Glad to hear it! Do you have the seals for me yet?

Eight Tails dispatched them last night, so,

They should be here, I'll have a look around and send them by express mail.

She searches obvious places in the house and texts Cocoa if she can't find them.

Cocoa's left Trys' share on the kitchen table with a note.

Here's your four. I recommend Swiftsnake Couriers for the mail, they handle cultivation artifacts frequently.

She googles Swiftsnake Couriers, then. And calls a phone number, if she finds one.

They specialize in moving fragile, expensive and confidential cargo, fast. The receptionist is professional and quotes a slightly eye-watering fee for overnight delivery to Berlin.

Ouch.

"-Okay, give me a minute to check something and I'll call back."

Cocoa said something about getting her some money a few days ago? If that hasn't just - materialized in her bank account she'll text him and ask if he wants to buy a few blood and qi pills for cash.

There hasn't been an abrupt materialization. 

You want to sell qi and blood pills?

Don't, we'll support you. There's a black suitcase on the top shelf of the first floor closet. The code is 5272. Make damn sure you get the code right, it's trapped. Inside will be three compartments, one filled with cash and precious materials, one with a selection of credit cards, and one with thick stacks of rank five sword and armor seals. The seals are for defense of the house ONLY, don't mess with them. You can take one of the black credit cards and use it for your own; they have a limit of a million American dollars and are paid off entirely by Senior Starlight monthly.

...

ok

That much money doesn't feel real and it doesn't feel like i should have access to it. The nice house is one thing if it would otherwise just be empty but. idk.

Each of those qi pills is worth about a thousand pounds, just so you know.

She doesn't respond. She's a little shaken, actually. This is at least slightly insane.

Well, she can take the black card - carefully, after double checking the combo twice - seal the case up again and call the delivery company. For that price they'd better send someone here to pick it up, though. She'll eat lunch while she waits.

You should ask Snow Rose how many Qi and Blood pills she'd trade for one of those rank five armor seals. 

The company comes by and picks up her package.

To Cocoa,

OK. Thanks for your help.

DM'd to Winter Rose,

Winter Rose, your two seals are on the way by Swiftsnake Couriers. [tracking number]. I'm still deciding what to do with the others, but how many qi and blood pills would you offer for another?

Thank you! A hundred sounds fair to me.

...Turtle Breathing costs two hundred thousand pounds.

Okay, I'll consider it, but for now I'm going to get back to my training. Goodbye for now.

Trying very hard to forge three more strands this afternoon seems to be the correct response to feeling overwhelmed like this! When she sucks on the same pill she's been using all this time, it finally disappears completely, and she thinks 'car payment gone'.

Investment. It's an investment and she has to make sure it's efficiently applied.

She gets one, but after that her progress slows to a crawl with multiple failed attempts. The turtle breathing meditation she did seems to have worn down her capacity to draw out strands.

Ugh.

...Worth it. It was amazing to spend a solid hour underwater, even if all she did was swim back and forth in that pool.

How's miss Anna? 

She texts Cocoa later.

Grumpy as always but she seems a little more relaxed now. She was obviously tired when I saw her.

Let me know if you need help or think she needs a visit or anything. I'm feeling a bit wrung out though so might just sleep early.

No, I'm cool. Get some rest.

Time to sleep, then. And have a nice if slightly incoherent dream about freediving in coral reefs.

And in the morning: More training. Fourteen so far, the number is going up steadily...

She gets another two in the morning without too much trouble. It's definitely getting easier as she goes, though the effect is fairly subtle.