"Do you have E-Rank Stellar Sativa in your storage?"
Eren was at a herbal shop in the city of Osan. He was shopping for various things today. He asked about the herb to a young herbalist who was running a herbal store for potioneers.
This was Jake's subsidiary shop that was connected to the city of Laurel. So the chances of the shop had what he needed now were quite high. Plus, he didn't have to pay anything here. Jake had told the manager who was working under him to politely take care of Eren's needs without asking him a penny.
"We do, Ace Eren. But what do you need it for? Potioneering or consumption for meditational use?"
Eren pondered for a while and decided to learn about the difference.
"Can you tell me the effects of the herb when we use it for potioning or direct consumption? Also, I would like to see the products first."
The Novice herbalist nodded and fetched a staff member from his shop to bring the goods. Eren saw a stalk of the dark-green herb before him that had been dried a bit. He also saw a simple-looking, palm-sized, wooden box that had an array inscribed on its surface.
The herbalist started describing the herb's effects:
"Ace Eren, the stalk of herbs you see in front of you are what we call Stellar Sativa. They are relatively common among potioneers who are heavily dependent on the usage of stabilizers in their concoctions.
If it is used in its raw form, it acts as a stabilizer. And in its processed and concentrated form, it can elevate the quality of potions that aid in enhancing Intelligence stat.
But the stalks of Stellar Sativa are not ideal for direct consumption. Of course, you could consume them if your rank allows it, but they won't give you the most satisfactory results if your aim better results in ranking practice or…"
The Novice herbalist looked at Eren and had an inkling. Having lowered his voice:
"Ace Eren, are you suffering from any battle-related stress or anxiety? Or do you want to treat your nightmares that mess with your mana circuits?"
Eren internally applauded the herbalist for his knowledge related to herbs and their usage despite his young age. He nodded to let the guy know that he was indeed looking to buy the herb to treat his nightmares.
"Very well then. As I said, Ace Eren, these herbs are not ideal for direct consumption. You'd waste much of their potency if you do that. That's why we have these."
He placed the wooden box in his palm. He imbued his mana in the box and immediately a simple smoke appeared over the array. Turned out that the box was a storage unit for Stella Sativa sticks.
"This is a Stellar Sativa stick you can smoke as per your needs every day. It would calm your mental state while keeping your mana circuits in control. They say that it also nourishes your soul.
There are no side effects of using these sticks. However, you might need to avoid them in some serious situations as the effect they produce might interfere with your decision-making.
The stick is often used by time-element rankers to deal with the side effects of using their spells. It helps them have fewer time-dilution episodes."
The shopkeeper handed Eren another box of Stellar Sativa Sticks that was yet to be mana bound. Eren grabbed the box and bound it with mana.
Then he sent his mana sense and found a sizable number of sticks stored inside using the spatial magic. The internal storage of the box also sported arrays meant to keep the sticks in an ideal condition.
Eren took a hold of the Sativa stick that had appeared over the wooden box's array in between his index and middle finger. He first inhaled the stick by bringing it close to his nose and felt his mind calming down just by its aroma alone.
The stick also seemed to react with the surrounding mana– diffusing the mind-calming aroma in the air. But it would also degrade the smoke's quality the longer it was out in the open without being smoked.
Eren put the smoke in his mouth, held it with his lips, and lit it by using fire element mana on his index finger. The butcher inhaled the smoke it generated as soon as the stick was met with the flame dancing over the tip of his index finger.
The effects kicked right in!
Eren's shakes that he kept suppressed and under control seemed to have decreased considerably. The agitated mana circuits he had been having for days on end now seemed to have calmed down a bit. Plus, his mind was free of his memories of the nightmares he had yesterday.
Eren realized that, unlike the booze that hindered his mental capacity and his hand-eye coordination, the Sativa stick sped up his thought process.
'Hm? Used by time-element rankers to lessen the side effects of casting their spells, huh? I used the spells of that element so many times yet never experienced any side effects. I can only conclude that it is related to Alephee.
I wonder what would happen if a time-element user who doesn't have the side effects of using their spells starts to smoke one of these babies while the execution of their spells is still ongoing? Heh! No point in wondering. Let's give it a try.
Sedated Perception!
Eren activated Sedated Perception right after he took a puff from Stellar Sativa. He felt that although the time delusion didn't increase with the effects of the puff, he was in more control of himself in the stagnant world than he was before.
Sedated Perception he was using till now would overload his mind with a lot of useless information. But the puff from Stellar Sativa had given him a way to focus on what was important.
'This… this is great. If it could work on my nightmares and make them disappear, it would be worth it to keep loads of these in my storage. Hehe. Plus, it'd also serve as something I could use to lower my booze cravings."
Eren felt like he had found a suitable substance to take care of many of his issues in one go. He immediately asked the shopkeeper for the price. Turned out that the Sativa sticks were a bit expensive.
But no cost was too steep for his sanity and relief.
