Alchemist Apprentice (The Alchemist Book 1)

by Dan Michaelson

  “Here,” she said, stopping at the door. “I think this should be Ferand’s room.”

  She tested the door, but it didn’t come open.

  She began to glow softly, drawing upon the Arcane Arts, and Sam was tempted to ask her why he was able to see it and whether she could as well. She traced a pattern along the door, a series of angulated lines that he recognized from what he’d read in the library, but nothing that he could replicate. She pushed on it, trying to send it in to the door, but as she did, nothing changed.

  She turned back to him, shrugging. “It was worth a shot. I doubted we were going to be able to do anything here, anyway. I figured the professors had it sealed off. They wouldn’t want anybody else to come in here, especially given what had come through here before.”

  “I don’t really know what came through here before.”

  “I told you. It was a series of instructors who betrayed the Academy.”

  “Like what happened in the alchemy section?”

  “Nobody knows what happened there,” Tara said.

  “I’ve heard things.”

  And there were the comments Havash had made when he’d first come to the Academy. There was still some danger here.

  “Every so often, there are explosions, so we know that the alchemy process hasn’t been completed yet. Most claim that it was some alchemical reaction that went awry.”

  “And nobody really knows what happened?”

  “Not that anybody knows about. Or if they do, they’re not saying anything.” She shrugged. “When I was first given the hall monitor assignment, I thought it was exciting, that perhaps I could find out something. I was told I could use as much of the Arcane Arts as I needed to ensure that the space was secured. In my mind, I was going to be using my Arcane Arts to chase away some dangers, but really it’s just a few upper-level students who think to gawk, and not so much anymore.”

  “Why would you have thought it was some attack? You just said that you thought that it was some alchemical reaction that went awry.”

  “That’s the story they gave us. And at first, I didn’t believe it. The reaction from the professors was too unusual for that, as was the sudden banishment of all who used alchemy. But since I’ve been a hall monitor, and I haven’t seen anything else, I can’t help but feel as if maybe it really was just an accident. The trembling comes on from time to time, and some of the professors come down to try to secure the halls before it collapses, but not much more than that.”

  He turned the door. She hadn’t been able to open it. He remembered the door in the alchemy section and how the series of symbols had been tied to something he’d read about in the library, but he didn’t see anything like that on this door.

  “You said he wasn’t in alchemist?” Sam said.

  “Not an alchemist. He focused mostly on angulation. He wasn’t considered a professor, but he was an expert. Most of the advanced students worked with Ferand.”

  Sam looked over to her. “How long ago was it?”

  “He left about five years ago. They all did. These places have been sealed off ever since. Well, they claim that it’s been sealed off, but I found my way up here when I was in my second year, and I’ve heard other students talking about it too.”

  She tapped on the door again. There came another flare from her. Pale white light began to glow before fading. When it did, she shrugged. “Sorry. I thought that I could show you something interesting. Anyway, this is Ferand. That’s probably why you overheard one of the instructors talking about him. Because he was once with them. He betrayed the Academy, went after power he shouldn’t have, and he’s not been seen since.”

  Sam had a growing worry circling within him. Somehow, things were more connected than he’d first realized. Havash wanted him to come to the city to go into the alchemy section because he wasn’t able to do it. Ferand was somehow involved, and had been chasing the power of the Nighlan. And there was this strange device that he now wore, that he couldn’t remove.

  He needed answers, but he had no idea where he could go to get them.

  It would be easier if Havash weren’t potentially involved, but as Havash had been the one who had sent Sam here in the first place, he couldn’t help but feel as if the alchemy device he had was what Havash was after.

  And somehow, Sam is going to have to figure out why.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Sam was tired, but for a very different reason than when he spent the nights wandering the Study Hall. This time, he’d sat on the side of his bed, trying to pry the device from his hand, with no success. Each time that he dug his nail under it or even tried to slip the pages of a book underneath it, he felt the device squeezing against his palm, clinging on tighter.

  As the night wore on, Sam had shifted to focusing on whether he might be able to draw something else through it. Maybe he could use the strange alchemy power again. He just had to learn how to trigger it, though.

  He focused on the technique that he had done when he had faced Ferand, remembering how he had his hand curled and the energy that he had been aware of when he had done it, but even in doing that, Sam hadn’t managed to replicate it consistently. He’d gotten the greenish light to explode occasionally, but never more than that.

  He made his way through his classes in a daze, having slept barely more than a few hours and fitfully at that. He kept waking up, feeling as if there was some glowing from the alchemy device, though he was never certain of what he had felt. It didn’t feel any warmer. And he never saw any of the strange greenish light that suggested alchemy was used, which reassured him.

  Sam had taken the time to find the list of performance for each of their classes, and as James had said, Sam sat at the top of mathematics, chemistry, botany, alchemy, and surprisingly, even angulation, though he had not performed any.

  He continued scanning the list and saw Mia’s name, relieved that she sat smack in the middle of the list. She had done well. Not a failing grade by any means. She would be able to continue.

  So far, he hadn’t been able to do anything more to help ensure she continued to progress. He felt like he needed to do something more. Still, as he was the Barlands boy, as Gresham liked to call him, Sam didn’t want to do anything that would reveal to anyone else that she was tied to him. It would put her in the spotlight that she didn’t need.

  He was lost in his thoughts, and he trudged through the day. When he got to the alchemy class, James looked over to him. They were seated on the highest tier, looking down upon Havash as he arranged his items for his instruction, other students taking up their usual places at the tables. Havash hadn’t started class yet, though he was after the bell. Sam watched him, unable to get past his questions about Havash and what he really wanted with the Alchemy section.

  “You look terrible,” James said.

  “I feel terrible. I stayed up too late.”

  “Oh. I thought you didn’t feel well.”

  Sam couldn’t upset James, so he said the only thing that he knew would keep him from getting too angry with him. “I spent time with Tara.”

  James started to grin. “You know, you could have just told me that. I wasn’t going to give you a hard time about her. She’s pretty enough. She seems a little serious to me, but…” He shrugged. “I suppose if you like a serious kind of person, she would fit the bill.”

  “She’s not always serious.”

  Even that wasn’t entirely true. She was mostly serious, but she was also smart, with a quick mind, and she didn’t seem to care that he was from the Barlands.

  “You probably were better off staying in last night. I ended up standing at the side of the plaza, watching Gresham as he danced his way through most of the first-year girls, as if he doesn’t even care that he’s several years older than most of them.”

  “He was dancing with all of them?”

  “Not all. He obviously prefers those from the sharan tower, and there was one, a pretty blonde-haired girl, with bright blue eyes…
” He trailed off, smiling and shaking his head. “Well, he spent a little too much time focused on her, that’s for sure.”

  That might be Mia, and it sent a wave of irritation flashing within Sam, though there wasn’t a whole lot that he could do about it.

  “How were the musicians last night?”

  “I don’t have a whole lot to compare the two. They were decent enough, and I suspect if you have a pretty girl at your side, you wouldn’t really care much for the music.” He winked at Sam. “Well, you didn’t even need musicians to have a pretty girl at your side.”

  “You’d like her. Tara that is. She’s not like your Lacey…”

  James glanced down the row of desks until his gaze settled on the back of her head. “She still doesn’t want to talk much to me. I think in time I can change that.”

  Sam nodded. “I’m sure you—”

  He didn’t get a chance to say anything more. Havash began his talk, once again going through the theoretical application of alchemy, but this time was a little different than previous classes. In the past, he had gone through the basics of alchemy, how various compounds could be mixed and joined together, creating more power than they could on their own, but today he began to speak about layering in the Arcane Arts into various compounds.

  Sam sat back, listening to Havash’s talk, and realized something about a third of the way into the lecture. He started to smile to himself.

  “What is it?” James asked, keeping his voice pitched low.

  “He’s basically using the Nelik Guide to Alchemy. It’s one of the more advanced volumes that the library has, but it speaks of alchemy in a more theoretical approach.”

  “Mr. Bilson,” Havash said, cutting off from what he was saying. “Do you have anything that you would like to share with the class?”

  Sam sat stiffly. “I’m sorry, professor. I didn’t mean any disrespect.”

  Havash glowered at him. “Then perhaps you would like to share with the class your conversation with Mr. Nevitt?”

  He licked his lips. “I’m sorry, professor. I was just…” A dozen different ideas came to his mind. He could grovel before Havash, but that would unlikely make much of a difference. Besides, Havash had brought him here. If he was going to add a level of torment to it, then Sam felt that perhaps challenging him was in order.

  He took a deep breath, drawing himself up. “I was commenting to Mr. Nevitt on how your talk reminds me of the Nelik Guide.”

  Havash fell silent for a moment. “Is that right? Well, if you are such an expert in advanced alchemy, then perhaps you would like to give the talk instead?”

  Sam regarded Havash, squeezing his hand for a moment. He felt a strange tingling in his palm as he did. It was the building of power from the alchemical device. He had to be careful and keep that controlled, but he had something that Havash wanted to know about. It gave Sam some leverage. And, seeing as how the device couldn’t come off Sam’s hand, he might be more useful than he’d first realized.

  “I wouldn’t want to detract from your talk.”

  “Oh, by all means, why don’t you come down here and continue the lecture.”

  Sam glanced over to James, who was shaking his head.

  Rather than heeding the sensible advice, Sam got up, marched down the steps, careful not to tumble. He wouldn’t want to make a fool of himself, at least any more than he already had. He had scored at the top of the year for his exams. Why shouldn’t he be proud of that?

  Havash regarded him, and he looked angry. “I was talking about the—”

  “You were discussing the elements of alchemy with the theoretical approach angulation and using the third tenet,” Sam said, nodding. “I believe it would be page twenty-three in Nelik.”

  Havash said nothing.

  Sam gathered himself, collecting his thoughts, and then treated it as if it were one more test. Perhaps it was. Havash might be using this as an opportunity to try to show others that Sam didn’t belong.

  But he did belong. At least when it came to the academic concepts.

  “I find this topic be a little too superficial when discussing what Nelik has to say on it, but seeing as how Professor Havash would have us focus on this, I will carry us through the first third of his guide. I think that perhaps mixing the theoretical approach from Yulef might be helpful.”

  If he had the classroom to give the talk, then he was going to take it.

  Sam began his lecture. It was really a matter of repeating everything that he’d read, much like he had when he had been tested, so that by the time the bell rang, he had completed an overview of two of the books he’d read in the library. It was superficial, but that was not altogether different than how Havash was giving his talks.

  The student started to file away at the bell.

  “Mr. Bilson, may I have a word,” Havash said tightly.

  James had come down from the upper level, and he looked over to Sam, worry etched in his eyes, but he passed out of the room, disappearing without a word. Havash waited until the entire class had emptied.

  He turned to Sam. “You have been spending considerable time in the library.”

  “I’m a student,” Sam said. “You made it clear that I was to act like one.”

  “For now,” Havash said.

  Sam locked eyes with him. He squeezed his hand around the alchemical device. “Am I not supposed to utilize the resources that any student would have?”

  Havash glanced toward the door. There would be another class here later, and Sam had no idea how much time they had until then.

  “No,” he said, waving his hand. “But perhaps you would be well served by focusing on the reason you are in the Academy in the first place.”

  “I have been,” Sam said.

  Havash regarded him for a long moment. “Have you?”

  Sam didn’t always have an opportunity to ask questions of Havash. That way that he thought was seated given everything that he had to uncover on Havash’s behalf.

  “What can you tell me about what happened in the alchemy section?”

  “That is what you are here to research,” Havash said, his voice quiet but harsh.

  “I need to know what is rumor and what is not.”

  “And what have you heard?”

  “I’ve heard that the alchemists had an accident. I’ve heard there was an attack. I’ve heard that people died. I’ve heard that the alchemists abandoned it. I’ve heard that—”

  “You have heard rumors,” Havash said.

  Some of that Sam had made up, but he was trying to get information out of Havash. “I’m trying to understand how much is just rumors and how much is fact. I want to know what you’re putting me into.”

  “You have a place to stay. You have food to eat. And I must say, you have taken full advantage of everything the Academy has to offer.”

  “You say that as if I should be ashamed,” Sam said.

  Havash watched him. “When you told me that you had an excellent recall, I admit I was not expecting such impressive real recollection.”

  “I’ve always been able to remember what I read,” Sam said. “It stems from needing to do so quickly.”

  “And how many books have you read in your time here?”

  Sam hadn’t kept count, but he suspected that it was somewhere in the hundreds.

  When he said as much, Havash frowned at him. “So quickly?”

  “I read fast.”

  “And you understand everything you read?”

  “Not always,” Sam admitted. “Sometimes I read, try to memorize, and work to understand it later. It’s how I have always done it, but that is tied to the fact that I don’t always have much time with the books that I have been given.”

  “Do you intend to memorize and repeat what you read in the library with my class again?”

  Sam held Havash’s gaze. “I will keep my mouth shut.”

  “Finish your task,” Havash said.

  Sam hesitated before asking the question
that bothered him. “What do you want there?”

  “I want to know what happened.”

  Sam knew that wasn’t true. Havash could go down there. Ferand had been able to go down there, so there had to be some way for Havash to do the same.

  “If all you wanted me here for was to go down there, you wouldn’t have needed me. I’ve heard that other instructors have been going down to ensure the stability of the damage that occurred in the alchemy section.”

  Havash regarded him for a long moment. “Have you now?”

  Sam pushed on. “So whatever you wanted me for is something else.”

  “What do you think I wanted you for, Mr. Bilson?”

  “I don’t know. I suspect there are ways for instructors to go down into the alchemy section. Maybe you have some device you could wear that would keep the toxins from affecting you,” he went on, quickly realizing he might have said too much. Havash watched him, and Sam hurried on. “But either you didn’t want to go down below, or you were worried that somebody else might have, and he wanted to know what that might be.”

  “I’m concerned that the attack—if that’s what it was—has not fully accomplished its goal. Even more so now since I’ve been here.”

  The explosion that he’d heard. That was what worried Havash.

  “Why would they continue to attack?”

  “I don’t know. Which is why you need to keep looking into it. The alchemy section may be the best protected in the entire Academy.”

  “You think someone may have helped.”

  It was more than he’d gotten from Havash before, but then Sam had proven he could be useful.

  “Perhaps. I am curious who might be interested in the alchemy section as well,” Havash admitted.

  “I’ve seen the Secundum, Professor Clarice, and have heard about several of the other instructors going down to seal things off. They think it’s ongoing alchemy. Not another attack.”