"Look at these peppers! I can't believe it!" Leliana cheered, pointing at the little peppers growing on the vine. They were still green and very tiny, but they were undoubtedly there.

  Elowen leaned in closer, admiring the plant. "Amazing. Monster Realm plant growing in the Human Realm. We might just succeed at this."

  "But these peppers might be the only thing we grow this year…" Leliana said dejectedly.

  Sapmelons never sprouted, nor did the zephyr root. Feyfruit was doing better, growing into a small bush. But it would require years of mana-rich nurture for it to start producing actual fruit. However, the scorchvine peppers were doing rather well.

  They'd grown into nice stalks, clearly enjoying the concentrated Sunglow summer heat. Elowen and Leliana had noticed that the plant got droopy whenever it was cloudy or when it rained. Thankfully, the weather in Sunglow was mostly sunny. With an extra push from Elowen's mana, the peppers were thriving.

  "Sienna will be happy to get these," Leliana noted, then frowned. "But how could we grow these en masse? For a few plants, it's alright, but the more we grow, the more mana we need."

  "That's the main problem…" Elowen nodded in agreement. "We would need some reliable mana channel from the Monster Realm."

  "Mana channel?" Leliana cocked her eyes.

  "I-It's a bit difficult to explain. I'm not an expert in this matter. Melina would be able to tell more," the elf said.

  "How come Melina knows so much about magic? And how come you two are on such good terms?" The redhead asked suspiciously.

  Elowen looked away, not sure how to answer. Leliana didn't know about the alternate timeline, nor did she have the skill that would let her remember the past. She wasn't even a System user. How much could he tell?

  "We're on rather good terms, too." Elowen decided that deflecting the topic might be the wisest decision.

  "So we are," Leliana nodded, scuttling closer to him.

  Elowen cleared his throat and was about to return the topic to the peppers when he suddenly heard something running at high speed on the road. He whirled around and caught a glimpse of Sienna running by in her large form, Melina on her back, while she clutched Mango close.

  "Where is she going?" Elowen asked.

  "What?" Leliana asked in confusion.

  "Melina just sped past here on Sienna's back," he explained, narrowing his eyes. "I got a bad feeling about this."

  "Did something happen?" Leliana asked. "Trouble always seems to find Melina."

  "So it does." Elowen agreed. "Do you mind if I—"

  "Yes, do go check on her. I'm worried too," Leliana nodded in agreement.

  "I'll come tell you what happened afterwards," Elowen promised and rushed full sprint after Melina.

  Thankfully, as he ran out onto the street, he saw Sienna's tail flash by the street leading to the port. Elowen followed after her as quickly as he could, although he couldn't keep up with a fully grown wyrm.

  But it wasn't hard to track Melina, as there was a group of surprised people left in her wake, staring behind her even if she was already long gone. Elowen just followed the trail of surprised people until he found Melina at the port, frantically talking with the sailors, rushing from one of them to the next.

  He found it odd. Even in the most dire situation, the mage usually kept a cool head. Yet she looked panicked—completely unlike herself. Only one thing could cause her to become so frazzled. Something must have happened to somebody close to her. Judging that she went to the port from which Sinclair departed just recently, then it must involve him.

  Elowen strode up to Melina, who was asking the sailors for passage to Fenrora. She didn't even notice his approach.

  "Melina," he addressed.

  She whirled around, her eyes brimming with tears as she desperately clutched onto the fox, who likewise looked like it was about to cry.

  "What happened?" Elowen asked.

  "I-It's Alistair. I saw him drown!" She said through panicked gasps.

  "Saw him drown? Here?" Elowen asked in confusion and looked at the sea. It appeared completely calm, and he definitely didn't see Sinclair drowning.

  "Not here! During a storm! Far out in the sea," she tried to explain, but this only left Elowen more confused.

  "How could you see him if he was far out in the sea? And what is this storm? There isn't a single cloud here," he pointed out.

  "It was through our connection with Mango. I don't know how exactly, but I glimpsed him drowning at sea," she said.

  Things were starting to make sense. He did know that the fox was the familiar of two people: Melina and Alistair. He didn't know how it was possible, but the System was full of mysteries. To think that a mutual connection to the same familiar would even allow Melina to see what was going on with her partner.

  "Okay, I understand now, but you need to take a deep breath and calm down," Elowen said.

  "How can I be calm if he's dying? What if…. What if…" Tears streamed down her face as she was unable to say the worst-case scenario aloud.

  "Calm down. This connection between you, Sinclair, and Mango is strong, isn't it?"

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  "As strong as any familiar bond," she said.

  "Then, instead of trying to board a ship, why don't you try to reach through the link?"

  She blinked a few times, then quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. Melina took a deep breath, erasing the last remnants of the panicking woman. In her place stood a determined mage.

  "I need a few things from Heilia," she said and motioned at Sienna.

  The wyrm took her large form again, and before long, the trio was gone. Elowen could only watch as they disappeared into the city, leaving a trail of confused people behind.

  "I'd better report this to the Guildmaster. Something definitely has happened to Sinclair."

  Melina felt embarrassed that she had lost her cool like that. In front of Elowen of all people. But what he had pointed out was a very good fact—their connection through Mango. If the fox were older, then likely she could check on Alistair all on her own. Kitsune were excellent magic wielders after all.

  But currently, little Mango didn't know how to do anything beyond levitating rocks. So Melina would have to take matters into her own hands. It was a bit risky due to the long distance between them, but she was certain that she could do it. If Heilia had the right herbs.

  When Melina reached the apothecary's, it was already closed, but she banged on the front door anyway. For a moment, there was no answer, so she knocked again. A few seconds later, she heard footsteps beyond the door, and it opened, revealing an annoyed-looking Heilia.

  "We're closed," the elven woman said dryly.

  "I just need to know whether you have spirit grass," Melina asked hurriedly, feeling that Heilia would slam the door closed at any moment.

  The elf's eyes widened for a split second. "What do you need it for?"

  "A divination about Alistair's well-being," she said.

  "He was here just this morning, wasn't he?" Heilia said dubiously. "Can you lovebirds not live without each other for a day?"

  "Please, I have a good reason for this," Melina said, looking at the apothecary.

  They stared at each other for a while, then Heilia sighed.

  "I want a chocolate cherry cake," Heilia said plainly and then disappeared into her house, closing the door behind her.

  Melina stood her for a moment, wondering whether she had been rejected, when the elf returned with a small satchel in her hands. She shoved it in Melina's hands. "You didn't get this from me."

  "Thank you!" Melina said.

  "I want that cake this week."

  "You'll get it," she confirmed. Even if she hadn't made such a cake before, Melina was ready to learn and perfect it all through the night for this favor.

  "Good, now go, before someone sees you," Heilia said and closed the door.

  Melina hid the spirit grass in her pocket and got on Sienna's back. She was well aware that spirit grass was outlawed. It was classified as a strong narcotic. Even small amounts were enough to cause severe and sometimes lethal addiction. However, it was also an incredible mana conduit. With it, she would be able to complete her spell.

  She directed Sienna to go back to Alistair's home. The bakery wasn't a good location—she didn't want to be interrupted. She couldn't be interrupted. She needed her full concentration if she wanted to reach Alistair.

  As Melina entered the house, she instantly hurried to the kitchen table. She put the satchel with spirit grass in the middle, grabbed a bowl, water, and a feyfruit. Sienna watched her curiously, while Mango was still trembling from fear.

  "We'll figure out what happened to him," Melina patted the fox's soft fur and got to work.

  She cut up the feyfruit, threw it in the bowl, then poured the spirit grass over the mushy pulp. It was very small—like little pine needles, except these were a bright pink and purple color. Melina grabbed a pestle, mushed everything together, and then poured water into it.

  "Bottom's up!" Melina said and drank the concoction. Instantly, she was hit with a wave of nausea, as her body was trying to reject the sudden intrusion of mana, which was further strengthened by the spirit grass.

  But she persevered and kept drinking, letting her mind slip into a trance-like state. Melina would have to work fast, so the spirit grass couldn't get digested and properly invade her bloodstream.

  She reached out to her mana and extra mana from the feyfruit and latched onto her connection with Mango. The fox was confused at first, but Melina soothed her mentally, sending her comforting feelings. The fox relaxed, allowing the connection through.

  "Mango, I want you to think about Alistair. Think about reaching him, finding him, sensing him," Melina said.

  Mango seemed mostly confused, peering at Melina. She repeated the request, and the fox seemed to understand. She lowered her large ears close to her body and shut her eyes in concentration. Obviously, the fox couldn't establish a real connection with Alistair so far away.

  But Melina didn't need her to do that. She concentrated on their connection, hoping to feel even the tiniest little thread to Alistair. At first, Mango couldn't really focus; instead, she was deepening her connection to Melina. But after some gentle encouragement, the fox finally pulled through.

  Melina could feel—the tiny link between Mango and Alistair. She mentally grabbed hold of it and followed it. She allowed the feyfruit and spirit grass to do their work, dragging her out of her body. It was a semi-spiritual state induced by an overabundance of mana and spirit grass. Extremely dangerous for those who didn't know what they were doing.

  But Melina could feel her spiritual form rather well thanks to her mastery over mana. She allowed it to follow Mango's link, closing her eyes and letting herself float along with it. Out of Alistair's home, out of Sunglow, out into the sea. It wasn't easy to follow the barely noticeable bond between Mango and Alistair. Her spirit often wished to wander.

  This caused many to seek out spirit grass. It would allow them to witness the world in their spiritual form, if only for a few minutes. Many craved to see more and more and often lost themselves in the thrill of the moment, never to wake up again. But Melina didn't let her spirit wander. She had a clear goal.

  Her spirit travelled through the sea. She saw the storm clouds and the slowly calming sea. She saw the ship—a familiar vessel she'd often seen in Sunglow's port. Melina prayed that the link would lead there. However, it merely flitted by the ship and turned towards the shore. She nearly lost the connection in her panic.

  But the link was still there, so she followed it. Followed to the shore, where it led to a small wooden shack. It was dark inside; however, she could sense that Alistair was there. Huddled underneath the sheets, looking pale and wet and cold. But what scared Melina was the other figure next to him. A monster. It, as if able to sense Melina, whirled around and looked straight at where her spiritual form was.

  Melina wanted to scream for it to get away from Alistair. She wanted to hurl fireballs at it. But she couldn't do anything. The monster sneered and then turned back towards Alistair.

  "NOO!" Melina screamed. At that moment, her spirit was forcibly shoved back into her body. The transition was so fast and so jarring that she instantly threw up her stomach contents, back into the bowl where she had prepared the concoction.

  That was actually for the best. Saved her the trouble of throwing it up herself. But what wasn't good was the siren that had somehow managed to grab hold of Alistair.

  Melina wiped her mouth and began thinking. What could she do? How did a siren even appear there? It must have come from the Monster Realm, but usually they like to live in less populated waters to avoid being discovered by humans. This one was in well-traveled waters where merchant ships passed by daily.

  Then again, it might have been drawn there by the storm—waiting for one of the sailors to fall into the sea and swoop in to "save" them, only to keep draining their energy to convert it into mana. It's the only way they could survive for long periods in the Human Realm. This place just didn't have enough mana for them.

  But no matter how much Melina regretted the siren's fate, she couldn't let it kill Alistair. The siren must have taken Melina's shape to fool him into thinking that everything was alright. She had to go to him. But how? The location they were at was completely foreign to her. She couldn't teleport there.

  But there must have been a way for her to reach him. Or somehow, she could at least warn him. But how?