Orien greeted his father, "Hello, Dad. I'm here to till the fields with you. Where would you like for me to help with? Don’t try to tell me that you don’t need help."

  His father let out a hearty laugh, "Okay, okay boy, you can help your old man."

  He passed a hoe to Orien and pointed to the area he was working. "Help me finish this up."

  One of Nordt's farmer friends clapped and said, "I wish my boy would till these fields. He is too tied up messing with girls, the damned playboy."

  Orien jokingly started to wonder if there was something he was missing out on as all the village boys seemed to be flirting with girls daily.

  Once Orien started to till the fields, it did not take much to get his muscles sore. Even his hands felt like they would blister just from swinging the hoe, but he continued. This was killing two birds with one stone; It was tempering his willpower and his body the good old fashioned way.

  He continued for as long as he could, just over an hour, before he felt he had reached his limit.

  "This never ceases to amaze me! My dad is truly an old monster to be doing this for almost a dozen hours a day,” he grumbled.

  He took a seat, watched the sun near the horizon, and knew it would be time to go home soon.

  He met up again with his father, who was caked in mud and sweat.

  "Good work son, that will put some hair on your chest,” Nordt paused before his gaze softened, "Also, Orien, your mother and I are both sorry for our pitiful displays as of late. You are shaping into a man that will be able to help us more than we are able to help ourselves soon, but at the moment, you are still growing. Forgive us for treating you like a child, we just are not able to treat our last born as an adult when he's still our baby.”

  He tousled Orien's hair and motioned to leave.

  Orien and his father gathered their things from the shed and then they headed home for the day while his words reverberated in Orien's head.

  He smiled to himself and thought, ‘This truly feels like a dream. Perhaps the bar is set low, but I’m truly grateful that my parents seem to be seriously making an effort to be better.’

  Upon arriving at his home, he gave his mom a hug, where she then shrieked upon seeing how muddy he was.

  "He was with me, no worries,” Nord said.

  The father and son got clean, and the family had another lovely dinner.

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  Orien let out a big yawn, “I’m kinda sleepy after such a long day. I think I'll study a bit then hit the hay”

  "Alright son, get your rest," his parents voiced.

  Once he reached his bedroom, he sat on his bed, but he did not go to sleep. Instead, his eyes became dodgy as though he was about to do something inappropriate, "Wisp, are you here? I have done everything that you’ve told me to do, are you ready?"

  Wisp appeared out of thin air before replying, "That’s right, my boy. You have done a good job letting yourself be seen on the farmland today. This is what we call building an alibi. Now, you should not ever be a suspect for what is about to take place but remember... One of Wisp’s golden rules is that you can never be too safe. You must ALWAYS be cautious in the world of cultivation. Now come, let us make a few more preparations."

  Orien and Wisp carefully laid out a few items. Black robes, a black scarf to hide his face, and a significant amount of rope.

  "I have already scouted out their entire manor. It ain’t too big but definitely lavish. You will approach from the east side of the manor. There are enough trees and bushes to keep you hidden, followed by a high wall. Once over the wall, you should land in a garden. You will lay down, and I will do a quick survey,” Wisp paused to ensure Orien understood before continuing, “I will be communicating with you through your mind, but I cannot get very far while we do this. There is really only one guard, but if he catches you, you will not be able to resist, so our goal is to evade detection completely. When the coast is clear, we will quickly get across the rest of the garden and scale the wall up to the second floor. There are some foot holds so you should be able to do it."

  Orien's eyes were glittering, and he licked his lips as if there was a fresh pie in front of him. He could not wait to steal from Geno's family.

  ‘The little rat has truly been no small pest to me. It’s a shame that I can’t rob Geno directly, but this would suffice for now,’ he thought.

  "Listen closely. This next part will happen in the time it takes for a spark to fly off of flint,” Wisp said, “You will find a window nearby, it seems that Geno's grandfather spends most of his time in this room. We will need to wait for an opportunity where he leaves, and we will strike like lightning and make our escape. It is too risky to wait for him to sleep, as I suspect that old man must have cultivated in his life. He is nothing special, but he may wake up if we try to sneak around while he is asleep."

  Orien nodded. He was mentally preparing himself for the task. He was quite good at climbing trees and was confident that he could do everything Wisp required of him.

  "Once we have our opportunity to strike, there is a drawer in a nightstand near his bed. Inside, a delicate box that holds not one, but two pills. There are probably two to three spiritual grasses refined into each, and it will be absorbed much more efficiently than directly refining some grass. For you, this must sound too good to be true, considering just one strand of grass is a luxury item you have yet to lay your eyes upon,” Wisp teased.

  Orien's expression gave him away. If this was truly as Wisp described, this was a heaven-sent opportunity.

  "Ummm... Wisp, I know I'm putting the horse before the wagon, but even if I get the pellet, would it not be strange if I experienced a sudden huge surge in power?" Orien asked with concern.

  "Ten steps ahead of you, boy. We will use half of one pill first and then delay the breakthrough enough for you to ace that evaluation. Once you move to the sect, you are free to consume the rest,” Wisp explained.

  "Okay, perfect. When do we leave?" Orien was too excited to commit his first robbery.

  "Patience lad, the sun may have gone down, but there are still too many people moving about. Give it a few more hours and we will act,” Wisp said as a seasoned thief.

  "Understood,” Orien nodded and prepped his mind.

  With that, the two con artists lay in wait for the right time.