Ethan left the ship on his carpet and made his way to the small herb shop while hiding his face under his cloak’s hoodie. He was well aware that after killing five tier-5 warriors of one of the most powerful families in this city, every other second he spent here was pushing his luck.

Sure, it was a pretty secluded place, and his [Void Mute] helped him so no one heard a thing. Not to mention in a crowded city like this, there was always someone using skills. Using [Mana Sense] and trying to discern every single one of them was nonsensical. However, with these ancient families hiding countless trump cards in their arsenals, there could always be things he never considered. Who knew if there was a skill that allowed the user to smell the lingering mana in the air and follow its source?

It was foolish to not leave the city right away, but Ethan still gave himself a minute. If his treatment was going to take more than that, he would leave for Miri straight off. If not, he’d rather rely on his chances that the Count wouldn’t be alerted immediately.

Opening the wooden door, he entered the cozy shop with a heavy fragrance. There was only an old man inside, sitting behind a desk and reading a sizable book.

The man lifted his head and gave him an amiable smile. ‘’Welcome, young friend. How can I help you?’’

‘’Hi. I was looking for a high-tier healer for my leg. They recommended the Simpsons. Is this the right place?’’

‘’That’s right, I’m Dale Simpson. But I’m afraid you’re gonna need my wife for that injury,’’ Dale said, sizing Ethan up and down. ‘’She is in the market right now, but it won’t be long till she returns. Would you like to drink something while you wait? Not to brag, but our tea leaves attract customers from all over the Mirasatra.’’

Despite the kind offer, Ethan grimaced. ‘’Thank you, but I’m in a bit of a hurry. Do you know how long it would take for her to return and how long this operation take?’’

Dale frowned lightly. ‘’Well, it shouldn’t be more than half an hour. If you had your missing leg–’’

Ethan took out his severed leg that was still dripping blood from his ring, looking at Dale in anticipation.

Dale laughed out loud. ‘’You should’ve told me that from the start. If that’s the case, I can also help you out. Come, follow me upstairs.’’

Ethan sighed in relief and went behind him as he looked around the shop. ‘’Thanks. So, you’re a healer as well?’’

‘’Kind of,’’ Dale replied, treading the stairs. ‘’My wife is the real healer while I’m just a herbalist. My skill set is that of a pure mage, a nature mage, you may call it. But lucky for you, my only rank-3 skill is a healing skill. It’s nowhere near regrowing limbs, but I can attach your leg back easily. Especially because it’s still in good condition. You preserved it well.’’

‘’I can’t thank you enough, Dale. You have no idea how much I stressed myself over this,’’ Ethan said, looking at ease after so long. ‘’I had that feeling something will go wrong and I’ll stay like this forever, you know?’’

Dale turned over and threw him a sympathetic glance. ‘’I never experienced something similar but I saw many cases like you. The first time is always the worst. You’ll feel much better after seeing that you worried over something trivial,’’ he said and added with a solemn face, ‘’I hope you don’t let this idea get in your head though. There is no guarantee that you’ll be lucky next time as well.’’

Ethan acknowledged with a serious nod. There really wasn’t much for him to avoid what happened at the time, but there was also so much he’d underestimated that almost caused his death. His confidence was coming from the skills that after so long felt like a part of his body. With the ability to travel for miles in such a short time and disappear from sight for almost 10 minutes, he created a false sense of security and became sloppy. Though, without anyone needing to say anything, he’d already decided to use this experience as a wake-up call and wholeheartedly focus on his weaknesses.

His earnest expression brought a smile to Dale’s face as he pointed at the table in the room. ‘’Come now. Sit on the table,’’ he said and went to fetch some herbs from the closet. He returned with a single yellow dry leaf and passed it to Ethan who had landed on the table along with his carpet. ‘’Chew this until it tastes bitter and swallow it.’’

Ethan remembered the smell of the leaf from his dental implant operation in Niamaris. The potion Rachel’s senior sister gave him also had a similar fragrance. ‘’I think I used this herb before. What is it called?’’

‘’Gua plant. It’ll shut down your pain sensors for an hour or two without hindering anything else in your body. It’s both rare and expensive,’’ Dale explained before raising an eyebrow. ‘’Oh, we never talked about it, but I’ll still charge you 40 mana stones. That won’t be a problem, right?’’

‘’Yeah, it’s no problem,’’ Ethan said with a nod. ‘’I would also like to buy more of this Gua plant. If you have it.’’

‘’Well, we’ve replenished our supplies recently. I guess I can sell some of it.’’

What happened next was a bit surreal to Ethan. After he swallowed the leaf, Dale removed the healed tissue on his leg with a sharp knife while Ethan watched the bloody scene without feeling a thing. Then, the old herbalist connected the severed limb with the rest of his leg before activating his skill. [Sentient Restoration], as Dale called it, almost seemed to resurrect the lifeless cells on the wound and heal them rapidly. Even the blood stopped pouring out the table and returned inside the flesh in an organized way. The whole process was nothing like Ethan had seen before. This nature magic had an otherworldly feeling that can not be explained.

‘’There you go,’’ Dale said as the intense mana fluctuation stopped. ‘’Try moving it.’’

Ethan bit his lip and managed to curve his toes slowly, almost bringing tears to his eyes. ‘’Thanks, man. You better stay away now or I might kiss you.’’

Dale laughed aloud, his belly shaking. ‘’Even if you’re a great kisser, you ain’t gonna get any discounts, I tell you.’’

Ethan smiled wide before clapping his hands. ‘’Alright. I still need to get going. Other than those Gua plants, get me some of those famous tea leaves you mentioned. Oh, do you have anything else for recreational use? Or some high-quality cigars maybe? I feel like celebrating.’’

‘’You bet I have. I can make you a mixed package quickly, but how much do you want?’’

‘’I don’t know,’’ he said, jumping on his feet excitedly. ‘’Enough to get me through a few months?’’

Dale took out a small case and filled it with different items while explaining to Ethan their usage. Ethan kept his attention on Dale as he walked around the room with awkward steps. It was quite baffling at first. His muscle memory was helping him with the movements, but his mind was having a hard time adjusting to new development. Thankfully it didn’t take too much time. By the time Dale finished his mixed package, despite the strange feeling, he was already walking steadily.

He paid 50 mana stones for both his treatment and his purchases before giving five mana stones worth a tip and a tight hug to the old herbalist. Promising him to visit once he returned to Marah, he [Blink]ed to his ship’s deck which he was checking out with his [Mana Sense] every so often.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

Inside the cabin, Beet was enjoying snacks on the table while Todd was pondering about something with a serious expression. As he entered, they both turned to him with wide eyes.

‘’You went to a healer? Wow, congratulations!’’ Todd exclaimed, not expecting him on his feet after a short break.

In his high spirit, even the fox-eyed sleazy Todd seemed pleasant to him. He took off the ship’s silver ring from his finger and tossed it to him. ‘’Congratulations to you as well. You just got promoted to my driver. Now, get us out of Marah immediately. We’re going to Miri.’’

Todd caught the ring and wore it without hesitation. ‘’Sure! But that’ll be my first time using such an artifact. Are you sure?’’

‘’It’s pretty easy. You’ll get the gist of it even before leaving the city.’’

‘’Alright, then,’’ Todd replied with an excited nod. ‘’Thanks for trusting me!’’

Ethan chuckled as he started donning the table with the best dishes he had. ‘’Enthusiastic, are we? Just being my driver won’t save your ass, you know?’’

‘’Of course!’’ Todd said as he made the ship ascend to the sky, eyes on the screen with full attention. ‘’About that, I actually have a few ideas.’’

‘’Just focus on getting us out for now. We’ll talk about it once we’re sure that no one is following us.’’

Fortunately, they didn’t find any trouble leaving the city. There wasn’t even a need for showing their identity as they passed the gates. Ethan merrily set the table but before sitting down, he noticed his attire’s condition. Ever since the battle with Veronica, he only changed his clothes once and didn’t take any showers. Looking at his cloak covered with blood stains from the recent fight, a wry smile formed on his face. I can’t believe none of the guys said something before we reached Mirasatra, and I even hugged Dale like this…

Thanking his lucky star, he fetched a spatial pouch from his ring, and a portable shower appeared in the middle of the cabin. This was one of the spoils he’d planned to sell, but after getting under the hot water, he quickly changed his mind and decided to keep it. Or maybe he’d get a better one since the walls around this shower were blocking his own [Mana Sense] as well. Trusting that Beet would keep an eye on Todd, he let the hot water cleanse his body while enjoying the mental relief he was still experiencing.

Pete’s team might be in Mirasatra as well, but it’s better to contact them in Miri. The language code requires Ani to turn on and off my signal rapidly. That might alert other biochip users and it might even reach the count's ears.

The caravan should reach Miri in a few days. I promised the guys to hang out with them before they departed. If I could find an auction to sell my stuff beforehand, that’d be the best. And then, there is Vivian. She said she’d find me…

Ethan shook his head and opened his eyes before calling a small knife to shave his beard. He really didn’t want to think about her right now. Taking his time in the shower, he cleaned himself thoroughly and wore his best robe.

As he left the small shower room, he found Todd jumping to his feet. The poor guy didn’t even touch the delicacies on the table for so long.

‘’Ethan, so I was thinking, if we're gonna take Count Reinhardt out, we’ll need to work with his enemies,’’ Todd said, switching to his politician's face. ‘’Everyone knows that the other Count family in Marah is their biggest enemy, but I think we should work with one of the nearby earls. Ever since the Reinhardt family is declining, there have been many wolves eyeing their position. These guys would do anything to give them a headstart in the competition.’’

‘’No,’’ he replied curtly as he sat on the table. ‘’This operation is to remove everyone who might want to hunt earthlings, and once it’s done, even the king will be alerted. There can be no loose ends.’’

Todd sat back in his seat with a dark face. ‘’I could’ve helped with the earls. I-I don’t see how I can be useful when you want to kill tier-7s.’’

‘’Not with your fists, that’s for sure,’’ Ethan teased with a smile and took out the cigar case he got from Dale. Lighting up his cigar, he filled his glass with wine and leaned back in his seat. ‘’Can you draw a map of his estate? Do you know what kind of runes they have? Do you know any servants or guards we can buy off? How about their shifts and the routines of the nobles? Are any important events coming up? Any information we can use to divide their forces or even lure them out?’’

Todd opened his mouth but Ethan shook his head. ‘’Not now. I just gave a few examples. These are the things you’ll help regardless and even with a stellar contribution, it still won’t save your life. What you need is to think outside of the box. Information that no agencies are aware of, weaknesses that none of their enemies suspect, or secret passages that no alive Reinhardt is wise to know. These are the kind of things you will need.’’

Despite his resolute eyes, Todd’s face lost some color, his hands curling into fists. ‘’I can do it! No, I will do it! H-How much time do I have?’’

‘’Not sure. At least a week,’’ Ethan replied. When Todd’s fox eyes narrowed in deep thought, the corner of Ethan’s mouth went upward and he passed the guy a drink. ‘’No complaints, no excuses, and no bargain. I like it.’’

Todd grabbed the glass with a groan and chugged it down aggressively.

‘’We’ll talk about it more once I have some funds,’’ Ethan said, popping a piece of cheese into his mouth. ‘’I plan to spend quite a bit on this, but there should be good returns, right? This is a thousand-year-old family after all.’’

‘’Well, their decline started when they’d sold their signature skills, and ever since then things aren’t good for the Reinheardts,’’ Todd replied, biting his lips. ‘’B-But, to keep their position as a count after decades… I think there should be at least a few thousand mana stones in their possession.’’

Ethan nodded slowly. ‘’We’ll do some in-depth market research in Miri. Now, tell me about the capital. Why didn’t this Count send his men there to grab everyone with an open biochip? What’re our fellow earthlings up to so far in Mirasatra?’’

‘’I never went to Miri before. Even arriving in Marah was a big challenge for me, and after I heard about the situation in Miri from our people, I thought it’d be best to take care of myself first. That was half a year ago–’’

‘’The situation?’’

‘’It was a mess,’’ Todd replied. ‘’Do you remember Ashir?’’

‘’Ashir,’’ Ethan repeated with a faint frown. ‘’Ashir Rajda? The spiritual leader?’’

‘’Mm,’’ Todd uttered with a grave nod. ‘’Apparently, he started a cult and has thousands of members already.’’

‘’Shut up,’’ Ethan said in disbelief.

‘’Oh, I’m just starting,’’ Todd said, chuckling wryly. ‘’His members are mostly giftless people and the ones with worse talent. He is giving those desperate people hope and in return, they do, well, pretty much anything. I heard people from the Union are coming to see him and even the royalty of Mirasatra are treating him with some respect. Whether he has a way to let those people ascend or not, the numbers of his fanatics are growing crazily. There are all kinds of people among them, from the beggar on the street to the famous cursed prince.’’

‘’Jesus…’’ Ethan gawked as he listened. ‘’Our people follow Ashir as well?’’

Todd shook his head. ‘’Only a few. The rest are divided into small groups. Some VR players created an underground gang and became an underling to the biggest mobster of Miri, Ezra Bellamy. Some started businesses in the city. One of them is an orphanage and they somehow obtained the support of a few powerful houses. Most people joined the guilds and I heard that a few of them had found strong backers as well. Everyone is doing their own thing, but they still meet up once in a while to exchange information. So, Count Reinhardt is indeed impatient to get biochips for his family and he is looking for our scientists and engineers everywhere, but even he’s afraid to enter the waters of Miri. He knows that if he lost his monopoly on this information, it’d be all for nothing.’’

Ethan fell into silence as he contemplated. He was expecting something similar to what had happened in free cities, that the earthlings would stay in a group and strive to make a place for themselves in this foreign world. Apparently, many things had happened in Mirasatra over a year. ‘’This is the latest news you've got, right? Not what you heard from six months ago?’’

‘’Yes. The, um, last addition to the 13 that the count had captured was three weeks ago.’’

‘’And you never heard the names of my friends?’’

‘’No, but I’m only aware of a dozen’s identity. There are more than 40 biochip users in Miri,’’ Todd replied and hesitantly added, ‘’Are you– Are we gonna ask help from the others?’’

‘’Oh? You wanna fetch some suicide bombers from Ashir?’’ Ethan asked and started chuckling against Todd’s perplexed face. ‘’Man, this trip is becoming more and more interesting. I can’t believe you’d slaved yourself to some noble while everyone else was having fun. No worries, though, better late than never. Now that I’m here, we’ll dive right into it.’’

Todd extended his quivering hand and grabbed his glass, gulping some more wine down.

Ethan attributed it to his excitement and smiled warmly in understanding.