Nozomu smiled, "I know, it’s to change the taste and effects of some drinks, mostly wine. Better than a branch from a tree, we could use leaves from black tea, because those kinds of leaves have an excess of tannins."

"We have that type of tea! The Priest is always drinking it, he says it keeps him awake during the day when he stays up late, reading."

"Yes, that’s also the effect of the tannins, they give a stamina boost, and you don’t feel sleepy."

Taisetsuna slowly nodded, "It makes sense, because the book says that if a few steps are skipped, the Healing Potion can turn into a Sleeping Potion, but how do you know that?"

"I... maybe I read it in a book?"

Taisetsuna stopped walking while pushing a bush to the side, "Last night was the first time that I ever saw you reading a book without complaining that it was boring. How could you read about tannins if you always fell asleep when we were studying? Or during the Priest’s lessons?"

Nozomu shrugged and used his question to change the subject so that Taisetsuna didn’t continue, "I just know that tannins are like that, then. Beats me how, and I am not worried about that. You said that we had to dry the leaves, right? We put them on the ground to let the sun dry them, or what?"

Taisetsuna smiled and gathered a tiny Fireball in one hand, and a tiny Wind Tornado in the other, "Or we cheat and I use this together. A few seconds with a Fire Tornado around the leaves will be enough. I just need to be careful and not let the leaves get too much heat, but this is the method I use after taking a bath to dry my body, so I have experience with this technique."

"Yeah, that would work, alright. It must be nice, being able to use Magic like that. If I could do it, I would make a bunch of cool things. Fire Needles, to pierce a target! A huge Fireball to obliterate a rock! Wind Punch, to knock out an opponent! Oh, even better, small Wind Tornados on my feet to make me fly! That would be so cool!"

Taisetsuna laughed while bending to avoid a branch, "Hahaha! No one makes Magic like that! I can’t even imagine how to do it!"

"Ok, but did you ever try it? You said it was just a matter of visualizing what you wanted to create, so if you can imagine, you can do it, right?"

Taisetsuna shrugged, "It could work, but I don’t have such control over my Magic to do something like Wind Tornados to make me fly. Magic is cool, but if you lose control, things can get ugly and dangerous very quickly."

"So, how do you improve the control of your Magic, then?"

"Years of practice. Older Mages are able to do some amazing things because they have been using Magic for years, and their control became better as they used their Magic."

Nozomu made a slight frown and, after some minutes of silence, he asked, "What about if you spent entire days with a Wind Tornado in your hand, controlling it, not letting it dissipate, making it twist in different directions but always controlling it? That would be the same as using your Magic sporadically over several days or years, right?"

"No one does such a thing! But... I suppose it could work, but it would be so boring! Can you imagine the entire day keeping a Wind Tornado on my hand? How would I eat? Or do anything?"

"I suppose you could move the Tornado to the top of your head, or to the tip of your tail if you needed to use your hand. With time, you would do it without even thinking, and it wouldn’t be boring."

Taisetsuna looked at him with wide opened eyes, "That could work! The Priest always said that we need to repeat movements until we get muscular memory and then you do them without even thinking! Maybe that can also apply to Magic! I am going to try that after we make the Potions!"

"Why after? Why don’t you start right now? We still have to walk for a while to get out of this forest."

Taisetsuna immediately followed his advice and made a tiny Wind Tornado on top of her left palm. She slowed her pace because she was focused on controlling the Tornado, so Nozomu guided her by holding her right hand.

"I help you, worry only about that Tornado, I won’t let you fall or hit a tree."

Taisetsuna didn’t answer because she was having a hard time maintaining the Wind Tornado in her hand. It was more difficult than she thought at first, because she was used to gathering a bunch of Magic, make a Wind Tornado, and throw it without worrying about keeping it under control over her hand.

During their walk back, she lost the Tornado once or twice after some minutes, but on her third try, she kept it steady for almost thirty minutes, but that achievement was making a tool on her. She was getting tired by the minute, she started to sweat, and when they finally exited the forest, she was panting and having a hard time catching her breath.

Nozomu asked when he noticed the drops of sweat coming from her forehead, and running along her chin that then fell to the ground, "Are you alright? You look like you have been running for hours!"

The Wind Tornado dissipated, and Taisetsuna made a big smile, "Yeah, I am dead tired, but I am getting used to this! It’s becoming easier to control the Tornado, and I can control it to do some twirls. A few more days, and maybe I can make it move differently! It will be very difficult for you to evade one of my Wind Tornados if it keeps changing its course and shape, right?"

"For sure! But you are awfully tired, I don’t know if you will be able to use your Magic to dry the leaves. Maybe it was a bad idea to train your Magic today."

Taisetsuna sat on the floor to catch her breath and placed her hands on the ground behind her. She looked up and took a few deep breaths before speaking again, "I just need to rest for a while. The Priest always made us train for hours, so my stamina is high. Despite the fact that I feel as if we were training for the entire morning! I am so, so tired! Let me be here for a while, we will go back in an instant, ok?"

"You can even lay on the grass if you want, and sleep for a while. Do you want to use my lap as a pillow? We are in no hurry, right?"

Taisetsuna looked at him with a puzzled look, "You don’t mind being still for a while and let me rest? You sure have changed."

Nozomu sat on the floor next to her and tapped on his thighs, "I hope the change was for the better. Here, use this for a pillow. It is a little hard, I suppose I have more muscles than I was expecting."

As Taisetsuna was lying on the floor and getting more comfortable, she said while closing her eyes, "I like this version of you, you are kind and always worried about me, and that is a nice change. Not that you were mean to me, but you tended to not care about what I thought or did more times than I would like."

Nozomu gently rubbed Taisetsuna’s head and slowly, his fingers went for her right ear, and he touched the back of the ear right at the point where it connected to her head, making Taisetsuna to release a low purr. She moved her head a little with her eyes closed, and Nozomu saw a slight smile on her lips.

"Did you just purr?"

"Yeah... You touched a very sensible spot, for a Cat-kind. It’s like if you touched my tail on the spot where it connects to my back. It can be a little kinky in some situations, but it can also serve to make me relax. If you continue, I will fall asleep in no time."

Nozomu immediately stopped touching Taisetsuna, "Sorry, I didn’t know! It wasn’t on purpose, believe me!"

She pulled his hand to her ear again without opening her eyes, "Too late now. Finish what you started, I was feeling really good and ready for a nap."

Nozomu slowly and carefully touched her ear again, and his fingers caressed the same spot, making Taisetsuna to purr again in delight. He thought to himself, "|... Amazing, just like a real cat. Well, if she likes it, I don’t see any harm with this. …|”

Nozomu slowly and gently caressed Taisetsuna’s ear, and her breath became shallow, and she fell asleep. He looked at the Unicorns, and they were both staring at Taisetsuna, puzzled by seeing her sleeping on the floor on top of their food. They grazed the grass around, glancing at her every now and then. As for Nozomu, he was looking at the sky and enjoying the fresh breeze on his face.

...

After a long time, Nozomu gently shook Taisetsuna’s shoulders. She slowly opened her eyes and stretched her arms and legs. Nozomu noticed that even her tail was stretching, and she then asked, "That felt nice. Did I sleep for how long?"

"I am not sure, but judging by the sun, I would say one hour, maybe. Or more, I don’t know how much the sun moves in an hour."

Taisetsuna looked at the shadow of a rock nearby and said, "That shadow looks like it was one hour. Ok, we still have time before lunch. What would you say if we returned and boiled some water for the Potions? It would also help the Priest to have the stove ready for him to cook."

"That sounds just perfect."

Taisetsuna got up and pulled Nozomo, and they went for the Unicorns again. With her help, Nozomo easily sat on the back of the white frowning Unicorn, and he said as he pulled the mane, "What? If you bent down a little, it would be easier, you know? Or are you too damn proud to help a guy? Stop frowning, will you? You look ugly!"

‘Rampage’ snorted and Taisetsuna laughed as she quickly jumped to the back of ‘Furnace’ that ran as soon as she was seated. As for Nozomu, he almost fell to the ground the moment the frowning Unicorn jumped to start his race, annoyed for having on his back such an unskilled rider.

In less than nothing, they were in front of the house with the Unicorns sliding on the ground to stop, and Taisetsuna used the momentum to graciously twirl over Furnace's head, making a perfect landing a few meters ahead. She turned back as soon as she heard Nozomu screaming, and she jumped to the side, catching him in mid-air, and they both rolled on the floor.

Taisetsuna got up and cleaned her clothes, just in time to see Nozomu going to his Unicorn.

He grabbed the snout that was making a weird sound as if he was laughing and shook him, "Annoying one-horned-horse! I could have broken my neck! Stop laughing, damn you!"

Taisetsuna laughed while holding her stomach and joined the sounds of the two Unicorns that were laughing at Nozomu’s expense. He let go of the snout that was still mocking him and poked the soft, moist nose, “That wasn’t funny, Rampage! If I died, Suna would sell you, and you could get a new owner that wouldn’t be your friend, he could very well be a fat, ugly man, that would use you to pull a carriage, or something even more degrading to a proud Unicorn such as you!"

The Unicorn stopped his weird laughter as if he suddenly realized that Nozomu could be right. He then gently caressed Nozomu’s cheek with his nose and got a rub on his snout.

Taisetsuna cleaned the tears from the laughter and pointed to the stable, "You two know the way, right? Let’s go inside Nozo, and grab some wood from that pile while I take care of the rest!"