I needed to work out how to get Eludora to strengthen up without causing her the wracking pain that usually accompanied such things. It was going to be problematic, to say the least. I had some idea about her constitution and that was a big help; but, it was something else that was going to be trouble.

Her weakened body had a difficult time with just the normal strength potion, so giving her a full dose of anything else was going to be dangerous, let alone the entire series that I took to achieve the permanent strengthening condition that only imparted about a third to half of the full boost. That was definitely not going to work for her or for anyone else not trained and raised by the Hag.

I had been too young to understand what she was doing to me at the time by giving me different potions and things and I never asked. Now that I had years of experience, I knew she had conditioned my body to the point that I could survive the permanent minor boosts as well as the full boosts when the potions were drunk normally.

I remembered the difficult time Vanessa and Lorna had taking just the basic boosted mental enhancement without having a primer of the normal version and some healing potion afterwards, which meant I had a lot of work ahead of me if I was going to figure out how to help Eludora.

Even knowing the potions and all of the components I needed, they would have to be handled properly and brewed correctly to be a much weaker strain while also maintaining enough potency to be effective. It could also turn toxic, poison her, or even kill her because she was so physically weak. I needed to be very careful about how I approached it.

It couldn't be a magic cure that worked overnight. That wasn't possible. It took time to... and that was when I realized I needed to do the same thing that the Hag did to me. It had to be a slow progression. Eludora would need very small incremental doses over a longer period of time to achieve a high enough result that a normal boost addition wouldn't be detrimental to her.

With a solid plan in my mind, I started to write.

Supper seemed to arrive in an instant and I had stacks upon stacks of pages with potions, revisions, alterations, reductions, combinations, reversal of order and application, and then one that was complete insanity. I laughed as I looked at the last page and crumpled it up, lit it on fire with magic and tossed the ashes in the trash.

I went downstairs to supper and enjoyed a great meal, had a quick discussion with the maids, then went back up the stairs to retrieve Greta's potion crates. I left the dorm mansion at a slow walk, since I wasn't in a rush, and made my way all the way over to the building with the residences of the teachers. A female teacher I never met before opened the door for me when I approached.

“Thank you, my lady.” I said as I passed her and ducked my head, since my arms were full.

The woman nodded back and I felt her eyes on my back as I went to Greta's apartment. I put the crates down and knocked on the door. A few moments later, Greta was there and wore a shirt and pants, as if she was preparing to wear her mage robes.

“I was wondering when your 'later' was going to happen.” Greta said with a smile and ushered me into her apartment.

“I didn't want to monopolize you for the entire day.” I said and carried in the crates.

Greta chuckled. “It's almost working out that way.”

“Are you going anywhere?” I asked and put the crates down where she told me to.

“I have another meeting...”

“Do you want an escort?” I asked and she looked surprised at my offer. “If you are trying to find a source of ingredients outside the guild, they can't be completely legal, can they?”

Greta opened her mouth to respond and then sighed. “How did you know?”

“I was told that the guild members ostracize anyone that's not a member of the guild. Are they giving you troubles, now that you've left?”

Greta sighed again and waved at the couch we had sat on that morning. I went over to it and sat down, not leaving her much room, and she chuckled as she resumed her spot right beside me.

“David, the world isn't black and white. It's not a direct split between bad people and good people...” Greta started to say.

I pointed at myself. “Grey.”

“Wh-what?” Greta asked, surprised.

“I've done bad and I've done good. If bad is black and good is white, then I'm grey.” I explained. “Your mother is grey with some black mixed in. Your sister is very white. You are white with a bit of grey mixed in.”

Greta blinked her eyes at me and she didn't say anything.

“If you are meeting with the black side, you need me to come along.” I said. “If anything happens, I'll deal with it.”

“David, I... you really shouldn't be involved with...”

“We're in business together and I want to protect my investment.” I said and her eyes widened. “I'll need to leave the ceremonial sword at the dorm mansion, though.”

Greta gave me an odd look, then she sighed. “All right. You have ten minutes to get ready.”

“I need a set of your spare robes with no academy symbols.” I said and stood. “Take them in a bag and I'll put them on in the carriage.”

Greta nodded and I left her apartment. I walked at a normal pace until I was out of sight of the teachers in the area and then ran. I made it back to the dorm mansion a minute later and was up the stairs in my bedroom a moment after that. I opened my personal vault and put in the ceremonial sword and my lord documents, then debated unloading some of the extra potions in my bandoleer.

I kept them and sealed the vault, then dressed in basic pants and a shirt, with my bandoleer and knife sheath clearly seen. I had to add a basic suit coat to cover them, then went down the stairs.

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“What's going on?” Hope asked as she saw me.

“A quick run with Greta to try and secure new potion ingredient deliveries.” I said and darted out through the doors and ran. I was back at the teacher's building two minutes later and saw Greta standing there with a bag. I slowed down so she would see me and the relief on her face was evident for only a second. She schooled her face and walked over to me, then we both walked towards the academy's front gate.

A plain carriage was there waiting for us and Greta told the guard I was accompanying her to observe the negotiations. The guard marked it down and we climbed onto the carriage. Greta told the driver the address to go to and we were off.

We drove on for about twenty minutes before we entered a less reputable part of the city, according to Greta. After another ten minutes, the carriage came to a stop in front of an abandoned building.

“Miss, are you sure this is the right address?” The driver asked.

“Yes, it's just a convenient meeting place for the parties involved.” Greta said and I helped her out of the carriage. I cast Sense Magic and didn't see or feel anything, so I escorted her inside and knew I had been right to come along. There were three men standing in the large room and two were hiding in the corner. The men had frowns on their faces, too.

“I thought we agreed to no witnesses?” The man in the middle asked.

“He's not a witness, he's my business partner.” Greta said, clearly catching on to the menacing atmosphere.

The man glanced over to the corner and back at us. “Another mage.”

“It's not a problem.” A voice said from the corner and after a few moments of mumbling, a Dispel spell was cast and the wave passed over us. “They won't have any precast protections now.”

The three men gained feral smiles and one even rubbed his hands together.

“This is going to be fun.” The middle man said.

“David.” Greta said and tried to let my arm go.

“It's all right. These idiots don't know who they're messing with.” I said as I raised my hand.

“What? Did you think I'm going to just stand here and let you chant a spell?” The middle man sneered.

I smiled as I snapped my fingers for dramatic effect and cast the fire lighting spell on every piece of clothing that all five men wore.

“AHHHHHH!” All of them yelled and started to freak out as they frantically tried to beat out the flames. Well, four of them did, anyway.

“No one threatens my friends.” I said and heard someone muttering. “Greta, excuse me for a moment.”

Greta let my arm go and I disappeared from her sight as I ran over to the corner of the room. I pulled out my knife and sliced open the bottom of the man's chin and severed his tongue. He choked and stared at me as his clothing burned. Unlike the others, he wasn't trying to beat the flames out, since he knew it was magical fire and it was pointless.

I cast lock on the doors of the room and no one could leave, then calmly walked back over to Greta. “How long do you want them to burn?” I asked her and her smile turned feral.

“Until they learn their lesson.” Greta said, her voice full of satisfaction.

The four men were screaming as hard as their smoke filled lungs would allow them and the lone mage couldn't voice his pain, except with gurgles. Their clothing was suspiciously flammable, which probably meant that they were going to destroy them after whatever they were going to do to Greta, probably in a vain attempt to stop anyone from identifying them.

The flames were starting to die down, as were their screams, so I cast the spell on their hair. Their heads, faces, armpits, chests, and crotches all lit on fire and the unholy screams filled the building.

“I'm honestly surprised that no one's come to see what all the screaming is about.” Greta said.

I cast Sense Magic again and found out why. “They have silence and barrier spells around the building that must have activated after we entered.”

Greta took in a sharp breath. “They didn't intend for me to leave.”

“Not alive.” I said and she looked pissed.

The men had all collapsed, shocked beyond reason at the turn of events, and were whimpering at the severe burns they were covered with.

“I want to know why.” Greta said, her voice commanding.

The three men in front of us winced and one glanced over at the mage in the corner. I led Greta over to the man that couldn't speak and she shook her head.

“I can't ask him any questions like this.” Greta said.

“Yes, you can.” I said and knelt on one knee. “Nod your head for yes and shake your head for no.” I said and took my knife out again to make it glow. “Do you understand?”

The man blinked and didn't move, so I moved the glowing knife down to his knee. He nodded several times and I pulled the knife back.

“Why did you do this?” Greta asked.

The man looked confused at the question.

“Only yes or no answers will work.” I prompted her.

“Oh, right.” Greta said, her face slightly red. “You came here to kill me?” She asked and he nodded. “Were you going to do more than that?”

The man looked nervous and I move the knife towards his thigh and he nodded again.

“Was it your idea?” Greta almost growled and he shook his head. “Do you know who's it was?”

The man nodded and didn't move.

“Write it.” I said and pointed at the ashes on the floor that used to be his clothing. The man shook his head and I lowered the knife. He kept shaking his head and I eased the knife into his thigh. He let out a groan of pain and his blood welled up around the blade.

He moved a shaky hand to the ashes and rubbed his hand into it, so I lifted the knife. He sighed and wrote out the last name I didn't know.

“That bastard!” Greta gasped.

“So, you know him?” I asked.

“He's my old supervisor.” Greta spat. “I suppose you would be my replacement if you got rid of me.”

The man nodded weakly and took several breaths.

“David.” Greta said and nodded to him.

“He's already dying.” I said and stood. “He can't feel the blood escaping the magical wounds.”

The man looked down at his burned thigh and there wasn't a lot of blood, so he looked confused.

“You're swallowing a lot, aren't you?” I asked and he nodded. “Touch the top of your throat.”

The man reached up with a hand and his fingers slid right into the 'T' slice that I had made to sever his tongue. The only reason he hadn't spit it out was because he seemed to be under the delusion that he could keep it if it stayed in his mouth.

“You've been swallowing a lot of your own blood the last few minutes.” I said. “Look at your hand.”

The man shook his head and didn't want to look.

“In any case, you have a few minutes left. Was your ambition worth your life?” I asked and the man didn't respond as he stared at me.

Neither Greta nor I said anything else as we watched the life slowly leave the man's eyes.