"That is correct." He clears his throat. "We are, however, a team. Your weakness, our weakness, isn't that so, Cerenios? Erithea?" he asks in a booming voice.

"Yes," they both answer, amusement brewing between the two of them.

"So it is settled. Rest assured, you will not die, human." Ze gives me a confident nod.

He might be annoying with his supercilious attitude, but he is good at what he does. That means I have to put my trust in him—well, not that I have much choice considering I'm the only one dying here.

"Back to the map?" Cer interjects.

"You may proceed, Cerenios." Ze gives him a nod.

"As I said earlier, we are here. There are two major forests in P'davi. There is one that is located right next to our complex, here." He points to the gathering of trees represented next to our complex. "But there is another one here."

Ze narrows his eyes. Picking up one of the history tomes, he rapidly sifts through the pages, his pupils moving at the speed of light. Before I can even blink, he closes the book, placing it back on the desk.

"One of the plants is endemic to the western forest while the other two are found in the eastern one."

Did he just read the entire book in a matter of seconds?

"That's...impressive," I mumble in awe.

His lips curl up as he soaks in the praise.

"The most efficient way is to split up. Two of us will go to the eastern forest and two will go to the western one. We would then meet again at a designated location to make the brew."

Ze nods.

"It should be a medial location to the two forests. The farther away from the complex the better. We don't want to risk an ambush when we return with the plants," I offer.

"Cerenios and Erithea will tackle the eastern forest. I will take the human to the western one," Ze declares.

"And we have no say in this?" I raise a brow.

"No. You do not." He pins me with his gaze. "This is the optimal division of labor." He doesn't wait for a reply as he turns his attention to the botany books, flipping through them and absorbing all the knowledge.

"I am ready," he proclaims, grabbing my hand and pulling me to my feet. "I will communicate a meeting place at a later date," he tells Cer.

"Just be careful, Ze. Don't overdo it. Now more than ever..."

Ze gives him a tight nod.

"What are you doing..." I hiss as he all but drags me toward the door.

"The western forest is a good distance away from here. We need to depart now if we want to make it in time."

"Fine," I exhale deeply. Wrenching my hand from his grasp, I follow behind as he leads the way.

Thirteen days.

In thirteen days, I will be dead if we don't find those plants.