Ian combed his shaggy hair from his eyes over his forehead, only to have the messy strands fall back. It shielded him from the noticeable chaos of books and journals scattered around his apartment. Not a single floor space could be seen in the studio apartment. The brief moment of unobstructed view was enough for him to read the important part of the email on the screen in front of him.

[Dear Mr. Ian Zimmer,

We appreciate your interest in our company. However, at this time, we are not hiring additional personnel.]

Ian moved the email into the trash bin. Another failed application, his 58th in a month of interviews. He pondered why he even bothered counting, it only made him even feel more depressed. There was still hope, none of the S-rank cities he had applied for had responded yet. No response was a good response at this point.

Since Ian had transcribed all the plants he could see from an unregulated realm border, he was beginning to run out of illustrations to combine together. His item creation space was looking more like an arboretum with different plants floating in rows, columns and even in the z-axis, with multiple copies stacking on top of each other, with the youngest on the bottom and the most mature plant on top.

From the specimens that Ian had created, there were certain traits that dictated what spiritual plants were created. It wasn’t their composition and species, but their origin, rarity, and knowledge. Plants growing in certain zones and realms were more likely to generate plants from similar zones and realms. Mixing plants from different zones were more likely to result in failed plants, but capable of unlocking plants from climates and zones that Ian had never visited. However, there was one thing they all had in common, they were all plants he had studied before. The more he knew about the plants, the higher the success rate.

With that knowledge, Ian read as many manuscripts and books as possible on the different spiritual plants. However, the amount in the public was limited and often unverified information. The alchemist union had the most information on plants, but only allowed registered alchemists to access the information. Ian didn't have many connections to the alchemy union, but he knew Buck was an information broker.

At noon, he took a trip in disguise to the Cory Row cosplay market. As expected, his plant was verified. The manager was shocked to see Maddox bringing three additional plants. It made the manager curious about Ian’s sources. If the plants were spiritual plants like the previous ones, then it was possible that Ian was a middle man for other clients or he himself had the ability to search for plants. Most people kept their identity to avoid taxes, but there were few who liked to keep a low profile on their ability. If Maddox had a special ability, the manager immediately recognized how important it was to keep him as a regular client.

The manager expedited the verification of the three plants and notified Buck. One of the things the Orcon valued most was talent. If they could find someone who could cultivate spiritual herbs or track them, then it could generate a lot of profit.

“So you think he either knows someone who could scout plants or cultivate it?” asked Buck looking at the three specimens of different varieties. “I’ll take a look into this.”

Buck contacted one of the nearby agents and entered the otherworld realm with a tank. Normally, the plants would be verified by other agents, but for the possibility of recruiting a specialized spiritual herb hunter, Buck needed to verify it himself. Verifying the herbs was not difficult because of the green glow, but gathering information was his geist's specialty. With his geist, he reached A-rank origin magic, a type auxiliary magic that traced the source of the plants and items. The spell was considered the one of the best methods to make money. However, it was also one of the most difficult spell to advance in ranking.

As a D-ranker, using a A-rank magic was rare, but not impossible to achieve. There were typically three common methods to advance in magic skill ranking. The first was through experiences gained through battles and defeating monsters. The second was to learn and understand the mechanics of the spell. The last was to train within the otherworld realm. Buck used the second method to train his origin magic. He studied the shapes and growth of plants. As he consumed more knowledge, his origin ability increased.

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Inside the otherworld realm, Buck used origin magic on one of the plants. As he casted his spell, he saw the plant rewind itself back in time until it turned into a little seedling. From the seedling, Buck saw the surrounding environment. He recognized it to be from the unregulated realm. It was reasonable to think that if someone wanted to keep their ability hidden, that they would attempt to harvest from the unregulated one. The other plant appeared to be harvested from Neuman's realm. To Buck’s knowledge, he wasn’t aware of any successful farm within Neuman’s. Although it was considered a peaceful realm, no one had been successful in cultivating plants within Neuman’s.

For Buck, it was enough information to confirm that Maddox was a valuable client. There was still the question of whether it was Maddox who cultivated the plants or a client. And if the client was the Desmond, could Orcon handle the potential fallout with the authorities? Orcon was an underground organization, but it still had proper protocol to follow.

At the greenhouse, Buck took care of the transaction directly with Maddox.

“As agreed upon, there is 127,800 Orcoin loaded into your account,” said Buck as he gave Maddox a new phone with a black diamond application installed.

With the tablet, Maddox could easily exchange within any market associated with Orcon. As they were able to avoid taxes, the payout was higher than typical ORA payout.

“Do you intend on buying anything from the market today?” Buck asked.

"No," Maddox replied. "But I am looking for ways to access the alchemy union database."

“I see,” Buck thought about who within Orcon would have the best chance to access the alchemy union.

The alchemy union prided itself in being the seeker of knowledge. However, Buck knew that keeping secrets was one of the things that gave them leverage over the other organization. The members were required to adhere to certain protocols and keep trade secrets.

“Are you interested in joining the union?” Buck asked.

“Too many rules and regulations. I only need access to the database.”

“If you don’t like the idea of keeping a secret and protecting the union, I’m all for it, but you’re not going to access higher level information. I myself have been stuck at entry level clearance even though I have been in the union for five years. Level 1 database is nothing more than the standard spiritual herbs with more notations by other members.”

“How would you gain higher access?”

“Absolute loyalty. There are specialized magicians within the alchemy union that interview all potential applicants from within the otherworld realm. The main reason behind that is to weed out potential leaks.”

“Like a lie detector?”

“Even better, they seem to be able to gauge loyalty. Every time a member advances in ranking, they are tested to see how loyal they are to the union.”

Ian was aware of the union hierarchy, with leadership decided from amongst the members every 3-years. In essence, it was an organization run by the members itself.

“Does Orcon have a separate database?” Maddox asked.

Buck smiled in response. “We do, in a way. It’s a little known organization called the Orcon alchemist guild. Their information isn’t as thorough as the alchemy union, but it’s extensive. The first main requirement to access each level is orcoin. Level 1 access is 1 million orcoin.”

Maddox gaped his mouth from underneath his mask. It was pricey, but the information was valuable. “Is there an entry exam into the guild?”

“You are correct.”

The Alchemy Association tested the abilities of potential alchemists. As a field requiring many resources, the test was designed to certify only the most worthy candidate. There was no use to train people without the talent to truly advance in the field.

"Is there a way to take the test using my alias?" Maddox asked.

The client wished to remain anonymous, which was understandable. Spiritual herb scouting ability wasn’t rare, but to train the ability to A-rank was an undertaking. Unlike most magic, spiritual plants tracking ability wasn't useful until C-rank. Anything below was almost meaningless as other rankers would notice the green glow before the scout could even cast their spell. Most people ended up at the bottleneck between D-rank and C-rank and gave up. Buck could only count on his fingers the number of A-rank scouts with the ability to scout within a mile radius, and even then, they weren’t always successful.

Buck made a call to one of the agents. After the call, Buck gave Maddox a phone number to an agent by the name of B39. It was a strange name, but as the agents picked their own alias, anything was possible.

“B39 is a high ranking alchemist,” Buck explained. “However, he has only agreed to listen to your request. As for whether you can get him to help you, that will be up to you.”