And I just stared at him like an idiot and said: "Man, what are you talking about? I don't understand you at all." He shrugged, as if he expected that. I was offended. But then I had to mentally admit he was right. "Well, okay," I started again, "and what about the hag?" And he willingly, for a fool like me, started explaining again: "She can do it naturally. To conjure. Or, if you prefer, to create and assemble elementary particles using local quantum field deviations, so she creates what she needs and creates force where she needs it. Yeah, the words wizard or superhero could probably sum it up well, feel free to call it that."

"So she's like you?" I was starting to understand slowly. "Not exactly. I'm better," Adam said. I laughed a little, and he began to explain it rationally: "No, she only uses her head for it. And you know that when you think about something, you get tired. Or you run out of mana like in a video game. You can't just create energy out of nothing, even if it looks like it. You can redirect, add, subtract, and transform it, but not create it. So, to make those two jars, she had to destroy something before that gave her the energy material. Right?"

"Y-yeah, yeah, sure," I was actually starting to get it a little. "Well, you see, that's how it works. It was understandable in the end, wasn't it?" he wanted to conclude. "Well, well..." I dared to disagree. "Sure, well, I understand, but at least you have an idea," he told me.

"Alright, Mr. Wizard," I started, and he stopped me with a smile: "Don't call me that. It's demeaning." "Alright, Mr. Shaw, what are you going to do now? What's your plan? Honestly, it looked like you were taking their souls away," I told him. "You're right. They were. Well, I know this one a bit. She's not exactly a positive character, to put it mildly, but she keeps her word. So if they learn their lesson from her, even though it was obviously disproportionate punishment, she should actually bring them back to life, and this side timeline will disappear," he told me, and I sharply said to him: "And now you're talking nonsense again. Oh-oh, about some timeline and about Baba Yaga keeping her word. That's in every fairy tale where there's magic. Don't trust Baba Yaga. She killed them, damn it, and I don't care if she deigns to revive them with some magic after she's punished them. Damn it."

At that moment, one of the few people who were with us in the pub turned to us. I was too loud, and if I had been heard, the psychiatric workers would have taken me away. "Hypothetically, it's not murder, just imprisonment," he assured me. "Who has the right to imprison someone if they're not the police? That's kidnapping!" I retorted and immediately wiped the sweat from my brow. I drank the rest of my beer and jumped to get another one for both of us. I guessed Adam wouldn't want to drink his warm tea anymore either. I came back and said: "If you're so powerful, don't you want to go talk to her?" "Actually, I wanted to," he said to me. "Really?" I was surprised. "But only that. I know where she's hiding. I'll come, tell her that what she did wasn't good, and if she doesn't keep her word, there will be consequences, and I'll leave and see," Adam described his plan. Then I thought about the plan, and my genius came up with an idea: "But if she keeps her word, this conversation won't happen, right? There won't be a reason, because no one will die. Doesn't that mean she won't keep her word? And shouldn't we punish her somehow for killing those two?" "Actually, it's fifty-fifty. Even if she keeps her word, this conversation will happen anyway, but then it will remain outside the main story. Like a dead, decaying, alternative timeline," he described it to me and took a sip. I just stared at him suspiciously.

"If you take some time off, you can come with me, but if you do something to make her an enemy, I won't protect you. We two have had neutrality for centuries," he suggested to me. "Holy crap, what kind of bombs are you dropping on me, what centuries? How old are you supposed to be?" I burst out at him. "193. Yeah, I get it. How come she looks like that and I look like this. She's much older, and modern ways of self-care don't appeal to her much, and also, energy can't be created, so when you conjure and don't have much to work with, it immediately starts draining the body. Then, by transforming energy from something else, you ensure you don't die of old age, that the cells have energy and can regenerate, but the traces still remain," he said. "You seem to have an answer for everything," I told him. "You're not the first," he told me back. "So what, can I come with you?" I asked him, taking a good drink before he answered. "It's up to you. Let's say I'll go tomorrow, she lives in Poland beyond Krakow. If you make time, I'll pick you up." "I guess I can make time for a witch," I told him. "Alright, let's exchange contact details. I don't know, 9:00 here, or wherever is closest to you," he suggested. "Yeah, 9 here, let's not get too creative." Adam took his phone and showed me his number. I wrote it down and called him. We finished our drinks and were about to leave. "Oh yeah, you have a car." "A Tesla, it's also a form of magic, it drives itself. A wizard will find his way home anyway, don't worry," he told me as we walked out together. "You probably shouldn't say that to a police officer. And you said you didn't like being called a wizard," I told him. "I can call myself that, and a few good friends," he retorted. "Don't worry, if I crash into something, I'll dry out the nearest tree and fix everything," he assured me. It was a strange reassurance, but what to expect from a wizard.

The next day, I was actually waiting for him, and he actually arrived. His car was fine, so he probably got home well last night, or he drained a tree to repair it, as he said. Anyway, I got in, and we headed towards Poland. After a few kilometers, I finally dared to ask: "I couldn't sleep last night, so I have to ask you, how is it with those wands? The hag managed with her bare hands." Adam, with his hands on the steering wheel, said: "It's like a funnel. Erm, wrong. It's like a magnifying glass. Did you try to light paper with a magnifying glass as a kid? That could be called magic, turning light energy into fire. The trick is that the wand makes things easier. It's mainly used by the less powerful or experienced, for whom it takes, concentrates, and aims their pure power. Or it chooses the right filter for the spell. Like when a child takes playdough, puts it in a machine, starts pushing, and either stars or rollers come out. The playdough is the same, but the filter gave it shape and properties. That's a wand." When we crossed the border and headed towards Krakow, he said: "Do you really want to do this?" "Yeah," I said. "Alright," he said and stopped by the side of the road. He said: "There are glasses in the glove compartment. They're not prescription, neither are mine. They're something else. You'll see what I see."

So I opened the glove compartment and put on glasses just like his. He immediately said: "When you run your finger along the frames, you change modes. Look at me." And a light blue glow came from the man. "You're glowing!" I told him, amazed.

"You too, everyone. You can see auras now, and you don't need any abilities. When you switch to the next mode, you'll see something that could be called locked reality, that's where we'll go together," he replied calmly.

So I carefully ran my thick ring finger along the thin edge of the glasses, and at first, nothing happened. Adam looked normal again, but when I looked around, it was like I saw extra things. They were semi-transparent stickers scattered all around. The field where we stopped was normally empty, just dirt, but now there was a semi-transparent meadow with tall, uncut grass above it. "I see a meadow in the field," I told him, not knowing what it meant. "Yeah, you're lucky there's not much else here right now. But as we drive further, the changes will start to increase. You see, you're seeing the second world now. It's always here, but not just anyone can get into it. How can I explain it to you... You have radios at the police station, right? Well, when you talk to colleagues, you have an agreed-upon default channel, and this is the channel right next to it. It's like we're on the ground floor now, and the second world is on the first floor. It's the same land, the same area, but its frequency is higher." I still didn't understand, but I was glad he was trying to explain it to me.

"I wouldn't even try those things if I were you; you won't teach me these things. I'll probably manage with the ground floor."

"Exactly, we're on the ground floor now, and to get to the first floor, we need an elevator. We'll make that, and we'll be there. Can we continue, yeah?"

"Yeah."

So Adam returned to the road, and we drove on. After a lunch break, we reached the destination when Adam said: "Glasses on now, this will be interesting." So I put on the glasses and waited. As we drove the car, there was a forest in front of us. Yeah, but I saw, without the glasses, that it was just trees, but with the glasses, the trees suddenly ended, and in their place, the edge of a village that looked like it was from the Middle Ages appeared. Wooden log cabins. Larger and smaller houses and then something like a small stone residence with a square three-story tower, where you could stand at the very top. And then Adam stopped. "We're here, let's go to the elevator," he said and was immediately out of the car. I tried to catch up with him as he walked across the meadow towards the forest. We waded through the tall grass, and when we were far enough from the car, he stopped and said: "Relax, I'm controlling everything." I started to get a little scared. He bent down and touched the ground. Where he touched the ground, the tall grass fell to the ground in a flash. It spread in a perfect circle further and further, the larger the circle of lying yellow grass. When we were standing in the middle of a large circle of perfectly withered grass, as if Martians had done it, he pulled his wand out of his coat and pointed it at the edge of the circle. Then he spun like a ballerina, and where he pointed the wand, tall flames began to shoot up. He quickly completed the circle, and we were surrounded by flames from all sides. The flames kept growing and started spinning in the direction he was turning. Adam then lightly finished the movement by flicking the wand directly at the sky. The flames obediently followed the wand, and before I knew it, we were inside a fire cone. Full of dread, I stood there frozen in place. The fire cone closed, and the flames disappeared. Suddenly, I didn't need the glasses anymore. The village was just there, and conversely, the semi-transparent forest shone through it. And under us, a circle of dead grass remained, but no traces of fire.

Adam then walked towards the medieval village, and I followed him immediately. "I'm probably asking too much," I started, "but if this belongs to wizards, shouldn't it look better than our world? When you can make so many things easier."

"Exactly. Beautiful, simple life, no need for innovation. Originally, only wizards fled here during the first witch hunt. But then ordinary people started to be born to them, and now it's like a magical open-air museum. What happened to those two is part of the local economy."

And then we were at the first houses. We walked past one log cabin, and then something like a small square appeared in front of us. On the other side, there were many more houses, where the forest continued in the normal world. I was already annoyed by the double vision of two things at once and took off my glasses. Adam noticed, took them from me, and put them in one of the pockets of his coat. There were some people here and there in the village, and those who saw us weren't very trusting. They strangely pretended they weren't there, even when they weren't running away. "All non-wizards, they work and buy enchanted animals and objects from wizards, but we don't look like we're selling anything," Adam told me. Adam stopped when he saw a little boy nearby, cleaning a trough for pigs. He put his finger on his glasses and ran it slightly. He said to him: "Tommy, where's Muribana?" "Mistress Murin?" he didn't understand and was a little scared at the same time. "The sorceress," Adam clarified. "She's probably away somewhere now. She did return from a long journey yesterday, but she's still away somewhere during the day," he explained. "Alright. Thanks," he said to him, and then said to me: "We'll go to her house anyway." "Really, even if she's not there? Couldn't that make her angry?" I asked cautiously. "A little, for sure," Adam said and didn't elaborate. He was so sure of himself. We slowly walked through the village and went into the forest for a while. On the edge of a high pond bank stood a cabin of orange wood that looked fresh. Adam plucked the nearest flower, let it die in his hands, then flicked his palm into the air in front of him. Everything rippled as if it were water. The barrier, which had just behaved like water, began to burn and burned quickly and unevenly like a thin cloth. Behind it, the same cottage appeared, but old and with unnecessary junk around it. Just a witch's house. Next to the house, there was a small fence and fields with herbs.

"That was a doorbell. Muribana is a very advanced sorceress. Just as she can manipulate quantum fields, she can also sense when someone else is manipulating them. That's what led me to you."