"You know. If you save some of those, I could try baking with them." I tell the pixie as we leave the shop behind. I was going to try cooking with one after leaving Northwood, but Apricot ate them all before I got the chance.

"But then I wouldn't be able to eat them right away." She says while sucking on a mana stone like a hard candy.

"I still can't believe you eat mana stones." Amelia shakes her head before stopping suddenly and turning to Apricot with a deadly serious expression. "Keep your hands to yourself when we get there. They've got a mana node on display in the lobby. Its the pride of the guild as no one else has ever been able to move one before."

"We don't mess with the nodes." Apricot says just as seriously. "If we did that, then no more stones would grow."

"Well, don't try plucking any stones either, if it even has any." Amelia starts guiding us again. "I hear that it barely produces, which is probably why it's on display where anyone can get to it."

"Not surprising with the Deadlands so close." The pixie nods sagely. "The river helps, but I wouldn't want to get any closer than this."

"Are you okay being so close?" Amelia's worry mirrors mine.

"I'm fine." She skips closer and takes Amelia's arm in hers. "Being bonded with you has increased how much I can draw on the ambient mana. Between that and Sorrel's magic rich food, I'm doing great."

"Well, you tell us if that changes. Alright." They walk arm in arm into the entrance of a large building.

The interior is much more richly appointed than the rather boring outside. But, my eyes skip over all that and lock onto a large dais in the center of the room. Inside a circle of glowing magical script is what looks like a tall cluster of dull crystals, but my magical sense is telling me is... well, not a plant, but not pure stone either.

"Oh, I've never seen one so dim." Apricot pulls Amelia closer to inspect it. "Yeah, it's barely getting enough mana. Look at those tiny stones, no Fae would even bother with anything so small."

"No enchanter either." A rather smarmy looking man says while walking closer. "It's a marvel that Greenfield was able to relocate a mana node, but it hasn't produced more than this since his death over a century ago."

"Mister Olivar, nice to meet you again." Amelia puts on a smile that I don't think anyone who didn't know her well would be able to tell is fake.

"You as well Miss Rialta." He nods his head to her. "Doubly so since I hear you played some part in exposing Dotty's plot."

"I just told Captain Leonard of my suspicions, it was all him and the magistrate." It's really weird seeing her act so polite to someone I can tell she does not like at all. "And, of course, Apricot and Sorrel were responsible for spotting and stopping the bandits."

"Well, then." He offers us the exact same nod of the head. "You have my thanks and the gratitude of the entire enchanters guild. I'm afraid I have business to attend to elsewhere, but feel free to stop by my shop anytime. I'd be happy to give you a discount on anything you need."

"Thank you, sir." I mirror his nod back to him. "I may just take you up on that offer."

"See that you do." One more smarmy smile plays on his smarmy face before he leaves.

Amelia waits until he's well out the door before giving herself a quick shake. "Ugh! I never liked that guy."

"I can see why." I send a sneer in the direction he retreated to. "Guy reminds me of a used car salesman, only worse. Thank you for steering me away from his shop."

"Amelia, is that you?" A woman in her mid-thirties call out from the same hallway Olivar came from. She's somewhat plain-looking, but has a kind smile. Her medium brown hair is held up in a bun by what looks like glowing blue chopsticks. "You didn't run into Olivar did you."

"Hi, Rozelle. And, yeah, he just left." She nods to the door.

"Nnh. The little shit probably went to buy himself some more votes." The woman takes a deep breath before letting it go with a sigh. "Sorry, sorry. It's just so frustrating dealing with that man, he only wants the position so he can line his pockets."

"You all should give Ferne the job." Apricot says with a laugh. "I bet Dotty made her do all the work anyway."

"You must be Apricot and Sorrel, the guards mentioned the three of you were responsible for spoiling Dotty's plans." She gives us a much more genuine smile than Olivar did. "And, I'd love to give the job to Ferne. Dotty treated her horribly, but we're quickly learning that she held this office together. Unfortunately, she's not here; and even if she was, it's doubtful anyone would vote for her. I'm having enough trouble getting support myself."

"Anything we can do to help?" Amelia says earnestly. "I can't help but feel somewhat responsible for this mess."

"No! Dotty is responsible for all this." Rozelle practically spits. "But, unless you know how to get all the enchanters on my side, there's not much you can do."

"I might have an idea." I speak up for the first time. "But, maybe we could speak somewhere private?"

While they've been talking, I've been plumbing the depths of the mana node with my magic. At first, I thought it might be some of mutated Lithop, but that was way off. The thing is more like an algae that has developed similar to a coral.

It seems to feed solely off of mana and somehow developed the crystal to channel it throughout the colony. With the excess being stored as mana stones, most likely because the colony can only take in so much at a time and has to offload the rest.

"Uh, sure." The enchanter shrugs her shoulders. "We can borrow one of the empty rooms."

"What is it?" Amelia asks once we're sequestered in a room. Apricot and Rozelle share the same questioning expression as the blonde.

"So..." I draw the word out trying to decide how to proceed. "You need something big to draw the other enchanters into your camp, right?"

"That would certainly help, yes." She nods.

"Okay. What if you were able to bring that lovely mana node in the lobby back to life? And, not only that, but grow as many as you wanted?" Apricot and Amelia instantly get an idea of what I'm talking about. But, poor Rozelle just looks dumbfounded.

"That would be great, but people have been trying to get that dumb rock to produce for over a hundred years with no luck."

"Well, those people aren't me." I drop my shapeshift and reveal my Plantkin features. "And, that's not a rock."

"Ooh, it alway gives me the shivers whenever you do that." Apricot licks her lips. "I understand why you prefer to look human, but you really do look nice like this."

"She's not wrong." Amelia agrees.

"Mhm." I just shrug and shift back before my pants fall down. "Give me some time, okay. And, before you ask. I'm a Plantkin." I add this because I could tell that the enchanter was dying to ask.

"So, you're saying that mana nodes are actually plants?" She just tilts her head in confusion.

"No." I shake my head. "It's more like an algae, which although it looks and acts like a plant, isn't one. But, it is close enough for me to affect. Do you know what coral is?" Seeing three blank looks I pull out some paper and draw a few pictures. "It's a colony creature that lives in the ocean."

"Livingstone." Rozelle calls out once she sees the third picture. "It's a rock that grows like a plant."

"It's actually a bunch of tiny animals, and the 'rock' is just their shells." I correct her understandable misunderstanding. "This algae has somehow done much the same with its crystal."

"So, the stones are its fruit?" Apricot looks confused. "Why didn't you sense it before now."

"I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I think the node actually a victim of its own success." I smile at her. "See, it feeds solely off of mana, but just like how regular plants can be harmed by too much sunlight, it can be harmed by too much mana. And, that crystal draws in mana like crazy."

"So, it needed somewhere to put the excess." Her eyes light up when she gets it. "It couldn't just let it go because the crystal would just draw it back in again."

"That's my best guess, yeah." I nod and turn to Rozelle. "So, do you think discovering the secret to mana nodes is enough to draw people to your side?"

"If what you're saying is true, then yes." She looks a little wide-eyed. "I'd need you to join the guild as my apprentice, but that's just a formality, you wouldn't have to do anything. But, we've tried everything to make that thing grow, mages of all stripes have tried feeding it mana to no avail."

"Yes, but even if they were nature mages they probably specialized in plants, or animals... maybe fungi. And, algae are none of those. It can also be finicky as hell to keep alive which explains why no one else has been able to move a node without killing it."

"What do you need?" She finally seems to believe me.

"To grow mana stones? Nothing." I answer straight away. "But, if you want another node. Then I'll need another one of those mana collecting rings like what's in the lobby. The ambient mana is too low to keep one alive on its own, and I can't feed it all the time."

"Is that all." She looks incredulous. "I've got one in my shop. Every enchanter worth the name has tried to re-create that circle to discover what Greenfield did differently."

"A small piece of the main colony would be nice." I add. "But, I can probably make do just by drawing some of the algae out onto my finger."

"Let's see if that works first before you go breaking pieces off." Her face has this mixture of nervousness and excitement.

"So, if Sorrel is your apprentice, does that mean he gets a discount at your shop." Amelia's merchant side comes to the fore.

"Hahaha." Rozelle cracks up laughing. "If this works, I'll give him anything he wants for free. I want to see if you can make a stone grow first, it won't be strange to see another mage trying their hand at making it grow. But, even if it does, I want you to pretend that it didn't work. Can you do that?"

"Shouldn't be a problem." I nod and head over to the door to hold it open. Once we're out in the lobby I start our little play. "I just want to thank you again for this opportunity, there's so many devices from back home that I would love to re-create."

"Not a problem." She plays along. "But, before we head to my shop. Do you want to try your hand at making the mana node grow? Everyone tries it at least once, for all the good it does."

"Might as well." I shrug. "We were up in Northwood, but I never actually got close to one. Is it alright if I touch it?" At the node itself, I keep my mana focused in a small spot that can't be seen from the rest of the lobby.

"Oh well, maybe next time." The enchanter struggles to keep her voice level as I palm the stone that I just grew. "The gods know I must have tried a hundred different things to get this thing to grow a stone."

...

Somehow Rozelle was able to hold it together until we reached her shop. But, as soon as we were inside, she started cackling like a madwoman.

"Mom?" Jared snaps upright like he was just woken up from a nap, which he was. "What's going on? is everything alright?"

"Better than alright, baby." She runs behind the counter and pulls him into a big bear hug. "Momma just got herself a brilliant new apprentice who's going to help her lock down the position of guild head."

"Um, I hate to interrupt the celebration." I clear my throat. "But, these are some greedy little buggers, and there's not nearly enough plant life around for me to recharge my mana from." I hold up my finger with what looks like a tiny grain of salt on it.

"It worked?" She rushes back over to me and grabs my hand to hold it steady. "It worked! Hahahaha. Come on, come on." She drags me into the back without letting go. "Now, where did I put that blasted thing."

Meanwhile, Jared just looks confused, and the girls are giggle at my predicament.

"Is that it up there?" I point to the top of a tall cabinet where I can feel the mana being drawn to.

"Yes! How did you spot that?" It was covered in a ton of junk making almost impossible to see. "Never mind. It's already active, so just put the node in the center." She dumps the contents of a table on the floor and sets the circle on top.

I keep a careful eye on the node as it adapts to the new environment. "And... it's stable. Hungry, but stable. That crystal takes a lot of mana to grow, so if you want more than that tiny grain, I'm going to need to be around a lot of plants."

"You can recharge your mana pool?" I don't think she heard me the first time. "I've heard that high tier mages can do the same thing, but mostly with fire."

"Yeah, Sorrel is somewhat gifted." Amelia smirks.

"He's a gods send is what he is." Both Amelia and Apricot start cracking up when Rozelle says that. "Did, I say something funny?"

"Sorry, it's a bit of an inside joke." I just shake my head at the two giggling goofballs.

"Whatever." She waves it off. "Do you know what this means?"

"That I'm not going to go broke trying to keep Apricot stocked up on snacks?" I toss the stone I collected earlier over to the pixie who promptly pops it into her mouth.

"Mmm, that's a good one." She moans while sucking on the stone.

"She eats them?" The enchanter's eyes go wide.

"She's Fae." I get that she's much larger than usual, but the wings really do give it away. "They survive on ambient mana, but the stones are their favorite treats."

"That's only because most of them have never tried chocolate before." A laugh bubbles out of the pixie's lips.

"Hmm? Now I want to try mixing the two." I think about it for a second before shelving it for later, and turning back to Rozelle. "So, like I was saying. If you want a lot of growth, I'm going to need a lot of plants around. My farm just outside the north gate would be ideal, but I can ask the Baron for a favor if you want to wow the whole guild at the same time without leaving the walls."

"I think you broke her, Babe." Amelia holds back a laugh at the stunned look on the enchanter's face. "Here you go, Ro." She hands her a chocolate bar. "Just take a bite out of this, and you'll start to understand how he can so casually mention asking for favors from the Baron."

Ro just opens her mouth and takes a big bite; her expression shows clear enjoyment, but she doesn't comment about the treat. "Okay, you go arrange things at the Baron's. I will talk to my supporters and tell them to spread the word that I have something that will revolutionize enchanting."

"Noon tomorrow work for you?" I ask before she can take off. "My recharge trick needs sunlight to work. Oh, and I really am interested in learning about enchanting. I wasn't just acting before, there are a lot of devices from back home that I'd like to try re-creating."

She walks over to a bookshelf and pulls out all the books from one whole shelf. "Enchanting primers." A couple of slim volumes. "And, the runic dictionary." The whole rest of the shelf.

"Wow." I laugh nervously and pick up the first primer. "Huh?" It looks like a mix between an electric circuit and one of those drag-and-drop programming languages. "That's a lot of math, but it seems to be mostly algebra with some geometry. Oop, spoke too soon." I flip through the book until I find what looks a lot like a calculus problem. "Wait... I know this one; you just need to use this formula." I wasn't sure at first because of the translation, but it clicked after just a moment.

"What?" Rozelle snatches the scratch sheet out of my hand, on it is the fully solved problem. "Solve this." She hands me a much thicker volume from one of the higher shelves on the bookcase.

"Ugh, why did it have to be math? I was hoping I'd just have to draw some squiggles in magic ink or something." I sigh and work through the problem she hands me. "Here you go." I hand over the completed solution a minute later.

"You? But? What? How?" She sputters while goggling at the piece of paper in her hands.

"I was a scholar before I came here." I reply. "I may not like maths, but I'm not bad at them. Though, if I do get into enchanting for real, the first thing I'm going to make is freakin' calculator."

"Nnh, do you have any more of that chocolate stuff?" She asks Amelia somewhat pitifully.

"Here." I hand over a small box full. "Now, we've still got a few stops to make. Do, you mind if I get some lights for the house, everything else can wait for later."

"Uh-huh. Jared, get him a basic toolkit and whatever he wants off the shelves. I need to go talk to some people." She cradles the chocolate under one arm and walks out of the store still reading over the differential equation filling the paper in her hand.

"Hahahah." Her son starts laughing his head off as soon as the door closes behind her. "Oh, that was amazing. I've seen her struggle with the stuff in that book for hours at a time. And you solved it in under a minute."

"Nng, you should have seen my last mid-term test." I shudder just thinking about it. "I think half the class was crying by the time it was over and done."

...