Another week later the villagers were churning. Not for any negative reason, though. They had kept mixing the magical fertilizer into the dirt all around their wheat and now, it was time to start the harvest. Over half of the fields were fully grown with incredibly oversized crops. Thomas even complained to us how the warehouses would not be enough to store everything.
Even with that issue, work began. Scythes were swung and sheaves bound. It took a few days to get through the overgrown parts which was enough time for the rest to catch up. Us witches used the time to produce more fertilizer potions. Yuuna was getting good enough to make two bottles per set while Circe and Mira were at three. My sister was doing most of the work, though, now that the main harvest was done with. It would be fine to mix the next batch into the earth a few days after seeding the fields. Or planting, probably. The villagers wanted to go for another batch of potatoes, after all.
I decided to spend some more time with Circe, figuring out her warp tolerance. I had brought a few medium vis crystals from close by in the mountains and was trying to get her to absorb them efficiently. As long as the mercenaries did not come by for a sudden visit, that would be just fine.
At first, she had a lot of trouble. Not as much as the dwarven children I had tried to teach once but there was a definite risk. She simply could not pinpoint her soul within her body to lead the vis to. I ended up connecting to her using the supersensory matrix in order to guide her more directly. At first, Mira was reluctant to let me do that. Our souls would get very close, after all. But I managed to convince her by doing it to the older [Witch] first. That way she could see how careful and precise I could be with my soul.
As such, Circe and I were currently sitting together on a set of roots about a hundred metres south of the witch hut. In front of her laid the crystal we had been practising with. It held the aspects of terra and arbor along a small amount of ignis. Earth, tree and fire. I had another crystal with aer and aqua but she had decided to try this one first. The burning shadows my sister had used must have impressed Circe.
I closely observed my friend with all my senses. My eyes ran over her face which was scrunched in concentration. My ears listened to her heartbeat, her rapidly slowing breaths and the tensing of her muscles. And my magical senses focused on the aspects of her body and the crystal in front of her. Everything was coalescing for this moment. We had tried a few times but Circe was still lacking even minor vis enrichment. This was the last task she had set for herself before changing Class to [Witch].
My soul connected to hers and reached out carefully.
“You can do this. Just send the vis in my general direction.”
She nodded, lips pulled tight.
“Not where you are, though.”
“Exactly”, I sent.
She slowly closed her eyes and spread her fingers wide. Bit by bit, her hands moved forward. I kept sending quiet words through our connection. Meaningless but for the fact they were there. They provided a target not too far from where she needed to aim.
Circe’s fingers halted just in front of the vis crystal. By now, she was able to sense the moment she was about to connect to it. Her body remembered the ravaging energies and was hesitant. Carefully, she suppressed her shaking muscles. Then, she cringed.
“Slow breaths”, I sent, “In… Out… In… Out…”
With every litre of air moved in and out of her lungs, she managed to reduce her shaking by a small bit until it was nearly gone. She took one last breath. In. Out. Then her eyes opened and she bridged the gap. A sharp gasp escaped her teeth as vis rushed into her body and flux spread into every muscle.
“Here!”, I sent, “Right here!”
I had no ignis or arbor vis myself but I had some terra which I pushed through the connection. Only the tiniest amount so as to not distract her. She quickly found the strand of energy and clung to it like a drowning person to a rope. Then, she grabbed the vis from the crystal and pulled.
“Slow!”, I cautioned her.
She nodded and lowered the force. Slowly, vis flowed deeper into her body. It saturated muscles, veins and bones as it moved, losing cohesion for every little centimetre. But it kept moving. Up her arms, then through her shoulders and down into her chest area. There, it got lost for a tiny moment until Circe pulled on the tiny strand of my vis once again. The energy from the crystal noticed the familiar presence and rushed towards it. Circe gasped as the first bits of what I had once called mana entered her very soul.
I immediately pulled away from her. There was a serious risk of my soul absorbing what was not meant for it or giving away vis that Circe could not handle.
I observed her body carefully, a tendril of shadows ready to rip the vis crystal out of her hands at any moment. Circe was smiling. It was an expression somewhere between fulfilment and pain almost like a mad scientist. After half a minute, she gasped and let go of the crystal.
“Wow!”, she said as she fell back onto the moss, “I did it?”
“Yes, you did”, I said. A quick [Hidden Identify] had shown me the new line in her Status: vis enriched (minor). Right next to the more temporary ‘flux poisoned (minuscule)’.
“You can still get a decent bit further with this crystal but it’s a start.”
I put away the object in question as my friend rightened herself.
“I feel… weird. Like I have way too much energy but have to go to sleep.”
“You caught a tiny bit of flux poisoning. We pushed a little too far.”
She tilted her head.
“But it worked?”
“It did. It would have worked tomorrow or the day after without getting poisoned. Now you have to wait that long anyway and you won’t be able to even brew potions in the meantime.”
“Can I change my Class?”
“I would not recommend it. Your current Attributes likely lessen the effect of the poisoning.”
I froze.
“Hold on.”
There was a new system notification floating in front of me.
~ding~ Congratulations! For leading a student onto the path of Truth, your Skill [Guidance] has upgraded into [Eldritch Guidance].
That was… interesting. I quickly ran through my Status and found [Eldritch Guidance] was also a Breakthrough. The Skill had reached level five on top of being altered. On top of that, I had gained another race level with a point in Strength and one in Intelligence.
“What’s up?”, Circe asked.
“My Skill broke through. Let me check the details.”
[Eldritch Guidance]: Through repeated efforts, you have led many people to a better life. Your opinion carries weight when teaching or acting with the intention to help. People under your guidance receive a small amount of bonus experience.
1st Breakthrough: Your understanding of Truth lets you make others understand more easily. You have no need to tell what you can show instead.
The first part seemed to be the same but the Breakthrough text was interesting. Did that mean I could teach people thaumaturgy without using a Thaumonomicon? It definitely applied to vis enrichment, since that was what I had used to Breakthrough. I would have to look into the potential of this Skill a little more. Maybe I could even help others get [Imaginatics]?
I looked back up into Circe’s smiling face.
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“Anything good?”, she asked.
“Looks like it. But it’s a bit difficult to tell what it will do in the long run.”
“Well, congratulations! We gotta celebrate, now!”
I huffed.
“Nah. I’m fine.”
“Oh, come on! It’ll be fun!”
“I don’t really want to broadcast it. People will ask questions.”
“And you don’t have to answer a single one!”
I clicked my tongue.
“Let’s just take it slow?”, I said.
“Fine… but we’ll celebrate my vis enrichment anyway, so…”
“I don’t know if Mira will want that.”
“Ah, right. It’s supposed to be regulated by the Church…”
I nodded.
“Let’s get back?”
----------------------------------------
We returned to a slightly annoyed Mira. Yuuna had botched a potion and left a slew of flux behind. I made sure to clean up and we decided to keep quiet about Circe’s progress. We had not told anyone about what we were doing exactly. It would be apparent as soon as someone with a high enough [Identify] hit her but that was unlikely out here.
Circe was about to get some rest as Thomas visited. The [Village Head] looked very happy and thanked all of us enthusiastically.
“What you made there is amazing! We can send an early trip to Brookfrid and even have the Plains Brigade accompany them. And we have so much to sell! We’ll be rich!”
“Slow down, young man”, Mira said, “I will not be able to produce anywhere near as much once Fio leaves. She is the reason we were able to push production.”
“Oh. But you can still make more?”
“Yes. It will simply take longer. We will have to be more careful with the flux.”
At Mira’s words, I remembered I had made flux scrubbers for my personal workshop. They would turn ambient flux into potentia essence. I was unsure what Mira was supposed to do with that but it would at least increase the safety of the village.
“I might have something…”, I said, “I’ll have to go get it but that’s a two-day trip. When is the cart going to leave?”
Thomas blinked.
“Ah, right. Four days from now. The last sheaves are still drying.”
“Sounds good”, I nodded, “I’ll be flying out tomorrow, then.”
“You’re leaving?”, Circe asked, “Just like that?”
“For two days…”
I rolled my head.
“I would be very grateful”, Mira said, “Your solutions are always wonderfully interesting.”
“It’s not perfect but it’ll help.”
“Right”, Thomas said, “You’ll be going along to Brookfrid, then, right Circe?”
“Yup!”
“Make sure you have everything ready. And maybe spend some extra time at home? Mum and Dad would be happy.”
She began to pout before turning it into a smile.
“Right. I’ll come over tomorrow.”
Her brother smiled.
“Thanks. I’ll see you then.”
With that, he left.
Circe drooped a little in her chair as Mira observed both of us.
“What were you two up to?”, she asked.
“Mm?”, Circe made, “Nothing?”
“We worked on seeing how badly she reacts to warp”, I said.
The [Witch] raised one eyebrow.
“By flooding her with vis?”
Circe’s hand slipped out from underneath her chin and it banged on the table.
“Ow! Flux! Now I’m awake!”
I blinked.
“Is it that obvious?”
Our master nodded.
“I may not be you but I do have some capability to sense magic. Especially drastic changes like this.”
Circe groaned.
“Well…”, I said, “She reached minor vis enrichment today.”
“Ah”, Mira said, “I see.”
“She also pushed a little hard and got minuscule flux poisoning.”
The [Witch] glared at the girl. Circe tried to shield her eyes but was too tired to fully lift her hand.
“You will rest tomorrow. No. You will rest until the poison is cleared out of your system. Do you understand?”
The only answer was tired blinking. Mira sighed.
“Fio. I will not blame you but please do hold her back a little more.”
I nodded.
“I will be telling your family that you can not visit them tomorrow. Now, let us get you to bed.”
I watched Mira support the girl to her room. Maybe we should have asked for permission. It was too late now, anyway. The cat was out of the bag.