The two humans settled down in the living room one more after all the excitement. There was still some tea left which they nursed in their cups. I was thinking about becoming a [Witch] or finding a different Class. It almost seemed perfect. I would get more magic Attributes and it would make use of what I had already as well. And if I did, I could try taking an apprentice Class and have Mira teach me the basics. The big question I still had was what rituals could do.

I had received a notification after the potion was put away.

~ding~ Requirements fulfilled! For learning about the basics of witchcraft from a teacher you have unlocked the [Apprentice Witch] Class. Only one class can be equipped at this time. Do you wish to replace your current class with [Apprentice Witch]? Note, all progress will be lost in your current class.

That meant I would only have to get the one level to unlock my second Class slot.

“Mira, can you show me a ritual?”, I asked interrupting Circe’s babbling. The girl was way too lively sometimes but I found her quite adorable.

“I could”, the woman answered, “but I would need a reason to perform one. Rituals are exhausting both in resources and stamina.”

“Is there not a simple one to learn the basics?”

“There is not. Rituals are always specially created to serve one task. At least at my level. It is the only Class Skill I have not been able to Breakthrough even though I had access to it since level ten.”

“That seems insane… Your Class is evolved, correct?”

“It is”, she nodded, “If level 175 works just like 75 I would take the free Breakthrough then. But that is still quite a ways away.”

“It’s the same. I have a friend at a higher level. She has told me the details of what it did for her.”

“Oh? That has to be a good friend, then.”

I bobbed my head.

“What kind of friend?”, Circe asked, “A dwarf? Are they that high-level?”

“No. She’s a mantis.”

“Another sapient beast?”, Mira wondered.

“Ahem. I prefer to use beasts for non-sapient animals with high levels. It sounds much more savage which we are not.”

The [Witch] furrowed her brows.

“I apologize.”

“It’s fine. Yes, she is a sapient animal. Though she picked an Affinity instead of evolving.”

“Wait! Isn’t she super tiny, then?”, Circe asked.

“Yes. She could comfortably sit on your hand.”

“And still such a high level? That’s insane! How?”

“She holds a major node. I believe that is the main reason she was able to get strong enough.”

“A node? Aren’t those super dangerous?”

I was about to rebuke her when I remembered how one could possibly turn into a hungry node.

“It’s not that bad. There is certainly a risk but… it’s pretty low.”

“The Paladins would disagree. Then again, they can not just invade the Dwarven Hills. They are simply too advanced.”

I looked around the room. The house was more of a simple log cabin. Only the stove and the fireplace had been built from stone. There was no glass other than for the potions. And what they had was low quality as well. Even their dishes were wood and clay. It really was just far behind what the dwarves did. Then again, they had no small villages there. Serrington was everything they needed to feed everyone. Alongside some smaller fields and hunters in other cities, of course. If the dwarves had to hold small places such as this, they would likely not be as progressive. The ork valleys were just as bad for the most part. They had some magical technology thanks to thaumaturges but even that was rare and simple.

“I would be interested to see a bigger human city. Just to compare. Is the Cathedral the most advanced?”

“It is”, Mira nodded, “But it is not a good measure of what other settlements look like. The Crimson Church is simply that powerful.”

“I see. I still want to see it.”

“I want to go as well!”, Circe shouted. I nearly covered my ears with shadows because of the noise.

“No. You will reach your second Milestone at the very least before leaving.”

“But…”

“No buts!”

I clicked my tongue.

“I won’t leave anytime soon. I’m teaching my family Ordugh. That will still take a month or two.”

“Your… family?”, Mira questioned.

“Yes. They live in the mountains nearby and gained sapience sometime after I left. Until they know how to speak and at least one of them learns [Telepathy], I will stay around.”

“More owls?”, Circe beamed, “Can I get one as a familiar?”

“No!”, “No”, I and Mira shut her down.

Our eyes met and the woman snickered behind a raised hand.

“Circe, behave yourself. We will find you a familiar. Tomorrow.”

“For now, I want to try making a healing potion. If that is okay?”

“Why?”, Circe asked, “Don’t you want to take the apprentice Class?”

“That is a possibility but I still need a level. Learning something new about magic can give me that.”

“Unfair!”, the girl complained.

“Evolved!”, I shot back.

Laughter filled the room once more.

“I do not mind”, Mira said, “But if it does not work, you will dispose of it.”

“I’m not carrying over the water this time!”, Circe said.

“That’s alright. I’m going to get some.”

And with that, I moved out. Circe was starting to stand up to open the door when I simply pushed it with a tendril of darkness and I was back up in the air. A short flight brought me to the river and I filled my storage with enough water to try brewing a few times.

When I returned, the witches were in the workshop, preparing the ingredients I would need. They were surprised to see me back this soon.

“Do you need help?”, Circe asked.

“No. I’m fine.”

I dumped two buckets worth of water into the cauldron directly from my storage.

“You can do that?”, the girl exclaimed.

I ignored her and studied the ingredients. There was little sense in what I should take. My mind simply scanned the essence of everything laid out and took what felt right. With a few cuts of my talons, I prepared everything just as I wanted to before lighting up the fire.

Having to wait for the water to boil was a little boring.

“This is why you heat it beforewing?”

“Wing?”, Mira mumbled, “… Yes. You forgot.”

“I’m used to vis crystals or heating artefacts. They work a little faster.”

When the water was ready, I started dumping in the ingredients. I just then remembered that I should have the image of what I wanted to make in my mind. When I focused on making a healing potion, vis started to churn through my body. I decided to push forwards the aspects of life and healing, draw them together and seal it off with magic. That was about how it had looked like when Mira was brewing. Energy moved into the herbs and plants I planned to use and I felt how the essence started to separate even before I chucked them inside the cauldron. When they landed in the boiling water, it only took moments for everything to spread out thoroughly.

I realized I was going way faster than the [Witch] and pushed the image of the potion into the cauldron. My memories of the thaumaturgical crucible and the inlays all around its walls influencing the liquid dominated my will. It only took a few moments for the water to turn a deep red once my vis pushed inside it.

I tried to move the ladle with a tendril of shadows but as soon as it was inside the liquid, I could not exert enough strength to churn. So I jumped up on the cauldron’s edge and took the wooden handle into one foot. I had to balance myself by spreading my wings but after a few minutes, I was churning continuously. The magic was starting to bind the essence similar to what Mira had managed. But I felt I could do better. I pressed the vis into the proper shape and created a fixed structure of hexagons and triangles sticking together in a three-dimensional mesh. It looked a little chaotic because I had trouble keeping up the perfect symmetry all throughout the cauldron but it very easily caught the rest of the essence and set it up to fill the gaps as thin membranes.

When the last bit of essence was solidified, or rather, materialized, I pulled out the ladle. Circe held a flask ready for me and I started pouring the potion. One scoop, two scoops, a third… A total of seven was enough to fill it up. The cauldron was still holding a good amount of potion.

“Next flask”, I said and Circe obliged.

After everything, a total of four healing potions were standing in front of us. They had a very similar colour to what Mira had made and after she inspected one, her eyes widened.

“These are good! How? What did you do to make this much?”

Her face inching closer with every word made me a little uncomfortable. Still, I answered.

“I simply shifted the structure a little. Instead of single strands of magic vis, I formed a symmetrical mesh. Only once inside the flasks did it return to pure physical essence keeping all the imparted properties.”

“That is… How? Why do you have so much control? What is your Wisdom?”

After a moment, she realized what she just asked.

“I apologize. I did not mean to pry like that.”

“You’re fine. I have a lot of Wisdom but this time… I think it was one of my Skills that did most of the work.”

I checked my Status and just before it popped up, a notification interrupted me.

~ding~ Congratulations! For learning a new way to use essence, you gain experience! Extra experience awarded for improving the process!

~ding~ Congratulations! You reached level 100! You can now choose a second Class!

I had done it? Wow! This was… insane. And it was not yet over.

~ding~ Requirements fulfilled! For brewing your very first potion you have unlocked the [Witch] class. Two Classes can be equipped at this time. Do you wish to equip the Class with [Witch]?

It had truly worked! Two! Classes! And [Witch] was looking very tempting. I would probably take it. Though… [Brewing] might not be a Skill I needed. I had done better than Mira without having it. And she had several decades of practice. Finally getting to my Status, I confirmed the reason for my ability to brew. The Skill had levelled after all.

Species: Sgiathan Dorcha Owl (adult)

Age: 2

Name: Fio Catori

Gender: female

Status: sapient, healthy, Beast Core (unique, enriched – medium)

Level: 100

Class: [Assassin lvl 91], -

Strength: 38

Constitution: 36

Dexterity: 41

Perception: 42

Intelligence: 96

Wisdom: 96

AP: 0

Skills:

Racial:

Utility: [Owl Senses lvl 7], [Preening lvl 4], [Owl Stomach lvl 7], [Sgiathan Dorcha lvl 7]

Offensive: [Solid Grip lvl 4], [Intimidating Screech lvl 4], [Owl’s Shadow lvl 7], [Aerial Combat lvl 4]

General:

[Imaginatics lvl 7], [Hidden Identify lvl 7], [Telepathy lvl 4], [Guidance lvl 4]

Assassin:

[Sneak lvl 7], [Shock Attack lvl 6], [Mingling lvl 7], [Eldritch Shift lvl 8], [Winged Death lvl 6]

[Imaginatics] was now level seven. It had let me keep the mental image of my geometrical structure. And I believed it was very likely my knowledge of thaumaturgy was what let me come up with the idea. That meant, the apprentice Class looked appealing as well. If I could get something like [Familiar Bond] and [Ritualism] as my starting Skills for [Witch], I would have much more space for something actually useful.

“Now. I think it’s time I check back on my family. I’ll come by tomorrow morning. I might just take you up on the offer of becoming your apprentice.”

Mira smiled.

“I honestly do not know how much I could teach you. This prowess you show without even [Brewing] is rather insane. Though, these healing potions are less potent than what I make.”

I furrowed my facial feathers.

“Maybe what I did diluted it? Yeah. That seems likely.”

“Are you really leaving already?”, Circe asked.

“Yes”, I chuckled, “But I’ll be back tomorrow as I said. We’ll find you a good familiar, yet.”

“It’s a deal!”

The girl looked like she wanted to hug me so I shoved a tendril of darkness out of the open window and shifted outside.

“See you!”, I sent as my wings pumped the air.

“Tomorrow!”, Circe laughed after me.

This was a very lively place. I could enjoy spending some more time here.