Not wanting to linger and overhear too much, Soleil pulled open the door to Wisteria’s Bounty to find Aster speaking to a short fox featured woman with purple hair, ears, and fur tail.

"Good afternoon Soleil.” Aster greeted her with a smile. “You are looking refreshed."

The shopkeeper spun about in a blue dress adorned with stars and crescent moon pattern designs to welcome Soleil with a curtsy. “Hello sweetie. We will be with you in a moment! Feel free to look around."

“Take your time." Soleil assured the two of them. "I’ll be here when you’re ready!”

She soon found herself in front of a shelf dedicated to Magitech devices that measured the air and water for corruption. Useful for someone lacking in perception skills. Soleil found herself picking up a see through capsule containing purified water mana for cleansing drinking water of corruption.

All around her were pre-packaged solutions for a variety of problems. But the nature of those problems all revolved around dealing with corruption in some way.

It occurred to her that the mana in the valley is stable.

Soleil could breathe the air. The plant life was not poisoned. A cat lounging on the windowsill in the sun contented itself with feline concerns.

It was not a corrupted puppet for entities like Malady to wield.

The supplies that line the shelves of Wisteria's Bounty serve as a stark reminder that this is a fragile village on the border of stabilized territory.

"Lining these shelves is how some choose to spend their mana. Everyone is filled with it. Even if we choose not to learn its lessons. We can make token amounts of mana available to others willing to fight on our behalf."

"It is a lot." Soleil found herself saying aloud without giving herself time to dwell on the implications.

"I assure you that all this is no more than is necessary. It takes a whole village to build up stores like this. But it is better if we prepare in advance. Accepting level drain to cure corruption is something done only as a last resort. For most at least. I know it is different for Demons."

She shook her head."I think I would prefer to just keep gaining experience. I can outlevel it If I am cautious."

"What if you can't?"

"Then I ask for help."

"And if you are the only one who can help?"

"Then I help. I have been given power and knowledge. I should use it no matter the cost."

"Soleil. I am going to ask you to promise not to discard your life so senselessly."

Soleil shook her head. "I… can't promise that. I can’t stand by or run away if I know I can help."

"Soleil. As the healer, you are tasked with keeping everyone else alive. You can’t do that if you’re dead."

"But if I am the only one that can solve a problem. I need to solve it." She found Wisteria backing out of her own framing frustrating.

Wisteria shook her head. "That's not the point."

"Then why bring it up?"

"Aster needs to know that you are not going to put yourself in harm's way. She has the whole party to worry about protecting. You will have to work closely with her on this. I am trying to skip straight to the worst case scenarios to make sure you aren't acting to the detriment of the group."

"I'm not."

Wisteria took this opportunity to close the distance between them. When she spoke, she did so clearly and directly. "Then cure your own corruption."

Soleil took a step back. "I can't."

“Can’t or won’t?” There was a dangerous look in Wisteria’s eyes all of a sudden.

Soleil heard footsteps approaching. Aster probably did not like what she was hearing.

“I refuse.”

"Wisteria-" Aster started, but her wife pulled away.

"Give me a moment." Wiseria turned back to Soleil. "The corruption. You’re holding onto it for a reason.” She stepped back, giving Soleil space. Soleil nodding in confirmation caused her glare to only intensify in its scrutiny. “How is it in our best interest?"

Soleil fished out her Magitech Lens, topped off its Focus reserves, and passed it to Wisteria. "See for yourself."

Wisteria looked skeptical, and seemed to give the lens her own assessment. Satisfied, she aimed the lens at Soleil and activated it. It took a few moments for Wisteria to look over the lens’s [Analysis] of Soleil’s soul. Wisteria gasped, coming away from the experience looking terribly upset.

"You're so young…" Wisteria whispered under her breath.

"My mother raised me for a reason." Soleil said, which was apparently the wrong thing to say.

Wisteria's eyes widened. She immediately began to storm out of the store. "Aster. Give her everything she needs."

Should she say something in her mothers' defense? "Um." Soleil began to panic, turning to Aster for support.

The Blossom Knight met Soleil's eyes before tossing a plea her wife's way. "They are not going to want you barging in on the council meeting."

"They should have thought about that before requesting the opinion of someone who raised their child to be a weapon."

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Soleil's voice came out as a squeak. "My moms gave me a happy childhood. Twenty years of never being exposed to mana."

Wisteria looked at Soleil as if she had splashed water on her face. "Oh I am doubly giving your mother a piece of my mind now." The door closed behind her. It did little to muffle the frustrated cry she uttered aloud just moments later.

Soleil was almost afraid to meet Aster's eyes. "Um. I am sorry if I am causing trouble."

Aster drew close to Soleil, shaking her head firmly. "Hush now. You have done nothing wrong. Children are a… complicated subject. For Wisteria more than most.” Aster’s hand drifted to Soleil’s hair, giving it a reassuring pet. “She and I looked into crafting a child with mana. I won't burden you with the details, but we decided not to go through with it."

"Being a child of mana is… scary."

"Hmm?"

“I was told not to worry about carrying expectations my mothers might have of me. But I took that freedom and immediately got entangled with Calamity taking me under her wing.”

Aster’s expression was hard to read. "I can scarcely imagine."

"But I still think it is worth it. I mean, she’s not asking me to turn on you all. Just protect this valley until the threat to its food supply has passed."

"Let's get you prepared then."

Soleil nodded. She lifted her bag onto the counter and opened it up to go over her current inventory with Aster. “I’ve also got a tent and bedding already.”

Aster nodded, looking things over, as if looking for a topic to lighten the mood. "Cute pins."

"Thanks! About half of them are gifts. I like using them to identify what is in each pouch.”

“Practical and cute. I like it. Okay, we should probably start with knowing how much Goodwill do you have to redeem.”

Soleil held out her four tokens. “I was hoping to procure more items that can hold mana. I want the ability to bank extra mana for widely used effects.”

“Good call if you are thinking in the long term.” Aster stopped browsing the shelves for complimentary consumables and began to hang up a sign informing everyone that the store would be closed for a while. “You won’t be able to afford as much and your selection will be limited unless you are willing to commission something. But Houses of Healing will regularly make such things available for healing purposes.”

Soleil bit her lip before asking the first question she expected a little push back against. “I know I agreed to be a healer, but what kind of weapons do Spell Shapers typically carry?”

“Casting implements are as complicated as picking ingredients to craft restoratives. So you are only going to get those on commission. Our valley has a witch who would be willing to make you one, but you might have to write to her or travel to the southernmost village.”

Something to think about later then. She did not want to delay her first request for too long, especially if it meant holding up her party. “If not casting implements, would I be looking at a ranged one?”

Aster nodded in agreement. “Anything that doesn’t require too much attention on your part. A spear to keep things away from you is a common enough fall back. Otherwise I’d recommend looking into what feels most comfortable. Bows are the most common pick in these parts as they have the utility of cheap arrow customization. I suppose you could also buy a buckler if you wanted to stick with your sword but keep your hands free.”

Soleil raised an eyebrow. “What’s a buckler?”

“A small shield you can strap to your arm. They are typically fairly lightweight too.” Aster went ahead and began to guide her to the door. “We can always come back and kit you out with consumables once you decide how to spend your Goodwill.”

***

Soleil notched an arrow, loosing it down the practice range. Aster was right. The bow seemed simple enough, but she was a rubbish shot. Her soul tugged at her, promising to give her a shortcut towards proficiency. She resisted the skill cluttering up her skill list by pushing it away like an unwanted feeling.

She had not sure it would work as simple as that, but it did. Learning that it was easy to say no to mana’s offerings was a valuable lesson on its own. Her body and soul remained hers to shape.

It would eventually be worth picking up more proficiencies when she desired more attributes or insight into what others were going through. For now she had precious few skill points and Soul Levels to work with.

Soleil turned to Aster and the apron wearing crafters helping her try out armaments. At the shake of her head, one took the bow from her and went to retrieve the practice arrows.

“Aster said you all might have a buckler I could try?”

“We can also get you fitted for some metal arm guards.” A red bearded smith stroked his beard as she spoke. “If all you’re looking for is some hand protection.”

“Can you make any of it fireproof?”

Everyone around her gave Soleil a funny look.

“Did I say something wrong?”

“Not at all miss.” The smith shook his head. “It’s just that the Grove mostly maintains a forest and uses wood for most things. We try to avoid fire altogether rather than rely on rare materials.”

“Oh. I will try and keep that in mind.” Soleil really hoped the fire she caused far to the west was not too much trouble, even if it had apparently been started in the middle of a corrupted garden. Wait, would Wisteria be upset if she was apologizing for saving her own life?

“Fire resistant on the other hand, we’ve got that in abundance.”

Soleil shook her head. “I am going to need to confer with someone about something before I worry about armor. Just gloves and a buckler for now.”

She soon got to try on things made out of a variety of leathers, hides, and even a few metals. The lizard scale arm guards with soft padding on the inside felt best, but the stiffness and loss of flexibility in the fingers that any gloves demanded bothered her.

The bucklers were all metal and heavier than she was expecting.

“Just the arm guards please. The ones with the black scales.”

“Salamander Scales. A good choice. Expensive to make full armor out of, but you would be hard pressed to find better options for fire resistant arm guards.”

That was even better than she had expected. The crafters seemed to notice her satisfaction. A few more validations were exchanged and everyone seemed quite pleased that they helped her find something she was happy with.

The red bearded smith accepted her token of Goodwill with gratitude. He added a separate expression of gratitude for the medicinal supplies that the token detailed having been delivered to a local alchemist.

“Send Veilura my regards if you see her. We’re always appreciative of having more materials for crafting restoratives.”

“Oh. You’re um. Welcome. Really, it was no problem at all.”

“Oh you’re not getting out of it that easily.” Aster said, drawing out the attention of the crafters. “You did not fight your way through a grove of corrupted Rot and go out of your way to assist a Magitech Armor unit against Calamity to be let off with modesty. You earned that goodwill, girl.”

Soleil’s cheeks grew red and hot with embarrassment.

“Miss! Is this true?” The red bearded smith looked like he wanted to press the token back into her hands.

A few of the other crafters joined in. It was everything she could do to decline most attempts to give her more for her Goodwill. She soon realized that she would have to accept something. Eventually she settled on a sturdier belt and spare thread to repair her bag.

“You seem pleased with yourself.” Soleil whispered to Aster the moment they escaped ear shot from the crafters.

“You’re the one who went into great detail about what you went through to get those supplies here. But my wife did demand that I ensure you got everything you needed.”

Soleil clutched her arm guards to her chest. “Thanks. This was... overwhelming, but in a good way.”

“Glad to hear it. I was a little worried there when they began to bombard you with gifts. I just thought it would be good for you to get the reactions of normal humans who have never channeled mana in their lives.”