Chapter 38 - Witch

"I know you heard me," Camilla scoffed. "I said congratulations on brewing your first magical potion!"

Lily shook her head frantically. "I just stirred a pot, don't tease me like that."

"Oh?" Camilla asked, tilting her head. "So, did someone else sneak in and add their Mana to the brew?"

Lily felt her eyes bulging as she stared in shock at the woman.

"I don't know how you did it, but you have Mana now, don't you?" Camilla asked with a toothy grin.

"I…" Lily stammered, unsure of how to respond.

"Girl, you're really full of surprises!" Camilla said excitedly. "First, you blow my mind with your knowledge of herbs and ink, and then you somehow have intricate knowledge and proficiency in drawing glyphs. Then you disappear for a few days and somehow come back with Mana! Something that should be impossible for a Lagia!"

Lily gulped before pressing her lips tightly shut. She wasn't sure how to correctly answer the woman, who had seemingly discovered this all by happenstance.

"No use being tight-lipped around me, girl…" Camilla said as she pointed to the cauldron. "You've successfully brewed a minor healing potion. Sure, I did all the prep work, but you were the one who finalized the potion by imbuing it with Mana."

"How?" Lily asked, finally breaking her silence as she glared at Camilla with a hint of fear.

"How? I should be asking you that!" Camilla said with a soft cackle.

Lily frowned, and the old woman let out a sigh.

"Very well… I'll answer and then hopefully get some answers myself," Camilla said, taking off her spectacles and handing them to Lily. "Put these on."

Lily gingerly took the spectacles. When Camilla began looking impatient, she quickly held them up to her eyes. Camilla then pointed toward the cauldron, and Lily looked before gasping. The entire mixture seemed to be glowing with a radiant light.

She quickly removed the glasses and looked again with her naked eyes, but she saw only the pinkish fluid softly simmering. The radiant glow only returned when she held them up to her eyes again.

"What's this?" Lily whispered in question.

"Mana!" Camilla answered with a snort. "Anyone involved in magical creations, whether potions or enchanting, needs a good pair of Mana-revealing spectacles!"

Lily gulped.

Camilla grinned. "Imagine my surprise when I was grinding herbs, and suddenly I saw my little apprentice periodically glowing with Mana! At first, I thought my glasses were broken, but then you stopped when I kept questioning you. So I set up a little trap to catch you in the act!"

"The cauldron ladle?" Lily asked with a frown.

"Bingo!" Camilla said with a snap of her fingers. "This is obviously no ordinary ladle; it's designed to help one guide their Mana into the brew. I paid a pretty penny for this!"

Lily gasped and looked at her hands, only realizing now that the magic ladle had guided the Mana to her hands so easily and not her own accomplishments.

And it stole my Mana! Lily thought with horror.

"So… Are you going to fess up?" Camilla asked.

"I… I can't tell you how!" Lily finally stuttered out.

Camilla sighed. "I guess I can't pry out all your secrets as much as I want to. Imagine the fortune we could make if we could sell this to other people!"

Lily shook her head. "This only worked for me; I don't think anyone else could do it."

Unless they somehow get bonded to Arakil's book and get him to transcribe the ritual… But I don't think that's possible.

"Interesting… You don't seem to be lying, but you're not telling the entire truth either," Camilla murmured.

"I really can't explain. But yes… I have a small amount of Mana and want to use it to get into Regarth!" Lily declared.

Camilla hummed in amusement before letting out a chuckle. "And here I thought you were joking about following your so-called sister… But now you've gone and done this! Hell, they might accept you just as an experiment for being one of the first-ever Lagia with Mana!"

"No, I'm getting in with magic, and I'm going to pass the test and get in fully!" Lily started with determination.

"I love your fiery spirit!" Camilla complimented before sighing. "I wish you would agree to be my darn apprentice! Imagine the work we could do together. We could make a fortune selling potions and brewing up a storm!"

Lily shook her head. "No… I mean… Thanks for the offer, but I want to learn magic! Potions are more of a hobby…"

Camilla clutched her chest as if feigning heart pain. "You wound me, girl! Alchemy is far more than a simple hobby!"

Lily frowned but was determined.

"But I see your point…" Camilla sighed. "Your talent with glyphs is already evident enough. I certainly won't force you to be my apprentice, or maybe one day, you'll plot to blow up my entire shop with a hazardous brew."

"I wouldn't do that…" Lily mumbled.

Camilla waved her hand dismissively. "Regardless. Maybe once you're rejected from Regarth, or perhaps when you graduate, you'll come back to little old me and realize what a wonderful offer I made! And then, in the goodness of my heart, I'll welcome you back with open arms." Camilla cackled with laughter.

"I'm not sure… Maybe?" Lily replied with hesitation. "But I want to learn magic and maybe become an adventurer with Rose."

"An adventurer?" Camilla questioned, looking rather baffled. "I mean… I guess anything is possible, but I think a nice, quiet life brewing potions and earning a fortune would be much better for you! Or maybe becoming a licensed enchanter. Imagine the marketing! The first ever Lagia alchemist and enchanter! You'd make a fortune!"

This story originates from NovelBin. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Lily just stared, looking rather uninterested.

"Bah, you'll understand what a marketing genius I am when you're older," Camilla scoffed.

"So… Will you keep my secret?" Lily asked.

Camilla stared at her long and hard before sighing and nodding. "Sure, why not? Although I might need to up your wages a bit if I'm going to be having you brew potions now, too."

"I… Don't know if I can or should do that…" Lily replied hesitantly.

"What?" Camilla asked, dumbfounded. "I promise I'm not trying to trick you, girl, but why would you not want to receive free alchemy lessons? Or a bigger salary? Tinctures, ointments, and herbal remedies are great, but the real money is potions and elixirs!"

"I don't have a lot of Mana…" Lily admitted. "And I'm worried it'll run out."

Camilla looked her up and down and shook her head. "Even one cauldron a day is enough; I'm not asking you to drain yourself dry."

Lily remained silent as she tried to think about it.

Camilla sighed. "I could always make more glyph ink? However, if you have Mana now, will you need something stupid like Fairymoss? Perhaps I could bribe you with another Mana potion?"

Lily's ears perked up at the mention of the latter.

"I'll… Think about it," Lily relented.

I need to ask Arakil… I have no idea if this is good or not. I'm supposed to be nurturing my Mana Core, and this might have damaged it or made it worse!

"Good! Yes, after a good night's sleep, I'm sure you'll realize what an amazing opportunity this is!" Camilla said excitedly.

"So… Can you explain what happened with the cauldron?" Lily asked.

Camilla smiled. "Of course, girl, I'm glad you're finally showing interest. I prepared the mixture, and the final brewing process was injecting it with Mana. That is what makes the real difference between an alchemist and an apothecary. By channeling Mana into the concoction, it acted as the final catalyst for this particular mixture."

"So… It's not always the case like this?" Lily asked.

"Heavens, no!" Camilla responded. "Sometimes you must imbue different mixtures separately before the final brew, or even the ingredients directly! This just happened to be a relatively simple recipe where the final step is mixing while imbuing it with Mana. To be honest, my ladle might have done a lot of the heavy lifting for you."

"Oh…" Lily replied, feeling dejected and clearly showing it by drooping her ears.

Camilla chuckled. "Girl, one moment, you're adamantly telling me how you want to be a mage and get into Regarth. The next moment, you're upset that I didn't give your first alchemical brew a glowing review."

Lily blushed. She knew it was childish, but she had grown rather fond of being praised.

Camilla pointed to the ladle. "It's a tool, and it did its job. You've had Mana for what? Two days? Less? I doubt you have the experience required to directly imbue a potion without the aid of a tool."

Lily blushed even deeper. That was entirely true.

"Yes… Sorry…" Lily mumbled.

Camilla patted her softly on the head. "Well, maybe one day, when you decide that alchemy is more than a fun hobby , you'll learn how to imbue without needing fancy and expensive tools."

Lily nodded in agreement.

"Now help me clean up. It's almost closing time, and I bet your sister will be coming to fetch you in moments!" Camilla demanded.

"Yes!" Lily said in agreement.

They hastily packed away everything. Moments later, Rose knocked on the door. Before Lily left, Camilla handed her a bottle of the pinkish fluid.

"What's this for?" Lily asked.

"I figured you should have at least a sample of your first-ever magic potion," Camilla explained. "It's a minor healing potion; it will heal things like cuts, bruises, and other surface level injuries. Emphasis on minor ! Don't expect it to regrow fingers or anything crazy like that!"

Lily blushed and thanked her.

"Remember to think about the apprenticeship!" Camilla shouted moments before she walked away with Rose.

Rose turned to Lily with a questioning look. "Is she still trying to recruit you?"

Lily nodded.

Rose shrugged. "Maybe you can take her up on that offer when the new year starts. It'll help keep you busy while you're waiting to reach the age needed for Regarth."

"Maybe…" Lily agreed reluctantly. "But I'm going to need a lot of time and practice to be good enough to join you!"

Rose giggled. "I'm rooting for you!"

They continued chatting about mundane things and excitedly discussed their weekend plans to go monster hunting. Lily hoped she would be ready to help without resorting to the emergency inscription Arakil had made.

I should have asked for some glyph ink… She realized in hindsight.

When Lily returned to her room for the evening, after dumping her basket in the corner, she quickly reached for Arakil's book. She had many explanations and questions for him and was extremely worried about the potion partially draining her Mana.

She began retelling all the events, including the trap Camilla had set with the ladle and potion.

[Firstly, be at ease; you did not damage your Mana Core!]

Arakil first explained, allowing Lily to immediately let out a sigh of relief.

[Indeed, your Mana is supposed to be spent. It will regenerate itself over time through rest and nourishment. In fact, one of the methods to train your Core is to have it continuously replenish itself. While it won't further increase your capacity, its regeneration rate will slowly grow.]

Lily nodded happily at that. It also meant that suddenly Camilla's offer became much more attractive as, at present, Lily didn't have a method to actually spend the Mana herself.

[That brewing ladle sounds fascinating; it must be made of a highly conductive material to help guide your Mana in such a dramatic fashion. I'd recommend trying to analyze the feeling and sensation of the tool as much as possible the next time you use it. It will no doubt help gain you insight into manipulating your Mana.]

"Yes!" Lily agreed excitedly. "Is that how I'm supposed to imbue the ink?"

[It is a similar procedure, but the difference and results are enough to make a difference. If it was that simple, you could simply stir ink with the ladle and have it imbued without the need for Fairymoss or anything like that in the first place.]

"Oh… Yes, you're right, I wonder why nobody tried that?" Lily questioned.

[Most likely, the nature of their Mana is slightly different as well since it is bound in blood rather than more freeform like your Mana Core. For most intents, it serves a similar purpose, but I'd argue yours is a more pure and natural form of Mana as it is unbound by the limitations of one's bloodline.]

Lily smiled happily. She liked the sound of that.