Drawing Near

Galan examined his left hand closely, letting the light stream in through the window.

Only after confirming that it hadn't become transparent again did he secretly breathe a sigh of relief and pull his hand back under the covers.

Although there were no abnormalities at the moment, Galan was still worried about leaving his hand outside.

He turned to look at Lia, who was still fast asleep and didn't seem to be waking up anytime soon, which reassured him a little.

If that hand disappears again when I'm not paying attention, it would be troublesome if Lia saw it.

When I came back last night, this hand was just like last time... no, even more exaggerated than last time. In the darkness, the exact outline of the hand was barely visible.

It was clear that my time in this world was beginning its final countdown...

Although it's a countdown, Serie initially gave a full three years, and I've only been here for less than a year, so why is my body already starting to experience these unusual changes?

Galan gave a bitter smile, suddenly feeling the urgency of time. If he didn't spend more time with Lia, he might suddenly disappear one night while he was sleeping.

Hmm...?

Sensing the movements of those around her, Lia finally woke up.

She mumbled something and rolled over, then realized something was wrong, sat up, and squinted at Galan. "Galan, shouldn't we have breakfast?"

"Pfft, seeing that the two of them would start the new day with such an opening, Galan couldn't help but burst out laughing first."

"My goodness, look at the time!"

Galan pointed to the sun, which was already high in the sky outside the window; clearly, the two of them had slept until noon once again.

Strangely enough, Fitz hadn't called him to the shop to brew potions for two days in a row. It seemed the boss and Frog hadn't finished discussing things yet.

Thinking about this gave him a headache again, but he knew that thinking too much would only add to his troubles, so he simply gave up and stopped worrying about how things would develop.

"Hmm... Speaking of which, we should go look at some apartments today."

Galan put on his coat, then suddenly remembered this matter and looked at Lia with a serious expression.

"Viewing apartments?"

Lia was somewhat confused. She glanced at the bed beneath her, then scanned the room, before finally fixing her gaze on Galan. Her eyes conveyed the message: Why are we looking at the house? Isn't this our house?

"This is just a temporary Inn for us, it's someone else's house... Since we're going to stay here for a long time, we should really buy our own place."

He found it somewhat unbelievable that he and Lia had been staying at this Inn for almost half a year.

It's not surprising that Lia reacted that way; even he himself often subconsciously considered this place as his home.

But every morning when he goes downstairs and sees the boss standing in front of the counter, it suddenly reminds him that he's just staying in an Inn.

"If you want to live comfortably, you really need to own your own house."

97

Galan suddenly remembered his little cabin on the outskirts of Rogley. So much time had passed, yet his longing for that cabin had only grown stronger.

He wasn't originally a wandering poet; he still deeply longed for a place to settle down permanently.

Since I still have some time today, I might as well take advantage of this time to go out and look at houses.

"Buying a house... does it cost a lot of money?"

"Eh..."

Upon hearing what Lia suddenly said, Galan's initial enthusiasm vanished instantly.

Yeah, buying a house in [Äußerst] is definitely not an easy thing.

The little money I have is fine if I just want to get by, but if I want to buy a house, it's a bit tight.

After all, this isn't a small city like Rogley; the money I have might not even be enough to buy a decent house.

The key question is, even if I could grit my teeth and buy a house, what would happen after that?

Are we just supposed to live our lives as they are going to be?

He looked at Lia in a daze, not expecting her to break down an adult's psychological defenses with such a casual remark.

Even a hero can be brought down by a penny!

Is working for the boss's shop really the only way for me to earn money?

Or should I try secretly brewing some potions and selling them?

I might even make a lot of money on my own working privately. The main problem is that I feel a bit embarrassed to borrow money from Frog to buy a house.

After all, he probably won't be able to get this debt back from me unless he can scrape together that amount within two years...

"Sigh..."

Galan scratched his head in frustration, suddenly feeling lost and confused about life.

Yes... yes!

That's it!

The disheveled man shouted excitedly in the dimly lit storage room, as if he had accomplished something earth-shattering.

There was no one in the shop at that time. The boss was out arranging a collaboration with someone, so no one heard his unrestrained laughter.

Although there were no spectators, it did not affect the man's mood at that moment.

After all, in his view, a true sage should be in such a solitary and invincible state when he reaches the pinnacle.

He laughed for a very long time before slowly stopping, not because he calmed down, but because he really couldn't laugh anymore.

For several days in a row, he stayed alone in this small storage room, working on his final piece.

He mostly ate water and hardly any staple food, but the hunger did not dampen his enthusiasm. On the contrary, the continuous breakthroughs in progress brought about by his inspiration allowed him to successfully reach almost the final step after hundreds of failures, thanks to his previous experience with [Function Bundling].

Looking at the dark yellow liquid in the pot, which emitted a strange aroma, Fitz felt his mind surging like never before. Inspirations he had never had before flooded in, leaving him momentarily unsure of which ingredient to add for this last step.

Fitz is now venturing into uncharted territory in alchemy, a field that has remained largely uncharted for nearly a thousand years; it is a true pinnacle of achievement.