Two days after the festival I was sitting in the witch hut once again. I was on the table in the workshop right next to the cauldron and worked on a new potion recipe. New in that it was something only done once before. The original stood on the shelf behind me and was one of those Mira made accidentally. I was trying to recreate it since I had a good idea of what it might do.

The potion held the essences of praecantatio, terra, herba and messis. It looked to me like it would be very useful to help with growing crops. That was the last aspect in that list after all, with earth and plant there as well all pulled together by magic itself.

The ingredients Mira had given me were the ones she had used for her first one. A bucket full of compost and some leftovers from the farmers. Stalks of hay that had started to rot, a few fruits collected from bushes and groves all around the village and a rusty hoe that was beyond repair. Granted, I could not get my talons on the last one but Rubeos simply made me a new one. I had the money after all and research always took some investment.

I had already thrown everything into the cauldron and was starting to move the magic around to properly bind it together. I used the structure of the original potion as a baseline and stabilized it with a smidgen of ordo vis.

“Bottles”, I said.

Circe held out one of the glass containers in her hand. I manipulated the ladle with a tendril of darkness and began filling it up. Then another one and a third one. Finally, only water was left boiling though it was laced with flux. It seemed this potion was a little harsher on the environment in its creation.

I turned to my master and watched her scan the result. Her lips pressed together while her eyes narrowed underneath the brim of her pointed hat. After a moment, she sighed and put down the bottle.

“You once again made something better than I did. Even if only slightly. We still do not know what this potion does, though.”

“I have my suspicions”, I said.

“What is it?”, Circe asked.

“Well… Judging from the aspects it should help with growing plants. Maybe only crops specifically…”

“Truly?”, Mira raised an eyebrow, “That would be quite the achievement. And to think I had this sitting here for over a year.”

“We should try it first. But I don’t really know how to apply it…”

“Just water the plants with it?”, Circe suggested.

“If that was the case it would help little. You would need a lot of metal to make enough hoes for more than a small garden.”

“Couldn’t you make them from something easier to get? Like flint?”

“Possibly? I would have to see one to understand how the aspects change with the material. Also, this produces a lot more flux than something like the healing potion. You won’t be able to make a lot no matter what unless you want to risk… a lot.”

Mira nodded, her face grim.

“We will see how this works. If this works. And go from there.”

Testing turned out pretty simple. We went down to the edge of the fields where wheat was growing into its later stages. It was another month or so before the harvest which confused me a little. By then it would be late autumn. On the other hand winter in this world was caused by Stormbringer and before then it would not freeze at all. Only the week or so before he arrived would it start to get colder. I wondered how long he had been flying throughout the world to have the people adapt their harvesting schedule to his arrival.

The little patch we decided to use was three by three metres wide right at the corner of the field. A [Farmer] was observing us and would pitch in for the research with his expertise.

The first test was simply spraying a bit of potion over the plants. We made sure to only hit a small part which turned out to be a good idea. The area of a little under a square metre shot up explosively and everyone present gasped. Well, I was much less surprised than the others. The man came forward and inspected the plants for a moment before turning to us.

“This ‘s ready for harvest. What’s your witchcraft? Why ‘ave you never done this before?”

Mira stared him down.

“The first version of this potion was an accident and I knew little about what it would do. It took over a year to get to this point where we can test it somewhat safely on important crops.”

“Oh. ‘m sorry. Didn’t know ‘bout that.”

The [Witch] nodded.

“Do not worry. Simply help us observe the results. I can not make a lot of this potion.”

The farmer stepped back demurely and we got back to work. Sprinkling obviously worked but it was too expensive for larger scales. Instead, we wanted to try two other methods. One was mixing it with normal water and the other was mixing the potion into the dirt without it touching the plants. The [Farmer] helped us, happily tattling about acidity and humidity and limestone. It mostly went over my head. Farming was not very interesting to me. That was more Nymph’s territory.

In the end, we had two buckets each for water and soil and the [Farmer] applied half of each with his Skills. The other half was done by Mira relying on her [Witch] instincts and [Ritualism]. This may not be as fancy as the ceremony to transfer the Class of [Village Head] but it still had something to do with the craft.

The results were much slower this time. Where soil with the potion was mixed in around the wheat, nothing visible happened. The water at least made the stalks grow a little more sumptuous. Still, we would have to come back to get proper results. The [Farmer] would be checking in every day and tell us if something changed.

On the way back, Master turned to me.

“Well done, Fio. It seems you have a very deep understanding of magic.”

I dipped my head.

“I have a Skill that helps me sense aspects, be they essence or vis. From there it is rather simple to figure out a few options.”

“I see… Maybe I should have… Never mind. What do you think the other experimental potions will do?”

“Well, one of them seems clearly harmful. I do not know the extent but its aspects are praecantatio, venenum and aer. The other one has victus and humanus. I was thinking that might be something to help with fertility. Or maybe a love potion…”

Mira laughed.

“Do not be silly, Fio. There is no such thing as a love potion. That would be madness.”

“There’s thaumaturgy. I wouldn’t call any of that sane, really.”

Circe rubbed her nose.

“But why would you use a love potion? Isn’t it better to just become friends?”

“Oh, Circe!”, Mira laughed, “Do not worry. It is not a love potion.”

My facial feathers pulled into a smirk.

“Yes, let’s leave it at that.”

Moments later I received a notification. One I had been hoping for. Observing the ritual had brought [Apprentice Witch] to level 9. It must have gotten lost in the excitement. This little escapade I had been pushing for?

~ding~ [Apprentice Witch] reached level 10. 1 Attribute Point awarded. Congratulations! For reaching the first milestone in your class you gain +1 INT and +1 WIS. Please choose your first milestone Skill!

A milestone! I had been looking forward to it. And my Skill choices were:

~ding~ Please choose one of the available Skills. Failure to do so will result in a milestone Skill being selected automatically.

[Familiar Bond]

Wow. One! A single Skill! Then again, I knew that it was normal for a [Witch] to only be offered [Familiar Bond] at level 25. It seemed I was simply a little ahead of the curve. Maybe because I did not get [Herbalism]? Or because Circe had been pushing me to bond with her?

No matter what, I had to choose the Skill. If I did not, I would still receive it. So I did and looked over my status.

Species: Sgiathan Dorcha Owl (adult)

Age: 2

Name: Fio Catori

Gender: female

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

Level: 101

Class: [Assassin lvl 92], [Apprentice Witch lvl 10], -

Strength: 38

Constitution: 36

Dexterity: 42

Perception: 42

Intelligence: 104

Wisdom: 104

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]

Apprentice Witch:

[Brewing lvl 4], [Ritualism lvl 1], [Familiar Bond lvl 1]

There honestly was not much of a change. I had gotten two points each in Intelligence and Wisdom but one of those was from the milestone. And there was one level in [Brewing] as well as my new Skill. Ritualism had not even levelled from the festival even though my Class had. I was a little confused.

On top of that, I had gained one race level, likely from the people I met in the village recently. There were no real friends but it was very nice to meet them. Still, the ritual as a new form of magic could have done something there as well. Maybe the experience had been split between Class and race? Or Skill and race? Something along those lines would at least explain it.

“What’s up?”, Circe asked, “You went quiet there.”

I looked up at her.

“I got my milestone.”

“In [Apprentice Witch]?”, Mira asked, “That is awfully quick. What Skill choices did you get?”

I glanced at my excitable human friend once more.

“… only [Familiar Bond].”

“Oh, my!”, Mira held a hand in front of her mouth.

“Oh, yeah!”, Circe shouted.

The girl started to skip ahead, turning every few steps.

“That’s so coool!”, I heard from two dozen metres away.

Mira smiled softly at me.

“Stay strong”, she said.

I huffed.

“Of course. We’ve gone through this often enough.”

At least I hoped so.