Published at 16th of February 2024 2:21 pm

Chapter 36. The Artisan's Path

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Nox had breakfast with Vys on Sixthday. They discussed alchemy and the upcoming day's brew. Even though neither man reacted when exiting the apartment, Nox couldn't help but bring up the noises they heard on the way out and the sight they observed through a wide open doorway.

"This isn't the first semester you've lived with Pudge, is it?"

"It's the third or fourth?" Vys answered. "Why do you ask?"

"Has he always had beautiful women spending the night?" Nox asked.

Vys laughed. "Yes and no. It was a much rarer occurrence when he came to the city. The numbers and frequency seem to increase every semester."

"How the hell does he do it? It's not just that women are gorgeous—"

"And his face looks like a dropped pancake?"

"No. That's not it. Confidence, humor, and the ability to hold a conversation are enough to overcome looks. The volume is certainly uncanny, but that's now what I'm wondering. These women look like they come from good families. If they're students, they're obviously smart and gifted. How, in Yggdrasil's name, do they come to a dark, damp apartment and not leave once they smell the blighted smell coming out of his room? His beasts don't just smell, but they're noisy, and I bet they stare while Pudge and his lady friends are at it, too."

"As for how these women flock to him? You should ask Pudge; he is upfront about it with his partners and friends. I often go to the taverns with him, and his presence makes me seem less creepy to women. You've probably noticed that I look like a vampire out of a children's picture book."

"I didn't want to say anything." Nox chuckled, almost choking on a piece of fruit.

"It's true. My mother, uncle, cousins, grandparents, and everyone on that side of the family look like this. If we weren't rich, our city's council would probably pin all mysterious deaths and disappearances on us." Vys rolled around the sausage on his plate, amusement slipping from his face for a moment. He was smiling again when he continued. "I've been wondering how Pudge gets his partners to ignore the beasts and their stench ever since I met him. That's one secret he keeps close to his heart."

Eighth Bell and Advanced Alchemy started without Professor Das. Vys had already filled Nox in on the day’s brew during breakfast. Booklets with directions, spellform fragments, and precautions sat on each workstation when they entered the classroom. They wasted no time, cleaned their cauldrons, processed equipment, and got the base started.

When delvers returned from dungeons and rifts, they occasionally brought diseases with them. The mages and Aether Warriors either served as carriers, or the corpses they brought back carried them. Rift and dungeon breaches also brought diseases to the mortal realm. If not culled soon, they devastated neighboring settlements, blighted flora, and fauna, and scarred the landscape. Nergal’s Pox was one such disease with only one known cure: Pox Purger.

Pox Purger burned the disease out of the patient. It stopped the boils from spreading and made them resistant to future inflictions. However, it did little to repair the lung damage or heal the scars. Brews capable of fixing the latter reacted poorly to the brew, preventing simultaneous consumption. By the time Pox Purger left their system, it was too late to fix the already-inflicted damage. However, there was no better cure for the disease. Nox had made the concoction a few times when Golden Isles passed settlements suffering from the affliction.

The brew wasn’t particularly complicated, but it used live samples of diseased flesh and several ingredients which needed careful handling. They weren’t just hazardous, but small missteps could potentially render a significant number of them inert. Everyone in the class wore full personal protective equipment, and more than half used Artisan Arms. When the professor arrived, Nox was about to start working on the more dangerous ingredients.

“Nox Ratra. In my office, please.” Professor Das marched through the class without checking on his students. Nox couldn’t tell whether the man had confidence in the class or was an incredibly callous teacher.

“Thank you for excusing my absence during the last session, Professor,” Nox said after closing the office door behind them. “Is everything okay?”

“I heard of your incident during the delve,” the professor said. “Please share my condolences with Annabelle Oakheart. I didn’t know her brother or fiance, but I’m familiar with the house. Their farms are responsible for a third of the herbs we use in our bases.”

“I’ll be sure to pass on the message. If that’s all, professor, I need to get back to the cauldron before it boils—”

“I appreciate your dedication to the craft, but I don’t think this brew is necessary. I’ve looked over the Golden Isles alchemists’ qualification standards. Their promotion requirements are far more stringent than ours. You must’ve made Pox Purger to reach journeyman.”

“That’s correct, professor. The alchemy houses demand a mastery of curative brews amongst one of the essentials for any journeyman. A good deal of the Golden Isles’ residents are novices or apprentices.”

“Beasts weren’t bad enough.” Professor Das sighed. “The bastard gods also had to curse us with their plagues and blights.” He shook his head and pulled a stack of papers and a velvet pouch out of his drawer. They sat on the desk between the pair. “I’ve got good news for you, Nox. The department professors and I consulted your mentor, studied your brews, and discussed them in depth. To be frank, this class won’t teach you anything new until the final few weeks. It might be useful if you want to get in practice, but I reckon you’re doing enough of that on your own.”

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“Does that mean I’m excused from classes?” Nox asked, his heart skipped a beat, and he resisted the urge to smile.

“Yes, but you’re not excused from the course,” the professor said, sliding the papers toward Nox. “It’s a list of concoctions I’d like you to brew in your own time. Bring me a vial of each, and I’ll mark them off the checklist. Continue to bring me your creations as well.”

Nox leafed through the recipes. He recognized some of the concoctions. Others were alien to him. The spellforms accompanying them felt inadequate. Nox would need to expand on them and fill in the blanks. "I'll graduate from Advanced Alchemy if I complete all of these?" He asked.

"Not quite." Professor Das's eyes narrowed, and he leaned forward in his chair. "Complete these, and you'll earn the Adept Alchemist's License. It might not meet the Trade Empire's standards. You'll need to pass a couple more certifications if you ever fly south with me, but the Imperium and all city-states on the continent will recognize the qualification."

Nox's mouth fell open. The Adept rank had always felt too distant for him to think about. He had never given further promotions a thought. Nox wanted to be a delver. He needed alchemy to cover his weaknesses and pay costs between delves. Adept-ranked brews demanded materials much too rare and expensive to excuse personal use. Chances of failure while brewing was high, too, making it a costly and risky endeavor. Finding buyers for the concoctions would prove difficult, too. Not everyone carried enough coin to afford such potions. However, holding the rank would open several doors for Nox. His simpler brews would also sell more easily.

"Adept rank will gain you benefits with the production department. If you ever wish to take a break from dungeon studies, we'll take you in and fund your education. It's likely you'll earn money while studying and get full access to our suppliers and buyers."

"That's amazing," Nox mumbled, slumping down on the chair opposite Professor Das. "I'm not ready to give up dungeon studies just yet, but it's nice to know my talents are enough to keep me afloat if I can't achieve my goals."

"Kris told me about your goals. Targeting an archon dungeon is a fool's errand. In the past century, we've only destroyed two of them. Nine out of ten parties that attempt anything besides containment suffer major casualties. These teams have at least two archmages and two or more high experts. Don't waste your gift, bhai."

"I'll think about it," Nox said. "I'm happy to work for the production department, but it won't be full-time." He looked over the recipes again. "Some of these materials are grossly expensive. Will the department provide the materials?"

"No. All alchemists pursuing promotions past journeymen must fund themselves. It proves your skills are sufficient to support your trade. However, you can procure them through the department and enjoy our significantly discounted rates." Professor Das placed another recipe on the table. "My stores are open to you for this brew. Submit a requisition form to the supplies department, and they'll get everything for you."

"Sorlin Stasis Solution?" Nox read the concoction's name out loud. The recipe appeared simpler than the brews on the other list, but it was just as challenging as the Tincture of Sigil Awakening.

"The Department of Dungeon Studies uses vast volumes for procuring volatile materials from delves," the professor explained. "We produce them just as much as healing and mana potions. If you can pull this off, you'll complete Advanced Alchemy. I'd advise you not to underestimate the challenge. It's harder than it looks."

"Thank you, professor," Nox said. "I don't know what to say. This will make my life so much easier."

"The pass is contingent on us receiving samples of your regular brews." He pushed the velvet pouch toward Nox. 'There's also this."

Nox’s mouth fell open when he checked its contents. He counted out six gold coins. Each of them held a value of ten.

"What's this for?" Nox asked.

"The Tincture of Sigil Awakening," the professor answered. "Dean Oleg deemed it good enough for his apprentice and you deserving of the appropriate market price. It's too dangerous and difficult a brew to just give away."

"Thank you."

Since Nox had the professor alone, he asked for help studying essence glass. The pair returned to the laboratory and cleared Nox's workstation. He set up analyzing equipment while Professor Das looked over everyone's safety gear and ensured all precautions were in place before the students touched the more dangerous material. Then he and Nox analyzed the essence glass together.

First, they attempted temperature tests. Non-magical stimuli made the material act like ordinary glass. Too hot, and it warped. Cold made it harder and more brittle. The lightest touch filled chilled fragments with cracks. Only magical heat made the essence return to its original state. Cold spells induced no changes.

Pressure tests came next. Regardless of its source, arcane or not, gradually applied force did nothing but shatter and eventually powder the essence glass. They didn't have the means to launch and test how impacts affected it without leaving the laboratory. Because of the dangers accompanying the brew, Professor Das couldn't afford to leave the classroom.

Finally, they inducted vibration and dissolving tests. After noting frequencies that shattered the essence glass and declaring its powdered form was insoluble, they finally studied the material under microscopes. They started with unchanged basic essence glass and went through the forms that had suffered the rigors of testing.

"Essence glass is a misnomer," Professor Das declared. "Glass can only be declared a crystal if more than a hundredth of it is lead. Otherwise, it's an amorphous solid. Your essence glass is homogenous, geometrically regular, and has symmetrically arranged plane faces. This makes it a crystal. Fortunately, the pattern is consistent despite the type of essence."

"That makes my life considerably easier," Nox said. "I won't need different spellforms for Shaping different types of essence."

"True, but it's not that straightforward." He brought two microscopes together. One focused on Mistress Maraka's poison, while the other had Louis' fae fire under the lens. "Look closely. What difference do you see besides the color."

It took Nox only a short time to find the challenge. "The geometrical pattern is the same, but the scale isn't."

"That's correct. The essence's nature determines the size of the symmetrical faces. Your spellform will need some flexibility to deal with the inconsistency."

“Thank you, professor,” Nox said. “I’ll need a while to study crystal shaping, but this will make my life significantly easier.”

“It’s fine. This was just as useful to me as it is to you. Your essence glass could potentially change alchemy as we know it. I hope you’ll share the spellform with me someday.”

Nox didn’t make any promises. Instead, he thanked the professor and the production department. He still had an hour until lunch and hoped to spend the day in the library. Crystal Shaping, though rare, wasn’t an unknown discipline. Studying their techniques and spellform would give him an idea of how to proceed.

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