Atraeya burst through the door, and headed directly to her book. She flipped through the pages, scanning for the one the she had attempted to read earlier. Sure enough, it said poppy seeds. Of course, the image of the poppy on that same page should have been a clue but she had ignored it. She didn't think it was actually relevant. But thinking on it now, she realized something as precious as a book would only have information it needed to have. It would have been important to recognize a poppy flower for a potion.

It took her a painstakingly long time to read the instructions. She kept having to re-read her stick of names, sounding out all the letters until she came to the one she needed. It took her a couple of hours to get through the entirety of the instructions, and even then she couldn't understand words like "embed" and "imbue." She also learned the "th" sound from feathers, the "u" sound from around, and the "w" from water after sounding them out a few times.

Essentially, the instructions wanted her to "embed" the poppy seeds into the woolen balls, wrap the feathers around it, then drop them into boiling water. "Imbue" mana into the concoction while stirring, then bottle it when done. Studying like this sort of reminded her of the witch back home, in the capital. She had sat her down and drilled it into her how to make a wand. She wasn't able to teach her much before Atraeya was kicked out, but that one moment was enough to make a mark on her.

When would she need a sleeping potion though? Under the instructions were more instructions and warnings. Something about effects? It was too many words for her to concentrate on, and it quickly became overwhelming. Well, it didn't seem too important. As long as nobody collapsed while she made the potion everything will be fine. She was excited to try it out, but didn't know where to find any of those ingredients anyway. She didn't see any wool or feathers when she was taking from the witch's cottage. Maybe they were somewhere else in the cottage, or she might have to go around and find her own.

Atraeya thumbed through some more pages, but, not wanting to go through her stick of names again, didn't find anything that caught her eye. Instead she turned her attention to the fireplace that sat one one end of the room. It was dusty and falling apart, with a heap of ashes piled at the bottom, and if she tried to light it up she wouldn't be surprised if the entire house went up in flames.

Which was another thing she needed to do. In addition to making a protection charm, she might also need to make a fire warding charm. The fire warding charm should be first, then she needed to fix the fireplace, then she needed to attach a protection charm on it. Her eyes glanced around the house, and all the other little things that needed to be fixed. She would need to make a lot of protection charms.

Thankfully, most charms don't need many ingredients. Most just need an object dipped in mana water and salt. What made a charm, a charm, was the witch's will when using the mana. Potions worked on a similar rule, but needed the proper ingredients to work properly, which is why they were more expensive, and harder to make.

The fire protection charm should be for the whole house, which meant it needed to be stuck on the house to be effective. Her thoughts drifted back to the broken down fireplace, and how she would need to place the bricks back into place. If she could get just the powder mix of mortar, split it in half, then she could pour the charm mixture into one half for the fire protection charm, and the other half could be used as the fortification charm for the fireplace itself. She was sure there was some bricks on the outside that need to be fixed up. It just needed a small section for it to apply to the whole house. She just needed to find it.

Then the only problem left would be to find the mortar. She hadn't had the chance to explore Verdantvale. Not thoroughly, so she didn't know who worked where. She didn't even know what gramps did when he was gone all day. Well, today that changes. She wandered around outside for a bit, and found Mira doing chores in her yard. "Excuse me, Mira?"

The woman stopped and looked over, and soon her whole face was smiling at her. "Oh my! Back so soon dearie?"

"Do you know where I can find mortar? For bricks."

"Brick mortar? Why on earth would you need something like that?"

"I want to help gramps repair the fireplace."

"Oh, how sweet you are. I had noticed it looked a bit dangerous from the outside, all falling apart like that. I can't imagine how it looks on the inside…" she tsked to herself. "Well, I don't know if anyone sells it, but try asking Hal."

Another new face. Mira sure was knowledgeable about everyone here. "Who's Hal?"

"Oh, he used to make the houses around here. The village has grown a bit stagnant nowadays so he hasn't had much work to do, poor thing. He's real good at it too, so if anyone is to know anything about that sort of line of work it would be him. He lives 2 streets down. Look for the house with the yellow chicks painted on it"

"Yellow chicks, got it. Thank you, Mira!"

Atraeya followed her instructions. It wasn't long before she came upon a house with chicks painted along the bottom of the house. Not only that, but there were also about a dozen chickens and a rooster to boot, all hanging around the house. It was quite rowdy, and some of them even watched her as she approached, carefully stepping in a way to not hurt the chickens. She could feel their beady eyes even as she knocked on the door. A few of them dared to approach, cautiously.

The door swung open. "Who are you? What do you want?" The man seemed only slightly younger than gramps. White hair, but not as many wrinkles, and could walk around just fine without help.

"My name is Atraeya. I'm Elmer's granddaughter." At the mention of gramps, he narrowed his eyes. "You're Hal, right? Mira said you worked on houses before."

"Yeah that's me. What do you want?" he repeated.

"I'm trying to fix gramps' fireplace, and I need brick mortar. Do you know where I could find some?"

Hal stared at her for a moment, then smirked. "Yeah I can get you a bucket of it. It'll cost you though."

Atraeya froze. She didn't have any money. And she didn't know if gramps had any either. How was she supposed to do this if she didn't have money? Maybe he's open to trade? She peeked up, to find that smirk still plastered on his face. He knew she didn't have money. He might know gramps' situation as well. Were they so broke that everyone know they didn't have money? "I don't… do you want to trade instead?"

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Hal's smirk grew. She was like a fly caught in a web. "Tell you what. Me and Elmer go way back. I'll do this as a favor for him. That fireplace of his looks pathetic anyhow. You run along and tell him what you're up to. Come back in 3 days and you'll have your mortar."

Relief washed over her. She could barely contain her giddiness. "Thank you! Thank you! I will!"

"You'll need to mix it yourself though. I'm not as spry as I used to be."

"Of course! I'll be back in three days then." With that she ran off, startling the dozen chickens sitting around her.

As promised, when she returned three days later after finishing her chores, a bucket of powdered brick mortar was waiting for her. She tried to pick it up with the handle, but it was too heavy for her, even dry. She heaved and heaved but only succeeded in turning her arms to jelly. She instead opted to just drag it through the dirt until she managed to reach home. Less strenuous, but she still needed a break by the time she managed to reach home. Her arms ached to the core. Even trying to lift them hurt. Living out in the country sure was a lot of work.

Once Atraeya had rested long enough, she got to work. First she divided the brick mortar into two buckets. A charm can only have one effect, after all. In one bucket, the mortar would become a sturdy charm, for the fireplace so it could stop breaking down. In the second bucket, a fire protection charm, to stop the house from burning down. Then she just needed to make the charms. She filled a pot of water from the river, and began to boil it. She fetched the salt, and her wand. Once the pot had reached a boiling stage, the poured a handful of salt into the water, then she poured her mana in, making sure to stir as she thought of the sturdy charm she wanted made.

Atraeya wasn't exactly sure when to stop. She didn't get any sort of fullness from it, or any feedback at all, in fact. She furrowed her eyebrows, concerned. What if she ended it too early? She didn't think anything bad would happen if she gave it too much mana. Charms typically work better the more mana it was given. Well, better safe than sorry. She mixed it for a few more minutes before she cut off the mana. All that was left was some sort of spatula to use the mortar and put the bricks together. She had gotten one yesterday, but she wasn't sure where she left it.

"Is it ready yet?" Gramps walked in through the door. She had told him her plan, and he offered to toss up the bricks that had fallen, since she wouldn't be able to keep going up and down. The mortar mixture would dry up before she would be finished.

"Where's the spatula?" she asked.

"I put it under the counter. Is it not there?" She peeked under. Nothing. "Hmm… Maybe it's by the fireplace…" He shuffled over to it, where he dug around a pile. Eventually he exclaimed, and held up the item they were looking for. She figured he might have put it there so they wouldn't forget.

"Great, thanks, gramps. Are you… feeling OK?" Atraeya remembered his reaction to the potion gone wrong. She glanced back at the charm mixture, fresh off the oven and still steaming. Surely he would have some sort of reaction to it.

"I'm fine, get up to the roof now. I put the ladder on the south side."

"Right." She nodded, and brought the pot outside. With the water still hot, it mixed easily, and she stirred with all her might until she was sure it was ready to be used. Only, now the bucket was heavier. She wasn't sure she could bring it all the way up the ladder. If only she could use magic to lift things.

Still, she needed to get it done. She dragged it through the yard, placed the spatula in her mouth, and took the ladder one step at a time. Her hands turned red, and her knuckles turned white from the grip. Her arms screamed at her to let it go, but that would just waste everything. She managed to get up to the roof though, miraculously, and let out a long breath she had kept in.

Everything is going to hurt tomorrow morning. She hauled it a bit more, careful where she stepped, and arrived at the broken down fireplace in one piece. It was much worse up close. Half of it was gone, and the parts that were still there were crumbling. She arrived just in time to fix it. Any longer and it would have completely fallen apart.

Atraeya peered down the hole, to see gramps look up back at her. "Ready!" she shouted. On his count, gramps tossed a brick up. The first toss wasn't hard enough, and only went halfway up. The second toss she missed the timing to grab it, but she managed to grab it by the third attempt. Now, all she needed to do was follow and mirror the pattern of the fireplace. She slathered on some of the mortar, and placed it in its appropriate place. Then the next brick was tossed, and she did the same thing.

This continued for the next hour, as they worked at a steady pace. She took her time to make sure it was even and aligned. And when she was done she could admire her handiwork. It was perfect, but she did it, with her own hands. And a little help from gramps, of course. She felt… proud, even.

Atraeya had never done this sort of hard labor when she lived with her parents back in the city. Any work she did there she couldn't figure out what it's purpose was. But here, it was obvious. Gather in the forest and work a garden to eat food. Clean around the house so the bugs don't get in. Fix the fireplace to stay warm. She made a difference here, and she liked it that way.

For the first time since she arrived, she didn't want to go back home.

Sure, she was angry at her mother for kicking her out. She grumbled and moped about it. But deep down, she was secretly hoping someone would come pick her up. But she made a friend here, and she was sure gramps was happy she was here, too. No one was yelling at her here. No one was taking her food, or her clothes. She has felt full for the first time in years. She had her own bed— well it wasn't exactly a bed, but it was all hers.

"Atraeya?" gramps called out, snapping her out of her thoughts. "I don't see any more bricks. Are you done?"

"Yeah!" Most of the mortar was gone, so she could actually lift it now as she climbed back down the ladder. Next was the fire protection charm. Her arms and legs ached still, but she didn't feel safe without it now that they've fixed the fireplace.

She began the charm process all over again, and took the few moments it took to boil water for a rest. By the time the charm water was ready, gramps had found spots to patch up. There was only one spatula, and she wasn't sure if she was the one who needed to apply the charm, or if anyone could do it. So they decided to play it safe, and have only Atraeya fix the bricks.

This took only half an hour, as there wasn't much to patch, all the bricks she needed were close by, and she was now familiar with the process. Unlike in the fireplace, she could feel the mana reach through the old mortar, spreading throughout the foundation. It worked as intended, and when she filled in the last brick, she felt it seal in place. The house was now officially protected against fires.

She let out a cheer, and looked to gramps for praise. For a second she could swear she saw a smile, but it disappeared just as fast as it showed up. Instead he gave her a nod. "What do you intend to do with the leftovers?"

This bucket was still half full, and combined with the other still left a little less than half of all she was given. "Maybe the cottage can use it? It's in quite a state…" she mumbled to herself.

"Great. Daylight is still strong so you should get moving before it dries. Take all that other stuff with you too."

"Other stuff?"

"You know, those dangerous jars you brought home from that place. We shouldn't have that in the house."

Oh, the potion ingredients. She wanted to do that anyway, but more to protect gramps. She nodded, and gramps left to go inside. If she poured the two buckets into one then she was sure the charm would break. Well, it's not like that place was particularly important. If she wanted to spend mana, it should be on her own home, to make it easier to live in. Atraeya intended to turn that cottage into her own potion laboratory. Things were sure to break once she started to regularly visit, so there was no point in wasting her mana on such meaningless things.