The tea was ready and I poured for everyone. My shadow tendrils only elicited a weak reaction after everything they learned about me already.

“Do you understand now, Circe? Why sapient monsters are so dangerous?”, Mira asked.

The girl nodded meekly.

“What I do not understand is how you reached that high of a level at only two years old.”

I moved the clay cups over to the other two. I had found a bowl for myself and enjoyed a few sips of my favourite tea before answering.

“Did you [Identify] my Species? I’m evolved.”

The woman shuddered. Her cup was ignored.

“Go on. Drink.”

That brought her out of it. She eyed the tea carefully while Circe was already sniffing her cup. The girl brought it to her lips, blowing some air on it before taking a sip. Her eyes widened.

“What is this? It’s delicious!”

“Take it slow. It’s better once it cooled down a bit.”

She ignored my warning and immediately burned her tongue.

Mira had picked up her own cup in the meantime and tasted the tea as well. Her eyes closed in pleasure as the warm liquid entered her mouth.

“This. Is. Wonderful”, she said, “Where did you get it?”

“It’s a dwarven product. This particular blend was created with my input. It’s now being sold all over the Hills.”

“A business owner as well?”

“No. I simply provided the idea and received a lot of product in return. This one is my favourite.”

“It’s my turn to ask a question, right?”, Circe spoke up.

“Before that, I have one myself”, Mira said, “Are you a [Thaumaturge]?`”

Circe gasped. So they knew about it even this far out? Even though the Class was supposedly banned in human lands?

“No. My Class is something else.”

“What Class do you have, then?”, Circe asked, “Some kind of [Scout] or [Hunter]?”

She received a flick to her forehead for that.

“I am sorry, Fio”, Mira said, “That was terribly impolite from her. Apologize!”

“I’m sorry!”, the girl whimpered.

“Apology accepted. How do you know about thaumaturges? I thought they were banned?”

“That would be incorrect. Free practitioners are not allowed. The king and possibly some dukes may have some in their employ, though.”

I blinked.

“This is a kingdom?”

“Yes? Oh. I suppose you might not know that. There are several kingdoms in the human plains. All of them are heralds of the Crimson Church.”

“I’ve heard of the Paladins.”

Mira nodded.

“Yes, the Crimson Knights. They hunt down any and all thaumaturges and clear out any nodes throughout the plains.”

“And what do they do with thaumaturges?”, I asked with narrowed eyes.

“They are brought to the Cathedral. What happens in there, nobody but them knows.”

“I see. I might have to pay them a visit…”

“What for?”, Circe asked. She had collected herself and was looking curious again.

“I sent a friend towards these lands. A [Thaumaturge]. He would not have been able to live with the dwarves or goblins as he was an ork but his own kind was not to his liking, either.”

“I… an ork? They live far south in the mountains, correct?”

I bobbed my head.

“He would have come here a little east from this village, I believe. You have not heard of anyone fitting the description?”

“Unfortunately, no. The church does not discriminate against other species. If he was found by them, they will likely employ him for their purposes. Whatever those are.”

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“I see. Thank you.”

“I hope your friend is fine”, Circe said.

We shared a moment of silence. Nobody really wanted to speak up after that. Eventually, Circe remembered her question.

“Right. Fio, I wanted to know… What would you want in order for you to become my familiar?”

I gave her the stink eye.

“Girl. If I take [Witch], I’ll make you my familiar.”

“I’d be fine with that. We can be each other’s eternal partner.”

I groaned mentally.

“That seems interesting. I do not know of any instance where two witches become each other’s familiar. I am curious if it is even possible.”

“Also!”, Circe said, “You killed the mink I was trying to contract!”

I rolled my head.

“It was getting ready to fight you for that meat. And it was basically even in level. It might have seriously hurt you.”

“Wait, really?”

The girl was taken aback.

“She is right”, Mira said, “I almost intervened. You need to be a little more careful out in the wild.”

Circe pouted.

“At least help me find someone more fitting?”, she asked.

“Maybe. We’ll figure something out.”

We continued to drink our tea and I poured a second cup for everyone. Mira brought Grunk over to the table and had him try some as well. He was not a big fan. There was some more small-talk and Circe asked a few more questions but I had learned what I wanted to for the time being. If the humans had any knowledge on hungry nodes or taint, it would be with the Crimson Church.

It turned out the Cathedral was a city named after its signature building. That was the only seat of power they had and the reason why the kings and nobles accepted their dominion. The validation and guarantee of peace beyond a few small skirmishes here and there was another big point. As long as nodes and thaumaturges were properly reported, the kingdoms were left to rule their lands however they wished. And while the mention of [Murderer] and [Rapist] Classes had a lot of shock value, they were very rare thanks to the guards in most larger towns.

With all that knowledge spouting out of Mira, I wondered where she came from. She had much more advanced table manners than I would expect from a [Forest Witch]. Maybe she was some kind of runaway noble? I decided to let her be. She had not pushed for my Class beyond asking if I was a [Thaumaturge] so I had no reason to find dirt on her.

Eventually, Circe got tired of just talking and wanted to go out again to find a familiar. Mira tried to stop her but only once I asked her to show me some witchcraft was the girl finally dissuaded. Soon after, we entered the workshop. The place was just as big as the kitchen and had a stone floor in the far corner. A fireplace was let into it and a large cauldron stood ready to be heated. The sides were lined with tables and shelves covered in all kinds of ingredients. It reminded me of Roguk’s hut just upscaled and a little more organized. To the right of the door stood a plain cot with a straw mattress on top. I could see a few splotches of blood dried out on the floor next to it.

“That’s where we keep patients if someone gets injured so badly they have to stay here”, Circe said, “Doesn’t happen too often, though.”

I jumped over to the cauldron with a flap of my wings and peered into it. It was just about my height but a little stool next to it let me get a closer look. It was honestly… a little disappointing. Mostly it just was a large iron bowl with a wooden ladle hanging on the wall next to it. I expected some remains but it was cleaned out thoroughly. That was the only sign the cauldron was used for magical processes. If it had not been taken care of like this, I would expect it to be used for mundane cooking.

“So, what are you making?”, I asked.

“This!”, Circe beamed, a flask held before me. It was actual glass, if a little milky. Inside, a familiar red liquid swirled around.

“A healing potion?”

Her smile turned upside down.

“How do you know about this?”, she asked.

“I used one made by dwarves for my friend once, remember? That’s how I met them.”

“Right. There was something like that. Well, today we’re going to make one!”

“Slowly”, Mira said.

“Yes, Master!”, the girl answered.

She put back the flask onto the shelf where another three sat ready to be used whenever. In total, there were almost thirty glass containers. Some of them had liquid inside but most were empty.

“What are the other potions for?”, I asked.

“There’s one for nutrition, one for sleeping and… These three are failed ones where we don’t know what they do?”

The bottles emanated an air of magic. I could nearly see the essence vibrating through the glass better than the actual liquid once I activated [Owl Senses]. The healing potions were, as expected, magic, life and healing. Nutrition exchanged healing for crop and body. The sleeping potion was magic, darkness and sense. The last three were all different. One had magic, poison and air. It was clearly harmful. The next one had magic, earth, plant and crop. If I had to guess, it would make things grow. The last one was magic, life and human. It was difficult to decipher but I was pretty sure it would help with fertility. Or love. Either of those.

Circe distracted my musings and beckoned me over to one of the tables. She had a pile of herbs laid out in front of her. There was even a mushroom and a few blackberries. The last part was a small wooden box that held some kind of cream.

“This is all we need”, she beamed at me.

“Everything? So you’re combining the essence of objects to create an effect?”

“Yup.”

“No vis crystals?”

She looked over at her master.

“We do not get any of those. The Crimson Church destroys all nodes that could create some.”

“Interesting. Well, show me what you can do with this.”

Circe smiled and nodded.

“First, we have to…”, she began. A chop to her forehead stopped the girl in her tracks.

“Put the knife down and get some water”, Mira said.

“Right”, Circe whined, “I forgot.”

The woman shook her head.

“You always do…”

I chuckled as the girl left the room. She was kind of adorable.