Gifted

“Despite what some city alchemists will tell you, an Affinity elixir should be brewed to work as part of a ritual,” Magatha explained.

I stood on a stool next to her, watching as she removed the tiny hearts of the three coldfangs from a fluid filled jar and placed them on the table where she started to slice them into thin slivers.

“Why?”

“Hmm, how to explain it to a four year old?” Magatha mused.

“Just explain it!” I demanded while my mother laughed quietly in the background. I knew the Hedge Witch was teasing me, but playing along was both amusing and good for my Path of Deception. Besides, I never felt bad about deceiving Magatha. She was using me and I was using her. Sounded about as fair of an exchange as it could get to me.

“Those uptight, bookbound, city bastards…”

“Language,” my mother interjected warningly.

Magatha snorted but definitely seemed to calm down a little. “City alchemists take a very academic approach… that means they just read books by the way.”

I nodded as if I cared.

“And from their books they think that if they mix the right ingredients together in the right way with the right amount of aether and for the right duration… that they will get the same results every time. Then, when they don’t, they say it was because the ingredients weren’t right or that there was a mistake with the aether used or some other pi… some other excuse. When the truth is, they probably did it the exact same as every other time they did it, because they’re boring like that, and the only variable is the person who is drinking their concoction.”

“Okay…” I replied in agreement which wasn’t really agreement and more an acknowledgement that I was still listening.

“So, what makes a person different?” Magatha asked me, trying to get me more engaged.

“Hair colour? How tall they are?” I suggested.

“Sure, and perhaps those might have an impact, but the main difference, according to Witchlore, is their spirit. Their soul. The entire purpose of an affinity ritual is to align the person’s spirit with the affinity they’re trying to acquire or improve. The better aligned, the better the outcome. It’s not enough to just brew the right potion. That potion should then be drunk under the right circumstances to maximise the benefits.”

I watched as she started cutting off some of the midnight-coloured scales from the dead coldfang, making a small pile of them on the bench.

“What’s the ritual for the coldfang’s potion then?”

Magatha shook her head. “It’s a Shadow Affinity potion. Not a coldfang potion. We’re just using pieces of the coldfang as one of the ingredients. It won’t even be the only ones to go in. It’s a complex piece of alchemy with multiple steps and reagents that will be brewing for the next three days. The ritual though…”

Magatha glanced at my mother before looking away. “For the Storm Affinity, it should be drunk naked in the middle of a thunderstorm. Even better if you can submerge yourself in windswept water, and the stronger the storm the better. For your Shadow Affinity potion… alone at night, sitting in a shadow cast by a waning moon. Works better if the shadow is cast by a predator or you’re somewhere you’re not supposed to be.”

Creepy, I thought.

“Doesn’t sound so bad,” I commented, already thinking about drinking the potion inside of the prospectors’ home.

My mother’s side eye told me she wasn’t so sure about it.

“What’s the difference between a tier one and tier two Affinity?” I asked, changing the subject.

“Ask your grandfather tomorrow,” Mum interjected before Magatha could answer. The Hedge Witch clearly noticed that my mother was interceding. She didn’t say anything, and after another thirty minutes, Magatha shooed us away claiming she needed to work. Apparently having me looking over her shoulder and asking questions was preventing her from focusing. Plus, it was getting late in the day and Mum wanted us home before dark.

That night, at the dinner table, I asked Gramps the exact same question.

“What’s the difference between a tier one and tier two Affinity?”

Gramps finished chewing on his piece of lamb before answering me. “It has to do with what spells you can cast and what Skills you will get offered.”

I smiled, shoveling some lamb into my mouth as a taunt as I stared at him waiting for more. Teasing the old codger never got old, and he took a longing glance at his own remaining dinner before answering me.

“You can only cast spells or get Skills that are unaspected, which means they have no Affinity, or are of your Affinities.”

“Like how I have the Muffled Steps Skill because of my Shadow Affinity?” I asked.

“That one is unaspected actually. The proper version of the spell would utilise the Sound Affinity.”

I looked at him in confusion. Shouldn’t it have been Shadow Affinity? Wasn’t it muting… the sound. I mentally sighed.

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“Is that why I can’t use it for very long?”

Gramps grunted, having taken the moment’s respite to shovel some more food into his mouth. I thought he was going to respond while still eating for a second but he glanced at my mother before finishing chewing first.

“Yes, unaspected spells and Skills require more aether to accomplish the same outcomes.”

“What about my Controlled Grip Skill?”

“Hmm, could be accomplished with a Blood, Bone, or Life Affinity. But yours will be unaspected.”

I sighed. I had two Skills, and neither made use of my actual affinity. The irony was not lost on me, especially since I was pretty confident that both times I chose a Skill, at least one of the options was aligned with my Shadow Affinity.

“So, why is that important for tier two affinities?” I asked, trying to get back to my original question and figuring out why George had been so keen for Etta to get the storm affinity rather than something like his own Earth Affinity.

“Tier two Affinities have sub-Affinities. Can you guess what storms are?” Gramps asked, reverting to teacher mode as he wiped his face with the table cloth to remove most of the gravy from his trimmed beard.

“Wind, water, and lightning?” I ventured.

“Well done. Precisely those. Etta will be able to cast spells of her sub-Affinities, though at a higher aether cost. Still, less than an unaspected spell. So, tier two Affinities are a good way of increasing the number of spells you have available to you as a mage. The headmaster of Songleaf Academy is a renowned elementalist and Archmage. He has three known affinities. Storm, Magma, and Illusion, which means he can cast spells from the Wind, Water, Lightning, Fire, Earth, Light, Shadow, and Sound Affinities.”

My jaw dropped further and further. I would be lying if I didn’t say that I was green with envy. In a world of magic, the Songleaf Headmaster was what I aspired to be, though perhaps less locked to one location. There was still adventure to consider after all. But still, this was what I wanted, which begged the next question.

“What would happen if someone got a Wind Affinity, a Water Affinity, and a Lightning Affinity? Could they combine them into a Storm Affinity?” I asked as I grabbed Gramp’s empty plate and my own taking them over to the basin to help Mum clean up. I might dislike cooking but I didn’t mind cleaning up afterwards and had gotten into the habit of helping where I could.

“You can. It’s not necessarily that simple, but it’s possible. Dungeon rewards can do similar things or you would need to do something like what we’re doing with Etta and an appropriate potion.”

“And ritual,” I added.

“Magatha mentioned that did she? I’m not sure George will agree. He grew up in the city and probably puts less stock in superstition.”

“What do you think, Dad?” Mum asked as we stood side by side, her washing the plates and cooking utensils while I dried them.

“I think… that we would be foolish to discard the learnings of those who think differently than we do.”

“Very diplomatic, Dad. Trying to get back into practise for when we return to Helenica?” Mum asked with an amused smile on her face that made her light up the room.

Gramps matched her smile before glancing at me, his eyes narrowing. “I thought we hadn’t made a decision yet, Penny. Did a certain little someone bring it up? Were you eavesdropping again, Bastian?”

My ears burned red, and I focused on drying the metal fork in my hand.

“He did, Dad. And he wants to go. So, I suppose we’ll return once your exile has ended. When did you want to let Aunt Agnes know?”

“He heard that too, I suppose,” Gramps grumbled. “It’s still another two years before we can return, and another five before Songleaf will take Bastian anyway, so I suppose if we want to get settled in, I will wait another year before I write to Agnes. Plenty of time, though probably not enough time for Bastian to have completed the Path of Aethersensing. We’ll need to dazzle her with your weapon Skills instead. I’ve already reached out to an old friend who should hopefully join us for a season or two after this winter.”

The night continued with loose plans being made for our eventual exodus from the Horndale mountains. They were a while away yet, and all they really did was reinforce my need to work on my Paths. After all, if I wanted Grandaunt Agnes to sponsor my attendance at Songleaf Academy when I turned ten, I had to prove I was worthy of the investment.

As I lay in bed, I read the notification I had gotten after dinner.

You have advanced the Tier of your Path! Path of Brewing III (50/50)

Reward: +1 to Mental

It was a minor gain, but the Myriad Paths were a game of small incremental improvements. Or at least they had been so far. Perhaps Rifts and Dungeons would prove differently, but I was still years away from seeing any of those. I went to sleep dreaming of throwing lightning across the sky and sending blasts of magma cascading down the mountain towards shadowy beasts, the archmage of the Horndales.

The next few days bled into each other. With Gramps back, Etta’s and my aethersensing lessons returned to normal. Our reading and writing lessons had never stopped though Mother had started adding small amounts of geography into our lessons, having us spell names and places or read them out from a book before identifying them on one of the many maps the outpost had in stock.

The swordplay lessons returned as well, which I was thankful for. Whenever I wasn’t in one of those lessons, I was working on my Paths of Running and Balance by throwing myself at my new and improved obstacle course. Each night I went to bed after dinner, not even able to get in a before sleep workout because of how tired my little body was. And every morning I woke up aching and did it all over again. Mother had always looked a bit uncertain about my fervour towards my Paths but even Gramps had started warning me to take it easy.

I kept it up for four days, but on the morning of the fifth, while we were still having breakfast, Magatha stomped into the outpost and placed a small potion bottle on the table in front of me. The liquid inside swirled around like a dark cloud, looking almost like a gas within the stoppered bottle.

“As promised, one Shadow Affinity elixir. It probably won’t poison him,” Magatha stated, looking at Gramps.

I looked up in worry, my heartbeat thumping in my chest.

Poison? Say what now? I thought frantically.

Mother patted me on the shoulder. “She’s just teasing you. You are teasing him, right?”

Magatha softened at my mother’s words. “Yes. He’ll be fine. I neutralized the poison from the coldfang that is used in the potion with some coldfang blood. At worst he’ll get a rash. More likely he won’t get anything.”

“When can I take it?” I asked excitedly.

“The moon should be right in two nights,” Magatha offered helpfully.

I vibrated with excitement. In two nights I would find out how it felt to improve my Shadow Affinity.