The Enchantress's stride was flowing and elegant, but I would’ve liked it more if it hadn’t been so deceptively fast. It takes everything I have to keep up with her, and that's even with the crowd parting in front of her. I can now clearly see that everyone else has a visible level of fear in her presence.

  For most people her presence seemed to be crushing with a kind of invisible pressure, but my sense of mana can feel the abundance of power that is unintentionally pressuring everyone in her vicinity. Her presence was like a giant walking among ants, carefully moving around the fragile beings but still shaking them from the proximity.

  She led the way past the town farms over to an intricate tower that seemed designed with the growth of moss intended in the final aesthetic. It didn’t quite have the size of the town's walls, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t a formidable-looking building. That’s not the limit for the building, as I can sense the whole tower to be alive, pulsing with magic power in a manner I had never seen in nature.

  She led me inside and carefully plucked a flower from a nearby pot and gently tucked it behind my ear. She takes a seat at a mossy table and gestures for me to do likewise across from her. As I sit, I nearly jump as a soft voice whispers to me.

  “Greetings, child, I am Nightshade.” She waits for me to settle down before continuing. “I am a being known as a Leshy. I am an awakened plant spirit who was cultivated by the original settlers of this town. This place has always been my home, and I protect the fleeting flowers that grow in this garden just as I was once protected. I will teach you; however, I am not human, and do not expect my guidance to resemble that of a human.”

  Her voice comes to me as a soft whisper out of the flower, and I can almost taste some kind of sweetness from the sound. She finishes her greeting, and I begin to recognize details I hadn’t understood before. The hair wasn’t black rose petals; it was overlapping nightshade petals that had resembled roses from the arrangement. I can’t help but wonder random things like, does she produce berries, and is she poisonous? However, I crush that curiosity for now; I focus on our conversation.

  “Does this mean you intend to teach me?”

  “Beings of my nature cannot teach; you may, however, watch and learn. However, treat whatever you take from me with great care. Everything I impart is poison.”

  The sweetness in her voice had at some point gone sour. The flower on my ear wilted and fell from my head, and I felt a light nausea. Without the flower I can’t hear her anymore, so I focus my mana senses again. I feel her write out the words.

  Child, It Is Time For Your Departure Return If You Seek More.

  I feel a wetness from my nose and notice blood beginning to drip from it. Even in my dizzy state I can tell it’s time to leave. I stumble out the door, and the cool evening air immediately restores some of my deteriorating senses. I pushed through the woods to home even as my vision began to faintly blur. I make it home and flop next to the toilet as nausea threatens to evict my stomach.

  I’m not sure how much time passes, but eventually the sickness begins to pass. Without the threat of nausea, I head up to my room on the third floor and lie on my bed.

  ‘Everything I impart is poison.’ I hadn’t thought that phrase could be so literal, but even learning that made me sick to my stomach. It seems that just when I thought the suffering of learning couldn’t get worse, the universe was willing to redefine the definition of unpleasant tuition.

  With the poison quickly fading from my body and the symptoms passing, I idly check my status.

  Most of my skills seemed to be progressing a bit slower as they got higher, except for one. Void Repel. It has been how I’ve pushed away the EYE, and it hit level 49 immediately after the first use. Despite my attempts at creativity in how I banish the EYE, it seems it won’t improve further.

  Seeing my new skill of poison resistance, I can’t help but feel relieved I don’t need to get creative to learn from Nightshade. I just need to be careful in my exposure. As long as I don’t overdo it, I shouldn’t be in too much danger. Then again, trying to gauge how much learning is too much is going to be a miserable time. If my understanding is right, even learning how much I can withstand will also poison me. I can’t help but wonder what kind of crazy skill does something like this.

  Fire Sprinkler Malfunction? Or an Automated Blow Dryer

  Callia looked over her new room with an eager sense of satisfaction. It had been months in the making, and it would still take much longer to finish renovating the rest of the house, but as of now Callia no longer needed to sleep in the cramped hut with the rest of the family.

  Callen was still busy off making nails or something, so Callia didn’t need to worry about his vengeance yet. Instead, she can enjoy a rare lazy afternoon cuddled in her new bed. Diving in and curling in satisfaction, Callia begins to feel the siren call of sleep when a droplet of water falls right onto her face.

  Groaning in annoyance, she adjusts to avoid that spot, but again, the moment sleep nears, two drops of water plink onto her face. Once is a mistake, twice is a conspiracy. Callia immediately gets up to investigate the roof to see if this is just shoddy craftsmanship or Callen.

  Callia finds a board that can be shifted and with a strong shove forces it aside. However, in that moment Callia is hosed down with water. Completely drenched, but it only takes a moment before the wooden block with the rune crumbles to dust and showers her in dust to stick to the water.

  Callia fumes at the audacity of this latest attack. In the next moment the closet slides open by a hidden mechanism, and a powerful gust of wind rapidly blows all the dust and moisture out of the room. It just happened to also launch a screaming Callia out the third floor of their home.

  Bold ever since his page reconstruction.