Mage Marks spoke about the importance of potions, their role in modern society, and the prohibitive cost when making the rare and expensive potions because failure happened so often. I half-listened to her as I looked through her ingredients and I was surprised that none of them had been prepared wrong. I expected to find one or two that I would have to salvage for her and instead all of them were prepared well. They would last quite some time before they would start to lose their potency.

It raised my opinion of the teacher to a higher degree, especially since she would be teaching the advanced class as well. I was starting to feel eager to learn from her, and that wasn't something I had felt since the Hag finally started teaching me how to brew properly. I went over my mental list of the ingredients some of my more versatile potions used and the substitutions I would need to make.

Almost half of what I needed was right here in front of my eyes and there was a lot in each bin. I needed to ask her where she obtained so many rare ingredients and try to get them to supply me as well. Some of the ingredients I hadn't heard of, which meant they were less frequently used or the potions were specialized.

Then again, they could be different plants than what was in my potions list book and still have the same properties. That just brought more questions to my mind that I wanted to know the answers to.

“...and that's the basic introduction to potion brewing.” Mage Marks said. “I hope some of you got something out of all that, because I won't be repeating it. Once was enough, wasn't it?”

That made a few of the girls laugh and a lot of them nodded in agreement.

“Mr. Drake, please take your seat.”

“Yes, Mage Marks.” I said and walked over to her desk and whispered. “I'm quite happy with your ingredient preparation. I didn't see any mistakes and even the containers were perfectly cleaned to stop early contamination. Well done.”

Mage Marks had her mouth slightly open and I couldn't read the expression on her face.

I walked back to the workbench I shared with Vanessa. “Are we moving on to the practical side?” I asked. “I have to admit that I haven't brewed many basic potions and I'm looking forward to seeing what we do first.”

“You didn't read the book already?” Lorna asked with a laugh. “I should have known you were lazy if you arranged to get a passing grade in all your classes.”

“I haven't had a chance to look at any books yet, because I was too busy rebuilding my life threatening living quarters for proper habitation.” I said and they all stared at me. “Perhaps you know of it? The old student dorm on the other side of campus that was regularly used as target practice?”

“They're making you live there?” One of the others asked, shocked. “We were warned to never go inside because it could collapse at any second!”

“There's no need to worry about that now.” I said. “My work crews and I finished fixing everything last night. In fact, it's even better than it was when it was new.”

No one said anything in response.

“Well.” Mage Marks said. “Back to the lesson. The first potion we're doing is a basic stimulant and it's on page ten. It's not very powerful and only gives you a slightly enhanced mind for half an hour, which is why it's not banned from tests, since they take an hour or more to write.”

I raised my hand to ask a question.

“Yes, Mr. Drake?”

“How long does it take to prepare?”

“An hour.”

“Can you stack the doses, or does it have to be drunk after it wears off?”

“You can drink two or three and it's the same effect, so no, they don't stack. Usually, one waits for the effect to end to take another.”

“If you drink another before the first effect runs out, does the effect continue?”

Mage Marks looked like no one ever asked her that question before. “Yes.”

“Is there excessive mental strain during ingestion or is there mental or physical exhaustion afterwards?”

“No, like I said, it's not that powerful.”

“Then the boost can't be significant. Students would be drinking it all the time to help them study.”

Mage Marks let out a sigh. “This isn't supposed to be a debate over the merits of the potion. You can save that for this afternoon's class.”

“I'm just trying to understand the point in this being the first potion students brew. If the potion itself is pretty much useless, why waste the ingredients making it?” I asked.

Mage Marks took a deep breath and let it out. “Practice.” She said. “Students can make tons of mistakes with the very common ingredients, as much as necessary in fact, until they learn how to brew the simple potion properly. It saves on the more expensive ingredients and reduces the potential failures in later potions.”

“Ah, I get it now. Thank you for explaining.” I said and gave her a nod. “I'm sorry for the delay.”

Mage Marks looked surprised for a second and then smiled. “It's all right. Your question let me tell everyone the very reason why we're doing this potion until they all get it right.”

There were a few groans, one of which was from Lorna.

“My heart bleeds for you.” Mage Marks said with a chuckle. “If you want to show your less capable partner how it should be done, feel free. They still have to do it themselves.”

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“How are we going to do that?” Lorna asked.

“You both do up half of each of the ingredients and add them when the recipe requires.” Mage Marks said. “It's only fair and it can be fun.”

Lorna rolled her eyes and flipped her book to page ten. I flipped to the right page and saw that Mage Marks was right. There were three very common ingredients and one not so common. The fourth one was the ingredient that barely any was required, so repeatedly making the potion wouldn't be expensive at all. In fact, if the potency could be increased, the cost effectiveness would raise up significantly.

“I'll be delivering your ingredients to your tables today, to show you how to properly retrieve them from their containers.” Mage Marks said. “Contamination is very bad for potion ingredients, so do not grab handfuls directly from the source. Use the proper utensils and clean them off afterwards.”

“They're just common ingredients.” Lorna said. “I can understand doing it for the more expensive ones...”

“Practice.” Mage Marks said. “If you get in the habit of always doing it the right way with the cheap ingredients, you'll never have to worry that you'll mess up and ruin your expensive potion ingredients.” She gave everyone a look to make sure that we all heard her, then she walked to each table and dished out a little bit more than the right amount for each ingredient. That allowed for some miss-cuts on the preparation, which was a good thing with untested students.

Mage Marks cleaned the utensils and returned to her desk to sit on top of it. “You don't have to wait for me. Go ahead and start brewing.” She said and then she ignored everyone else and stared at me.

I had been stared at by the best to check my technique and Mage Marks was nowhere even close to the intensity that the Hag could achieve. “Vanessa, why don't I show you how to do it using your hands?”

“Huh?!?” Vanessa said in almost a normal voice.

“I'll put the water on and we can prep the first ingredient together.” I said and went to the sink, half filled the pot, and went back to the workbench. “This stone base isn't quite big enough to block all of the heat from the fire. By rights, it should be on the floor on a platform.”

“Why?” Vanessa whispered.

“So you can easily see down into the pot and make sure the potion is brewing properly. Plus, it's easier to stir like this.” I said and did the proper swirling motions at waist height. “The thicker potions require a lot of stirring and arm strength, too. Doing it up on the table will be difficult.”

I waved my hand at the stacked wood under the pot and lit it on fire.

“AH!” Vanessa gasped and jumped back.

“Mr. Drake! How did you do that?” Mage Marks asked and walked over to me.

“It's a basic fire starter spell.” I said. “Why?”

“You didn't prep a spell or chant.” Mage Marks said, her eyes squinted. “Or did you mumble it?”

Vanessa shook her head no, indicating that she didn't hear me speak.

“I didn't think so.” Mage Marks said. “You just... willed it to go afire.”

“I used magic.” I said and she raised her eyebrows. “That's how I learned to do it.”

“What else can you cast?” Mage Marks asked.

“I thought this was a potions class.”

“Just answer the question.” She said. “Please.”

“Lock, Unlock, Fire Starter, Dispel...”

“That's what my sister felt!” One of the girls said and clamped her mouth shut.

“...Sense Magic, and Curse Break I think. I don't know if that's the actual name of the spell. That's just what I called it when I used it. I also figured out how to cast a magic shield before I left the army. After seeing all those mages cast it in battle, it seemed too useful not to try to learn it. Helena saved me from the army before I needed to use it, though.”

“By the Son's Light.” Someone whispered and I couldn't tell who it was.

“Does anyone else know you don't need to chant to cast magic spells?” Mage Marks asked.

“Probably. All the construction workers in the army and the work crews at the house have seen me do it.” I said. “No one here, though. It hasn't come up yet.”

“Not even in your spellwork class?” She asked, surprised.

“It was all writing and we won't get to practical lessons for a few weeks.” I explained.

Mage Marks stood there for several minutes as she thought about something. “Mr. Drake, keep this to yourself.” She said and looked at the girls in the class. “Please, keep this information to yourselves as well.”

“Why?” Lorna asked.

“Because his ability is very rare.” Mage Marks said and looked at me. “I've heard of it in passing; but, I've never met anyone that can do what you do.”

“I've only ever met one person myself and she trained me.” I said. “That's why I'm going to have so much trouble trying to learn the wrong way to do it.”

“The wrong way?” Mage Marks took a deep breath and let it out. “It felt wrong? Was it because you have to try to figure out how to quantify and control the magic?”

“I can't even get past the first page of the book.”

Mage Marks stared at me for a full thirty seconds. “I... I need to talk to your spellwork instructor.”

“Mage Sanchita.” I said.

“Yes, that's good you opted for the extra class. She's also dissatisfied with...” Mage Marks stopped herself from saying anything else. “Leave it with me, Mr. Drake. With two minds working on it, we'll figure out how to actually teach you our course material.”

I shrugged, because I was passing both courses anyway. “Did you know that if you use wildwood as the base for the fire, it's much easier to control the heat created?”

“Wildwood! Are you crazy?” Lorna asked. “Why in the world would you burn enchanting materials?”

“I just said why.”

“You actually waste precious wildwood as firewood!” Lorna laughed. “You really are a marsh rat and don't know the real value of things, do you?”

“That's enough!” Mage Marks spat. “Lorna, if one more disparaging word falls from your mouth, you'll be suspended for a week and given zeros for the weekend tests!”

Lorna sucked in a sharp breath. “You... you can't...”

“I've heard about how you keep speaking against Mr. Drake. I might not have said anything, except you managed to say something during every class you've had so far and this is only the second day.” Mage Marks said. “If you continue running your mouth, you'll be running it all by yourself back at your dorm for a week. Do you understand?”

Lorna opened her mouth and looked like she wanted to argue, then she schooled her face. “Yes, Mage Marks. I understand.”

“I hope so, because my warning counts for every class you take from now on.”

“WHAT?!?” Lorna yelled.

“You need to learn to hold your tongue.” Mage Marks said. “This is not a forgiving world and you must have forgotten that the man you are currently insulting has killed people for less. In fact, he challenged the Director of the Academy himself for insulting him.”

She saw shock on a lot of faces and nodded.

“So you see, even a man that has been exalted as the brightest mind of the academy...” Mage Marks said without even a hint of respect or conviction. “...wasn't very smart when dealing with someone that doesn't care who you are if you cross him.” She looked around the class at everyone's faces. “Let this be a lesson to you all. Before you speak your mind, think about what you are actually saying and who you are saying it to.”

A lot of the shocked faces nodded and she nodded in return.

“We're quite behind in your first potion brewing, so please get to it. You should finish well before the first class break. After that, we'll examine your potions for clarity, strength, purity, and consistency.” Mage Marks said. “Don't forget to add several drops of blood when you infuse it.”

I caught my breath at her words. They use their own blood for the infusions? I asked myself, shocked. When I didn't move to start preparing the ingredients for the potion, Vanessa touched my arm.

“Are you going to start?” Vanessa asked in a whisper.

I put my hand on hers and closed my eyes as I took a deep breath. I didn't want my memories of the Hag sucking on my blood to be going through my mind while trying to brew, because it wouldn't end well. So, I pushed those thoughts aside and opened my eyes. I pat Vanessa's hand and then stepped behind her.

“Please forgive the intrusion.” I whispered into her ear as I put my arms around her and started to use her hands as if they were my own.