Ignoring Mary’s embarrassing display, I follow her into the cottage. For a witch's cottage, it seems rather spacious, almost like a family home rather than a place where arcane potions are brewed. I think she does the arcane potion thing. Like, she fits the mold to a T for a witch. I want to say I’m just thankful she doesn’t have flying monkeys doing her bidding, but as someone with a passing familiarity with biology seeing something like that would actually be kind of cool. Actually, how did she know that reference? Her speech seems rather odd too, but didn’t she say she was born in this world?

Some of my questions were answered when I followed her into a room to the left of the entryway.

“Most of my visitors are from the town, so they wouldn’t appreciate this. We need to have a talk anyways, and I personally think my library is the most relaxing room.”

She leads me in. The walls are overflowing with books, with several more on a table surrounded by two stuffed leather chairs and a couch, one with a blanket. Looking at the titles, I see many old, leather bound tomes, with words written in strange runes that one would expect a witch to own. They fizzle with a strange energy and even the most clueless layman would say “that’s a grimoire.”

But what stuck out more to me were the books with modern bindings. I clearly saw Frank L. Baum on one of the shelves, explaining that mystery, but overall her taste could best be described as eclectic. It was almost as if someone was randomly stealing books from a bookstore and passing them off to her.

My shock must have been apparent because she commented,

“Books often pass through the barrier to this world. The more fantasy-like, the more likely a lost book will end up here. And, as embarrassing as it is to admit, I absolutely adore your world's take on fantasy. So many good ideas that are more practical than they would think.”

I nod at what she says than look behind her, and see an even bigger shock. Two laptops, one with a power cord attached. The cord, rather than going to an outlet on the wall, goes to…a wooden box?

“Oh, that’s my greatest pride! You have no idea what I went through to obtain this. I had heard rumors of a mystical box from the mundane world, but no one knew what its purpose was. Except me. Apparently, I’m a bit of an eccentric collecting this fiction, but it let me realize the value of those boxes people were gossiping about. A few favors here, a few mysterious vials there, and next thing you know I’m the proud owner of a laptop.”

“There’s two of them though.”

With that comment Mary shut her mouth, awkwardly fidgeting like a child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She came off as reliable when she was rescuing me earlier, but I was beginning to think my initial assessment of her as an eccentric was on the mark after all. I guess some people are just way too into books and stories. The way she looks, so excited to share all of this, it almost seems like I was lucky she was even out in the woods. She seems like the type who would lock themselves up for days, doing nothing but eating and reading to the exclusion of everything else… Oh.

Getting myself back to reality, I go back to the biggest issue with this story, the one staring me right in the face.

“How are they even working?”

Mary chuckles.

“Easy. Mana.”

“?”

“I figured out how to transcribe a magical circle that converts mana into electrical energy. I came up with the idea from one of those books I found. It’s weird how most of them assume mana and magic will mess with technology, like the worlds aren’t already chock full of it. This idea worked though. ”

“Come again?”

“Your world may be more heavily grounded in the rational and mundane, but that doesn’t mean it’s devoid of mana. It would be an absolute disaster if it was. Something needs to uphold those orderly laws or else you’d get entropy or something.”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Entropy? That seems pretty clichéd…”

“Hell if I know the right term. Never was one for math.”

Just when she was starting to sound well-informed again too.

“Wait,” I asked, “is it really a good idea to use this force upholding the laws of the universe to power a computer?”

“It’s fine, we use way more for magic. As long as you only keep one plugged in at a time the flow of mana is perfectly fine. Now if you can just wait, I’ll grab us some tea.”

With that, she bustled out of the room. Going over to the offending desk with its absurdly out of place appliances, I saw one of the laptops was logged in. The videos folder was chock full of movies and shows, with the most recent ones being from 2015. A video player was halfway through an anime. Just when she sounded so smart, and this is where she learned about entropy?

Mary soon returns, with a teapot and two cups on a tray. While making tea she found the time to take off her coat, and is wearing a blouse made of crisp white linen covered in pin tucks. Going with it is a plain circle skirt of black wool. Arriving at the table, she realizes the spot she meant to put the tray is already occupied by the full collection of a rather lengthy epic fantasy series. Shrugging, she sets the tray down on top, pours the tea, and hands me a cup.

“It’s a good series, but God does the author like to add characters” she confides, while smoothing her skirt.

Honestly though, I’m too distracted by this tea to pay any mind. As you’d expect from someone who’s clearly knowledgeable about tea, this herbal blend is amazing. I would have never thought it’d be possible to get this much complexity from anything other than the alcoholic drinks that I regretfully wasn’t getting tonight. It’s a shame. I actually was really looking forward to barhopping. There were a few craft breweries in the town we were planning on going to, and I had even left a growler in my car in case there was a particularly good one and… Mary waving in front of my face brought me back to reality.

“Honestly Rose, I was trying to talk to you. What were you doing?”

“Do you have anything harder than this?”

“What do you mean? I poured a decent helping of brandy in there.”

"You scoundrel." I replied dryly.

That explains the flavor.

“As I was saying, there’s no way for you to return home.”

I guess that’s what she was saying when I was thinking of the beer I wouldn’t get to drink, but she had already make her point clear earlier in the day.

“I really don’t like having to tell you this Rose.” Then why does she keep repeating it?” ...but it does work out in my favor.”

Hmm?

“I’ve been looking for an apprentice for a while, actually. The guild has been getting on my case about passing down my knowledge, but for some reason all those who came to visit for an interview said they wanted to ‘consider other options.’ It’s been really frustrating. I was even out deep in the woods today trying to gather ingredients to make a poi-potion that would be sure to impress the next batch, when I felt the barrier warp.”

“So…?”

“You’d be a perfect apprentice! Way better than those stuck-up kids wanting a more ‘traditionalist’ setting. I inherited this cottage from my parents, and what’s wrong with me having a few other hobbies?!”

I was feeling an odd sort of empathy, but I guess some of those lines were a bit worrying. Just a bit. I took a sip of my tea/brandy as she continued her rant for another minute.

“…so having an apprentice with more magical power than any of those upstarts would be the perfect way to rub in my skill as a witch!”

There was definitely a lot of anger in there, more than I normally would be comfortable seeing in someone with such a concerning, herb garden, but that last line got my attention.

“What magical power?”

I had never seen the slightest sign myself of having any abilities out of the ordinary.

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Weren’t you literally sensing the mana disturbance from that dire wolf earlier?”

“I thought most people can pick up on danger. It’s something that can be trained, isn’t it? ‘Trust your instincts’ and all. I’ve worked with plenty of people with that kind of sense at a previous job.”

“Don’t you have prophetic dreams? Dreams showing you glimpses of the future?”

“You mean that wasn’t just a really vivid form of déjà vu?”

“The ability to sense and feel spirits.”

“You can’t ‘prove’ hearing random footsteps in the back of a building, so I probably just imagined it.”

“Unexplained phenomena? Even your government would be aware of that, and probably tried to get you working in that field.”

“Now that I think of it, they were oddly reluctant to let me leave the military. But that sounds like some conspiracy B.S., like aliens landing at Roswell or paying taxes being mandatory.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me.”

“Isn’t that my line?”

“The biggest evidence, however, is the simple fact that you’re even here.”

“?”

“The barrier between this world and the mundane world acts as sort of a filter. Yes, you occasionally have the typical level-headed, in touch with reality person make their way through. In some spots where reality is especially thin you have whole ships and fighter squadrons flying through. But most people who end up here are already at the edges of reality. All it takes is a simple push for them to fall through. Disregarding a few simple safety measures, like not carrying iron, or dressing too fancifully, and thinking thoughts not grounded in rationality, and they fall right through. All that delicious magical potential comes with them, which is why you had that dire wolf and all those will o’ the wisps trying to get you for a meal.”

“You aren’t going to try and eat me too, are you?”

She gives me a stare, as if I’m somehow detracting from the seriousness of the situation.

“So, the question is, do you want to be my apprentice? I’ve really been needing one, and you don’t seem as afrai- apprehensive about the idea as the others I’ve asked. If not, then you can rest here and I can take you in to town in the morning.”

The lack of fear was at least partially because I was just worn out. It had been a long, weird day that tested the limits of my sanity more than most, although if Jess and Anna were here they would have said it was par for course for me. I really should be thinking this through.

Becoming a forest witch sounded like a major commitment, and there was always the possibility of finding a way back to home. Apprenticeship has always been a major decision historically, with the position being held by promising teenagers more than history nerds that are approaching 30. God this is such a difficult decision to make I’ll probably be up all night thinking up an answ-

“I’ll do it.”

Could I really say no to magic? If she gets on my nerves I can just spoil the endings to the series she hasn’t finished yet.