5.23 – Circles

5.23 – Circles

Early next morning, like usual, Zoey showed up to Sabina’s eager for her next quiz—and also simply excited to continue learning alchemy.

Before that, though, there were two other topics they needed to discuss.

“You’ve progressed to third advancement in your alchemy rune?” Sabina said in surprise. “Already?”

Sabina knew something strange was going on with Zoey and her class, and had seen her move to second advancement in her alchemy rune in a matter of days, but hitting third in just as short of a period was enough to make even the stoic woman incredulous.

“What can I say? I’m a hard worker.”

“I would think you were lying,” Sabina said, “simply for the absurdity, but I know you’re not. And your speed of advancement is hardly the first unprecedented aspect of your class. Still, third advancement.” She shook her head. “It’s nearly unbelievable.”

Zoey shrugged. It was unfair, she knew, and definitely undeserved. Then again, she’d been given a ridiculous task coming to this world, and her speedy advancement was all but a necessity.

“What is it?” Sabina asked. “Your new skill. I assume that’s why you brought it up.”

“It’s something you told me I would get, actually.”

That was all the hint Sabina needed. She was a sharp woman. “Something that helps with potion creation in less-than-ideal conditions?”

“Exactly.” Since Zoey had spent so much time wayfaring, her alchemy skillset was morphing to accommodate that. “It’s called Resourceful. Potions made inside a shard from ingredients found within that same shard are more likely to catalyze.”

Sable hummed appreciatively. “Useful, of course, but it sounds like there’s no bonus to potency. So they’ll be weaker than what you could make in a proper lab.”

“Yeah.”

“An excellent trade-off nonetheless,” Sabina said. “Improvisation is important fpr a wayfarer. Or so I’ve heard. I assume future skills will further close the gap, until perhaps you’re as competent without a full lab as with one.”

“That’s the hope. Though, I was surprised the skill didn’t have any kind of—well, inappropriate bent.”

Sabina raised an eyebrow. “Even when a class has a theme, not every skill will follow it strictly. And you should be glad for that. Having practical abilities is important.”

“True enough.” Not everything should be sex-related. Having something that helped with potion creation inside of a shard would be useful. It would likely open avenues to solving all kinds of problems. Zoey could stockpile as many potions as she wanted, but having the ability to create something inside the shard, tailored to what she needed, could be a lifesaver. Literally.

Especially since it seemed shards cleared out her inventory, or parts of her inventory, with fair regularity. Bringing in a stockpile of useful potions wasn’t something her brand of shards allowed. So being able to improvise new ones from items found inside the shard was useful twice over.

“Also,” Zoey said, “Adrienne’s running the tent today?”

“She is.”

“I wonder how that’ll go.”

“I’m sure she’ll handle herself. I’ll stop by to check on her. Make sure nothing disastrous is happening. Though I can’t imagine what.”

Zoey could. But she didn’t say so.

The lessons carried on from there. She lost herself in the usual business of assisting Sabina and being constantly quizzed and put on the spot. The two of them indulged in some ... less-than-professional activities, restocking Sabina’s reagent supply. Before she knew it, their time was up, and Zoey bid her goodbye.

“And what will that open up?”

“The first Circle has enough space to create straightforward effects, like a spear of ice or—in your ‘influence’ case—a simple inflammation of emotion. But with a second Circle, you can add conditions and such. Maybe you could make orbiting shards of ice that you prep before a fight, and will home in when they sense a target—or with some other activation condition you design.”

“And third Circle?”

“More complex stuff, obviously. So, like, maybe a simple familiar made out of ice.”

“A familiar?”

“Yeah. You can design them to do whatever you want, but, oh boy, that starts to get really complicated, really fast. Spell design isn’t easy. Some mages make better money from that than actually clearing shards.”

“Could you?”

“Could I what?”

“Design a third Circle spell.”

Maddy wavered back and forth. “Eh. Maybe. My family is more on the practical side than the theoretical one. Still plenty of both, because any good mage would be,” she blinked at Zoey, then coughed, embarrassed at having inadvertently lumped Zoey into the group of ‘not a good mage’, because she was obviously ignorant on the theoretical side, “but yeah,” she continued, “designing third and above Circle spells would be tough for me. My mom could, though. But she’s not the best at it.”

“So what if I wanted something custom, at that level?” It was a while away, but considering her pace, something she ought to think about sooner rather than later. “I’d have to hire someone?”

“The hard part would normally be finding someone that could in the first place, because mages that competent aren’t common.” Maddy laughed. “But that’s not a problem for you. I’m sure Rosalie’s family could arrange it, no problem.”

“Rosalie’s family?”

Maddy paused, then paled. “Um.”

“You know who she is?”

“Uh,” Maddy said, dragging it out. “Do ... you?”

“No. She’s been kind of cagey about it. I haven’t pressed.” She was pretty sure Rosalie would tell her if she asked outright, but Zoey wanted to let her open up at her own pace. “She told you, though?”

“No,” Maddy said, obviously trying to figure out how to navigate the conversation. She still looked a bit panicked.

“So you guessed?” Zoey asked. “She’s important, then. I mean, I knew that, pretty much anyone can tell by how she acts.” Zoey chewed her lip. “But for you to ‘figure it out’, to recognize her, that means her family’s really important.”

Maddy just stared with wide eyes.

Zoey shook her head, amused at the deer-in-headlight look. “It’s fine. I’ll drop it. I think it’s sweet that you’re trying to keep her secret.” Plus, Zoey wanted to hear it from Rosalie, not Maddy. Though her estimation of how important Rosalie’s family was went up a notch or two. She’d figured Rosalie was important from the start, but maybe even more so than she’d assumed.

She was a woman that a goddess had explicitly arranged for her to meet.

“Anyway,” Zoey said. “Back to the lesson?”

Maddy grasped the opportunity eagerly. She launched back into her demonstrations, maybe a bit louder than appropriate, still flustered from her slip-up.