As Circe left the room, Mira opened the shutters watching out onto the clearing. She leaned on the windowsill with a deep sigh.
“You are strange, Fio”, she said eventually, “I have never seen a beast as smart as you. Sapience is not enough to explain it.”
“I won’t disagree completely but I have met several animals that were able to integrate into society. Then again, the dwarves have a whole system set up to help them with that.”
She glanced back.
“Were they the ones who taught you as well, then?”
“No. My case is weird.”
“How so?”
I hesitated.
“If you do not want to tell me, that is fine. However, I expect you to leave us alone in that case. I can not put my apprentice into this kind of danger. You are an unknown.”
She had turned around and her stern eyes gazed down at me. I listened for Circe and made out splashing water from behind the house. A tendril of darkness snaked on top of a nearby desk and I activated [Eldritch Shift]. My body disappeared for a moment as it took the path formed by my shadow. I reformed on top of the desk looking straight at the woman. Now we were at least at eye level.
“I’ll give you the short version, then”, I decided, “This is not my first life.”
Mira’s eyes turned from stern to surprised, then incredulous. Her mouth was pressed into a thin line.
“When I died in my previous life, I was a human. Granted, I was not very old. Only 17 years. But my memories stuck with my soul as I moved into this world. It took some time to fully understand everything and I still have questions as to what happened and how it happened but I’m no longer in doubt. I am an owl and a human. Sometimes more one than the other. Never only one.
“That is a lot to take in. All you have to know is that I was born sapient and know how to live with other people from before. And my friends are important to me. Circe is my friend.”
Silence settled in the room. Not that I had made any noise but the way I used [Telepathy] it did feel like someone was talking.
Mira took several minutes to take in the information. Long enough for Circe to come back with two full buckets of water. She poured them into the cauldron without noticing the mood and quickly left for a second set. I gave a hoot at her grin.
When she was out again, the [Witch] met my eyes.
“I do not know if I should believe your tale. But neither do I see how you would make it up. It is simply too insane. It almost sounds like thaumaturgy pulled you here. I would accept that practice to produce something this insane.”
“I’m pretty sure it wasn’t thaumaturgy. It does play with souls sometimes, though. I can see where you’re coming from.”
The woman’s eyes narrowed.
“Did you not say you were not a [Thaumaturge]?”
“I do not have the Class”, I said.
She grinned before letting out a laugh.
“That’s too good. Well… The law only states to report those who have the Class. Whatever you have, the guards in larger towns or cities all have [Identify] past the second Breakthrough. You will likely be spotted by them.”
“That may be an issue. I could just fly into town, though. Right?”
“Your Class could be an issue? So it is related to thaumaturgy?”
“No. Do you have [Identify] at seven?”
“I do not. Breakthroughs are difficult to achieve.”
“Somewhat. Well… I’m an [Assassin]. Though that is mostly to help my hunting.”
“… that is a rare Class. Why did you not take hunter?”
“It was the first one I unlocked. And it fits much better with my hunting method. I can see and hear a lot from the air. What I need is not help tracking but staying unnoticed by my prey.”
“Somehow that makes sense.”
I turned my head to the door as I heard Circe come back into the house.
“You can likely just fly in but people will be scared of you. Beasts that enter civilization are never weak. Otherwise, they would be scared away by the number of people.”
“Even if I just appear as an ordinary owl?”
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“Well… maybe not in the bigger cities? You could definitely send every villager running in but a moment.”
Right then, Circe barged in and placed the two spare buckets on the table next to the cauldron.
“Done and done! Let’s get to it?”
She looked between us. Mira had a soft smile on her lips while I jumped over next to her with a flap of my wings.
“Let’s”, I said after reconnecting to her mind.
Grunk croaked and slowly hopped over as Mira stepped up.
“Now. I will be showing you the process. It should unlock the [Witch Apprentice] Class for you. If you make your own potion, you can get access to the main Class right away but I do not recommend that.”
“Why is that?”
“Apprentice Classes are great!”, Circe said, “You can get it up to level 50 if you want and have five Skills and when you upgrade to the main Class, you get a double for your level one Class bonus. You can also choose which two Skills you start out with. The only problem is that you lose the Attributes and have to regain them with the coming levels.”
Mira nodded at the explanation.
“Additionally, you will be more likely to gain the other dropped Skills as general ones. It makes it much more likely for you to gain powerful ones even at the first and second Milestone.”
“I see. I’ll think about it…”
I had my suspicions that was not everything to it. I could easily get better Skills by having access to rarer or more powerful aspects as [Eldritch Shift] had shown. For now, I could simply take a look at what being a [Witch] entailed.
Mira started off by lighting the fire below the cauldron. There were still some embers, likely from the last time they used it, and she quickly got the wood burning.
“The first part of making a potion is knowing what you want to make”, she started, “You need to have a plan or you will fail no matter what.”
The woman pointed to the healing potions on the shelf.
“This is what I will be showing you, Fio. A simple healing potion. They are only used in emergencies that can not be treated otherwise. We have access to simpler balms and tinctures for smaller injuries.
“A healing potion needs to fix the wounds of the patient. There are several ways to achieve that. You can regrow the lost tissue or body parts, cauterize it or amputate it. The latter two are only viable for extremities so we definitely want the first. As it stands, that is also the most difficult option.
“When making a healing potion, you will need to put that to the forefront of your mind. That is where the Wisdom of a [Witch] comes in. It allows us to force our will upon the world. From the time you pick up the first ingredient until the moment you cork the flask, you will keep your focus on it. That is the most important thing. If you slip once, the potion will be ruined even if your ingredients are perfect.
“Now, I will explain the process and then show it to you. Pay close attention!”
Mira kept talking as she showed me the ingredients. There were some herbs and grasses from the forest. I recognized nettle and fern. She also had a few bulbs that looked like some cross between tulips and onions. The last part was a small box with what initially looked like a red brick. Circe told me it was specially prepared blood from herself. It was the core ingredient to make the potion work.
The process itself was not too difficult. There was a lot of picking and choosing the right plant that grew just the way it was needed but I could easily remember it. Then, Circe told me she would use completely different ones. I was confused for a moment until Mira cleared it up.
“Every [Witch] has her own process. Depending on the image you have in your mind, you will need to adjust the recipe for yourself.”
“Now that sounds insane.”
Circe looked between us with a large question mark written on her face while Mira chuckled.
“Well, let us begin.”
She went silent as she focused and cut and ground the ingredients. One by one they landed in the cauldron and I could see the essence mix with the water. Grunk sat nearby completely fixated on the bubbling liquid and I could see strands of vis moving between him and the early potion. Mira’s mind was also connected but much weaker. I could see why she would want the toad’s support. Thinking about all the steps was surely distracting her.
In the cauldron itself, their vis moved around the essence and nudged it into the right spot. Life combined with life to create healing then split again. Slowly, magic vis pushed into the cauldron and formed something resembling a web. Were there mind spiders at work again? I could not see them as I had when using my crucible to do proper alchemy. And yet there were traces hinting at their presence.
After a few minutes, Mira began to stir the mixture. The web was broken into small strings that collected life and healing essence around them. She kept going for nearly twenty minutes before pulling out the ladle. One string went with it and was filled into a flask. Then, she picked up the next one and added it. I turned off my [Owl Senses] for a moment to see the mundane. There was simple red liquid in the container but much less than the essence had suggested. The [Witch] was only skimming the important parts off the top. After a total of seventeen scoops, she corked the flask and set it down. A deep sigh left her mouth and she turned to me.
“That is it. The potion is done.”
I could still see the essence but it quickly settled into a more rigid structure resembling that of the other flasks.
“Now we only have to clean up.”
“I’ll get to it!”, Circe said and filled the remaining two buckets of water into the cauldron. She picked up the ladle and stood on the stool to have a better grip while stirring. Within minutes, the liquid was evaporating. She was pushing just the tiniest bit of vis into it and the rest of the essence pulled the water with it. There was a much smaller amount of flux than I expected. Only a few traces pushed into the girl’s body. She most likely did not even notice it.
“What do you think?”, Mira asked, “Are you interested in becoming a [Witch]?”
“It’s definitely something. But brewing by itself would not make me take the Class. Unless… Does the Skill help you find recipes?”
“At the first levels, it does not. Mine was altered on Breakthrough and it gives me hints as to what ingredient I need to take. The choice on which part and what form it takes still falls to my own mind. Intelligence and Wisdom both help with it, though.”
“Do they help even if you don’t have the Skill?”
“That is an interesting question. Maybe you can figure that out?”
She smiled at me. Circe grinned.
“Does that mean Fio can stay here?”
Mira nodded softly.
“For the time being. Just, be careful with the villagers.”
I bobbed my head.
“I will. If people get worried, we can just tell them I’m her familiar.”
“Yes!”, the girl shouted, “Thank you, Master!”