Candice stood before the young mage, with a happy smile. Nicholai’s staff began to be engraved with his hands. His leg was fanatically bouncing, making Candice laugh.

“Come on. The shop is over here.” Candice started to walk away from him. Nicholai stayed there. His body completely refused to respond to the situation. All other noise was drowned out, and he could only hear the voices of the others around him. Not all the conversations were about him, some spoke of ‘the boy with the sword’, ‘that red horse’, and ‘that cute boy’. Perhaps that last one was about him, he started to turn his head. Tracing the origin of the words. He saw a few witches sitting outside a shop, drinking some unknown beverage. Nicholai felt a poke in his arm. He flinched and stepped back. He noticed Candice standing back towards him.

“Your name was Nicholai right?” She asked him while he continued to stand defensively.

“Y-yeah.”

Candice began walking away again. Nicholai now followed behind her. He kept his gaze on the young woman, who looked back every few seconds to check on the young magician, turning back with a smile.

“Don’t your feet hurt?” Nicholai asked.

“No. Witches in my cell typically learn to levitate, or we just gain a high pain tolerance. So I’m a-okay.” Candice responded looking back and giving her signature smile. As they continued on, Nicholai couldn’t stop looking towards her feet, they accumulated no dirt, yet had signs of previous bruises. All while looking completely clean.

A brown clean shop with a blue tiled roof stood before them. A single window rest on the right side and a black door was in the center of the small building. Flowers were being grown all on the window pane in a clay flower pot that spread across the whole pane. Drymies danced all through the small colorful glade. The sign atop the door read, Potion Heart.

“Here it is. My shop.” Candice knocked on the door twice, particularlly hitting it with the ring on her left hand. The door lit up, forming a potion bottle on it’s wood. Candice took the handle and walked on in. She slightly turned back and extended her hand out for Nicholai.

“Come on.” Nicholai slowly and cautiously reach for the girl, as soon as the touched she pulled him into the shop.

The inside made Nicholai gasp for air. The size comparison was night and day. It didn’t feel like the inside of such a small shop. The ceiling disappeared into a black void where his eyes couldn’t perceive it. Below, the sounds of waterfalls filled a pool of water similar to river Dustgarde rested on. Some ladies receded to towels and rest within the waters A whole section was dedicated to a conglomerate of books, all arranged accordingly. The rest of the large tower shaped area was filled with witches at their own individual workplaces. Books and items flew about as the witches were constantly at work.

Candice's personal enjoyment was more important to her at this moment. Nicholai’s head gaze upward to the scenery of the shop. His feet moving back and forth, the edge coming ever more close. As then, he fell off, Candice rushed over attempting to catch him in time. He fell down deep into the waters. The splash dropped onto all the witches currently enjoying the waters.

Nicholai continued to sink down to the bottom of the pool. Through the water he saw the legs of the witches floating above. His body began to rise, yet he felt nothing grabbing him from either direction. His body reached the surface, he was face first with numerous beautiful witches. All of them smiled happily at the nearly drown mage.

“Oh. This one’s a looker.”

“He fell from above, maybe he’s an angel.”

“With how hot he is I’m surprised the water didn’t evaporate.”

Nicholai pulled himself together and sat up. His back felt a woman's large body. He turned to see a girl just as tall and bulky as Irene. Her towel covered her whole torso, including her large breasts that Nicholai’s head laid on.

“Hey. That one is mine. I need to make a potion for him.” Candice grabbed Nicholai from under his arms and began lifting him up from the pool. He looked up to see Candice had sprouted butterfly wings. She flew up slowly, flying past numerous other workstations, she reached her own. Nicholai was softly placed on the ground, Candice ignited her hands into a flame that began to dry him.Nicholai saw the girl's personal spot. A giant cauldron sat at the center. A black couch on the wall, and a shelf with tons of book was nailed above it. To each side were jars of plants and other substances, and even more books stack together. One stack itself reaches to the ceiling. “Sorry, most of the girls here are….aggressive.”

“I can tell. That begs the question. Not many guys here, huh?” Nicholai asked.

“I mean this is a witches shop.”

“How exactly is this place…..well what even is this place?”

“That’s a secret.” Candice said smiling away.

“Well, I’m already here.” Candice laughed at his response.

“This place is one of three dimension created by my clan. The Three Heart Witches.”

“One of three?”

“There exist two more shops like this in the world. As you already know. This one focuses on potion making. Speaking of which.” Candice got up and began moving through the contents of the area. She continued to chant “tracking potion” over and over as she moved about. “Got it.” She pulled a book from the shelf, it’s title read Potions Vol. 1. Candice sat on the couch and started to flip through the pages.

Nicholai walked over to check her actions. “So you know how to make a tracking potion as Ezra calls it.”

“Pretty much. However it’s not a potion you need everyday so it’s one of those you have to refresh yourself on. Basically the potion tracks and magic powers of any living or non-living thing. Just pour it on whatever and it will send a trail directly to the source.” Candice explained aloud.

“Well. How do you make it?”

“First we need some of Dustgardes water, some Bipar petals, and the most important ingredient, some Oudan Seeds.” Candice moved around the workspace again, throwing books and jar around, making Nicholai dodge around them. She returned back to the couch with 2 jars, one with the Bipar petals, and the other with Oudan Seeds. Lastly she moved to the edge of the workspace, a large amount of water from the pool below lifted and moved into the cauldron. Candice lit a fire underneath it. As it started to boil she poured the seeds in. The water began to change color. Going from it’s blue into green. Nicholai grew curious and moved closer. He looked to Candice who motioned him to sit next to her.

He let out a small grin and sat down next to the witch. She took the jar of seeds and put it before him.

“You go ahead and do the honors.” Nicholai took the jar and poured the little brown seeds into the cauldron. The water began emitting smoke, then changed into a darker blue color. “And there it goes. Your very own tracking potion. Now all you need is a bottle.” Candice took out a sheet of paper and wrote the words, bottle Candice, down and placed it flat onto her hand. The paper then began to fly away out of the workplace.

“We’ll have to wait for our items manager to get the note.” Candice said to Nicholai who continued to stare at the potion liquid. She laughed out loud, louder than yet. “You are so cute. Is this your first time making a potion.”

“Can’t you tell?” Nicholai responded, no hesitation in his speech.

“Wait? You’re serious.”

“I lived in a village where we didn’t practice potion making. Ezra seems to know about it. However this is pretty much a new concept to me.” Candice was taken aback by his words.

“Unbelievable. Then that means you’ve only seen a fraction of what the world has to offer in terms of magic. I may be a witch, and you may be a mage, or maybe sorcerer? Ah who cares there’s really no difference. I want you to know that there are places all over the world where you can get a full understanding of magic. Then you’ll be able to not only escalate your magic, but evolve it.”

“Yeah, that’s the same thing my old headmaster used to say. And then I spent 19 years of my life there and never even made a single breakthrough with my magic. Guess there is still a lot I have to learn.”

“The good thing is you're not there anymore. Now you have that chance.” Candice said back to him. She then noticed the paper had returned to her. A small bottle stuck to it. Candice grabbed it from the air. She dipped it into the cauldron filling it to the brim.

“What do you do with the extra. We have so much left.” Nicholai asked.

“Oh. We archive it. I’m the first to make a tracking potion in such a long time. So if you need another you can just come here.” Nicholai stood back up. He reached for the potion. Candice pulled it back. “Oh no mister. You’re not getting this for free.”

“What? You want a kiss, some money, or both?” Nicholai responded hoping to throw her off.

“Oh I was just wondering if you could show me where you got that crystal for your staff, but i’ll take that kiss.” Candice’s response made Nicholai flinch. “Come on, now. You insisted.”

“Umm….just know I’ve never done this before.” Nicholai staggered in his voice. Candice held the bottle behind and anticipated Nicholai’s next move. He began to move closer very slowly. His stories were the one teaching him everything he needed for this moment. He took his arms and wrapped them around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Their faces closed in on one another. The mage and the witch’s lips connected. Nicholai felt the sensation of his first kiss. It was truly special. He let go of her, then stood completely still, unable to figure out his next move.

“Well. Talk about a first time. Here take the potion.” Candice handed the potion over.

“Thanks. That….actually felt nice.” Nicholai responded.

“Of course it did. Witches are known for their charm. Now, your friend is going to be occupied with Granius. Why don’t I teach you some more?”