Back in my room at the inn, I sit on the bed with my staff laying on my thighs. "System-chan, please display my Status." *Ding* "Wow, all those points I spent on growth were more than worth it. Please distribute my ability points evenly, with any leftovers going into the mental stats first. I'll save my skill points for now." Plantkin typically have low growth potential, but make up for it by being extremely long lived. While I may not be over powered right out the gate. With my growth potential and the bonuses I picked for skill growth and learning, I'll get there soon enough, and keep going.

"Now, for you my new friend. Identify!"

*Ding*

-Livingwood Staff. This staff is bonded to you as it's creator, it will grow as you do and gain new abilities over time. Note: Only Plantkin will be able to correctly Identify Livingwood weapons, to all others it shall appear as a well made, yet otherwise unexceptional staff.-

"A growth weapon, and I'm level 2, not bad for someone who was born yesterday." I chuckle at my own joke. "Let's see, I've got a few hours to kill before the services tonight and, while I'd love to just sit here polishing my staff-"

*Ding!* System-chan rings out in what sounds suspiciously like a bark of laughter for a bell chime.

"Glad to know someone appreciates my sense of humor." I say with a smile. "But, I should be practicing my magic while I've got the chance. Oh, I know. I'll need to pay off Lisa with some more lights when she drops off my clothes later." Setting my staff to the side, I lie down on the bed and start conjuring lights. At first it's hard going, trying to make anything but round lights. But, after about thirty minutes of making lumpy blobs. Something clicks in my head and I'm able to create simple shapes with ease.

*Ding*

-You have learned Mana Manipulation, it is now Level. 1-

"Yes! That's exactly what I was hoping for. Now, it's time to see if I can't get a little artistic." Ten minutes later, I unlock the Sculpting Skill. Rapidly improving from that point, I spend the next hour or so immersed in my magic. Only stopping when I noticed the color of the sky was starting to change through the window. Proud of what I had created, and the Skill gains I had wrought, I looked over the room full of floating sculptures. The plant shapes and flowers had come easiest, animal shapes somewhat less so, and artificial man-made items looked cartoonish at best.

Picking up my staff and heading out the door, I can hear the chatter of children drifting up from the stairs. "I hope the girls were able to keep Amelia distracted from what's happening tonight." I say to myself as I start heading down to the common room.

"Mister Sorrel! Mister Sorrel. Over here, I've got your clothes! Gramma said you'd make me some more lights if I delivered them to you." Young Lisa shouts out as soon as she sees me coming down the stairs.

""Us too! Us Too!"" The other kids bellow out.

"Yes, yes." I call back from the foot of the stairs, raising a hand, trying to calm the horde. "Everyone will get lights, but you have to settle down first. Annie, Lisa, since you two were my helpers today, you get to go first."

"Aww." A few of the kids groaned in back.

"Don't worry, I've got something special for all of you." I hold my staff out, wondering why I didn't think to use it for this before, and cast.. "Light!" The magic almost rips through me as, with a thought, I conjure elaborate flower crowns for the two girls standing in front of me. Then, with a small wave, the room is suddenly filled with dozens of different flowers, gently floating down to the waiting hands of the awed children.

Using the staff to hold myself up as a wave of exhaustion flows over me, I speak out to the now hushed room. "I put more magic in these so they'll last longer than the lights from before. But, like all flowers, they will fade eventually. Now, it's getting dark. I want you all to run home before your parents get worried about you. Okay."

""Yes, mister Sorrel."" They chime out, almost as one. Carrying their new prizes out the door, chatting with their friends and comparing the different blooms. As soon as they're out the door Fred comes up and helps me to the nearest chair. Annie is showing her crown to a woman I haven't met before, but judging by their resemblance, must be her mother.

"That was one hell of a show Lad." He says once I'm settled. "You didn't have to exhaust yourself like that though." A look of concern in his eyes.

"Thanks Fred. I wanted to do something special for them and was practicing for most of the afternoon. Probably should have thought to practice casting with the staff first though." I chuckle. "I'll be fine, it just pulled the magic out a bit faster than I was expecting. Though, I wouldn't say no to another cup of that tea."

"Sure lad, coming right up." He walks off and Amelia joins me at the table.

"That was a nice thing you did. And I'm not just talking about the flowers."

"Guess you caught me." I admit with a rueful smile. "I know tonight isn't going to be easy, and wanted to do what I could to distract you from thinking about it too much."

"Thank you." She says with a sad smile.

Fred returns with my mug, and we sit in silence for a few moments, waiting for Maddie or Leonard to show up. Maddie shows up before I can finish my tea, and ends up leading us out the gate and around the wall to the west. After a short walk we come upon a small graveyard ringed with wrought-iron fencing. The grave markers are small, polished squares of stone. The yard itself is tidy and well kept, with some fresh flowers on a handful of the graves. We meet up with Leonard, his guards, and an older gentleman in dark robes. The man turns out to be the local priest, and leads us through a short, solemn ceremony. Silent tears fall down Amelia's cheeks from the time we entered the cemetery, until we return to Fred's inn, where he settles her in next to the fire with a mug of, what I suspect is, something much stronger than tea.

Not in the mood for small talk with the others, I make my way upstairs hoping that Amelia won't be too hung-over in the morning for an early start. Casting Cleanse on myself and my clothes before striping down, and slipping into bed. I'm out cold within minutes of my head hitting the pillow. Only to be awoken in what feels like the middle of the night.

"...Sorrel." The voice and the gentle flickering of candlelight is coming from the door of my room.

"Huh, Amelia." I start out of sleep. "Is everything alright?"

"M'mm shorry." She slurs. "I cahn't shleep. Please" She starts crying. "I don't want to be alone."

"Oh geez, this is a bad idea." I say before pulling some pants out of my inventory and pulling them on under the covers. Dressed, I get up and walk over to the drunk girl. "Come on, let's sit you down and get some water into you, otherwise you're gonna be useless come morning." I exchange her candle for a cup of water poured from the pitcher left on the room's table. "Drink up, it'll help. That's a girl. Now lie down and rest your eyes, I'm right here, I'll sit next to you and keep talking until you can fall asleep." I try telling her, only to find she's already passed out.

"Thank goodness for that." I say softly while placing the basin next to the bed, just incase the alcohol comes back up on her. "I'm no good with emotions at the best of times, and crying drunk girl is far from the best of times." Retrieving the bundle of cotton from my inventory, a muttered Plantshape later and I'm left with a serviceable mattress and a pile of fuzzy seeds. Blowing out the candle, I lie down at the foot of the bed and cover up, hoping to drift back off to sleep. It takes a while, but eventually her soft snores gentle me back into dreamland.

Waking to some unknown sound, I look around just in time to see the door close. "Guess it's time to get up." I say peering out the window at the slowly brightening sky. Casting Cleanse on myself again before pulling on a new shirt, I go about sorting out my pack. Mostly by turning my old pants into a sack and tossing almost everything I bought yesterday into it before shoving it all back into my inventory. Learning in the process that foodstuffs either, don't spoil, or spoil at a much slower rate while in my inventory.

Fashioning a second sack from my makeshift mattress, incase Amelia has stuff that won't fit into her bags, and a pair of socks, because even perfectly fit boots need a pair of socks in them. To make the pack look filled out, I then shove some of the cotton in there with some fruit and jerky, for snacks, before tying the cook pot and freshly filled water skin to it's sides. Pack ready, I sheathe the dagger onto my left hip and head downstairs, the sun not even peaking over the horizon yet.

"Mornin' Sorrel" The innkeep greets me with a chipper smile. "You look all ready to go, how's the young lass?"

"I heard her get up, but.. Well, if that slurring I heard last night was any indication, she'll be needing a headache remedy."

"And some strong tea, please. Maybe some dry toast." The person in question says from the stairs. Her overstuffed saddlebags slung over one shoulder, and equally filled backpack over the other.

I choke back a laugh before rushing over to help with her luggage. "Here, let me take these. I know I said I'd keep everything in my Inventory, but just how much stuff did you get? Never mind, here." I hand her the cotton sack. "While Fred's getting breakfast ready. -I'll just take some juice, by the way, thanks.-" I give him my order before returning to the hung-over merchant girl. "You can put the overflow from the saddlebags and anything you don't need while walking from your pack into this. Then I'll fill the pack out with some extra cotton."

"Yes, yes, anything, just quit shouting." She says with a wince.

"Sorry." I whisper. "Just be glad I got you to drink some water before you passed out. You'd likely be worse off if I hadn't."

"It get's worse than this?" The incredulous look on her face is enough to make me start chuckling.

"Aye, lass." Leonard interjects from the door, lowering his tone after seeing her wince again. "Fred started watering it down for you after the second cup. If you'd actually drunk as much as you tried to last night, you'd have been lucky to get on the road by noon. Ah, here's the hero himself, and it looks like he has a dose of his miracle hangover cure for you."

"Willow bark tea is hardly a miracle." The Heroic innkeeper counters. "You just need some fluids in you, and you'll be right as rain in no time. Now what's all this mess?" He gestures to her bags.

"I'll be carrying everything in my inventory." I answer for her as she takes a sip of her miracle cure. After explaining my reasoning behind the bags, both men nod.

"Smart lad, you won't have to worry about thieves that way, and traveling light while still being able to carry everything you want... That just makes me jealous. Hah!" Leonard barks out, and surprisingly enough, it doesn't cause Amelia to wince again. "Feeling better lass? Told you it was a miracle cure."

"Thank you Fred." She says with an immense look of gratitude on her face. "I'll get this mess cleared up in just a second." Quickly emptying her pack of anything she deems unnecessary.

Storing the extra bags to sort out later, I fill her pack with cotton, then finish my juice and stand up. "Looks like this is it, Fred. Thank you for taking care of us. And, tell Annie I said goodbye. Maybe next time I stop by, I'll have learned how to make the light spells permanent." Waiting while Amelia gives her own thanks, I shoulder my bag once again and turn to the guard captain. "If you would lead the way."

Then before I knew it, with little more than a few words of advice from Leonard. We were on the road south. I let Amelia set the pace while I dance around behind her, checking out and collecting samples from any interesting plants. The siblings' plans had been similar to what Leonard recommended I do. So, we'll be heading to Riverton and joining a trade caravan to the Capital, provided nothing goes wrong of course.

Stopping by a small creek for lunch. The merchant's daughter asks me to bring out her bags and starts rummaging on them while I use Magic to fill our water skins. More for the practice than because I doubt the creek's cleanliness. "So, you never did say. What is all this stuff you bought?"

"Ah ha! Here it is." She exclaims. Pulling a small jar of paste from the bottom of the bag and applying some to her lips with a smack. "Most of this is stuff I had planned to get in Riverton for the caravan ride. But, I knew I'd be able to get it cheaper in Southwood, and since you're doing all the heavy lifting..." She trails off, looking somewhat embarrassed. Before bouncing right back. "Oh, and when we stop for the night, can you please make me some more bags, or at least add some pouches so I can organize this mess."

"Sure, I've got enough cotton left to make a few bags. I want to experiment with Plantshaping anyways; right now I'm just fusing the fibers together. I'd like to try some actually weaving, maybe see if it gets me some skill levels. At the very least, it'll help me improve my control."

"What's it like?" She asks, a bit of awe in her voice.

"Magic?" I raise an eyebrow at her sudden inquisitiveness. "The plant stuff comes natural to me, I almost don't even have to think about it. It just does what I want. The other elements each have their own... 'feel' to them, I suppose. I could say that Air is flighty, and Earth is solid, that Water flows, and Fire consumes. You might understand these statements, but each one is only a tiny sliver of the whole. Earth for example, it feels as much like a fragile egg, as it does a solid stone. And Water, yes it flows down, but it also drifts up to the clouds. Take this spell I used to fill the water skins, I'm not pulling the water from the creek, I'm pulling it straight from the air."

She gives me a disbelieving look. "I don't get it. Aren't things just the way they are?"

"Yes, exactly! And magic shows you all they are, and all they can be, and if one know how, let's you change them." I nearly shout with excitement. "Come here, give me your hands, I want to try something."

"Uh, okay... Do you know what you're doing?"

"Not a clue!" I say, happily. "Just because I read some stuff when I was younger, doesn't mean I know anything about magic. I'm just going on guesswork and instinct, really." Seeing her hesitate, I reach out and clasp her hands. "Just relax, close your eyes, and feel inside yourself." She closes her eyes, but doesn't relax. "I'm just going to send some mana through one hand, into your chest, and then back out the other. I'm not changing anything, it's more like I'm holding ear against your chest to hear your heartbeat. Only, more so." Seeing her nod, clearly a bit afraid, but still willing to trust me. I move my magic forwards and send a trickle of mana, ever so slowly through her. It wants to fight me and break free, but not wanting to hurt her, I fight it under control and guide it back out. "Did, you feel anything?" I question, somewhat fatigued by the unexpected exertion.

"Maybe, I think... It's kinda like... I'm not sure..." She trails off looking pensive.

"See? Now you know how I feel. I think there is something there, but that tiny trickle of mana took a lot more out of me than I expected. Let's get back on the road, and we can try again after we stop for the night."

"Really? Do you think there's really a chance I could learn magic? Become an awakened like you?" Hope shines in her eyes.

"I think there's a strong possibility. The magic clearly reacted to you, and you felt... something. I'll try a more focused probe later, maybe you're connected to just one or two elements. And having everything go through at once just made it all confused."

"Well, what are you waiting for?" She barks. "Pick up those bags, and lets get going. The sooner we get to the campground Leonard told us about, the sooner we can rest."

"Yes, Ma'am!" I walk over and nudge the bags with a toe to shift them into my Inventory. Summoning my staff from the same System-chan generated space, I gesture down the road with an. "After you Ma'am."

"Damned lazy recruits, can't even bend over to pick up a bag anymore." She teases me with a worried smile at the staff that I haven't needed all morning. Starting down the road without commenting on it, she turns her head back to say. "Well, get a move on, recruit."

Her worry fades as soon as the effect of the mana drain does and soon we're back to our routine. Though, she seems to have almost as much bounce in her step as I do. The day soon fades away in a companionable silence. When the sun is still a few hands above the tree-filled horizon we reach what must be the campgrounds that we were told about.

Dropping off the bags, and making a few new ones, I head into the forest to collect firewood. Passing through the thicket that must have been cultivated to provide this safe space in the middle of the woods. Earning a grumble from Amelia about "Stupid mages doing the stupid impossible, like walking through a wall of thorns. Just wait until I Awaken."

Ignoring my faux-grumpy friend. I circle the thicket, checking and occasionally bolstering its integrity, while tossing any nearby deadfall into the clearing. "Okay, now you're just showing off." She speaks up again after seeing whole branches sail trough the thorns, without even a single snag.

Finding no flaws in our night's defenses I head back inside. And, after collecting the firewood I build up a proper fire, but hold off on lighting it just yet. "How goes it? Will those bags be enough?" I ask my companion, as it seem she's nearly done.

"Yeah, this is good. Uh, before we start on the whole magic thing, could I ask a favor?" Pointing off to the right. "Can you please do something about THAT."

Looking over I spot a small ditch in the back corner of the clearing. Walking closer to what must have been someone's harebrained idea for a latrine. "Yeah, good idea." I tell her. "I was going to seal the entrance once it get's full dark, and this is just a joke. Plantshape!" Pounding my staff into the ground I clear the roots from where I want to dig. "Earthshift! Earthshift! Earthshift!" It takes three casts to get the hole deep enough.

Sprinkling a handful of seeds around the new excavation, I cast two more spells in conjunction. "Growth! Plantshape!" Growing the wall posts and seat of our new outhouse, I send tree roots down the hole's edge to reinforce it. Dozens of saplings rise up from the ground and begin to weave and grow into each other forming three walls filled with diamond shaped holes. Two thicker trees planted about a foot apart, just in front of the hole, grow up and cross through each other before folding over and rejoining into a smooth oval toilet seat. Sprinkling some more seeds, I cast "Growth!" Once more. Dozens of vines and climbers fill in the walls before flowing over the front to drape down as a living curtain door.

"..." Amelia tries speaking, but seems to be left speechless.

"You said something about me showing off?"