Arakil stirred and finally began regaining consciousness from his induced meditative slumber. As his mental faculties began recovering, he realized that much longer had passed than he had intended. Either he had miscalculated his recovery time, or something prevented it.

Did something happen to Lily? He fretted.

For the first time, Arakil had woken up alone. It starkly contrasted with the usual awakenings when Lily would be engrossed in her writing or drawing. Arakil's concern for Lily's well-being grew.

He quickly scanned the latest content of the book, noting her progress toward drawing the two spell inscriptions. It seemed she had been very busy since they last communicated, and he saw her equal work between both steadily progressing.

I'm glad to have someone so diligent. One of the reasons I hated taking apprentices in the past was they all expected to become masters at the snap of a finger, refusing to refine and practice.

Then suddenly, the illustrations changed; Arakil could almost sense the tension within the pages. Lily stopped working on the attack spell and instead solely worked on the shield. While the amount of practice and repetition before was impressive, now it looked almost manic and desperate.

This confirmed that something had occurred, likely tragic, and while Arakil did feel sympathy for the girl, he was filled with relief that she hadn't perished. While his bookish form had its limitations, he had some vague recollections of how recent the latest additions to his pages were.

Now, if only my eye was working... Being trapped in darkness like this isn't the greatest.

Repairing and revitalizing the functions he had grown accustomed to were high on his priority list, especially his telepathic function. Being limited to written communication was rapidly becoming quite a hindrance.

However, the first goal is to solve Lily's Mana issue. If Lily could generate and spend her Mana, Arakil could scrimp and save his own. Perhaps even siphon some of hers himself through something like a familiar bond.

I can only presume that one of the seals or something is preventing me from generating my own Mana. Normally, that would never be a problem since I could just use the ambient Mana.

With his mind, he dove deeper into the grimoire, arriving at a mental construct that somewhat resembled a library. Unfortunately, the entire facility looked dilapidated and abandoned. Books were scattered, shelves were broken, and everything was a mess.

And to think I spent so long organizing everything in the past...

He tried picking up one of the scattered books with his avatar in this mental landscape. He picked it up barely a few inches before his form flickered, and the book fell to the ground.

Insufferable... Not even enough Mana to examine a single book.

The solution they required was somewhere in this mess. While Arakil could recall a few methods that would most likely be suitable, those all required rare or expensive ingredients, and he had no idea if they even existed in this world.

No. Arakil needed a solution that required minimal resources and could hopefully be constructed through ritual alone. This also meant that Mana was at an absolute premium. He needed Mana to search for the solution and, in all likelihood, enact it as well.

I just have to hope that Lily was successful in her gathering.

With nothing to do, Arakil attempted some more focused meditation as he awaited Lily's return.

***

Arakil's trance was interrupted by the sound of the door unlocking. He patiently waited for who he presumed was Lily. He desperately wished his vision was working.

I should be grateful that my hearing works, for whatever reason, as long as the book is open.

He was forced to wait, only hearing various shuffling noises around the room. Eventually, he heard the slight creek of the chair, and someone touched his book. When the ink touched his pages, he quickly seized it.

[Hello. Apologies for extended sleep.]

"Arakil..." Lily's voice whispered somberly back.

That was all she said, but she did provide him with more ink.

[I misjudged the Mana required. I hope you are alright? How long has it been?]

"Two weeks..." Lily mumbled back.

That shocked Arakil. He had estimated four days originally. He was relatively sure he hadn't overdone the scrolls, which meant that his already slow Mana gathering was subjective to some extreme fluctuations.

[I'm very sorry. I didn't plan on being asleep for so long. Were you successful?]

"I got some plants..." Lily mumbled.

[Excellent. But what is wrong, Lily? You lack your usual enthusiasm.]

There was an awkward silence; Arakil was beginning to think Lily wouldn't answer his question when she finally seemed to force something out.

"We were attacked. A bird monster. Your magic saved me." Lily began explaining in short bursts. "But something happened to Rose. She hasn't come back. You were gone. I was all alone."

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Lily sounded exhausted. Arakil assumed she was likely plagued with nightmares. He was glad he had the foresight to make those scrolls; who knew this world was so dangerous that picking herbs would lead to an attack?

[I'm sorry for leaving you alone. Hopefully, I won't be forced to recover again.]

Lily mumbled acknowledgement.

[I'm very impressed with all your inscription practice. You've made remarkable progress.]

"Thanks. It was hard, but I got better," Lily responded, sounding slightly more positive.

[Well. Let's have a look at your gatherings, shall we? Perhaps you can inscribe your very own spell?]

"Yes!" Lily responded and left the chair to go fetch something.

If a little magic is enough to cheer her up, then our future chances are much more promising.

When Lily returned, it took some back and forth for Arakil to give her suitable instructions. Once again, he was considerably frustrated at his lack of vision, and he would require Lily to be his eyes in this case.

Lily was instructed to separate the plants into matching piles and number them. Once that was complete, she would place and squash one of each sample between his covers. Arakil even instructed her to stand on the book to provide some extra crushing weight.

The process would hopefully be enough for Arakil to extract any Mana within the plant if it had, and possibly even give a loose classification. While Arakil had no way of knowing what these plants may be called now, he was experienced enough with herbalism and alchemy to provide some vague identification.

The process was slow, aided only by the fact that they weren't stopping to note down each type between samples. Arakil would give his assessment of the flora at the end.

The first few were terrible, and Arakil was beginning to dread the plants' uselessness. While he was all right with the potential setback, he was concerned that Lily wouldn't easily recover, especially since it had been quite traumatic for her.

His fears were washed away when the latest herb crushed between his pages turned out to be a mild antidote containing trace amounts of Mana. His pages greedily drained the herb dry, and while it could barely be called a sip, it was still hours' worth of meditation.

Lily's number of pickings was startling; she certainly hadn't slacked during her outing. Even if the majority seemed mundane, it was still a praiseworthy effort.

Arakil was also happy to be proven correct in that the plants with medicinal properties contained Mana. Of course, there were exceptions, like a strange root that aided digestion, and one flower held a scant trace of Mana but no herbal or alchemical usage that Arakil could guess.

Arakil was already trying to make some guesstimates about how many herbs would be required and how long it would take, but all of the calculations were thrown out of the window when a mossy plant was crushed between his pages.

So much Mana! Arakil gasped in surprise.

He was awestruck. He felt like a starving man surviving on a few seeds when he was suddenly given an entire fruit! It certainly wasn't a meal, but the disparity was still staggering. The other plants paled in comparison, and he desperately hoped Lily had more than one.

When Lily picked up his book and placed him on the desk, he realized they had finally reached the end of the samples. Nothing else came close to the mossy plant, but there were still some surprises from the remainder. Now, they just needed to document his findings.

[1-3: No use.

4: Antidote, low Mana.

5-7: No use.

8: Digestive aid.

9: Tiny Mana.

10-11: Mildly toxic.

12: Mana Recovery.

13-14: No use.

15: Mild Sedative.

16: Blood congealer, low Mana.

17: Blood thinner, low Mana.

18: Toxic, low Mana.

19: No use.

20: Mild stimulant.]

Twenty different types of plants had been smashed between his pages. It was startling; he had no idea where Lily had found such variety in one location. Had she robbed some poor herbalist's garden?

[Well done, Lily! This is far more than I expected.]

"I'm glad..." Lily whispered; she sounded genuinely relieved.

[Sample 12 alone could save us so much time. Please tell me if there is more?]

It took Lily a while to respond, probably counting and pinpointing the plant in question. "There's two more of it. Do you want me to give them to you now?"

[You can give one. But I'd keep the second so you can recognize it in the future. Is it possible to get more?]

"Without Rose... I don't think I can go outside," Lily responded.

[Understandable. Your safety comes first. Perhaps more could be bought?]

"I... Maybe?" Lily paused, thinking. "But I don't really have money... Maybe I could ask some of the other kids to pick for me?"

[You could potentially sell or trade some other useful plants. A herbalist, apothecary, or alchemist?]

"Osmin mentioned an alchemist to sell to..." Lily tried to remember the name one of the other guards had blurted out. "Carmin? Cathy? Callie?"

[Well, that's good news. I'd say sell everything except 9 and 18. Maybe even explain the uses I've listed, get a good deal?]

"Okay... Are you sure, though?" Lily asked hesitantly. "Don't we need it?"

[If you can get even one more of the mossy 12, it would be worth the entire lot.]

Lily couldn't help but gasp. That sounded too good to be true.

"I'll have to ask Margit for help. Since I still don't know where Rose is," Lily mumbled the last bit.

[Good. There's safety in numbers.]

"So, try to sell everything and buy more of this mossy plant if possible?" Lily repeated the instructions. "Anything else?"

[Maybe you can ask about a part-time job?]

"Why?" Lily asked, clearly confused. "I want to learn magic, not potions."

[At present, I cannot refine plants. An alchemist would likely have the tools to make some Mana-infused ink.]

"Oh..." Lily replied, now understanding the issue. "So we can't just cut it up and squash it?"

[We could, but there would be wastage. Also, there's a chance your inscription could fail using a subpar medium.]

"Can't you just... Do what you did last time?" Lily asked.

[I could. But didn't you want to do magic yourself?]

"Yes!" Lily immediately responded. "Yes, I want to do it myself! I've been practicing and practicing."

[Then we will need the supplies for you to do so.]

"Okay... I'll ask," Lily relented.

They then proceeded to feed the remaining designated plants to his pages. Arakil didn't know whether to laugh or cry that this small amount of Mana was the most he had ever had since waking up this time. However, when the spare mossy Mana plant was fed to him, he felt triumphant.

Now I just need to hope that this mossy plant isn't known to be valuable. I hope Rose returns eventually so that she and Lily can venture out again in case this alchemist idea backfires. Always have backup plans...

"Did that help?" Lily asked when they were done.

[Yes. I've gained more Mana this evening than since I first woke up.]

"That's good. Do spells cost that much Mana?" Lily asked.

[It varies greatly. Some can cost an astronomical amount. However, I'm saving up to search my archive for a solution.]

"Will this search really give me Mana?" Lily asked, sounding doubtful. "I'm fine with just using magic paper..."

Arakil sighed to himself. While she regained some enthusiasm after realizing her harvest was a resounding success, she still seemed to harbor doubts. Teaching her only inscription was an option... But Arakil refused to half-arse anything, and while he didn't like to leave things up to unknown chance, he resolved his decision.

[I promise you. We will find a way.]

It must have been the words Lily needed to hear. Even though he could hear the sound of soft sobbing, it sounded like tears of joy rather than sorrow.

And I always keep my promises.