Caius needed to supply Idunnir with what he was now calling golden energy. That name was effectively a placeholder, because he didn't like it but couldn't come up with a better one yet. Obviously physical contact worked, he could see her body drinking it in from where their hands met.

  But while that was nice, prolonged physical contact would be more than a little inconvenient for both of them.

  He was still thinking about the problem when he realized he was being an idiot and the solution was hanging around his neck. The amulet was connected to him by a think cord of golden energy, though he hadn't yet figured out the mechanics of what stayed connected to him and what didn't.

  While he wasn't planning to part with his amulet, there was an easy solution to that. All he needed was a knife and some wood. The former he had on his belt and the latter could be found easily. He was fairly certain he had spotted a fallen branch or two under the tree.

  Getting up, he slowly made his way back towards the tree. In his altered sight, the tree was a glorious mass of orange light twisting endless, constantly shifting patterns. Finding a fallen branch wasn't too hard. They glowed orange like the tree, only dimmer. And the pattern within had stopped shifting.

  Once he returned with it and got his knife out, Caius discovered two things. Firstly that the knife still had the golden energy from when he had asked it to cut through a frozen leather belt the first day. Secondly, the dead branch was hard as a rock. He could strip off the bark, but even scratching the wood underneath was a challenge.

  Idunnir's sword did better when she employed her incredible strength, but she was afraid of damaging the blade. Well, Caius was already intending to make her something. "May I try something on your sword?"

  She hesitated. Caius had explained that two of the objects he had used his power on had disintegrated after performing impossible feats, whereas the rest seemed fine. In the end she handed over the blade. Caius tried to recall what he had learned in that freshman material science course.

  "Sword, can you make your material better? I was thinking stronger, harder and more elastic." As soon as he was finished speaking, Caius watched in fascination as his power went to work. A strand of gold separated from the hand he was holding the sword with and quickly reached up to the blade.

  The strand wrapped around the sword in a complex pattern before sinking into the material and slowly spreading out until the whole thing was glimmering ever so slightly. There was no persistent connection between him and the weapon. Caius handed the sword back.

  Idunnir stepped away and swung it a few times, experimentally. Then she tried cutting the wood again. This time it parted with only slight resistance. "That's impressive. I think it's worth the risk that something might go wrong. What shape do you want the wood?"

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  Caius responded "It's going to be your amulet, you decide. Just put a hole in it for the string."

  In the end, Idunnir just cut through the branch twice to get a circular section and used the tip of her sword to very carefully bore a hole near the edge. Basic but effective. She handed it over for Caius to do his part.

  "Protect Idunnir from harm, please." Caius told it. This time, a coil of gold as thick as his wrist unspooled from his chest and wrapped around the object until it looked like an oversized ball of yarn. The light sank into the amulet, leaving it glowing brightly. The strand remained, connecting the amulet to Caius.

  He couldn't feel anything pulling or stretching as he experimentally moved the amulet closer or further from himself. Shrugging, he handed it over. Idunnir stuck a bit of leather string through the hole she'd made and fastened the amulet around her neck.

  Immediately, Caius could see some of the light from the amulet being drawn into her body. So clearly his idea was working. "If it's still working by morning, we can go on with the plan. You said you'll be alright without the tea for a day no matter what?"

  "Probably. I'll definitely be able to feel it, it's unpleasant. Not drinking the rest of the tea feels... wrong. I've been doing it for so long it's a habit."

  They went to bed. Caius still saw color whether his eyes were open or closed, but lying on his stomach meant his field of view was filled with the unmoving gold of the magically soft bottom of the tent. Eventually he drifted off to sleep.

  Fortunately his sight was completely back to normal the next morning. Those strange flowers had enabled him to learn many things, but Caius was glad it was over nonetheless. Idunnir was already awake and outside practicing.

  Caius turned toward the tree. It was still a glorious sight. He took a moment to appreciate it before starting his day. Caius unfocused his eyes as he stretched, relaxed. But when he lowered his arms, they were golden.

  Snapping back to focus, his arms returned to normal. Caius repeated the process a few times and also looked around. It wasn't unfocusing his eyes, but the sensation was similar. Once he had the trick of it, he could call up that vision at will.

  Sort of. This new trick only let him see his own golden energy, the world remained unchanged. More limited, but definitely useful. The question was how? Caius decided to assume this was one of those things you could do once your mind made the right nerve connection. He'd read somewhere that people could learn to control individual facial muscles, maybe this was like that.

  Banishing the sight, he called a good morning to Idunnir. She turned to face him from where she had been focused on her exercise and returned "Good morning! I feel incredible today." Then she gave him a blazing smile and turned to continue her routine.

  Caius stood there, blinking. That smile had been transformative, like the sun coming out from behind the clouds. He wanted to see it again.

  As he set about making breakfast, Caius cursed his memory. He had never been good at remembering images. Even a handful of minutes later, he could barely remember what it had looked like.

  Idunnir sat down for breakfast. She was sweating from her exercise and the heat of the nearby burning tree, practically glowing with health. It looked good, on her.

  Making eye contact, she gave him a wink.

  Right, his emotions were an open book to her. Not that Caius particularly minded. He trusted her and wasn't ashamed.