As soon as Afiero announced that, he paused for a moment, maybe for dramatic effect, before continuing, "... but to tell if it's even possible, we need to go to the Alchemist's guild."
Feeling a bit shocked, Mors said, "Wait, what? That sounds so easy, though. What could be wrong?"
Shaking his head, Afiero just sighed and said, "Well, they might not have it… I haven't seen it here. So, I will take you to the Alchemist guild, and the herb you need is called the Almisha Herb, and it will calm down the chaotic elements circulating in Alice's body."
With a light at the end of the tunnel, Mors was filled with hope as he quickly said, "Well, let's go! Lead the way, Afiero! Let's also grab some food too while we are out."
Quickly leaving the apartment, Mors noticed that Genn didn't come out of the home. He was just standing inside the little apartment with a blank look on his face. With a worried face, Mors asked, "Are you coming?"
"Oh yeah, just a moment," Genn replied as he realized Mors was waiting. Quickly he approached Mors, and the group quickly reached the main street again. Then, seeing that Mors and Afiero didn't really require his assistance, Genn quickly dived into Mors's body.
Feeling Genn enter his body again, Mors decided not to question it. Seeing his sister in such a condition would make anyone feel sorrowful emotions. Ignoring him, Mors decided it was best to continue following Afiero.
Quickly reaching the city center, Mors found tons of people walking around it in the new sun. The crisp air of the forest couldn't be felt in the dense city center. Only the smell of food and the sounds of people talking invaded his senses as he reached the floating crystal.
The crazy crystal looked even prettier, with the sun's beams reflecting through it, creating a rainbow of colors around it. Some of the rainbow light hit Afieros floating transparent hair, causing it to change colors as light jumped around in there.
It was then that Mors remembered to ask something that had bugged him, so quietly he asked, "Hey Afiero, I know you talked to Alice more than me. Did you ask how she could see ghosts? I thought no one could see yall?"
"Oh, that is strange. I am even curious about that now. I didn't even notice, but I will definitely ask Alice later. Most likely, she ate a rare herb with some unique set of elemental effects on it that allowed her to see ghosts… but I don't know what element that would be." Said Afiero as he looked back with a thinking expression on his face. But shaking his head, he quickly said, "Let's hurry up!"
Afiero quickly sped through the crowd, through people, as Mors quickly followed behind. Most people in the center were just talking to others and not moving too much, making it easier for Mors to get through the crowds.
Eventually, he reached another street he hadn't previously been on, called "Knowledge Road." Stepping on the road, he started to see a tower at the end of the short road. At first, it started out like the adventures tower and quickly grew in size as he got closer, except the details were different.
With the large main structure at the center, Mors found it made out of what seemed like steel with gigantic visible symbols printed on the walls of the tower. As he got closer, Mors noticed a second smaller tower just off to the side with the same details but a scaled-down version of the main structure. But since this tower was closed to the ground, Mors could see the top was crowned with what seemed like a shimmering cyan gem.
But the puzzling space confusion didn't stop there. Getting even closer, passing the distillery buildings to the side of him, Mors found that there were what seemed like sharp walls that seemed to slice the sky. Made of a shiny silver material, their tops were angled like a guillotine blade and curved so that they wrapped around the towers. Thankfully there were gaps between the sky blades for passage through them.
Marveling at it for a few moments, Mors continued to follow Afiero toward the building. Getting closer to it, Mors found more and more people dressed like Afiero in white cloaks with colorful stains. As he got closer to the tower's door, he got a better view of the people there, and quite a few also had pale faces with dark circles from lack of sleep, just like Afiero.
'Seems like Afiero wasn't the only one that didn't sleep enough in this tower.' Mors thought as he finally reached the door. Entering the grand solid doors, he was greeted with a flurry of loud yelling, a herbal smell, and a large sigh that read: Supreme Mage Tower.
As he was reading the sign, Afiero came closer to him and told him, "Ok, now follow me to the reception desk and just explain what's happening, ok?"
"Sure," Mors quietly replied as he followed after Afiero. This time Afiero didn't speed ahead since the crowd in front of them was running all over the place. Crossing the wooden floors, Mors passed through the waves of people, mainly in white cloaks but with some armor, arguing at some counters.
Going further into the building, Afiero led Mors to a largely unoccupied counter. Stepping toward it, Mors quietly said to Afiero, "Tell me what to say, and I will repeat it back…."
Afiero looked over at the old man and sighed. Then, deciding what the old man said would be the best plan, he quickly agreed.
With the arrival of someone at her counter, the counter clerk quickly asked the old man, "Welcome. What do you need?"
"Hello there, I would like to inquire if the association has the Almisha herb available… I read that it has the ability to calm slow-moving chaotic elements, and I need it to save someone…." Afiero said. Quickly parroting Afiero, Mors repeated everything to the best of his ability.
Looking at Mors for a few moments, the clerk seemed to check be checking Mors for something. After a few moments of nothing but the clerk's stares, she responded with, "It's in stock, but since it's a rarer herb, you need to be an alchemist to even buy it. I am only telling you this because you seem kind, but even I can't afford it. "
Mors felt saddened since this was a kind form of rejection. But before he could turn around, he heard Afiero say, "Thank you for your assistance, but is it possible that I could give you the money to purchase it in my stead and then give me the herb. My daughter is really sick and needs this."
Quickly realizing that Afiero wanted him to parrot this, Mors quickly said this. In response, the lady just sighed before stating, "Unless you got at least 10000 gold, then you are out of luck."
Hearing this amount of money shocked Mors to the bones. One gold was enough to feed a family for a year… 10000 gold was just a ludicrous amount. Mors only had a silver coin and a few bronze left, which is nothing close.
He didn't even have to look behind him to tell that Afiero was also in shock, so taking the initiative, he said, "Thank you for telling me this… I am sorry for wasting your time. Farewell," before leaving the counter.
Passing through the crowds, he felt Afiero enter his body to do something. Maybe to rest or tell Genn the bad news. Who knew at this point.
He felt a great sort of depressive feeling come across his mind as he realized he couldn't help out. He was hoping to get the herb and help out Genn's sister, and everyone would live happily ever after.
Wallowing and feeling back on his way to the exit after what Mors considered a failed mission, Mors exited the building. Walking along the path towards the town center, Mors felt something inside of him move in a way that told him that a ghost was exiting his body.
Stopping for a moment, Mors waited for a few moments before he heard a new voice, "Well, it seems like we will have to do something drastic. Time to…"