It took them nearly an hour to find the rest of the Dashcap mushrooms, and now, they were beside a river stream.
But like all things in the academy, this river was a bit different.
"Hey, wanna hop in?" Alice suggested with a cheeky grin. "The water looks pretty warm."
Steam was rising, and at least judging by the breeze, it seemed like the inside of this river was warm.
"It’s not warm," Raelis corrected. "There’s actually very little water in this river. Most of it is acid."
"...Acid?" Alice mumbled. "Why would there be an acid river here?"
"Probably because the headmaster is a sadist," Charlotte chimed in. "I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s something special hiding inside the river. Maybe that crop the headmaster mentioned?"
"Hmm... maybe? Should I go take a look?" Alice suggested. "I do have a bit of a resistance to poison."
Clea let out a sigh. "Alice, acid is not poison. If you jump in there, you’ll melt to death."
She then pointed to the side, where a single giant skinny tree loomed.
It had tiny white leaves that blew back and forth from the wind. Some even fell, traveling through the air and, coincidentally, landing in Clea’s palm.
"This right here is the Sugar leaf," she said, then took a bite out of it.
Immediately, her expression turned to one of bliss.
"It tastes just like a pretzel..." she mumbled, then got back on track. "Anyway... gather one each. This is the final ingredient."
She raised a single finger. "And if you gather a few for me, then I’m willing to give you my lunch tomorrow."
"Deal," Alice snickered and ran forward. Following right behind was Charlotte, who was just as eager, if not more.
Just like that, Raelis and Clea were left alone again.
She munched on the leaf, then shot him a glance.
"You’re going to split away from us, right?"
He tilted his head. "How did you know?"
A faint smile appeared on her face. "That’s what I would do in your position. You want to gather the special herbs, right?"
She put what remained of the leaf inside her mouth, then pointed at the acid river.
"One of those special herbs is inside there. It radiates a strong pressure, so it’s probably a Grade 4 or 5 herb."
Raelis’s eyes widened.
Grade 4 or 5? I could even use that herb in my Grade 3 Phoenix Tear potion if it’s compatible...
This opened up new possibilities, but more importantly...
"How are your senses so sharp?" Raelis asked. "You picked up on Julian’s presence the other time, and now it’s the same. I can’t pick up on the herb’s location even after you told me."
Clea caught another Sugar leaf and put it in her mouth. After a moment of chewing, she spoke.
"I can shapeshift into anything I want. Because of that, all my senses are increased severalfold," she explained, then turned toward Alice, who was enthusiastically climbing the Sugar leaf tree, gathering as many leaves as she could.
"I can smell candy in her back pocket," Clea said, sniffing the air. "Candy packet. She already ate the candy."
"I see..." Raelis muttered. "That’s strangely convenient."
"Hmm... You think so?" Clea tilted her head with a distant smile. "I feel like it’s more of a curse. When we fought back then on the hill, the amount of blood that spilled overwhelmed my senses."
His eyes widened. "So you weren’t exhausted? You were just... disoriented?"
Clea nodded slowly, putting their conversation to an end.
"I’ll split away from you here then," Raelis said. "Could you tell Alice not to throw away my two Dashcap mushrooms?"
"Yep, good luck. Try not to, um... die," Clea said awkwardly.
Raelis smiled, and just as he was about to look for a way into the acid river, he heard Clea mumble.
"I can even pick up the faint smell of ink on you."
"What...?" Raelis turned around, startled.
"Oh? No, it’s nothing," Clea dismissed. "I didn’t see you writing much in class, so I just thought it was a bit strange for that smell to linger."
She giggled. "But I guess you do study in your room, don’t you?"
In spite of everything that had transpired that night, Raelis could only nod.
The only time he had picked up a quill and written something was yesterday when he chose Julian to be his special instructor.
I took at least two showers after doing that... one before bed, and one right as I woke up.
Besides, the smell of ink usually faded within 30 minutes to an hour, which meant that what Clea had smelled shouldn’t have been possible.
By normal means... Raelis’s expression darkened, recalling last night.
Baron Ingram exploded into ink, and a single droplet managed to land on Raelis’s clothing.
But that was it. Clothing. No skin contact, nothing.
Is it a tracking spell? Raelis mused. If it is, then I can try asking Julian later to dispel it. It’s definitely worth a shot.
With that in mind, he said his goodbyes to Clea and walked along the acid river, which was surprisingly not that large.
It only spanned two hundred meters, and once he had made a full loop, he halted.
He wasn’t able to sense the herb inside, but he knew that Clea wasn’t someone who would lie to him.
My read on people used to be terrible, but now, I’m sure that trusting her, even if a little bit, is safe.
Raelis took a few glances around, then crouched down beside the acid river.
He wasn’t sure how to go about it, so first, he covered his right hand in the Heat Resistance Barrier and stuck a single pinky inside the acid.
To his surprise, the heat barrier acted as protection, constantly melting the acid around it so it couldn’t hurt him.
This is probably one of the most reckless things I’ve done so far... Raelis thought with a slight chuckle. But if it means getting my hands on one of those special herbs, then it’s worth it.
With that, he covered his entire body in the Heat Resistance Barrier and stepped inside the acid river.