The names, some details and a rough sketch (very rough) was sprawled on the piece of paper that Houren was examining. The day's employer, Khalash, had passed it to him, saying that it was these herbs that he needed to collect for the potion, a job that Houren had believed to be easy enough when he accepted it. After all, if it was just a matter of collecting herbs and getting paid for it, he didn't even need to be a mage to accomplish the job; he could have been a schoolboy needing to make some money for the upcoming holidays. The first one, as Khalash had put down in words, was something known as a curly fern, and underneath the illustration there was a short note which stated that this particular herb was not all that difficult to find, but only fresh ferns would be accepted. It was a reasonable request, Houren thought to himself as he spotted a couple of curly ferns in the distance; folding and then shoving the piece of paper into his pocket, he scurried over to where the curly ferns were and began to inspect them. Fortunately, there seemed to be a patch of them growing in the area, and upon weeding out the ones that did not look as fresh, Houren stuffed the acceptable ones into his pouch before consulting the paper again.

"Blue lichen?" the Fairy Tail mage thought to himself. Apparently, unlike the curly ferns which were commonplace in East Forest, this next herb grew exclusively on old, rotting logs. This tip certainly made things easier for him, as he could now narrow down his search to fallen stumps. The first one that Houren searched did not yield any results, likely because the log was not as old as some of the others. He had similar luck with the second one, but as the saying goes, third time's the charm, as he finally managed to get his hands on some blue lichen. Satisfied with the fact that he was collecting the herbs and making good time all the while, Houren placed the blue lichen into his rucksack and turned his attention to the piece of paper once again. From what he could gather, there was only one ingredient left, but it was by and far the most difficult to obtain; a red leafed vine that is only found on the biggest trees in the deepest trenches of the forest. Houren sighed, and began to delve deeper in.

He had no way of gauging exactly when he was deep enough in East Forest, but ultimately decided to stop when he noticed that the trees were becoming abnormally tall. Slapping both cheeks with his hands, Houren mustered up the courage to climb one, and after a few unsuccessful attempts, he finally found himself face to face with something that resembled the sketch that he had been given by Khalash. The Fairy Tail mage's reach was substantial, and for that he was very grateful as he managed to pull off a vine. Suffering an immense amount of ''rope burn'' in the process, Houren allowed himself to slide down the trunk of the tree, only letting his vice grip go when both feet were planted firmly on the ground. He took only a second to admire the vine before stuffing it into his rucksack, which had grown large from all the ingredients that Houren had collected. Fortunately though, this was all, and he could now head back to Magnolia's principal drug store in preparation for the brewing.

He had gone pretty deep into the forest, but at the same time, it could be said that this was simply training to familiarize himself with the place. His previous quest had involved this area too, and he could even see the old hermit's house in the distance (Houren knocked, but his old friend did not seem to be around today). Eventually, Magnolia became visible to him, and sooner rather than later, Houren was back in the town that he had been living in for the past half a decade. Unlike the East Forest, which was a place he did not enter unless absolutely necessary, Houren was capable of maneuvering around the central area of Magnolia with his eyes blindfolded, and as such, he was busting through the drug store's door in a matter of minutes after returning to town. The Fairy Tail mage and the drug store owner exchanged the briefest of greetings before he handed over the herbs. As it were, Khalash already had the cauldron ready, and had been eagerly awaiting the last ingredients of the potion. He took the rucksack, inspected the contents and threw the whole thing inside, Houren's bag and all. For that, the Fairy Tail mage hoped this request would be worth it.

"Ah, an accident I assure you!" Khalash suddenly piped up when he realized what he had done. Immediately, he headed over to a cabinet to retrieve a ladle and a small vial. Scooping up some of the potion up, he handed it over to Houren and gestured for him to take a sip of his newly brewed elixir. "Be my guest and take the first sip, even a drop of my latest brew is worth at least a dozen of your old rucksacks!" the man chimed enthusiastically. The rucksack had been a memento given to him by an old friend who was no longer of this Earth, but Houren decided to hold his tongue as a strange sensation began to engulf his body, as though energy were being pumped into his system. It seemed like this elixir was the real deal; it did exactly what it said it would do on the tin, that is, to raise the magical capability of a mage. It was not substantial, but it had never claimed to be. Houren nodded his approval much to the delight of Khalash who clearly did not want the completion of the brew to be marred by the fact that he had vandalized a man's property. A metaphorical light bulb blinked above the man's head, as he headed behind the counter of the store, searched for a second, before returning with a bag of jewels. He handed the bag to Houren and allowed him on his way.

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