'A few minutes' more,' I said to myself as I lay in the pool with millions of ants biting me from all over my body. The pain had changed with the change in the method. The intensity of the pain had remained about the same, but the method to deliver it had changed completely. The tides of pain had now transformed into the bites of a million ants. No matter how unbearably uncomfortable and painful it is; it is worth it, given its result. The blood-red flames have really wiped away all the blockages, and now there is no resistance. The treatments go affect me directly, without losing much of their power. Since I begin using treatments in this past week. I have made tremendous progress, more than I had thought I would. It is not just these treatments, but some strengthening treatments too, working better than before, slowly filling the limit. They would have filled the limit, if not treatments, increasing it faintly every day. I am not complaining. The bigger the limit is, the greater the benefit it would be for me. Though, it would also increase the dangers of the breakthrough. As each day, I use treatment, more forbidden power merge with me, and that forbidden power, going to make my breakthrough very dangerous, but if I succeeded somehow, I would reap, just as great rewards. Seventeen minutes later, I am finished with the seven aurora waves and brought out formation, and started on another method. The second treatment lasted for more than an hour before I moved to the third. The third one is strengthening treatment and quite painful, but I bore it as I worked in my core. Finally, with the three methods, I had fell asleep. 'Wake up,' My clones woke me up four hours later. It was near dawn and when I returned from the bathroom after freshening up and showering; the rays of dawn had been piercing through the clouds. I did not go out immediately and instead lay on the bed again and closed my eyes. One and a half an hour later, I opened my eyes and walked out of my room. A few minutes later, the waitress placed a simple breakfast in front of me, which I slowly ate while listening to the surrounding conversation. Like the past week, there was no mention of the ruin from lips of them. Usually, such news spread quickly. It seemed like the organization was keeping a close lid on the information. I had been warned to keep my mouth shut, and I had no intention of opening it. The secrecy of it makes it more interesting and I am kind of looking forward to it, despite all the dangers I might face. The ruins are the best places to collect the resources and seeing the current stage of my storage. I need them desperately. I don't even have a complete resource for my breakthrough. I had collected them, but while in jail, I had used some of them for the treatments. Soon, I finished breakfast and walked out of the ruin, and sped toward Reyana. It had been a week since I was working for her; I would reach her house at eight-thirty sharp and work till evening, before going to make and then finding an inn to stay. I practice the strengthening method and use the treatments, before sleeping and repeating the same next day. The days may seem boring, but I am quite enjoying them. The mundanity is oddly calming, and I need something like this before I venture into the dangerous ruin, which is without a doubt going to be dangerous. I don't have any choice but to go there. I couldn't escape. Not because I couldn't fool the band, but because of the earth's sovereigns. Those bastards are sneakily keeping an eye on everything and passing day, their surveillance is increasing. Trying to escape against them, going to be extremely dangerous. The other option is jail or mine, which I don't want. Knock Knock! I appeared in front of Reyana's house and knocked on the door and waited. Seconds passed, but the door didn't open. Soon, a minute passed, and I was about to spread my soul sense inside when the door opened. Hun! When I saw Reyana, I couldn't be surprised. She looked pale and her aura felt even weaker. That is now noticeable to even regular soul sense. "Are you fine?" I asked, feeling worried. "Yes. I had made a mistake while practicing the method, I will recover soon," she lied. It is a clear lie, I have been observing her for a week and knew it is something else, something old that had taken root in her. I wanted to offer my services, but there is a chance she might take the wrong away. I will have to let into the conversation that I am a healer, before offering to look at her in a few days. "I will join you in a few hours. Till then you can start and keep an eye on Vana," she said and handed me a storage ring, and inside it is the resources; the amount which I use daily. "Ok," I said and walked inside, before taking the stairs to the upper floor. The lab was empty; I went to my station and took out a resource for forty units of potions. I wanted to take more, but it felt like this was some sort of test. So, I only took out forty units of resources. I had started the process when the door opened and Vana came inside; she is not her usual cheery self. She quietly went to her station and begin her daily practice. The girl is very good; I have taught her a few things, and she picked it up immediately. I don't have anyone to compare, since I didn't see anyone learning alchemy at this stage, but I could tell she has a talent greater than me. She is learning faster, and making fewer mistakes, compared to when I had been at her stage. She is not in a good mood, likely because of her mother; anyone wouldn't feel good if their parents are sick. As I watched her make the potion, I sent a small stream of soul sense downstairs. Soon, the soul sense reached the place where Reyana was. She is sitting in the middle of the formation, practicing some methods. As I watched her, I noticed changes appearing on her body. She is slowly starting to recover. It seemed to be a temporary measure to recover from whatever she was suffering. When I was halfway into finishing the second batch of potion, she opened her eyes. She looked much better than before like she always does. Normal with a faint ailing aura, which very few could sense. She stayed in formation for a couple of more minutes before walking into her room and started removing her clothes. I immediately cut the soul sense off, I may invade privacy, but I am not a pervert. Half an hour later, she walked inside the lab. The young girl's eyes lit up with her natural cheeriness. "If you are living in a temporary place, you are welcome to live here. There is one empty room beside the lab," said Reyana as she turned to me. It couldn't help but surprise me. Till now, she had kept everything professional. I would make potions and she would pay me at the end of the day. "Thank you. I would appreciate it," I said after a moment of silence. I will not decline her offer of free lodging. It will save me time and also the money I would spend on the inns. I need money and even started to take a risk, taking some crystals out of my cores. I have no other choice. The money from the potions is not enough to support the treatments, which are getting expensive by the day. Not to mention, I have also added the strengthening treatment, for which I don't have any money. I need strength, especially going into an unknown ruin. She nodded and moved to her daughter and spoke a few words that I could not hear. After giving her a kiss on the cheeks, she walked to her station and started crafting the potions. I observe her for a minute more and, seeing she is fine; I focused on my potions.