I awoke the next day, figuring I’d deal with the easiest part of my tasks. I could either join Ophelia in raiding a church, or go herb-picking. I still felt incredibly conflicted for killing an actual person the other day, and then not caring for two imps.

  I guess the solution was obvious. I liked to help people, but to get around that weird complication of taking another life, I’d probably need to start capturing creatures I just didn’t care about. Surely, a human’s life was more valuable than an imps.

  I’m glad sleep brought back my reason, but I didn’t want to stress myself out by adding another moral complication like stealing from a church. I could use a break and that’s why I wanted to do something that wasn’t morally complex at all.

  Like just picking herbs with two friends.

  I got up to do a complete stock of my farm and myself.

  Spring 15.

  81 Strawberries — 10/36 Days (Masterwork) (1x1) — 81 tiles.

  81 Potatoes — 10/20 Days (Masterwork) (1x2) — 162 tiles

  81 Peas — 10/23 Days (Masterwork) (1x2 — Trellis) — 162 tiles

  81 Carrots — 4/5 Days (Uncommon) (1x1) — 81 tiles

  81 Carrots — 3/5 Days (Uncommon) (1x1) — 81 tiles

  81 Carrots — 2/5 Days (Uncommon) (1x1) — 81 tiles

  81 Carrots — 1/5 Days (Uncommon) (1x1) — 81 tiles

  9 Carrots in the Seed Maker.

  99 Uncommon Carrots being sold by Jasmine.

  72 Uncommon carrots to be delivered.

  Current Finances: 10 Gold Pieces (Clean), 270 Gold Pieces (Unlaundered)

  Necromancer - Level 1

  CRYOTHEURGE - Level 1

  Harvester - Level 2

  CHIRURGEON - Level 1

  THANATOLOGIST - Level 2

  BASIC CLASSES

  My new morning routine had changed from lazily waking up and reading, to getting up to brush my teeth, making my sheets, and making sure I had clean clothes. The health hazards Levan described all seemed to be very preventative.

  The only thing I couldn’t get myself to do was bathe in the morning. If I had bathed in the night, the day's labour would wash away and I’d be clean. I’d be in my clean sheets, in my clean bed, in my clean house. Bathing in the morning would just be crazy at that point, and imagine washing more than twice?! I was being health minded, so one bath at night and brushing my teeth would be more than enough. Besides, it's not like I got dirty working.

  Rattlejack and the Zombie Boys, being led by Mirchie, were responsible for the carrot rotations, alongside general farmwork. If I was the one doing it, It’d take 810 minutes, but with a group of five, as slow as they were, they finished it within two hours. It also just meant I didn't get dirty. However...

  A part of me just wanted to spend the whole day farming, tilling the fields and planting the seeds myself. But I had promised Noel and Madeleine I’d see them today at the other forest, so I can learn the basics of herbology.

  I kissed Mirche on the head and slipped her more carrot tops, before letting her get to work and me to head off. I hadn’t seen Ophelia yet, but I believe she was making deals for stone and wood from the goblins.

  Kazaril forest was unique to me since it was the only area not actually owned by the Duke.

  See, the duke of the land was Birchigold, and under him was a Marquise, Jesaphora I think. There should have been a Count, but the only Count I knew was Elias, so it might have been him? That’d make the new Countess Ophelia and I think I’d have known if she was actual nobility.

  So, I guess I wasn’t aware of who the Countess was, or was it a Baron? I get those two roles mixed up, since I don’t care for local politics. All I know is the Lady of Oakheart, the actual noble here is Lady McReer, who is the wife of the mayor. She has two kids who were older than me and went to a private school, so I never met them.

  Oakheart was at the far south point of the Duke’s territory, with the Samaine river separating his land from the other Duke’s. They were not friends, but I also never met them so I never cared about learning any of their names.

  “Ashley, pay attention. And, you have to change your class to [Forager],” Noel explained, having been pointing at a plant that was fairly tall. I focused on him again while staring at the toothy green leaf. It was all hairy, and the plants grew outwards from the stem. My hand reached forward!

  SLAP!

  Noel struck my hand and I recoiled from the blow. “Ow! What was that for?!” I immediately shouted, rubbing my hand for it to calm down.

  “Don’t touch stinging nettle with your bare hands, Ashley.”

  “You should let her, it’s the only way children learn.” Madeleine interjected, finally wearing something that wasn’t her black cocktail dress and witch hat. I mean, she still had a witch hat on, but it was smaller and less extreme, but her clothing looked suited for the outdoors!

  “Or you can just tell them not too, and explain the dangers of touching a plant known for stinging.”

  “A child does not learn till she puts her hands on the fire and learns it's hot. It matters not what you try to do, [Druid].”

  At this point it was clear to me that they weren’t actually talking about me, since I had moved away from the Stinging Nettle and they were still arguing. Honestly, I didn’t need either of them for this, I could just find a book and find Belladonna, Wolf’s Bane, and Doll’s Eyes for my preparation room. Likewise, [Forager] was a gathering profession, so everything would just be about the amount I gathered, so I didn’t really need help.

  But these two did.

  I glanced up from the plant I was looking at to see the two arguing again. I knew that was going to happen, but it was about time for this to get out of the way.

  I slowly approached the pair to listen in. “People have to make mistakes! That’s how they learn!” Madeleine shouted.

  “I don’t think it’s a mistake to summon an abomination! And it’s definitely not when your ritual requires human sacrifice!”

  “She had to do it! Your people wouldn’t leave us alone, living our lives away in the forest.”

  “You turn people into NEWTS! That’s Har–” Noel countered, but I was getting tired of their argument.

  “We’re in the forest you know,” I said, cutting into their argument. “You could just kill each other. Nobody would know.”

  “Ashley, this isn’t something that needs to turn to th–” Noel began, but Madeleine was a lot faster. Her arm went straight and her finger pointed directly at Noel’s chest. I stepped back.

  Noel immediately dived to the side, and the white flickerflash of blue light burned into my eyes. Shouldn’t have kept staring. I heard the crack and it made my hair wobble, before crashing into the tree. The bark charred to black, and hot smoke poured out of the forest. Thankfully, the area was too green to catch on fire that easily. Otherwise, one of these two could deal with it when they were done talking. His hand slid down and grabbed the grass, pulling it up and disturbing their long-threaded roots. “You don’t want to do this, [Witch].”

  Madeleine’s fingers immediately pointed at Noel and another sharp crack of lightning flew out. It burned in the air, scarring my eyes again before frazzling up my hair from the boom. I turned around. I kept myself as a [Necromancer] and a [Chirurgeon] if this got too bad. I didn’t need to remain as a [Forager] to just gather herbs. I didn’t care about its special abilities, I just had to do the actions.

  Noel’s body quickly shifted into a sharp looking rodent with a sharp tail. It squeaked violently and launched itself forward. In this small frame he was exceptionally agile, his tiny legs pushing onto the dirt and flying forward. Each of Madeleine’s lightning bolts struck against the dirt, replacing the terrain with smoldered char.

  I myself was looking for four poisonous herbs. I knew of Belladonna and Wolf’s Bane, but I hadn’t seen Doll’s Eyes before. And I needed a fourth! Was holly poisonous? Was hemlock? For now, I’d just gather herbs and increase my understanding.

  Noel was barely a foot away from Madeleine, and then his tiny mouse-frame shifted again. His body cracked and his mass seemed to expand incredibly quickly. He launched himself even further ahead as brown hair sprouted against his body, and his bear-like claws SMASHED into the dirt.

  He had become a bear! But this one was… even bigger than a typical bear, rivaling the size of small trees. Stone jutted from its back and its mouth sparked lightning.

  I don’t think I could survive riding on that thing’s back. It’s much too big and a bit too rocky for my liking, and its body seems to shake around when its paws move. It raised its paw up to the sky and slammed down, making the earth ripple and create a vicious shockwave. Madeleine seemed to evade the paw itself, but the rippling earth launched her against the tree.

  I winced, certain in my decision that riding on a bear that big’s back wouldn’t really suit me. I held onto my hat and then began to pluck different herbs. I started with something simple like thyme and rosemary, but sometimes I got lucky enough to find mushrooms.

  Wait, there’s poisonous mushrooms. This is a promising lead.

  The Noel-Giant-Bear growled at Madeleine, who slowly picked herself up. She wiped the pooling blood from her mouth and raised her hand. For a moment, nothing happened, as Noel began to lunge forward.

  And then the earth shifted, driving upwards like a giant spike. It slammed into the bear's gut as dark, red blood began to spill over the ground. The flying bear began to shift back to the form of a flying man instead.

  The bloody spike of earth retreated back into the dirt, as Madeleine coughed out a bit more blood too.

  I had found my first 27 herbs, and now I had to find things one could eat. Wild Carrots, some tubers, and apparently stinging nettle can be made into tea. I got to work. Madeleine pulled out a vial from the side that fizzled and looked cherry red. She uncorked it quickly, and downed it one go. She tossed the vial on the ground where it shattered! That was 5 silver pieces in glass alone!

  Also, Madeleine stopped bleeding. Her wounds were stitched up, and her breathing stabilized. Her posture was strong as she readied herself.

  Noel too did something similar. He grabbed a plant and then whirled his hands in the air. His Symphony tightened, as flowers and plants danced around his body. His body quickly restored itself, but that aura around him didn’t fade away.

  They both returned to their posts to start a second round, now that the stakes were established.

  I also found out you can't eat stinging nettle raw. Well, you can, but it’s bitter, makes my mouth itch, and I would not recommend it.Wild Carrots and Potatoes are delicious, and mushrooms can indeed be poisonous.

  Now, I had to finally find poisonous plants! Now I could collect what I was looking for.

  Noel’s hand opened up and he let out a deep whistle. A few animals started emerging from the woods. A deer, a badger, and two wild dogs. None of them looked too dangerous on their own. I am pretty sure I could kill them all with my daggers.

  Madeleine wasn’t scared either. In fact, her hand rose up and waved over each of them. Their bones cracked and their skin became slimy and smooth. She had turned them all to newts!

  Amazing! She wasn’t lying after all.

  Noel slammed his foot on the ground, causing a rock to fly to the sky. His staff guided the rock forward. Madeleine attempted to weave out of the way, but the rock struck her directly in the stomach. She growled at the sensation, but otherwise, seemed alright.

  A second rock flew by, missing her body and just toppling over a tree. She didn’t try to evade the shot, which made me suspect that Noel just missed.

  But Madeleine’s response was pretty clever in my eyes. Her hands opened and just ‘wiped’ something off the air. In response, Noel’s lips disappeared from his body! I had seen Madeleine do this to Ophelia and Jasmine before.

  Hemlock is indeed poisonous, which is very good to know. I can no longer hold onto the childish belief that a small amount of hemlock with your tea is good for you. I always knew Belladonna was dangerous, and it was good to find out mushrooms could be poisonous as well.

  Now, I'd only need the holy relic to defile, and my body preparation room was ready. But I figured I might as well get to five at this point, since I could foresee myself needing to know how to plant herbs. I could even grow ‘blood cinnamon’ and become rich!

  Unable to cast spells, Noel launched himself, shooting his massive fist forward. Madeleine ducked to the side, but her long black hair was caught in the blow. The force of the punch tore the strands awkwardly off her head, and then the bony pats of his fist shattered a hole into the tree. Madeleine screamed.

  I was at level 5 at this point, and I was glad the accelerated path for commoners wasn’t a myth! I guess I could collect all these plants now, even if I didn’t know how to grow them. I haven’t found any seeds.

  And it was about time to stop this. I figured this entire thing was just a scrap. I exchanged angry blows with Melissa plenty of times, and with how heated these two were, it was going to boil over eventually.

  I stood up, wiping the dirt off my skirt.

  Madeleine’s balled up hand slammed into Noel’s stomach. She quickly pulled away, shaking off her hand as Noel continued to pull off his arm free from the tree. Madeleine’s hand struck Noel again, but this time left a glyph.

  Noel broke his arm out, and looked at the Glyph. He immediately lunged at Madeleine, who tried to squirm away.

  KABOOM!

  A green explosion came from between them, burning both of their skin. It was heavy, and the area smelled of burnt meat and steam.

  “Just so you know, I can’t really bring back the dead. Are you two done fighting, or are you actually going to kill yourselves? Who’s going to look after your sister then, or your family?” I asked, and then held up my herbs.

  “I don’t need either of you to accomplish my goals, but you two need each other. I don’t even get why you’re fighting; you have the solutions to your own problems!” I tried to reason with them.

  “She’s a child-killing monster that sells bottled blood potions to nobles for their blood rituals! And her sisters are worse!”

  “He’s a sanctimonious prick that hunts down witches for minor transgressions! If he didn’t get in the way, nothing would have happened.”

  “Turning people into newts is not nothing!”

  “Okay, so when one of you kills the other, I don’t think I can really raise you back in a way that’s good for your sisters or your… family. I don’t mind the corpse and all, but I’d be pretty annoyed if the only reason I was going to die was because I’m fighting an ally.”

  “Killing him was part of my long-term plans,” Madeleine continued.

  “Sure, but if you do that now, you probably won't get that [Interdiction] on that curse. Do it after, and it’ll come back. Really, just think about this logically – your best move is just to leave it behind and work together for your new goals.”

  “Again, I don’t want to work with her, but I’m not the one trying to kill her! I even said I’d intervene and turn off the curse as soon as the job is done.”

  “Why can’t you do it now?” I asked.

  “Because I don’t trust her!”

  I shrugged at that. “Okay? But I mean, she’s not going to stab you in the back if you give her what she wants. And he’s not going to kill you if you stop doing obviously bad things – who summons a monster to just lay rampage, Madeleine? Didn’t you tell me yesterday that you have to hide what you want to do.”

  It didn’t seem like it was working, so I had to attempt my most Jasmine-like move. “And if you both die, you’re just going to leave behind others who are going to suffer instead. At least you both have a goal; you get your sister back, and you impress the Darkmire witches who will act at least… 50% less crazy. Since I doubt Madeleine is going to let her sisters do this again with a price tag that high.”

  They continued their stare off, but I was glad it wasn’t a fight again. “I’ll turn whichever one of you that dies into something smart though. I’ll miss you both.”

  “[Witch], show me a sign of good faith that you’ll get your errant sisters under control, and I will do so for the sake of our alliance,” Noel conceded.

  Madeleine considered it, and just let out a deep breath. “Fine. I would rather spend time with my sisters than be mauled to death, Ours. I’ll get you a proper covenant, one that Grandmother Willow will approve.”

  “I’ll bring Elm Minister, and he’ll make sure it’s not a goblin contract.”

  “Why, Ours, I would never do such a thing.” she chuckled.

  I didn’t point out that she literally did that to me. Instead, I continued to pick herbs like I wanted too, hoping I’d finally find a seed at some point.

  Noel shook his head, and turned to me. “Do you actually need help with your Herbalism, Lady Hart, or was this some misguided attempt at a barnyard brawl.”

  “Don’t knock a good brawl, Noel. Seems like you knocked some sense into each other.” I responded.

  “I’m leaving,” he responded, transforming his body into the shape of a black bird that had a lightning tinge from its feathers. He launched off into the air, going back to his farm.

  “I am too,” Madeleine stated, drinking a potion, and becoming a black cat. She scampered away, leaving me alone in the forest.

  I went back to work, seeing as I was the only one still managing to do my job even while getting emotional. Compared to those nutcases, I was doing fine.