Brygida doesn't waste any time. The young apprentice witch has me get back to meditation practice in no time at all. Pretty much as soon as we are in through the door in fact.

Not that I mind. I'm here to learn something after all. A dedicated teacher is exactly what I need right now.

Before I get to try and slip into a meditative state of mind again Brygida's mother serves us a cup of tea though. It's nothing fancy and maybe that is just the right drink after our soup lunch. It has a rather calming affect too and judging by Rysia's wink, as the realization dawns upon me, that is no coincidence either.

Well, of course the mother will do her best too, to make sure this lesson is a success. Her daughter might get a new skill out of it after all. That is the kind of reward that is worth a little extra effort. Thus it's no real surprise that the tea is not just plain tea. It really helps too.

Following Brygida's calm instructions I sit down and close my eyes once more. It's easier to calm both my breathing and my heartbeat the second time around. I don't know if it's due to experience earned in my previous attempt or being full after a nice meal or the tea. In the end it doesn't really matter anyway.

What matters is, that these idle thoughts are among the last I drive from my mind while I focus on my slow and steady breathing. I don't listen to the sound of the city around us anymore either. It all becomes a low buzz in the background.

It's then that an unfamiliar smell tickles my nose. At first it's faint. Then it becomes a little more pronounced. It's a good thing that Brygida provided some warning before I made my first attempt. Without it this strange smell that really is tickling my nose would have pulled me straight out of the meditative mindset I have finally achieved.

I take a few more slow and deliberate breaths, getting familiar with the strange smell in the process, before I finally let go to slowly return to full wakefulness, much like my little teacher did during her demonstration. As I finally open my eyes again a series of whispered notifications brush across my awareness.

[*Ding!* You have unlocked the Meditation general skill at Level 1!]

[*Ding!* Through Meditation your Mana increased by 1!]

My eyes snap open wide in realization.

"I … I did it? I did it!"

Brygida seems to be about to say something when something suddenly distracts her. Most likely she just received a notification of her own. As she turns towards her mother to gleefully shout, not even trying to hide her excitement, this suspicion is confirmed.

"Mom! We did it! I got the skill, too, just like you said!"

As Brygida bounces off her chair and over to her, Rysia is quick to wrap her into a hug. She runs her fingers through the girl's hair too.

"I knew you would, dear. You aren't quite done yet though. I'm sure your student still has questions. When teaching someone, you have to stay focused on the task at hand."

Not even the slight reprimand can dampen the young witch's mood though. She bounces right back over to me. Her cheeks have the rosy tinge of excitement and a wide, genuine smile graces her lips. She immediately proceeds to provide additional information regarding my new skill.

"The obvious first, yes? You probably didn't regenerate a whole lot of Mana this first time around. Right?"

I nod and let her continue. For her this might be the chance to earn an easy level up or two for her new [Teaching] skill after all and as far as I'm concerned she deserves those.

"Well, the answer is obvious, isn't it? First, you need to level up the skill. Second, you need to meditate longer."

She is right. That much is not terribly hard to guess. She isn't quite done yet though. She keeps going in her cheerful, excited tone.

"In my experience, you should recover one point of Mana for each level of your [Meditation] skill for each hour you manage to maintain the meditation. That's essentially the baseline and for most people that is quite enough. You might be able to increase these numbers with some other skills, but I sadly won't be able to teach you any of those. Some are racial skills, as far as I know, and others are well beyond my scope for now."

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I rub my chin, lost in thought for a moment, as I run some numbers. If I were to level up this new skill even just two or three times, three hours of meditation should be enough to recover the Mana necessary to use my [Change Shape] skill at least once a day. That is on top of whatever I'll recover through regular sleep. Finally I look up at my young teacher again.

"I guess that means the rest is up to practicing what I learned."

She nods enthusiastically.

"Indeed! There is one more thing you need to keep in mind though. Your [Meditation] skill won't progress if you meditate while your Mana reserves are already completely refilled."

Judging by the look on her face she just received another notification. Well, it's good to see her make progress. And she certainly raised a good point.

"So I should be golden if I spend some Mana before I meditate? I guess that means I can give my [Identify] and my [Meditation] skill a good workout pretty much at the same time."

Now that comment makes Brygida blink in surprise. Her mother looks up from her work for a moment too. Unlike her mother the younger witch is not able to rein in her curiosity though.

"You learned a skill to recover more Mana just to blow it on an identification skill? Just how much do you use that?"

I chuckle, amused by her not exactly unwarranted conclusion.

"I use it not nearly as much as I would like to. That's of course not all there is. I have another skill too, that eats through my Mana reserves like you wouldn't believe, but that one is a secret. Let me share a little something I learned about identification skills recently instead."

All of a sudden our roles reverse. Now I'm the teacher and she is the student. Thankfully she is as eager as a student as she was as a teacher. I'm the sole focus of her attention as I relate what I recently learned.

"I learned recently, that there are people out there with an incredibly advanced evolution of one identification skill or another. The kind that apparently doesn't trigger the usual reaction you witnessed when I used [Identify] on Marla the other day."

Brygida's eyes grow big, as I start my little story.

"There really are skills like that? People could identify or appraise me without me ever noticing? That … that is a little scary."

I nod in response. That is a very natural reaction. The feeling I get whenever someone uses and identification skill on me isn't nice. The idea that someone could use these skills on me without me ever being the wiser is not in any way comforting either though. I keep going before she can work up the resolve to say anything else.

"I served as a scout on the recent emergency quest for which the adventurers' guild called in Ediva Glimmersong and her group. For someone in that capacity a skill like that could very much be a lifesaver. Not drawing the attention and ire of your target right away can make all the difference out there."

Brygida's eyes grow even wider and her mouth stands open for a moment before she remembers to close it again.

"You fought alongside Ediva? Against the Mushroom king?"

I nod. I do not mention that actually triggering the usual response to identification skills can sometimes be beneficial too. I have done this on purpose before after all. Maybe she will work that part out on her own eventually.

"Yes. I did. After getting back to town I had a little talk with one of the resident dragons about identification skills. He told me that advanced identification skills are nothing too special for older dragons, and some others. If you are long lived I guess you eventually get in all the practice needed without even trying."

That almost makes it sound like my reason to try and get a better identification skill is somehow related to the quest to kill the king boletus. That of course is not the case, but I don't want to even mention the actual reason. Curiously enough I can feel my [Bluff] skill improve a little as a result.

Brygida's mind thankfully jumps on another detail of what I mentioned.

"One of the residential dragons? He … oh! You know Beldrogar? We visit his shop sometimes! When mom needs a new cauldron! Or when we are short on potion bottles! He is a real hoarder, you know?"

Oh, dear gods and goddesses! Yes, he is! I let out a laugh and soon enough both Brygida and her mother join in. Finally I manage to regain a semblance of control. It takes me another moment to make sure I won't break into laughter right away again.

"Yes, I know him. I have done some shopping at the Paws & Pawn, not clothes though, I prefer the Fleas & Flotsam for those. I have done some odd jobs for him too."

Brygida is quick to nod in agreement.

"The Fleas & Flotsam is awesome! I can't believe people would throw out some of the things they sell there! But what do you mean with odd jobs?"

It's downright heartwarming to see the girl open up like this, thus I don't hold back and answer truthfully.

"He asked me to polish up his scales once. And another time I did some cleaning at his shop. I think he is trying to impress another dragon, one Sezemat if I recall the name right. Could it be, that he has a crush on her?"

This time it's Rysia who breaks into laughter. She wipes some tears from the corner of her eyes and shakes her head.

"No, I don't think that's what is going on. Sezemat is his older sister. His nagging older sister always going on about how he should do this or that! If you want to sum up her complaints you could say that she wants him to look after himself better. I guess if he recruits you to do some of the work involved her complaints are not falling on deaf ears either."

She breaks into laughter again.

"Oh, good gods and goddesses. She'll be insufferable when she comes to town the next time and figures out that she has essentially been successful."

Now that is interesting. I decide to quickly ask some related questions.

"She isn't living in Riverrun?"

Rysia shakes her head again as she fights down another giggle fit.

"No, she is a traveling merchant. The most reliable and successful one at that. I guess because not many people are stupid enough to try and rob her. I mean, anyone who even considers robbing a dragon has to be a very special kind of stupid! Usually not even the guard will try to scam them out of more coin with made up regulations and the like."

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