The last grains of ruby sand slipped through the narrow glass neck, settling into the lower bulb with a soft rustle.
A clear, silver chime vibrated through the marrow of Kaelen’s collarbone.
[STAGE 2: TRI-TRACK FALLOW NOTIFICATION] [TRACK 1 (CULTIVATION VESSEL): 288h 00m / 720h (289x MULTIPLIER READY)] [TRACK 2 (MARTIAL COMBAT): 44h 00m / 720h (45x MULTIPLIER ACTIVE)] [TRACK 3 (ALCHEMY & COMPREHENSION): 234h 00m / 720h (235x MULTIPLIER ACTIVE)] [RECOMMENDED ACTION: FIVE-MINUTE BURST WINDOW AVAILABLE]
Kaelen tossed Book 4 of The Bandit King’s Secret Bride onto his camp stool and swung his legs out of the hammock.
“Water temperature?” he asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
“Eighty-four degrees,” Linnea said, pulling a glass mercury tube from the cedar tub. “The mineral salts are fully dissolved. It is completely stable.”
“Good,” Kaelen said. “Uncorking pills in cold water gives me goosebumps, and goosebumps disrupt the circulation.”
Barnaby snorted, leaning on his hickory ladle. “You are about to absorb two hundred thousand units of raw spiritual force, and you are worried about goosebumps. Clan elders spend twenty years fasting in glacial caves for this.”
