“Hello, I was wondering if I might be able to get a list of your different enhancers?” Rugrat asked the man.
“Who are you?”
“Rugrat. Who might you be?”
“Dai. Don’t know you.” Dai stood.
“Tan Xue sent me,” Rugrat said.
“Oh?” Dai looked thoughtful before he nodded. “All right, I’ll take your word for it. We’ve got weevil root, Desa sand, heart of the burning weevil…” Dai listed off a dozen or so different items as Rugrat stood there. He had heard about all kinds of enhancers, but even if the gnomes had documented different kinds, it didn’t mean that they knew everything. Some enhancers might only be regional and not that well known to the outside world.
The gnomes had settled down in the First Realm to get away from everything and create their own hidden society. Their knowledge was very specific to the different things in their city.
Rugrat had already run into it with formations. They didn’t need to worry about storing energy as they connected all of their formations through power runes to their dungeon core.
“Could I get one of each?” Rugrat asked, not wanting to look like an idiot in front of the big man.
“Very well.” He went to the different boxes and started pulling out different enhancers and putting them into containers before returning to the counter and depositing them all in front of Rugrat. “That’ll be seven gold and seventy-one silvers.”
Rugrat opened his storage ring and, seeing the fifteen coppers that were there, cleared his throat. “Would you be up for bartering? Monster cores?”
Dai’s hand landed on the goods. His eyes thinned and his voice turned low, clearly not liking what Rugrat was saying. “Only items associated with smithing.”
Rugrat looked into his storage rings. He had hides, some monster cores; he didn’t even have enough monster cores to make up the difference. Otherwise, he had iron and Mortal iron.
“How much would this be worth?” Rugrat pulled out a Mortal-iron ingot, holding his breath.
Dai’s eyes shined as he looked at the Mortal-grade ingot. “Mortal-grade iron—well made, too.” Dai made it seem as if it were some holy artifact, his tone changing completely.
After a few moments, Rugrat coughed slightly.
“Fifteen gold,” Dai snapped out, as if afraid to let it out of his sight.
Rugrat’s eyes went wide and he tried to control his expression. “Right, that should be enough,” Rugrat said. Then another thought hit him.
He had paid three Mortal-iron bars to use Tan Xue’s smithy. That was forty-five gold to just use her furnace—he supplied his own anvil and tools!
Sometimes it was just better if one didn’t know what they had lost. He had made his money many times over with the Mortal-grade iron ingots he’d created.
Dai deducted the cost of the enhancers and quickly took the Mortal iron from Rugrat, not caring about the enhancers anymore as he studied the Mortal iron in greater depth.
“If you have any more, you know who to come and see!” Dai smiled.
“I will,” Rugrat said. The wind that had come out of his sails was slowly recovering. He might have made a loss, but he wasn’t that worried. Tan Xue might have pulled the wool over his eyes but she wasn’t a bad person.
If she were, she would have held back all of the information about creating Mortal iron and fleeced him of money.
As his thoughts moved to using the enhancers and working with his remaining normal iron, Rugrat caught onto his burning passion from before.
What the hell do these enhancers do? Hopefully Tan Xue will let me know! She should—it’s the least she can do after duping me like that!
He went back to the smithy only to see that Tan Xue was in an important part of forging out shoes for different animals out of simple iron.
Rugrat waited until she was finished.
“You get the enhancers?” Tan Xue asked.
“Yeah, abou—”
“You know what they do?” Tan Xue asked.
“Some of them,” Rugrat said. She had seen through him in no time.
“Bring them here. Let’s see what you’ve got.” Tan Xue sighed and shook her head as he pulled out the different items.
Okay, maybe it wasn’t the biggest loss, Rugrat consoled himself as he pulled out the different enhancing materials for her to look over.
He didn’t miss the head that perked up over the wall. Little Julilah was never far away and even if Tan Xue wouldn’t teach her directly, Julilah still faithfully snuck around to listen in and watch her at work.
Chapter: Young Inspiring the Old
“I’ve got some potions. I was wondering if I could have you look at them. And I need some more ingredients as well as tools,” Erik said.
“Always business with you.” Hei laughed again.
“We both know how much you love Alchemy as well.”
Hei brushed Erik’s comments away. “What ingredients might you need?”
“I am in need of these ingredients.” Erik pulled out a piece of paper and put it on the table.
Hei looked over the listed ingredients, perusing its contents, muttering to himself and stroking his beard. “Let me take a look and see what I have.”
“Thank you. I need some instruments as well,” Erik said.
“Let me know what interests you.” Hei waved to the front of his store and the warded glass that kept the valuable instruments contained. He left him with a reminder: “A Master alchemist does not rely on their equipment, but their own mind and flame.”
Alchemy ingredients weren’t the only items that were expensive. Having tools that were able to stand up against the medicinal power of the pills, potions, and powders were not easy things to make. Most had to be made out of special materials that might need to be enchanted. Unlike the regular items that Erik had brought, these Alchemy tools could increase the potency or chance of success in creating the best Alchemy items.
Erik wanted to buy those items so that they might take the load off himself when preparing them but Hei had made a valid point. If Erik was relying on just his equipment and items to do the work for him, then if he was without them, there would be no way to complete his creations.
High-tier alchemists would rely on their flames and skills. The lower-ranking alchemists who had stayed in their level for a long time continued to use Alchemy items that would improve their preparations and place less pressure on them. Using the tools, they didn’t understand the ingredients that they were using to the depth that the higher-tier alchemists did.
Although it seemed to be simple, that anyone could carry it out, the complexities that were hidden within each part of the process were enough to make many bow their heads and take a step back. Why should they suffer to learn this method instead of using an aid?
Using equipment, I will be able to make higher level items, but the cost is going to be expensive. I need to make sure that I am using them to augment my ability, not become the only reason I can carry out Alchemy.
Things would be a lot easier if he just advanced slowly. He didn’t have the time for that. There was just a week to go until the auction; then there was just two more months to find the actual dungeon, then return to Alva Dungeon.
He wouldn’t have the help of Old Man Hei all the time. Without him, he wouldn’t have been able to progress as quickly.
Others might despair under this kind of stress. Erik smiled, filled with excitement at the pressure and surpassing all of the expectations placed upon him.
On Earth, he had thrown himself into the military, then being a private security contractor. He did whatever he felt like because he didn’t know when his end would come. He wanted to live his life without any regrets.
His biggest regret would not be failing to get to the Tenth Realm and stand at the top of the Ten Realms. It would be that he had the opportunity, but he never tried to.
This was the feeling he had when he
started a new video game: the anticipation, the excitement and anxiousness, wanting to become stronger, to dominate the game and beat it. Taking challenge after challenge but passing through them, overcoming them with nothing but his own actions.
Old Man Hei returned from the ingredient storage area behind the table and gave Erik a sidelong look. “You okay?”
“Yeah, just had a crazy idea,” Erik said.
“I’ll prepare the ingredients. You look like you’re itching to get back to your cauldron,” Hei said with a smile, seeing through him.
“What about the gold?” Erik asked.
“I know where you live and even if you don’t have enough, I can get you to grow some plants and make different concoctions,” Hei half-threatened.
Erik laughed, awkwardly. Instead of staying at the inn, he had been working and passing out in the Alchemy room when he was fatigued.
“Thanks!” Erik went back to his room and sat down in front of the cauldron.
He pulled out the scroll he had received for becoming an Apprentice alchemist.
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Technique Book: Mana Flame
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Do you wish to activate this Technique book? Doing so will destroy this Technique book.
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YES/NO
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You have learned the spell: Mana Flame. Your spell book has been updated.
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Mana Flame
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Novice
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Create flames fueled from Mana
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Consumption of Mana based on area and effect.
==========
Erik took a few more moments, calming himself down. “Mana Flame.” A blue spell formation appeared in his hand, with a flame appearing at its center.
Erik didn’t do anything for some time. Instead, he changed the flame in his hand, altering its heat, making it burn hot and then burn cold, to move like water across his hands and then be as solid as stone.
He pulled out some of the remaining ingredients he had and placed them within the flames, working to refine them with his flames alone. He started with only one ingredient at a time, following the acknowledged ways to prepare the ingredient. He failed time and time again; a small mound of ash appeared in front of him.
Erik felt disheartened but he didn’t stop. He continued to prepare the materials, destroying them nineteen times out of twenty. Every time, he looked back over the process. Nothing could escape his eyes.
Hei came in sometime later with the requested ingredients.
“Could you get me all of your ten-year Lidel leaves?” Erik asked.
Hei opened his mouth to complain, but seeing the look in Erik’s eyes, he simply nodded and quickly went back into the store. He quickly returned with a large box filled with green leaves with red and yellow lines tracing through them.
“So many? I don’t want to owe you gold for the rest of my life,” Erik said.
“All of this is worth about two silvers. Lidel leaves are cheap. Most people use it to freshen their breath. Alchemists use it as a nonreactive substance most of the time. It has no real value. You can even buy it at the farmers’ market.” Hei shrugged.
“Oh, I didn’t realize.” Erik stood and received the box of Lidel leaves. “Thank you.”
“Let me know if you need anything else.” Hei left as fast as he had entered, not wanting to interrupt Erik’s discovery.
Erik opened the box filled with Lidel leaves. The leaves’ red and yellow lines shimmered in the light, moving around the leaves. The problem with the Lidel leaves was their difficulty to refine. One needed a Journeyman-level Alchemy instrument to properly prepare just basic ten-year Lidel leaves because of their temperamental nature.
Hei would have warned Erik at any other time, but seeing the determination on his face and the low cost of the leaves, Hei held back his comments.
Erik threw the leaf up and caught it in his flames. He started to turn the leaf within the flame. It started to wither slowly when suddenly the lines on the leaf turned blue and the leaf disintegrated into ash.
Erik grunted. Instead of it just being another act, his competitive spirit and anger was ignited, focusing his mind and driving him to go further, to be better as he tossed in another leaf. He went through hundreds of leaves, not stopping once.
His eyes were bloodshot but his determination didn’t waver for a second. “Don’t think that I won’t be able to refine you, you fucking leaf!” Erik threw the leaf into the flame once again.
The leaf withered under the slow grilling of Erik’s flame as he alternated between a hot and cold flame, making it so that there was always a red and yellow coloration to the lines in the leaf.
Slowly, ever so slowly, the leaf went from its vibrant green until it started to wither toward the red and yellow lines. The leaf seemed to disappear. A complex series of red and yellow lines appeared in the flame, their color richer than before.
Erik continued onward. The lines didn’t do anything for some time, then they started to reverse like water returning to its spring: the smaller lines retracted in toward the larger lines, becoming smaller and smaller.
Suddenly, the lines turned blue and fell apart.
“Hah, I have you!” Erik threw in another leaf without pause and repeated the process. This time, the lines retracted all the way until a single blood-red and gold drop rested in Erik’s flame.
Erik took out a vial and placed the drop into the vial. Erik stoppered it and looked at the small drop.
He looked at the remaining Lidel leaves. “I won’t stop until I refine all of these down into drops.”
The flames moved with just a thought as he grabbed some more Lidel leaves.
This time, he wanted to refine two of them at the same time. Even with high-tier Alchemy instruments, someone could only refine one Lidel leaf at a time because they were always different from each other.
Erik failed over and over again, burning through his supply of Lidel leaves at an increased rate. These Lidel leaves hold a powerful energy within them. If they could be used to create a revitalizing potion, they might allow someone to gain ten to fifty years, Erik thought between his preparations.
Slowly, he was able to get to the point where he was able to refine two of the Lidel leaves into drops. He placed them in the vial, continuing the process a few more times before he stood from where he was sitting.
He left the room to see that it was nighttime. The store was closed and Hei had retired to sleep.
Erik wrote up a note and left a small sack of money before he headed back to his room.
Erik drank fortifying potions for his Stamina and Mana. He sat down in the middle of his room. Three flames appeared in the air as he threw out three different leaves.
Erik’s rate of failure decreased as his level of control was able to reach new heights. Not only did his control over the flames increase, his senses became more precise, allowing him to pick up changes that happened in his flames and the ingredient he was working with.
***
Old Man Hei stepped out of his room. His foot caught on the note and money that Erik had left there. Hei picked up the note and the card. He looked at the ingredients. What does he want more of the Lidel leaves for? Once knowing that it was beyond his abilities to refine, why wouldn’t he move onto other items?
Hei sighed, thinking that Erik had fallen into the trap of the young: repeating something endlessly, believing that it would do what they wanted it to do because they believed in it. Hei once again wanted to tell Erik that this act would only lead down a path of failure but he held his words.
He collected the other ingredients, carrying them to Erik’s room. Opening the door, he stopped mid-stride as he saw Erik with three Lidel leaves above his head. All of them were in their vein form, be
ing condensed down into blood-red and gold drops.
Erik didn’t even notice Hei opening the door, his entire attention focused on the three flames and their leaves.
Hei’s mind was in shambles as he looked at the three leaves, the fire, and Erik.
Erik had been in the room for two weeks. For two weeks, he had gone through thousands of Lidel leaves, nearly clearing out Hei’s supply. But from those thousands, he had produced some twenty or so gold-red drops.
Hei looked to the pile of ash in front of Erik and the few leaves that were left, as well as the vial filled with the prepared Lidel leaves.
It was a sight he hadn’t seen in a long time. In the higher realms, an alchemist would have multiple rooms to work in so that they never had to stop working, shifting between rooms as others cleared out the failures.
It’s rare for an alchemist trying to advance their skill to have even one in twenty successes.
Hei put down the ingredients and waved his hand. All of his remaining Lidel leaves joined them. He closed the door behind himself.
“It might be childish to chase after what can never come true, but to succeed one must face failure on all sides. I have been blind, worrying about what I might lose when I was trying out a higher-level potion or powder, or even attempting to make pills. I can fail time and time again to only succeed once. What is it but gold? I have become too comfortable! I returned here to gain peace from the higher competitions in the association but I have let my skills fall to the wayside.”
Hei walked toward the door of his shop, marking it as closed. He moved to the racks of ingredients, taking from them as he wanted, not caring whether he had enough of something or too little of another. He went to his own Alchemy chamber, setting down his ingredients and beginning his preparations.
Chapter: Iron Bashing
Tan Xue took her time going through all of the different enhancers that Rugrat had bought from Dai as well as their effects, the way that they could be combined with the metal. Ones that needed to be folded into the metal. Others that needed to be placed at the heart of the metal and heated. Others as a finishing agent.
Second Realm Page 7