Bookworld Online: Marsh Man

Mage Marks, or Greta when no one else was around, waited until Vanessa and I went to the workbench we used before she came over to me. “David, here are the details you requested.” She said and handed me a folded piece of paper.

It had the shipment schedules for crates of empty vials, the containers, and the ingredients. I wasn't sure how she had arranged to have them delivered after school hours and I gave her a questioning look.

“We can talk during the break between morning classes.” Mage Marks said and I nodded. She went back to the front of the room and reiterated that the two students that didn't need to pay attention for this class, namely Lorna and myself, could do self study.

After that, she began to go over where the other students needed to improve their potions work. I sat down on a stool behind the workbench and Vanessa listened to Mage Marks as she made notes.

“She's just telling them most of what you already told me last week while we were working.” Vanessa whispered and showed me her notes.

“You wrote everything out afterwards?” I asked and she nodded. “Good for you.”

Vanessa gave me a huge smile and seemed pleased with herself.

“Do you think you can handle making the potion by yourself today?” I asked.

“As long as you guide me. I'm going to try and work from memory, rather than strictly follow the instructions.” Vanessa breathed. “I've seen you do that and I want to be able to do it, too.”

I reached over and took her hand. “I still need reference materials sometimes, especially if it's an unfamiliar potion. Once I make it a bunch of times, I occasionally need a reminder for the brew times.”

“What about when you make it a hundred times?” Vanessa asked in a whisper.

“I can do it with my eyes closed.” I responded and she nodded.

We both sat there for the rest of the class as Mage Marks went to each student to discuss their brewing techniques and to give advice and corrections. She was always encouraging and never scolded them for mistakes, even blatant ones. When the bell rang for the class break, she made a hand signal for me to approach her desk.

“Excuse me for a few minutes.” I said to Vanessa and walked over to the teacher's desk.

Mage Marks sat down and the wood panels popped up around us to block off both sight and sound from the other students. “You have questions?”

“Yes, Greta.” I said and she smiled at my use of her first name. “How did you arrange these delivery times for after classes today?”

“It was a simple matter to arrange the supplementary deliveries to be shipped to the only extra storage space I have access to.” Greta said and almost laughed at my raised eyebrows. “It's not really a fiction, since I will be there and prepping the ingredients for you to use and will also be keeping them in that spare room until they are used.”

“I'll have a nice work area made for you.” I said and that made her smile grow.

“Is there anything else?” Greta asked.

“I debated a lot about showing you this.” I said as I pulled out the vial of purifying cleaning potion I had used a drop of and handed it to her. “Have a look.”

Mage Marks took the vial and stared at the crystal clear liquid inside. She opened the cork carefully and then took in a sniff. She blinked her eyes for several seconds and put the cork on it.

“Can you guess what it is?” I asked, knowing she was going through her memories to do just that.

“It has some of the cleaning potion in it.” Mage Marks said and then she performed several chants and spells to check it. The vial glowed bright blue for several seconds and she caught her breath. “It's... I can't believe this. There's no way...”

I stood there as she seemed to lose herself in her papers and she opened the vial again to take out a single drop. It was suspended in a little bubble of magic and she chanted at it for several minutes. The class bell rang and she ignored it as she kept working on it.

“It is. It really is.” Greta said a few minutes later as the drop dissolved. “How in the world did you create a purifying potion?”

“I just stumbled on it while thinking about things and playing around with the original recipe.” I said with a shrug. “It took a long time to brew, too. Once I worked out the problems and added in a binding agent, that is.”

“I can imagine.” Greta said and sat back as she stared at the vial. “What binding agent?”

“I don't want to say in case it gives you crazy ideas.” I said and she barked a laugh.

“Is it any crazier than going into business with an uncredited student?” Greta asked with a grin.

“Considering the limited market, yes.” I said and her eyes widened. “I only have a couple crates of the original left and I haven't brewed a replacement yet.”

Greta sat back in her chair and thought about that. “Since you've only had a general health potion and a healing potion for sale from your fiance...” She whispered and then she smiled. “You used a general health potion as well as your unique catalyst as the binding agent. The healing potion has different properties and also different effects. It doesn't flow through you or give your body an energy boost.”

“I knew I should have kept my mouth shut and not given you a clue.” I said and she laughed.

“It's all right, David. I'm not going to steal your idea. I don't have the recipe for the potion, remember? I can't slot it into another potion properly without knowing it inside and out. That would just be a disaster waiting to happen.”

I nodded and she crossed her arms as she thought things over. “I don't want to make a bunch of them.” I waved at the purifying cleaning potion. “I'm going to have my hands full and my spare time is going to disappear while making the boosted cleaning potions.”

Greta nodded. “Can I keep this? I want to run a few more tests.”

“I used it on a glass of dirty dish water and a single drop of it made it drinkable.” I said.

“Hmm. Just dishwater?”

“It was what I had close by at the time.” I shrugged.

“I'll do a lot more testing if a drop is all that's needed for a certain volume of water.” Greta said.

“Try it with a barrel of seawater.”

Greta caught her breath. “What? I thought...”

“I didn't have anything bigger than a glass to test.”

Greta stared at me for several moments before she nodded and tucked the vial into her belt. “All right. I'll do some larger scale tests as well.” She waved her hand at the wood panels around us and they folded away. “Please return to your workbench.”

“Yes, Mage Marks.” I said and walked back over to sit beside Vanessa. She didn't ask me what had been going on, though. I leaned close and whispered in her ear. “I'll fill you in if it works.”

Vanessa gave me a very charming smile and nodded.

“I'm sorry about the delay.” Mage Marks said to the rest of the class and stood up to walk around her desk. “I hope you're all prepared to retrieve your own ingredients this time.” She gave the students a bit of a glare. “Make sure that you use the proper procedures to reduce, and in most cases eliminate, contamination.”

A couple of the girls gulped nervously and then Mage Marks laughed, which surprised them.

“It's all right. I'm not going to stand here and let you all make too many mistakes. You can ask me, Lorna, and even David what you need to do.”

Lorna let out a little groan and Mage Marks pointed to her.

“Remember that you have a partner in this class. How they perform reflects completely on your ability to impart knowledge to them.” Mage Marks said and Lorna groaned again. “It's not that bad. They can only get better because they are the least talented and you are the most talented. Be confident in what you know and share that confidence with them.”

Lorna looked at the girl next to her and saw her slightly blushing and earnest face. “I guess... I can try.”

“Excellent.” Mage Marks said and looked at me. “David, are you going to...”

“Vanessa already knows how to prepare the ingredients. We're just waiting for the water to boil and for her to retrieve what she needs from the bins.” I said and Mage Marks glanced at Vanessa, who nodded.

“Then please, have at it.” Mage Marks waved at the bins behind her desk.

Vanessa was the first to go over and checked the dispensing utensil, used a chanted cleaning spell on it, then she picked up the container of the first ingredient. She came back to our workbench and doled out the right amount onto the circle she had drawn on a piece of paper. She turned to the teacher and whispered.

“Vanessa wants to know if she can dole it out to everyone or if she has to put it back and let them do it themselves.” I said.

Mage Marks smiled and waved at the other desks. Vanessa whispered and went to the next workbench.

“She said thanks.” I repeated and the other girls took her example and ran with it.

Instead of having to do the procedures with every ingredient, they only had to do it with one and then could make everyone's task that much easier. Plus, only one student of the pair had to go. All of the ingredients were quickly handed out, without cross contamination, and they all got to work... except for Lorna and myself. We were relegated to observers and offered occasional corrections.

I whispered to Vanessa any changes she needed to do and she followed them properly without me having to put my hands on the ingredients. She looked a little sad about that, though.

“Do you want me to help?” I asked.

“I liked how you held me the last time we brewed together.” Vanessa whispered the admission. She didn't blush, which meant she was sincere and was only stating a fact.

I stood up and went behind her. “Please forgive the intrusion.” I breathed into her ear and wrapped my arms around her from behind and held her gently and firmly as I rested my chin on her shoulder. I felt her shiver slightly and take a shaky breath, then she took a very deep breath and let it out.

“Thank you, David.” Vanessa whispered calmly and went back to work.

I wasn't holding her hands or directing them like I had the last time and she didn't really need that kind of assistance. She remembered how we prepped the ingredients the last time and she had also written down the slight changes I had made. She referenced them and nodded as she cross cut the next ingredient to get the most out of it, gathered the liquid it expelled, then we waited patiently for its turn to be added to the potion.

Vanessa relaxed against me as we brewed the potion and Mage Marks kept looking over at us. I saw her eyes find where my hands were, which was around Vanessa's waist, and I kept them there the whole time. Vanessa only wanted me to hold her and to not interfere, and that was what Mage Marks wanted, too. She glanced at my face and saw that my lips weren't moving, nodded, and observed the other students.

“She really doesn't want you to help me.” Vanessa whispered.

“She knows I'm a powerful potion maker and doesn't want you to skim through the course on my prowess.”

Vanessa turned her head to look at me. “But, you are sharing your prowess with me.”

“Sharing my knowledge with you is fine, since you're doing all the work. Doing anything myself could be constituted as you cheating.” I whispered to her.

Vanessa's eyes widened slightly, then she nodded in understanding. “Yes, it wouldn't be fair if she's trying to gauge my work if you did any of it.”

“You can't use my catalyst, either.”

“What? Why not?” Vanessa asked.

“Keep brewing.” I reminded her.

Vanessa stirred the pot and poured in the liquid from the previous ingredient without looking at the pot. “You're saying that I'll have to use my own blood and magic? We can't share?”

“No, she wants to see you make a normal potion and not the boosted one I can produce.”

Vanessa sighed and it came out normally and not quiet, since it was just expelling air, and Mage Marks looked over at us.

“I told her she can't use my catalyst and I can't use my magic to help her.” I said as an explanation.

“Thank you.” Mage Marks said and went back to observing the other students.

“Dammit, you were right.” Vanessa whispered with a pout, which made her look quite cute.

“Don't worry, you can do this.” I whispered back and my lips lightly brushed her earlobe. “Just imagine I actually am helping you and that my magic is flowing through you. I want you to put everything you can into it, just like you did the last time.”

Vanessa blushed a little. “D-David, I...”

“Yes, I felt you giving me everything.” I whispered and my hands tightened around her waist. “I can't wait to see what you can do on your own.”

Vanessa blushed a bit more and she gave me a searching look, as if she doubted that I wanted to, then she made her decision and nodded. “I'll do my best.” She promised and looked back at the simmering potion.

We stood there, essentially cuddled together in the middle of class, and waited for the next stage of the potion to add the next ingredient.