Upon arrival in the pub, I deposited the treasure and the merchant onto my pile of witchy earth and went to the stove to cook everyone dinner. Cali watched me with dead-tired eyes as I brought her a plate of steak and pickled vegetables.

She ate quickly and I poured her a jug of water from the centre of my domain blessed by the radiance of gemstone 112. As the water hit her lips, her eyes went wide.

“What?” She uttered, licked her lips and drowned the rest of the jug in seconds.

“Hmmm?” I turned to her as I chewed on my own elk steak.

“Either I'm delirious from exhaustion or this is the most delicious water in the world,” she said. “Can I have some more?”

I poured her another jug and she chugged it just as quickly, staring at me with big, begging blue eyes.

I poured her a third cup of life-rad infused water. As she drank it much slower this time, color gradually returned to her face.

“Goldara’s ass,” she murmured, licking the jug. “How can plain water taste better than the best Culimancer-augmented dish in a thirteen star restaurant of Iridium?”

"Would you say this water is addictive?" I asked her curiously.

"Nah," Cali yawned. "Sorceresses don't get addicted to anything that would influence a mortal. Our blood cycles through our bodies far too quickly, eliminating any kind of mind manipulating medicine or poison. It tastes nice but I certainly would not beg for it, if that's your plan to bind me. No amount of magical compulsion can truly hold an Arcanicx for very long. I do enjoy your attention, my Champion."

"You can't be addicted?" I asked.

"Not really," She shrugged. "Some Arcanicx specialize in Agromancy, weaving incredibly tasty spices. Magegrass is great for binding men, but it has no effect on us Arcanicx whatsoever except for a... mild relaxation effect. I think that whatever is in your water is similar, since I'm feeling quite relaxed."

I squinted at her.

"What?" She asked. "Just so you know, I am quite tired but haven't given up on making you my property. Sooner or later you will give in to my allure and that'll be that. Time is on my side. Your attempts at binding me are amusing at best."

"Thanks for being honest," I sighed.

"Anytime," Cali yawned even wider.

Her belly full, she pulled off her coat and hat and curled up into a white ball atop of witchy earth and closed her eyes.

“Guess I have two cats now,” I commented, glancing at the snoozing Felix Arcanicx.

“Br-mrrrr-brrr,” Stormy said, chewing on her steak and lapping her portion of water from a bowl on the table.

“Don't worry,” I said, petting her. “You're my number one forever-kitten!”

----------------------------------------

I checked with Stormy on whether Cali would remain sleeping or do anything untoward against us.

Having received a negative "Brrrr", I left the kitten to watch over my domain from the windowsill of an open window. Then, I sliced off a bunch of witch-grass and went to feed the merchant's and my horses in the stables.

The horses nickered softly as I approached, their ears perking up at the sight of the grass in my hands. I couldn't help but smile as they eagerly munched on the offerings, their eyes glazing over slightly as the witch-grass took effect. It was a peculiar sight, watching these majestic beasts become docile and compliant under the influence of my domain's flora.

As I stroked the neck of Cali's lead horse, a sturdy white mare with intelligent eyes, I found myself pondering the nature of my newfound powers. The ability to influence living creatures through grass that grew from the bodies of my enemies was both fascinating and slightly unsettling. I contemplated how I could refine and optimise the growth and its effects, creating different types of grass for different purposes.

The pub was quiet when I returned, save for the crackling of logs in the fireplace and the soft snoring coming from the curled-up form of Cali on my earth pile. Stormy was still perched on the windowsill, her violet eyes tracking my movement as I entered. I gave her a quick scratch behind the ears and received a “Mrrrrr” before turning my attention to my research journal.

I settled down on my ridiculously comfortable pile, pulling out the Witch Codex. With an ink pen in hand, I began to jot down a list of things to research.

Grass potency - figure out if it correlates with:

* How magical the corpse is

* Whether the creature was killed by the witch or another being

* Time since death

* Method of death (violent vs. peaceful)

* Emotional state of the creature at the time of death

Domain:

* Experiment with different types of soil/rock compositions to optimise plant growth

* Attempt to create "satellite" domains, each with different purposes

* Measure the exact radius of domain-manifestation effect of witch as the domain’s centroid.

Wormwood Star fragments:

* Analyze Cali's lavalier

* Attempt to locate and retrieve a less reinforced fragment for personal study [Look for one in Cali’s sleigh?]

* Research potential health effects/dangers of prolonged exposure

Familiar:

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

* Figure out the mechanism of future-prediction Stormy utilises innately

* Optimise my communication with her

* Track the temporal range of Stormy's future sight. Is it hours, days, weeks?

I paused my writing as I mentally went over my life in Svalbard thus far. Something odd jumped out to me as I re-evaluated everything I’ve done as Ioan.

How did I know how to skin an elk? How did I know exactly where to aim when time slowed to a crawl? How did I kill an elk without even trying? How did I know how to fire a Svalbard arbalest so well? How did I use grinding tools and smelted glass so well?

“Four hundred and seventeen lives burned to ashes. So that one may live and become strong.” The first words of Yaga Grandhilda echoed in my brain.

“Holy shit,” I said, dropping the pen.

“Mrrwwlll?” Stormy asked, looking up at me.

“I think that I have far more innate, hidden skills than I’ve realized,” I replied.

“Mr-bmrmmrrr,” Stormy shrugged.

“Look, I know that hunting, blacksmithing and butchering elks isn’t anywhere as impressive as future-sight or whatever it is you can do,” I said. “But still… there has to be a way to manually separate and activate all of these skills, increase their potency! There are potentially gemstones on my armor each of which holds specific soul shards that magnify specific skills of the hunters and warriors of Svalbard.”

I added more writing to the Codex.

Soul shard skills:

* Methodically use Hexometer + specific gems to sketch out variety of hexagrams which might be potentially representing specific skills

* Map out which gemstones correspond to which effects/skills

* Develop more remotes to activate specific effects/skills at will [Produce more witchglass]

* Figure out how to manually activate specific skills on self [Start with most obvious and useful effect such as accelerating my response time]

* Experiment if and how magical effects can be combined by activating more than one remote

* Research if skills can be transferred or shared with others [Test on Stormy and Cali]

Further ideas of interest floated in the labyrinthine neural patterns of my mind and I jotted them down before they scattered away.

Astralscope:

* Refine design for better clarity and range

Arcanoelastic effect:

* Attempt to liquify specific objects instead of floor/earth.

* Test limits of control - reshape more liquified objects and solidify them, moulding tools using my bare hands. Get more tools from Cali’s Sleigh.

* Explore potential for creating new materials through controlled solidification

* Use the effect to create myself better armour

* Can two entirely different materials that have been liquified be merged into an entirely new material with unique properties?

* Attempt to breathe inside liquified substance

The last point made me shudder. According to Yaga Grandhilda a domain was supposed to be the safest place for a witch, but rationally I was absolutely batshit terrified of trying to breathe inside of liquified earth.

What if I accidentally suffocated in my own earth? What if I got stuck in there, unable to emerge? What if being a male witch had a horrible downside such as not being able to breathe underground and nobody would save me? Stormy definitely wouldn't be able to pull me out or give me first aid if I accidentally passed out in the depths of my domain.

Stormy could see the future, sure… but what if she made a mistake in seeing the best outcome for me, what if I…

I glanced over at Cali's sleeping form in an attempt to chase away gloomy thoughts of failure.

Since my awakening in Svalbard in Ioan’s anorexic body, I dedicated every waking moment to methodical understanding of the world around me with science, but there was a reason for that… one that I didn’t want to admit to myself.

I was genuinely terrified.

The merchant’s white jacket was slightly matted with dirt and sweat, her face peaceful in slumber despite the ordeal she'd been through. I pursed my lips, a nagging worry creeping into my mind.

I hadn't intended to involve anyone else in my plans, let alone a merchant with dubious morals. Yet here she was, curled up on my domain, drinking my enchanted water, and slowly becoming more entangled in my life with each passing hour.

The pragmatic part of my mind recognized her potential value - her knowledge of languages, her connections in the wider world, her ability to smell gold and broker deals. But the cautious part of me wondered if this would all backfire horribly.

What if Cali found a way to break the blood pact? What if her family came looking for her? What if she was playing an even longer, bigger game than I realized? What if she made steps to protect herself from being bound? What if she had secret weapons in her sleigh that she could turn against me? What if a Star-Eater found both of us and punched me out of existence?

I started to pace around my pile.

What if a Jotun or another dark abomination was attracted to the blood magic in Cali’s lavalier and was already stalking me, roaming somewhere outside the range of the ungodly number of Zemy’s Banners hanging from my ceiling? If Cali found me, then it stood to reason that other Champion-Seekers would come looking for me. If Stormy could see the future, then it was possible that other Sorceresses could see the future and they would be extremely interested in adding a male witch to their collection.

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. The simple life of a solitary witch-scientist was rapidly becoming more complicated. But as I looked at my growing pile of research notes and plans, I couldn't help but feel a thrill of excitement. Complicated didn't necessarily mean bad, after all.

It just meant more variables to account for, more experiments to run.

“What was Cali’s greatest weakness?” I mentally asked myself, tapping the pen against my chin.

Her lavalier. She was hopelessly addicted to the magical power which the artifact provided! All of her behavioral patterns matched that of an addict who was missing their hit. That’s why she was so terrified of me breaking it.

With a devious smile of a mad scientist witch, I turned back to my Codex.

If Cali was going to be a part of this, I'd need to factor her into all of my plans. Perhaps I could optimize her skills, figure out how to target her with a magical remote to amplify her powers personally, tie her to myself, break her off from her addiction to her blood-magic lavalier, which would inevitably summon Jotuns to my domain if she kept on using it.

I added a new section to my notes:

Callista Liesl:

* Assess the full extent of her magical abilities by evaluating her with the Hexometer

* Ask Stormy what to do about her, determine the most optimal future

* Make sure she does not mentally bind me with her allure again…