Arianna had so much to do in the days following their move into the house—into their base. After settling in, she and Cassis helped Liam and Camden with their move. Helen, of course, had hired a moving company, claiming she was too old and fragile for the task. Arianna had snorted at that. Fragile? Sure. Helen was about as fragile as a tiger in silk.

A few days later, Elena showed up with a young woman barely out of her teens, along with Ben and his parents. They were there to talk about the website. Donations had slowed down significantly, but some were still trickling in, which, honestly, amazed Arianna more and more every day.

She was floored when Elena admitted she had quit her job to focus on their PR full-time. Not only that—she'd already hired someone: Layla, a university student studying media marketing. The moment Arianna heard that, a bolt of panic ran through her. What if this didn't work out? What if she'd convinced her friend to give up a stable job for something so uncertain?

Cassis and Elena quickly calmed her down, grounding her with their voices and practical reassurances. Once she could breathe again, they all sat down and brainstormed ideas.

First, they decided to link her and Cassis's social media accounts to the website. Arianna had no idea how that even worked technically, but Ben assured them it would be seamless. Then he brought up something they hadn't thought through properly yet: the online training lessons. He suggested bringing in Janice to help moderate the sessions. She'd watch the chat, field questions, and filter them for Arianna and Cassis so they could stay focused on teaching and demonstrating.

Cassis immediately agreed—it was something they'd overlooked—and Arianna felt a wash of relief. That made so much sense. Elena chimed in too, grateful that someone else could handle that part, since she was already managing their profiles and marketing.

Speaking of marketing, Elena had another idea. She wanted to do a video tour of their new base. Layla patted her professional-looking camera and smiled, clearly excited to get started. The tour would be about their NGO headquarters, not their home. Elena emphasised that it needed to look professional. Maybe a few glimpses of them as a sweet couple—just enough for the image—but mostly it should be about the mission.

That instruction sat oddly with Arianna.

Cassis hadn't touched her and hadn't been ok with her touching him in days. They hadn't really talked about anything personal, and they'd both been so busy that she'd let it slide. But now? Now they were supposed to play the happy couple on camera, and it felt… strange.

Cassis, however, didn't seem fazed by the idea at all. He nodded, calm and composed. So, Arianna pushed her discomfort aside and agreed too.

They did the tour, starting in the living and dining room, which they presented as their central meeting space—a place where their team would gather to discuss projects, missions, and the bigger picture. It looked bright and welcoming on camera, with the large table already stacked with folders, notebooks, and empty coffee mugs that gave it a lived-in feel. Elena seemed pleased.

Next, they moved to the small garden and terrace out back. Arianna explained that this was where they'd hold their online training lessons, weather permitting, and also where they planned to train. There was just enough space for sparring, meditating, and experimenting with spells. Layla captured shots of the early-morning light playing off the wooden planks of the terrace and the neat row of potted plants the previous owners had set up as a visual buffer. It gave the place a calm energy, even if the magic they planned to experiment with here would likely be anything but calm.

Upstairs, they entered Dominic's former room—now Cassis's workspace. He'd already installed his desk and organized cupboards filled with books, notes, and labelled folders. He explained that this was where he'd work on clearer, structured guides for the skills and features they'd discovered so far—"real tools," he called them, "to help people navigate the system, not just survive it." Elena nodded approvingly, mouthing something to Layla behind the camera.

The next room had a new desk, simpler in style, and shelves not yet full. There was a new notebook on the desk, some paper notebooks for doing some rough drafts and some more books about medicine Arianna had bought. She introduced it as her workroom—where she'd be researching spells, mana behaviour, and practical applications for day-to-day survival.

From there they showed a quick peek at the kitchen and utility areas—functional, unglamorous, but necessary—and ended the tour with a short statement in the living room, thanking everyone who had donated for making this possible. They spoke about the future, about sharing everything they learned, and about building a space that was more than just a headquarters, but something real, something that people could be part of, eventually.

Arianna tried to sound confident during the whole thing, but the dissonance stuck with her. Cassis stood close, even brushed her hand once when the camera wasn't pointed directly at them, but she still felt the gap between them. It wasn't about the camera or the crowd. It was something quieter, deeper.

Still, the tour was done. Layla gave them a thumbs-up and Elena looked satisfied. That would go online tonight, and tomorrow the training would begin. Ben promised to contact Janice and that she'd be there tomorrow right after school.

Saying goodbye to everyone else, they left with Elena and headed to her house. Elena had mentioned that her father-in-law, Joseph, wanted to speak with them about the farming projects. He'd grown increasingly concerned about the food situation—basic necessities had become scarcer in recent days—and was determined to get started as soon as possible.

When they arrived, Joseph and Noah were already outside. Noah ran up to his mother and threw his arms around her waist, grinning as he said, "I missed you!" Elena laughed and hugged him tightly. Arianna felt a little tug in her chest at the sight. It was such a warm, simple moment. For a brief second, she imagined herself in that kind of life, with a child running toward her like that. But she pushed the thought away, focusing instead on Joseph and the task ahead.

Joseph wasted no time. As they walked into the house and sat around the garden table, he began explaining his thoughts about mana farming. Most of it went over Arianna's head—he spoke about soil composition, pH levels, compost layering, crop rotations—but one thing stuck: he believed mana might behave similarly to nutrients or fertiliser. Specifically, he wanted her to check for mana density in the soil and air.

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That caught her interest immediately.

They decided to start in Joseph's backyard, which was far more spacious than hers and Cassis's. Joseph and Danielle had already ordered equipment to expand this operation eventually, but for now, they'd begin small. The seeds had arrived, at least.

Joseph explained that before the System appeared, certain patches in his garden always produced better results. Now that he could see earth mana, he suspected there was a connection. Those same patches had a denser concentration of it.

Arianna activated her mana sight and looked closely. He was right, but she saw even more. Not only was there a higher concentration of earth mana in those areas, but there was also more water mana and even denser traces of plant mana.

Then Joseph showed her the seeds. "I can't see any earth mana on them, but some of those seeds feel different." He sorted those that felt different to him into his other hand.

Arianna immediately knew why they felt different. They practically glowed with plant mana. The others didn't react at all. It was strange. Had the glowing ones mutated naturally under mana exposure? Or had something, or someone, caused it? Joseph didn't know either.

Curious, Arianna took one of the "normal" seeds and attempted to push a tiny amount of water mana into it, gently.

The seed exploded in her hand.

Cassis shouted, rushing toward her, but she was already healing the wound—it wasn't too deep, just messy. Joseph looked horrified, but she reassured him with a quick grin. "I'm okay. Just not the best method."

Still, she wasn't ready to give up.

Against Cassis's objections, she took another seed, this time feeding the mana in much more slowly and carefully. The result was better—the seed didn't explode, but it cracked. Still unstable. Maybe water mana wasn't the right type, at least not on its own.

Next, she tried a controlled stream of neutral mana, watching as the seed briefly glowed—then the light faded as the mana seemed to drain out again. It didn't hold.

She turned to Joseph. "Can you try with earth mana? Just a little, like how you'd trickle water into dry soil."

Joseph gave her an apologetic look. "I don't have that kind of fine control yet. I can see it, direct it inside my body for a bit but directing it outside like that? No way."

Arianna nodded. That was fair. She had her necklace to help in the beginning. It was natural that other people needed more time. She looked back at the seeds thoughtfully. There was potential there, but they'd need to work on it. Could her Shared Channelling be used here? Would it even work with someone other than Cassis? She had to try.

Arianna looked at Joseph. "Can I try to direct your mana? It'll probably feel weird," she warned.

Joseph hesitated for only a moment before nodding. Cassis, however, frowned. Whether it was concern or something else, Arianna couldn't tell. Maybe he just didn't like the idea. Well, too bad. After how distant and cold he'd been acting the past few days, he didn't exactly have the right to police her choices. Maybe she was a little angry.

So what?

She placed one of the normal seeds into Joseph's outstretched palm, then gently rested her hand on his wrist. With slow care, she wove a stream of neutral mana between them, coaxing a small trickle of Joseph's earth mana toward the seed.

But just like before, it cracked and broke apart.

So—earth mana alone didn't work either. She hadn't expected it to having come up with a theory after water mana didn't work. But how to test it? Arianna bit her lip. From everything she'd seen, plant mana felt like a fusion—water and earth combined in some natural balance. Could she replicate that? And if so, how?

She had water mana. Joseph had earth. But combining them… would it be possible to draw his earth mana into her body, mix it with her water mana, and then infuse the seed? The idea burned bright in her mind—reckless, maybe, but too intriguing to ignore.

"I'm going to try something," she said aloud. "I want to pull some of your earth mana into my body and combine it with my water mana. I think it might create plant mana."

Both Joseph and Cassis looked alarmed.

"Are you sure that's safe?" Cassis asked, his voice tight.

"No," Arianna admitted, "but I need to try."

Before they could protest further, she took another seed into her left palm and reached for Joseph's wrist with her right. Focusing her neutral mana, she reached out, gently pulling a sliver of his earth mana toward her own flow.

The moment it entered her system, her world lit up with pain.

A violent, searing pressure burst through her chest and limbs, making her knees buckle. She collapsed to the ground with a gasp, sweat breaking out across her brow, vision blurring. Her muscles locked in place, a thousand sharp spikes of energy stabbing her from the inside out.

Joseph shouted in panic. Cassis dropped to his knees beside her, hands hovering, eyes wild. "Arianna?! What's happening?!"

She couldn't even scream—just breathed through clenched teeth until, finally, the pain subsided enough to move.

"I'm okay," she croaked. "Just... way worse than I thought. Let's not do that again."

Cassis was pale. He looked like he wanted to yell, but instead, he simply hovered closer, worry etched into every line of his face. Joseph stood back, hands trembling slightly, clearly shaken.

"I don't know what went wrong," Arianna said, giving a shaky laugh. "At least we learned something. Sorry, Joseph. I'm too tired to keep experimenting for now."

She gestured toward the glowing seeds. "Let's just plant the mana-infused ones in the high-density soil over there and keep the rest for later. Maybe we'll see a difference."

Cassis helped her stand. He was touching her now with almost obsessive care—checking her fingers, rubbing her shoulders, brushing her hair back to look at her face. Her right hand showed faint signs of some kind of burn… or maybe electrocution. She wasn't sure.

A quick healing spell pushed the lingering pain away. She straightened, feeling steadier, but Cassis still wouldn't let her go.

"Thanks for trying, Joseph," Cassis said tightly. "But I'm taking her home."

Joseph nodded, his expression softening with understanding. As they turned to leave, Arianna paused.

"Oh—before I forget. Try touching the soil you plant them in as much as possible. From what I've seen, we all emit tiny mana particles of our affinity, so some should go into the soil you're using. Let's see if that affects anything. You should be able to do that as it doesn't require fine control but happens naturally."

Joseph gave her a thumbs-up and returned to the patch of garden, beginning to prepare the glowing seeds for planting.

Cassis almost carried her home. She had to insist on walking, and even then, he had an arm tightly around her waist. Once inside, he led her straight to their bedroom and didn't stop until she was under the blanket.

"Just sleep for a bit, okay? You must be exhausted."

"But I don't understand what happened," Arianna murmured, mind racing and tried to get up. A quick check of her status showed that Cassis was still the only one she had Shared Channelling with. "If it's that unstable, maybe that could be a weapon… if directed right—"

Cassis gently pressed her back down and knelt by the bed. "Please," he said quietly. "Just rest."

It wasn't the words that stopped her. It was the look in his eyes—the desperation, the worry, the way his voice cracked at the edge.

Arianna's breath caught.

"Alright," she whispered and lied back down.

Satisfied, Cassis climbed in behind her and pulled her close, wrapping his arms tightly around her, holding her in a way he hadn't in the last few days. "Don't do that again. Please. It was terrible watching you in so much pain that you couldn't even scream. Please take better care of yourself. Please value yourself more." He whispered that into her shoulder, then gave her a small kiss where her neck and shoulder met.

It was intimate the way he was touching, kissing and holding her. She liked it so much. She had missed it for the last few days. Not understanding what had changed, or if anything had really changed, she let herself sink into his warmth, heart still pounding from the pain—and something else she didn't want to name.

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