It was disorienting. It was like a bright light was shining into my right eye while the other was unaffected. I struggled to try speaking as my body felt lethargic and disconnected. Dad picked me up, and the family as a whole carried me home. While my body struggled to respond to my thoughts, I was left to my thoughts and my status.

  I weakly chuckle as I notice the changes in my traits. It seems I’m not just a human anymore, and Nightshade was probably the cause. I can feel Sis chattering to me over our bond, updating me on what's going on outside while I’m recovering. Apparently since Nightshade said I was stable, they took me home. The town healers are busy with a sudden rush of poisoned children and soldiers who were injured before Nightshade acted.

  I weakly open my right eye, and a bright lightning of energy floods into it. I can see mana, but living in a house covered in runes seems to make the house shine, and it is far too bright for my comfort. I can test out means of making the change in my vision more tolerable later.

  With the more noticeable issue addressed for now (by closing that eye), I move onto the next important check. Whatever happens to my physical body, it’s more important that I don’t forget about keeping the EYE under control. I sink into my void space, and immediately I can feel the changes. The void seems far more eager to respond even without focusing, and I’m met with the sight of some golden tendril or root reaching into my space, anchored into my body.

  Whatever I try to remove it has no effect, as it seems to be fused into my back like some kind of cable. I can still move about with ease as the golden tendril stretches effortlessly. It's unsettling but doesn’t appear dangerous for now, though the connections accessed through my barrier make me even more vigilant for the eye. Who knows what this kind of change might enable it to do?

  Eventually I shift my perspective back from the void. I then focus on my link with Callia, and she seems excited with how much more lucid I am than earlier. However, I can also feel a much weaker link to Nightshade, but instead of a complicated feeling, it’s more of a passive happiness, the feeling of a spring rain after a long drought. Weirdly, her emotions make sense to me. Not in a human way but in a spiritual way.

  Callia doesn’t share this link with Nightshade, and she can’t reach it through me. It takes a while for me to realize it, but the usual pushback of poison doesn’t hit me or her. Isn’t that an exciting prospect? Maybe now I won’t need to hold back on learning enchanting anymore! I feel a flash of warm sunlight from Nightshade, and while I don’t speak plant emotions, my guess is that is confirmation.

  The change in my mana total is the second most noticeable change in what I feel. It’s the spiritual equivalent of gaining 40 lbs of pure muscle mass. Even slight changes in my thoughts will have exaggerated effects on shifts of my internal power. It’s honestly a feeling reminiscent of when I first felt mana, but now instead of the presence of mana, I can feel how it moves and pools within me. If my mana and control were like using a needle to sew enchantments while squeezing everything I had to hold onto the material, now I have a club twice my size that I can hammer, but I am lacking all finesse. My enchantments will have much more endurance, but the complexity will be completely shot.

  I sigh and move onto how my changes have affected my body. I can definitely feel a slight disconnect and unwieldiness in my movements. I feel like an overinflated balloon both spiritually and physically. I get a look at my body, and it’s apparent that while I escaped the worst-case scenario of amateur healing, my body is now swollen with cancerous lumps. To be honest, I can’t help but feel I look grotesque, and it’s very unsettling. Something to fix later. I get up and stagger my way to the runic mirror I had made for my mom for her previous birthday.

  My face had a few lumps, but the most noticeable change was my eyes and hair. My hair was the same except the tips of my hair now looked similar to the purple of a nightshade petal, and after forcing my eye open, my right iris had also shifted into the same color. I internally cringe as I imagine myself as some chuuni anime character bragging about their magic eye.

  I shake myself free of my intrusive thoughts and head outside. Opening my right eye, I see the forest light up, and in the distance, I see the glowing dots of various people moving about the town. They bustle about cleaning up after the damage from the bird attack. I can tell from the vines covering the majority of town that Nightshade held the role of the town's guardian from above and likely below.

  I lean back and flop onto the ground, relaxing in the light. Turns out plants had it right—instead of worrying about all the things you can’t change. Sometimes the best you can do is take a breath and enjoy what you can. Though maybe that was the deep emotional, spiritual, and maybe even physical connections I now shared with plants.

  Oops

  Callen had been getting fancier and more outrageous. The previous trick with the vomit was a line he never should’ve crossed. Even if Callen was genuine in his remorse, it was still necessary to serve him his death sentence.

  Nixie used to be the moderating force in their trap setting; however, after hearing what Callia went through, any pity and resistance disappeared. Together they concocted a new project and dubbed it ‘Trap Hell.’ Including trash, manure, and all kinds of sharp pine needles. A gauntlet was devised to account for his every action and leave him helplessly strung up, covered in shit, and turned into a living pincushion.

  Three weeks while that ignorant fool went off learning how to heal, Nixie and Callia expanded on their designs. Callia even began to get some serious levels in her crafting skills that she typically ignored. Finally the day of reckoning was set. Nixie and Callia waited for the helplessly bound Callen to be catapulted onto their display.

  In the distance they heard it begin. The clanks of traps setting off in succession, one after the next. Callia was so excited that she didn’t even notice that her bond with Callen hadn’t experienced any emotional fluctuations. Finally, a powerful bang announced the activation of the catapult meant to launch Callen into the netting that would hold him in place for the needle launchers and display restraints. However, it wasn’t Callen.

  Instead, Callia goes pale in realization as Ela, her mom, is peppered with needles. Callia turns to Nixie but finds she has already been abandoned. Ela rips her way free of the net and locks on to Callia.

  “I’m sorry,” Callia whimpers as Ela grabs her ear and begins dragging Callia away. Meanwhile, Callen vaguely wondered what had made Callia’s persistently burning vengeance turn into remorse and regret. However, he shook it off as Callia problems and turned his attention back to the lecture that had carried on later than usual.