Once we arrived we told Hans about the encounter. We gathered inside the dining room and a maid brought us some hot tea.

Hans was not pleased after we had finished our story. "Thankfully you are alright. I would not have expected a necromancer. Next time I am sending more soldiers, maybe join them myself."

"It's fine Dad. We dealt with him." Helena replied.

Hans shook his head. "I would not call that fine. I am proud of you but the whole situation is a mess. And Harper… The man is as greedy as he is incompetent. It's not the first time I have heard of him. He is a cousin of the Duke."

Hans sipped his tea, contemplating. "I will need to deal with this. Probably meet with Duke Winston. If the Brotherhood is involved with the nightshades our problems are bigger than expected…" Then he looked at Cassie. "Oh, there was a letter from your mother while you were gone. She said she got held up in the capital. She will visit you in Lupos before the start of the new school year."

"Argh!" Cassie exclaimed. "I was worried about her! But no, she just has better things to do, like politics!"

"At least you don't have to deal with her, yet." Skadi said.

"True…" Cassie admitted.

Hans sighed. "Excuse me, I will have to start dealing with this." Then he left.

We spent the remaining day relaxing. Thankfully we did not have to deal with any of this directly. The next day Cassie started on her alchemy. Now that she had the seeds she could work on her potions. We provided her with some of our blood and she got to work.

The potion tingled a bit but otherwise I did not feel much. Nobody exploded, or felt any negative effects. So we decided to keep drinking it before bed from now on.

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Hans left the next day to meet with people, including Duke Winston. We continued our vacation and spent the days training and relaxed in the evenings. I also experimented with the undead necromancer. It turned out I could command Hatsumi's undead as if they were my own. The necromancer himself was only a tier two, so he was no longer able to cast normal spells. And without a core he was unable to raise the dead himself. But he gained some abilities. He was able to shoot necrotic bolts and had limited control over blood. He was a decent addition to our group.

After a few days I felt like the potion did something.

"I think the potion is starting to work. My endurance has increased during training." I said to my friends, during lunch.

Cassie nodded. "It even affects my casting. I am not getting tired as quickly."

"That might just be your core growing." Skadi pointed out.

Cassie shrugged. "Maybe, but it's more noticeable since the potion."

"We are going to be so awesome! I noticed any bruises we get also heal quicker." Helena noted.

"Hopefully it will help against poisons too…" Skadi mumbled while looking at Cassie.

"How long do you think we should keep drinking those potions?" I wondered.

"We are unsure yet." Cassie replied. "Skadi is checking her own blood with her magic. We are also comparing it to Hatsumi, since she is a magical creature. But I suspect we will keep doing it for a bit longer. Thankfully we got enough seeds."

Over the next week I began to notice a true change to my mana circulation. My blood seemed more and more willing to absorb the circulating mana. It kind of felt good, natural. But we kept drinking the potion for a week longer. Finally Cassie told us we should be good without it from now on.

Our remaining vacation was mostly uneventful. A royal investigator stopped by to examine the necromancer and ask a few questions, then he left again. Soon our vacation came to an end and we began preparing for our return to the academy. But there was something I had forgotten…

"Happy birthday!" My friends shouted, at breakfast. Hatsumi was carrying a big cake and placed it on the table.

I just stared, shocked. I had not expected anything. A kiss from Helena brought me back to reality and my tail started swishing happily.

"It's your first birthday since you are free, this demands celebration!" Helena announced.

"Um… Thank you!" I managed.

There was no training today. But there was a lot of eating. My friends spoiled me with great food. In the evening Helena took me to a restaurant in town for a romantic dinner. It was wonderful.

Only a year ago I wore a collar and had no future. Today I fell asleep in the arms of my girlfriend, feeling loved.

It was a great end to our vacation and the next day we started our journey back to the academy. I was looking forward to learning more magic. Hopefully there would not be too much politics.

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