“Motar, he’s getting in the way,” Forian said to the head of the guard. The latter snapped at Tailyn, and the boy’s head drooped. Tears appeared in his eyes. But nobody cared about yet another kid coming up with some excuse or other. Suddenly, however, an angry resolution came over Tailyn. He knew whose fault the whole thing was.
“It’s all because of that stupid glowing flower,” he muttered to himself. “I should have picked it and stomped it to death!”
“A glowing flower?” One of the mages turned suddenly to Tailyn’s surprise. Not Forian, the other. The healer. “Describe it.”
The order was unusual, but the boy followed it. And as soon as he told how the plant changed colors, Forian turned, as well. Pulling the pack out of his inventory, he went through them and showed a card to the boy. There was a picture of a flower on it.
“Is this what you found?”
Tailyn glanced at the picture and shook his head.
“It’s close, Master Forian, but that’s not it. The flower I saw had little compressions on the leaves. The petals were curved the other way, too.”
The mages glanced at each other, and Tailyn thought he saw confusion in their eyes. Forian dropped the thick deck into his pocket and pulled out a different one. The second was much thinner, with just a dozen or so cards. Pulling one out, he showed it to the boy. Tailyn’s eyes lit up when he saw yet another magic trick. Unlike the others, that card was alive—the flower changed colors, and green sparks were coming from the card itself.
“That’s it!” Tailyn exclaimed happily. “That’s what I was watching so long I lost track of time until the god told me I failed the mission.”
“That can’t be!” The healer mage yanked the card out of Forian’s hand and shook it in front of the boy’s face. “Are you positive? You found an amilio?”
The mage’s behavior took him aback, and Tailyn cringed in expectation of a blow.
“Easy, Keran. He has no idea what you’re asking about,” Forian said in a soothing voice. “Tailyn’s just going to show us where he found the flower. Do you remember where it is?”
“Y-yes, Master,” the boy replied with a nod. He pointed in the direction of the ancient city. “Over th-there.”
“Lead the way,” Keran said. They got to yet another ridge, and Forian grabbed Tailyn by the hand so they could soar up together. The quick flight took the boy’s breath away as he clung to the mage. Apparently, his fear of flying was worse than his fear of Forian, though that at least made their trip much faster. A few short flights later, they found themselves in a small open area. It was somehow hidden by dilapidated walls and thorn bushes. They were what kept the sparkling little miracle from being seen by the world.
“It really is an amilio,” Forian snorted as he eased Tailyn to the ground. The boy’s mind sailed away once again as soon as he laid eyes on the flower, though that time he was careful enough to look away. There was no way he was going to let the stupid thing interfere with his life yet again. “Can you handle it? Or do you need help?”
“Hush.” Keran pulled out a long, slender knife, crouched down, and began crawling slowly forward. A few times, he swung the knife, cutting threads only he could see. Amilio, which meant the “color of thunder,” was such a rare plant that the god made sure it was kept safe. It created around the plant an entire protective network of webs the normal eye couldn’t see, and touching any of them would have resulted in the plant disappearing and reappearing somewhere else randomly selected. And that could have been a step or hundreds of kilometers away. Nobody knew when or where amilios grew.
The process took Keran half an hour to complete. Finally, he reached out, grabbed the shimmering plant, and jerked it out of the ground. There was a gong, and a message popped up in front of Tailyn:
You found an Amilio and helped extract it.
Analyzing character…
Tailyn Vlashich has yet to complete the initiation process. Adjusting…
Herbalism specialty unlocked.
Amilio unlocked (1).
***
Amilio. Description: a very rare plant that does not grow like other flowers. Used for unique and rare recipes. Current search skill: 1. From now on, you will see flowers within a radius of 26 meters. [Search skill * 10 + magic attack].
Tailyn groaned and collapsed onto the stony ground. Pain gripped his body, though it wasn’t as bad as when he’d gotten alchemy. The mages stared.
“The god just gave him herbalism,” Keran said in shock, activating his perception skill.
“It thinks he deserves a share,” said Forian, completely unsurprised. Once the boy had pointed at the picture of the amilio, he’d been prepared for anything. Even for the boy to unlock a new skill without doing anything for it. “Who’s taking the flower?”
“I need it more. You know what the dean thinks of me—the flower will soften him up.”
“An amilio will do that, yes,” Forian replied. “Just remember, the god decided the boy deserves a share.”
Keran sighed, though he didn’t push back. His partner was right. There was no other explanation for what had happened.
“Here’s three thousand, three hundred, and thirty-three gold,” the healer said, materializing a coin and holding it out to Forian. “A third of the flower’s value.”
“Where have you seen amilios going for ten thousand?” the latter asked in surprise. “I think I’ll go pick up a few!”
“Come on,” Keran exploded. “I’m not going to give that nobody a third of the real value! And you and I can come to an agreement.”
“No, my friend, no agreements here. I’m not going to risk my second investigator rank by going against its will. It sees all, and anyone who should be on the side of truth but ignores a crime will get their just desserts. Either you give the boy his rightful share, or we give the amilio to the god. That’s it.”
His partner’s fanatical adherence to the god’s injunctions always got under Keran’s skin. If the mage wasn’t free to make his own choices, he was no better than a slave in chains, though he decided to let his partner get the win when he saw the unpleasant flash in his eye.
“Thirty thousand.” After a quick change of the settings, the coin in Forian’s hand glistened even more brightly. “A third of the amilio’s market price…when one hits the market.”
“The starting price, you mean,” Forian replied, though he accepted the offer. “I’ll agree that you paid me my share for the flower.”
But after thinking for a moment, he continued.