Rising from the Ashes (Andrew and Lauren) novel Chapter 1358

Quinton snickered from his seat, clearly enjoying the moment. "With so many ingredients, just remembering their names and effects is enough to drive someone insane. Andrew, you've dodged failure so many times—this has to be the end of the line for you."

Christina remained silent, but the bitter knot in her chest began to loosen. If Andrew finally stumbled here, maybe she could breathe a little easier.

Finally, Andrew reached out, slowly sifting through the mountain of herbs in front of him. He moved without urgency, casually picking and discarding ingredients as if he had all the time in the world.

Preston and Clifford exchanged a quick glance, a silent smirk passing between them. In their eyes, Andrew's slow, meandering approach was a clear sign of someone struggling to stay afloat, just grasping at straws.

In stark contrast, Mosby and Thomas moved like lightning, their hands darting through their respective herb piles with practiced precision.

Mosby, in particular, seemed to radiate an intense, almost otherworldly focus, his long hair and beard stirring gently as if caught in a phantom breeze. His hands flew as he plucked the needed herbs and tossed them into the gently simmering cauldron beside him.

The essence of The Golden Cure lay in balancing the medicinal properties of hundreds, sometimes thousands, of different ingredients, reducing them down into a single, potent elixir. The depth of one's skill and the sophistication of one's technique determined the potency of the concoction.

Malcolm's expression was extremely grave. From what he could see, the quality of Mosby's concoction was superior to Thomas'. Mosby had already selected over a hundred ingredients from the thousand available.

"Thomas is in trouble," Malcolm muttered.