things always tended to go off the rails soon after. She dearly hoped she was wrong though.

"Alright! Tomorrow we're going to go on a little expedition to the west and pick up a few herbs there. Also, I have to teach you two," He turned to Qiona and Elly, "I need to teach you how to spot and recognize some of the ingredients. Because while it might seem easy just judging by the books, some of the herbs from the Blood Codex are more than millennia old. Many of them changed in appearance, and not just a little!"

It was true. Just like animals, plants evolved as well. While the change was minuscule in some, others became nearly unrecognizable after countless years without magic. And even if they remained the same, the books mainly depicted only the mature plants ready for use. But what about the young ones, or those that had some variation between the same species?

It all had to be taken into account when picking them, not to mention the distinct Aura some herbs hand. The stronger the Aura, the more potent the plant, generally speaking. And Gerald had to figure that out by actually experiencing it by himself.

While theoretical knowledge was great, nothing could beat hands-on experience. And even then, some plants were just not there. No matter how he searched, about 25% of what was recorded in the Blood Codex was just missing. It could be that they went extinct, or simply changed so much they became unrecognizable.

In either case, the result was the same. They couldn't be used for potions anymore. If they changed so much that they appeared completely different on the outside, their properties had to have changed as well. Be it little or a lot, the old recipes became unreliable, difficult to follow, or downright impossible to complete.

Luckily the Elixir of Life wasn't among them. He actually saw a few of the remaining ingredients when visiting the Black Iron Fort, but he didn't consider gathering them at that time as he had no use for them. But now he had, and it was time to harvest!

"Um, Gerald?" Xilia started. "Do we all have to go?" What she was implying was that she, and the guy beside her, Blum, didn't feel like going.

"You got some other plans?" Gerald asked. "Well, I guess someone has to stay and keep an eye on the mansion…"

Xilia nodded, "Right, we can do that! Blum and I can remain here and keep everything in order."

"You two? Yeah… I've been meaning to ask..." Gerald said. "Are you two dating?"

He felt some sort of tension between the two since the moment he entered the room. They were also sitting awfully close to each other, and he wouldn't even be surprised if he saw them holding hands at a later date. There might be some significant differences between societies, but certain things remained pretty much the same everywhere.

Affection between two people is easy to recognize if you know what you are looking for. But in this case, you would have to be blind not to see it.

"Dating? What's that?" Blum asked.

'Right, they didn't have that concept here.' To say that he forgot about it wouldn't be entirely correct. It's more like he didn't even think about it, so Gerald tried a different approach. "What I was trying to ask… How should I say this? Do you like each other?"

"W- What are you saying?"

The answer was yes, yes they did. While they did not confirm or deny it verbally, the fact that both Blum and Xilia immediately became as red as a tomato and didn't dare to look at each other pretty much confirmed his suspicions.

"It's okay guys, I have nothing against it. In fact, I encourage it. Just don't let it get in the way of your work," Gerald said. Internally he was grinning from ear to ear. Teasing a new pair of lovers was a tradition between teenagers! A marvelous tradition at that.

"No, I… We… Ah!" Xilia became so flustered that she couldn't even speak as her mind was unraveling. Meanwhile, Blum kept quiet as a foolish smile adorned his burning blushing expression. And he was an adult! To have such a reaction… His first love perhaps?

Sera gawked at her friend in disbelief. "Really?!" How did she miss something so obvious? Now she didn't know if she should feel happy for her friend or feel jealous.

"Okay, okay, relax!" Gerald tried to get the situation under control. "I've decided! You two can stay here, as for the rest…" He turned to the two young alchemists, "You two are definitely coming along if you are planning to take this seriously."

"Ah, yes…" they both replied with a nod. They really need some personal experience in the wild. Anything they could learn about the magic herbs, their life, growing conditions, favorite soil… Anything at all could become useful later on.

"Warren," Gerald addressed the man.

"Yes, boss?"

Gerald looked at him and then shook his head, "Listen, it's good that you train a lot, but don't overdo it. I heard you have been at it the entire time I was gone."

Warren lowered his head and listened. He had nothing to say.

"While your work ethic is praiseworthy, your body can't take it, even I can see that. When was the last time you had a good night's sleep?"

Once again, Warren didn't answer. He had dark circles under his eyes, but that didn't stop him from training all day every day. He actually didn't even remember when was the last time he slept through the entire night. That's because, whenever he closed his eyes, he would get nightmares of that fateful night.

Just thinking about it made him shudder.

"It's okay, I understand it's painful to think about some things… That's why you are coming with us. A few days of rest will do you good."

"Yes, boss!" Warren answered. He didn't try to argue. Traveling with a group of friends and getting his mind preoccupied with other things would do him good, he knew that much.

"Good! Now... Sera, how about you? You coming with us?"

"Are you kidding me? Of course, I'm coming! I've been cooped up in here for far too long already!"

Well, at least she appeared excited to leave. Gerald smiled, "Great! Then it's decided! Get some good rest tonight people, we are leaving at dawn!"

"What?!"