Mirchie Jr. nibbled on a carrot, sitting on the floor of my farmhouse. I lay on the floor, green eyes watching those black, beady ones munch away. Was Mirchie even looking at me?

  I could easily find out the moment she became my familiar.

  I stared at Mirchie Jr.’s eyes again as she nibbled away. The bone daggers rested to the side, and, much to my chagrin, I had basically indebted myself to Adrian by agreeing to Melissa’s silly idea.

  Yet as the bunny’s pink nose twitched to sniff the air, my fingers trembled over the dagger. I wasn’t a fan of hunting them in the woodlot, but killing one this close to just animate it felt even worse.

  “You’re lucky you look exactly like your mother,” I muttered. I knew it was an impossibility, but it didn’t hurt the rabbit’s cause.

  Instead, I looked out to the field. I could create a blight, but I didn’t exactly know what that did or what it’d unleash, and my other ability made it a tempting proposition.

  That had some implications for what blight was, but I wasn’t keen on figuring it out by exposing it to my fields. I’d need to be smart about that. Something small would work better.

  So I looked at the flower pot. I picked it up and then brought it outside. The final ability I got was just an upgrade overall—one that didn’t need too much thought.

  I pouted, watching my common carrots grow. Would’ve been useful a lot earlier...

  It hadn’t even been a day, and this harvest wouldn’t be done till the day after.

  My hand waved over the tools. The hoe and watering can came to life and filled up my flower pot, and then I approached myself. I technically could only grow carrots until I trained more, but wildflower seeds were growable. I dropped in wildflower seeds and then used [Inspect] on the soil.

  I looked at my flower pot, then quickly glanced around my farm. Even though there were bone tools out, this felt like an even bigger taboo.

  Although I had learned this last level, I hadn’t used it. I’d have to write down what I learned.

  But that thought left my mind—just like my... soul. It was hard to explain in any academic way, but it’d be something I’d have to puzzle out: how to explain that cold rip as you see yourself from the outside looking in, or why the entire world was hued blue.

  I could hear the cicada song all around me, and if it wasn’t for how vivid the world was, I half thought I saw... well, anything through notes of music stacked together so tightly, like dithering.

  It wasn’t a cold feeling or warm, but like moving through thick water or slime. It felt goopy, slimy, and I could fly this way and that.

  The weird part was when I glanced around. Most of the world was this deep, dark blue, but when I looked in some directions, it was black. The only part of the blue that was cleared was my farm, the town of Oakheart, and then this one very long pathway that led toward Flowers-By-The-River, the city where my Academy was.

  I looked side to side and noticed the same unseeable blackness.

  Frustrating.

  I groaned, but then focused down. It almost looked like I was looking at a map—one just bathed in blue. The areas that I could focus on were places I had already visited before in my life.

  What a stupid limitation.

  My hand reached out toward Flowers-By-The-River, and I quickly... moved there? It was like the city became where I was, and I could see the buildings and houses and roads like I remembered.

  There were no people though, or even animals. Just this blue version of my old school. I touched the wall... and the blue frame turned red.

  “What?” I muttered, but something was at the bottom of my vision.

  “What?” I repeated, looking for how any of that made sense. I touched my old school again, and it went back to being blue, and my vision stopped bothering me.

  “Rhyvesta’s scorn... I’m actually doing magic!” I shouted, realizing what was going on.

  “Look at me, Ma! I’m doin’ it! Your daughter is doin’ it!” I yelled, jumping up and down, before I coughed and got a hold of myself. “But... what am I doing? Calm down, Ashley...”

  I closed my eyes and thought about how and what was going on.

  I started off trying to cultivate blight, and now I was in this weird version of the world, near my old school, being told it was too far away.

  Well, that made some sense. I opened my eyes and just willed myself back to where I started. I’d read in the old books that was how a real [Wizard] would center herself.

  And it worked. I was back at the farmland, seeing myself hold the flower pot. The flower pot was yellow—compared to everything else in the world, which was blue.

  I hummed. I tapped myself, and I became green.

  That was something. I saw a new display at the bottom of my vision.

  I accepted.

  The snapback to my body was weird. It was quick and sudden, like being pushed out of slime, then water, then into open air in one breath. It was jarring, but the odder feeling was how I felt.

  I was nauseated, but... colder than I usually was. This spell was probably not something I wanted to use if I could help it.

  I looked at my flower pot and inspected it again.

  I paused and quickly inspected myself.

  “Flora’s sake!” I shouted, and cast [Cultivate Blight] without thinking.

  I immediately touched my “real self” back in the blue-goop world.

  Astral realm, Ashley. You studied this.

  My figure went from green back to blue. The words below confirmed I had no sources. But the default was killing? According to Divine Command Theory...

  I willed myself to think in numbers.

  So it’d eat all of a person’s life to sustain it. I could leave it at 20% and drain from multiple places. Or 10% and no one would really notice.

  As much as I wanted to target Oakheart—or Melissa herself—if Adrian was halfway decent at his job, that would be instantly caught. I sighed and willed myself back to my body.

  I pouted and raised my hand over the flower pot.

  A poor-quality cosmos flower. That would be my gift to the lovely couple.

  However, I had to write this all down.

  On Blight

  What Is Blight, and How Does It Work?

  FACTS

  Blight drains from other life sources to sustain itself.

  Its default rate is to kill something else to sustain itself, but it can be modified to lower amounts.

  It can only source from a limited range (unknown) and where I’ve explored before.

  INFERENCES

  I need to explore more areas.

  To have a constant supply, it’s better to source from many areas than to kill something off.

  HYPOTHESIS

  This should be a replacement for fertilizing or offering Anima to crops.

  I smiled to myself, closed my book, and grabbed Mirchie Jr. It was about time for dinner.

  Melissa’s apartment was... big. It seemed like she’d moved out of Mrs. Bellamine’s loft and came into a sudden influx of wealth, since even though this was supposed to be a “medium” apartment in town...

  ...it was bigger than my farmhouse. Thanks, Pa.

  A [Tailor] must have made a lot of money. The stone staircase had finely crafted gargoyles that looked angrily at me. It almost looked like it was scowling at me specifically as my black heels tapped against the steps and came to the front door, which was made of oak and finely engraved.

  They even had one of those tacky loom-signs that said something dumb like “A home is where the hearth is” or “Live, Laugh, Love.” I refused to engage with that at all and knocked.

  I hadn’t even finished my second knock before the door opened. I was immediately greeted by two scents: the intoxicating and overbearing smell of lavender flowers mixed with lye—I didn’t have to open my eyes to identify that as Melissa—and the smell of a roast. Pork this time, with peaches and that off-smell of nutmeg. I could smell the wine and herbs, which reminded me of a much earlier time.

  “Adrian’s cooking?” I said flatly, before Melissa opened her mouth.

  Somehow, that caused her to frown, but she nodded. “Yeah, Addy really likes it. I tell him all the time not to bother, I’ve got it, but the butcher had a deal on pork and he said he’d do it...”

  I nodded and then handed Melissa the poor-quality cosmos flower. Her face bleached as she stared at me with utter annoyance.

  “Why are you giving me we— Er... thank you, I guess? I’ll find where I should put these...” she muttered, her eyes quickly flicking to the trash heap. I smiled politely. As far as I was concerned, I just brought it to annoy her, so mission accomplished.

  “Come in, come in...” Melissa said, ushering me inside. As I crossed the threshold, she closed the door behind me. “Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea?”

  “Tea, if you have any.”

  “Any kind?”

  “Adrian’s cooking, right? Just tell him I’d like tea.”

  “What kind, Ashley,” she repeated, her tone dropping.

  “Blackberry leaf tea, if you have any,” I responded.

  She smiled and bowed her head, ushering me to the living room. The living room was also massive, and they even had fancy chairs for seating. The centerfold was a massive table where a deck of cards was laid, alongside some other board games I knew Adrian liked—and I assumed Melissa tolerated. To the side were mannequins wearing different dresses, but there was one that caught my eye.

  The mannequin itself was shorter than I was, but modeled after a boy-turning-into-a-man. It wore the inquisitor’s cap, scarf, and jacket. Its silver longsword rested in its sheath, and I even saw something odd on the other side. It was heavily mechanized, but it looked like an advanced form of a crossbow.

  So I picked it up.

  It was a crossbow, but with a weird... thing on the side. It had levers and rotating bars, and it seemed to hold the bolts in a case.

  I pointed the bow to my face and slowly rotated the lever back. The bolt slid into the body of the crossbow, and then the string felt taut. I tugged on the lever once more and—

  “ASHLEY!” Adrian’s voice rang out, before I got tackled to the side!

  KAPEW!

  Something shot out, striking the ceiling with a loud, ear-piercing twinge!

  “What the hell, Addy!” I shouted, finding his hands against my arms to pick me up.

  “Sorry about that, Ashy. But, to be fair, you were about to shoot yourself with my crossbow.”

  “That’s a crossbow? What...?”

  “It’s a repeating crossbow. It’s part of my initial kitting. But enough about that, it’s so good to see you. Did you bring the rabbit?”

  I stood with Adrian’s help to see him wearing a flocky dress shirt and silk pants—and an apron. My hand shot up to my lips, but I couldn’t stop myself from laughing.

  “What are you even wearing, Addy?” I teased. “You look like you’re about to work at a restaurant, not...”

  “...till the fields?” Melissa finished for me, as her hands draped against his chest from behind. “Tsk, Ashley, Inquisitor Skye here doesn’t work the fields anymore.”

  “But that’s because you won’t let me have a small farm, Missy. My hands, they crave the fields.”

  “Now now, Addy, we talked about this. A man of your posture can have his own garden, but your time is worth more than tilling the fields... just hire someone to do it for you,” Melissa teased, her face far too close to Adrian’s for my liking.

  At least they seemed closer in height. Adrian was Madeleine’s height, but Melissa, even in heels, was barely an inch or two taller than him.

  Adrian gently pushed Melissa’s chest, but his gaze lingered. “Not the same, Missy. I mean, when you become a [Master Weaver], you aren’t just going to let your apprentices do all the work, are you?”

  “Oh, [Master Weaver], I thought you were trying to go for [House Wife], Missy...?”

  “That is one of my goals, yes,” she snapped, before kissing Addy’s cheek. “But Addy looks lovely like this.”

  “Yeah... the higher-ups definitely agree. But, before we forget—and I know we’re going to forget—Ashley, can I see the rabbit?”

  “Mirchie Jr.,” I said, taking the rabbit cage out of my [Inventory] and placing it on the table. I saw Melissa’s eyes twitch, but she still smiled.

  “Awh, you named her after our pet rabbit?” Adrian cooed, looking at the caged bunny. Melissa and I glanced at each other, but we shook it off.

  Adrian unlocked the cage and lifted Mirchie Jr., raising her to the sky. “She looks exactly like Mirchie! Nice find, Ashley. Why don’t you help Melissa cook, and I’ll set the table, but first...”

  His hand reached for mine and clasped my fingers. He paused, looking at me. “Amaril the Saviour, you’re cold... I...” He stopped. “Sorry, should’ve asked first. Can I help you make this rabbit your familiar? I mean, you could ask Mark or Aunt Laura, but I’m right here.”

  “Yes,” Melissa and I said at the same time, and we glanced at each other again.

  “And I can see if I can convince Missy here to make you some new clothes, so you aren’t that cold. Won’t force—”

  “No,” we both said again, and glanced at each other a second time.

  Adrian rolled his eyes, but his hand tightened around mine. He hummed for a second.

  I could hear the cacophony of a chorus, men and women singing together in unison. It was orderly, and there were even smells—the burning of incense, the ash of candle smoke, wicker burning away. It felt warm, too, and this was already far more advanced than my magic—I could only hear it.

  It felt warm and beautiful, if just a bit suffocating and intense.

  “Okay, Ashley, just touch the rabbit and [Invest] in her, and she’ll be yours.”

  I reached forward and touched Mirchie Jr.’s head. Her head was warm and soft, and a bolt of green magic connected us. The rabbit squeaked in surprise—maybe pain—before the green sheen radiated around her body and disappeared into her eyes. Mirchie Jr. no longer seemed content chewing her carrot and looked up at me with genuine curiosity.

  “I want to keep holding her. Could you help Melissa cook the rest?”

  “Does she even have levels in [Chef], dear?” Melissa tried to bargain.

  “I don’t know, but you’re a great teacher. If you remind her to activate [Chef] then cook with her, she’ll learn fast,” Adrian offered, holding Mirchie Jr. to his chest.

  “Ashley?”

  “Fine,” I conceded, and opened my sheet. I activated [Chef], and the class-change cooldown began. Just 30 minutes for a lateral transfer.

  Did... I never bother with this class? I frowned and looked at Melissa. “Do you know how to make hard-boiled eggs and... toast?”

  Melissa looked at Adrian. “Elora give me strength...”

  Together, we entered the kitchen. This was a mistake.