His eyes were beginning to burn slightly; Midas felt like they were dried out due to him staring aimlessly at the barely lit room. The only thing that kept him awake was a soft wind that occasionally pressed itself through the loosely built-up walls of the elevated hut—its unsure stability proven by low-toned squeaks that must've sounded from the logs that kept up the wooden building.
The darkness of the night began to finally light up again; the dark blue hue of the sky announced an early morning that made Midas get onto his feet—internally celebrating the dim shift of color. Even getting to see the color of the sky was something the youth called himself lucky for, as the marsh was shrouded in a grey fog, much more oppressive than what he was able to see when crossing through the Luvious Forest.
The shallow but wide streams of water were now completely covered in a thick layer of light grey, ghosting over the water streams—only allowing high-growing weeds and a spare amount of the surrounding hills to rise above it. Anything surrounding the walkways of the hut was barely visible, as another, lighter layer of morning fog rose almost high enough into the building. From the milky vision Midas had over the region, he was able to tell that the entire lowlands seemed to be covered in the fog for now.
The fact they were now alone in the middle of nowhere with people like Jikith and Guan—who both seemed quite untrustworthy to Midas—didn't allow for the youth to close his lids once. He was unsure whether it was his uncertainty or just the humid air around him, but breathing became much harder with the start of the day. Leaning against the doorless frame, he looked back onto Uteli and Javelin, both still asleep, balled together against the wall.
Yawning, as he watched the sky turn somewhat brighter to reveal a much more cloudy horizon, Midas eventually noticed a squeaking sound from underneath him, announcing the presence of someone. Jikith made his way up the crude stairs, seemingly used to the steep steps as he entered the building, giving Midas a grin as he noticed his prominent eyebags, making the youth's face turn with a dimly alarmed glare as he rested his hand on his shoulder.
"Got guarding duty, huh...? Could you wake them up for me while you're at it? Meet me at the ride, and then I will give you something to eat."
His amused voice made Midas take care of the situation in reluctance, ruttingly onto the shoulder of both of them—until they were awake. With murmuring and dim groaning, the two of them began to rise up, following Midas as he instructed them. Going down the wooden stair proved more risky than Midas hoped for, able to feel himself slightly slip on top of the dampened wood—clinging tightly onto the wooden railing as he went down the stairs, eventually making his way through the fog to arrive at the carriage.
Guan only chuckled at the sight of Midas lumpily placing himself beside him—briefly watching him lean his head back against the wall with a tired expression, before handing him a piece of bread—smeared with a paste of what seemed to be chopped-up herbs. The youth nodded at Guan, appreciating him handing off some of his food to him, as the others chewed down their slices of dated bread without anything smeared on top of it.
"This paste is a delicacy in this part of the west... you won't get it as fresh anywhere else but here...! Some of the plants that grow on the edges of the streams have an edible core. I cut it out and combined it with edible mosses and other, more starchy roots to thicken it up. Try it...!"
The man leaned forward on his seat next to Midas, fully facing towards the youth as his smile suggested he was watching with a lot of anticipation. The description of ingredients didn't faze the youth all too much, as he was sure Guan had lived in this region for quite a while now—clearly knowing what he was talking about. Midas eventually opened his mouth, the scent of the paste slightly sour—eventually overtoned by the grassy taste of it.
"Yeah, it tastes nice. Thank you for giving me this."
Midas replied shortly, appreciating all kinds of food he got in between his teeth, as his last meal must've been nearly an entire day ago. Being handed a clay cup filled with water to go with it, their group paused for a while to chew on their bread as they listened to the distant bickering of the Fahin that were freed from the tree they were bound to. Jikith eventually entered the ride, taking the remaining pieces of uncut bread with him as he placed himself down onto his seat.
"Alright then... we should keep going before anything can catch wind of us."
Overhearing the implication, Midas looked down onto his leather bag—having spent some of the time he had to himself during the night reading through more words of his dictionary, making sure he kept up his daily routine of getting some practice in when it came to speaking and writing—even though he lacked the paper and pen. His crude supplies of bread that he carried with him were either lost to Javelin or half-mindedly consumed by him on his way out of the forest.
"Now that we all travel together, may I ask why you decided on going all the way to the plant kingdom...?"
Shaken slightly as the carriage crossed another flooded part of the marsh, Midas mustered Guan's intrigued grin briefly before glancing at Javelin—his head still hidden in his furred hood, hiding his knees under his closed-up poncho as he balled up, meeting Midas's gaze through his legs. The youth found himself put off by the familiar tone of Guan, briefly halting before answering, as his knowledge of herbs might help them get more information regarding the plant they were searching for.
"The reason why we want to go there is because one of our friends currently suffers under mana surges, overloading their head with energy—which causes them to faint and lose consciousness. The only way of treating it seems to be with an herb that grows in the territory of that kingdom."
Keeping his reasoning brief, Midas watched quietly as Guan's expression changed—his grin dimming down as he seemed to become much more thoughtful, eventually staring down onto the carpet on the ground—folding his hands together. Javelin put his feet on the ground again, his eyes lighting up at Midas as his expression suggested he shouldn't have given this kind of information away.
"These kinds of herbs really only grow in the third of the cold... Which means getting them yourself is quite unlikely. If the symptoms of your friend really are that strong, I'm sure you are searching for a particular flower with medicinal properties—the only mana-regulating kind being the flower of northern winds, or Nor'luft."
Listening to his explanation made Midas feel a short sense of relief, finally having a credible source, seeing Javelin lean forward with a mortified expression at the mention of the name of the flower—the youths' risk having paid off. Unable to relax completely, however, Midas found himself furrowing his brows again at the mention of the already passed third in which the plant bloomed.
"If us getting a hold of it is unlikely, how do you think we will be able to get it...?"
"To celebrate the peak of the third growth, a festival is held at the outskirts of the capital city—wagons filled with herbs and dried goods from all around the continent are sold there... even the Nor'luft. Rare herbs like it usually get sold amongst quite influential folk, as it also regulates sleep and is able to enhance one's control over their own mana in every part of their body—a supplement that is taken in powder form, dried up, and ground, which is why it is able to be sold this late out of season."
Midas tightened his grasp on his right forearm at the words he heard, being forced to find it in a dried form might make its effects less prominent as it was stored for roughly half of a great sun cycle. Being desired among richer people also meant that its price must be much higher than they had hoped for—getting their hands on that money would waste much more time, of which the two of them possibly had barely any—given Jevaila's unpredictable state.
"...Is there another way of getting it?"
"No, the only way for you is going to be buying it at the auction that is held wherever the wagon containing it is placed."
Javelin watched as Midas sunk his head slightly, able to see his stern brows as his forehead slightly began to wrinkle up in thought. Narrowing his eyes at his low-toned speech, almost implying to find another way outside of the possibility of buying it, showed how flawed their plan was once they actually arrived at the plant kingdom. His relatively spontaneous setoff now had backfired without them even arriving at their destination, making Javelin flash his teeth dimly in building frustration.
"What's with the serious face... you know where your little supplement is located; the only thing you have to do is show up and grab it. It's not a crime if anyone spots you doing it, right...?"
Utelis' expression softened with discomfort as Jikith turned to the three of them with a sharp grin, glancing at Midas as he also heard his murmur. Javelin watched the youth's moves intently, knowing he most likely would come up with a sufficient plan for getting the goods. Unable to look at Uteli directly as she turned to him, he grew willing of Midas potentially providing him with the herb—even if it meant for him to steal.
Midas raised his head up at Javelin; his traveling partner seemingly had the same stern glance as he had. The youth's hands already ended the lives of multiple men, so stealing from them as well shouldn't be impossible for him to do too—even though the presence of influential, probably wider-known personalities at the location meant additional guards, which in return posed more risk than anything Midas had overcome himself to do.
"Right..."
Uteli wanted to open her mouth and speak, but the bland looks of Midas and Javelin, who were sitting directly in front of each other, made it impossible for her to think of any sentence to speak. Javelin was unchanged by Midas's reply, already foreseeing that he would accept a way of violence as it became clear that the youth was not bound to any codex—unlike Javelin, who believed in the moon's faith just like his sister, a Varni'i duty he had to fulfill.
Having finally spoken a reluctant reply to the jokingly told question Jikith spoke, Midas found himself freezing up as he felt the drivers as well as Guans glance on him—not a degrading one, as their eyes seemed to be filled with mild intrigue. The physical exam suddenly came into his mind; the stern gaze Javelin had on him as he mustered his face was similar to the one he showed when it was Midas's turn to show off his mana skills.
As he thought back in time a bit more, Midas remembered faintly as he saw Javelin form a spike-like object from what he remembered to be the dust settled in the middle of the arena the exam took place in—as this was the only moment he watched Javelin actually use mana, instead of relying on his daggers. Using his chance as he felt the eyes of the others finally lift off of him, Midas leaned slightly forward on the bench.
"Remember the physical exam...? The first day we met...?"
Javelin's stern expression relaxed at Midas's surprising question, his moment of confusion fast replaced by mild frustration as he couldn't tell why Midas was trying to go over their past—especially in this kind of situation.
"Yeah, I guess... Why do you ask so suddenly...?"
"You were bending rock, at least dust... Do you wear a sun shard on you...?"
Parting his lips as he was unable to reply to the sudden throwback, Javelin took a while as he noticed Uteli also growing more interested in him. Eventually folding, he took a sigh, looking down on his hands.
"I only wear it to demonstrate, which is why I left it at my dorm... Have your parents never told you that the prophets of the sun prohibit violence against humans by using these stones...? I'm not even from the northern parts of the desert, so tell me—how am I able to know more about your own faith than yourself? Didn't you grow up alongside a sun priest...?"
"The same sun priest found me already burnt by the sun. I was brought to his fort with scars and chipped skin—prohibiting me from being part of the sun faith automatically... Meeting this sun priest was pure luck to me, nothing else."
Out of all the people Midas thought to speak up, Guan suddenly raised himself off of his seat—skimming over his nose with his knuckle, the skinny man looked out of the back of the ride, seemingly sniffing out the dense fog as his bushy brows began to sharpen at the unclear distance.
"Stop the carriage, Avernil."