The lake was a vivid green. Cranes glided gracefully over the water on the breeze, sometimes dropping down without warning to snatch a fish, or simply swimming across the lake, perfectly at ease.

Meanwhile, the crafty hunter had already hidden himself away. Ethan had somehow gotten a bow and arrow into his hands. He drew the bow to its full draw, wind-aspected magic swirling around the end of the arrow—

Then it shot out!

The arrow pierced a Greenlake Crane that had just been about to take off. The bird let out a cry of pain and collapsed onto the water, which began to turn red.

The other Greenlake Cranes turned toward the direction the arrow had come from and let out shrill cries. As they cried out, blades of wind swept toward them.

Tori immediately lost her nerve. She dropped flat to the ground and didn't dare move.

Flames burst from Ethan's body. He charged straight at the pair of wind blades—

The two of them ended up covered in soot. As the fire grew, all the Greenlake Cranes flew away. Ethan scooped Tori up and dashed into the lake. They found the dead Greenlake Crane's body.

But the fire didn't spread. Once it reached a certain point, some powerful life-form seemed to intervene. An unusual rain began to fall, putting out the flames.

“Have you ever heard the saying, Young Master Ethan? Set fire to a mountain, and you'll end up behind bars.”

Ethan cleared a patch of ground and lit another fire, trying to dry himself and Tori off. Hearing her, he looked a little embarrassed. “Sorry. I just learned a new fire spell, and I wanted to test how strong it was. I didn't expect it to work so well with the wind blades.”

“Now I'm going to have to rethink working with you. I feel like sooner or later, you're going to burn me to death.” Luckily, it was August, and the weather was still pretty warm. So even after a dip in the lake, she didn't feel cold once they climbed back out.

Tori sat beside the fire, enduring the heat as she tried to dry her clothes. At least she hadn't worn the skirt she'd bought that day. Instead, she'd put on one of the long dresses that were popular in the village—nothing special.

“Still, you finished your task. I haven't finished mine yet—where were those rats you mentioned last time?”

Ethan smiled. “Honestly, I didn't expect to find the Greenlake Cranes this close. I thought they'd be much farther away, that it would take us another day or two at least. But the place you're looking for is probably only a day's journey from here. We'll have to set up camp.”

He started taking things out of his ring. Bit by bit, he pieced together all sorts of odds and ends into something like a makeshift tent.

“I've heard that skilled blacksmiths can forge things that turn straight into shelters, but I've never seen one. So this is the only kind of shelter I can use. It can withstand outside attacks to some extent.”

He explained that his shelter had some defensive capabilities. Tori looked at it and thought it seemed like a little wooden prefab hut. It looked oddly familiar. Construction sites had huts like this, though those were made of sheet metal and foam—

“Let's eat before night falls.”

Ethan pulled a pot out of his spatial ring. He and Tori set it over the fire, then he used water magic to conjure some clean water and poured it into the pot. Finally, he tossed in a few pieces of dried meat to boil.

Tori thought for a moment. “Wait here a bit.”

She started searching for edible plants in an area where Ethan could see her and would be sure to hear if she called out.

“Mm, one red chili should be enough to give this soup some heat if I slice it up. And this is a woodgrass root. It can stand in for a potato.”

She'd learned a lot, after all, and now she could finally put that knowledge to use.

“Hehe~ Meat should be cooked like this. Eating it as plain jerky is such a waste. People from little villages like ours usually only get to eat a couple of pieces of bread. I hope you won't waste ingredients like this, Young Master Ethan.”

Well, she had a point. But when you're traveling, who doesn't want something tasty to eat? It's just not always possible. That's one of the advantages of being a Potion Maker, though: Potion Makers tend to know all kinds of ingredients. A team without one isn't a complete team.

Though he was an adventurer who traveled alone.

He glanced at Tori, who was stirring the pot with a wooden spoon, and couldn't help thinking, “Being an adventurer isn't so bad, actually.”

Tori took a sip of the soup with her wooden spoon and found it pretty good. Picking up where Ethan had left off, she said, “Young Master Ethan, you come from a wealthy family. You were born with a silver spoon in your mouth. Being an adventurer isn't an easy job. It's dangerous. I don't know much about adventurers, but I do know about hunters. Hunters in a lot of villages die young, and even the old ones are usually left with some kind of disability. Compared to hunters, adventurers have even greater risks—but greater opportunities, too. Honestly, someone like you becoming an adventurer is just as reckless as the name suggests.”

“There are things I have to take risks for,” Ethan replied solemnly.

Like bringing the person beside you back to life?

Or do you want to get revenge on everyone who mocked you in the past? And make that fiancée who broke off your engagement regret it? Have her kneel in front of you, spread her legs, and beg you to take her? Some kind of defeat-play, huh? You know, when I think of it that way, it does sound pretty exciting.

Tori's thoughts had started to wander. She shook them out of her head. “Anyway, what do you know about Boneworms? I heard they're surprisingly tough.”

“Of course. Every adventurer runs into Boneworms eventually. They're terrifying creatures. They move slowly, but they can burrow into the bones of any living thing. And the worst part is, they're like mosquitoes. If you don't notice them, you won't feel it when they bite. If you don't feel it, they'll burrow right into your bones. By then, they're very hard to deal with.”

“Boneworms are tough, too. Grinding them into Boneworm powder is incredibly difficult.” He knew a little about it. “Anyway, I've heard some Potion Makers specifically hire people to grind them up. It's supposed to take a lot of time and effort.”

For a moment, Tori felt that going after Boneworms might be a bit beyond her.

Then she seemed to think of something. “Is there only one recipe for Miniature Meditation Potion?”

“Why do you ask?”

Tori thought for a moment. “Your recipe doesn't seem like a standard way of making it. Especially since something like Boneworms may be available for sale, but they're definitely not a reliable ingredient. So this recipe can't be used for large-scale production on a regular basis. And it's definitely not a mainstream Meditation Potion recipe, so you don't plan to sell it, right?”

Ethan was taken aback. “You can tell that, too?”

“Don't treat me like an idiot!” Tori scooped up a piece of meat with her spoon and tried it. It was ready.

She gestured for Ethan to get the bowls. Sure enough, he took two out of his spatial ring, along with knives and forks. Tori pulled a pair of chopsticks from her backpack. She'd carved them herself out of wooden sticks.

“You eat with those?”

“Why not?” Tori didn't care in the slightest. She continued, “Since this isn't a standard Meditation Potion recipe, this Meditation Potion must have something special about it. For example, since it uses Boneworms, maybe it makes your bones tougher. Compared to an ordinary Meditation Potion, in addition to helping with meditation, it could improve you in every way. Is that it?”

Ethan shook his head. “I don't know. That's Potion Maker stuff. I just got the recipe. Maybe you could try replacing the Boneworms with something else. You might still be able to make it.”

Tori chuckled softly and didn't argue. She went back to eating in silence.

Ethan was such a schemer. He looked like a sunny, handsome guy, but he was so dark inside—and there was some suspicious old monster inside him, whose gender she couldn't even figure out. Tori felt that even after living two lives, she could still end up getting tricked out of every last thing she owned.

She'd better not end up getting sold and helping the seller count the money. She felt she needed to be more wary of Ethan. But then again, she didn't really have anything worth coveting.

She wasn't the only one with a talent for Potion Making.

After they finished eating, Ethan quickly washed the pot and bowls with water magic. Then the two of them went into the makeshift shelter.

“Mm, sleeping outside isn't a good idea, so it's better to meditate instead. That way, if anything happens, we can react right away.”

Tori agreed. She didn't want to sleep with Ethan. Last time had been unavoidable. And she'd even crawled into his blanket... That embarrassing display had definitely been because Ethan scared her. She wasn't going to do that again tonight.

She closed her eyes and entered a meditative state almost immediately.

At Tori's current level, she could probably conjure an ice spike in her hand and throw it. But it was hard to say how much use it would be. She'd still have to rely on potions.

Still, she began to seriously consider the question Ethan had brought up: a series of Potions. If she were going to take Potions, what kind would suit her best?

Once her ice spikes could actually hurt someone, she'd probably be ready to enter the ranks of The Weak. Right now, throwing one didn't do any real damage. That day couldn't be too far off—maybe September?

So, before then, could she become a Potion Maker?

If she did become a Potion Maker, what kind of Potion should she make for herself? What series should it belong to? What effects should it have?

She began to think about her future.