Edited by: Black Jesus
____________________
In a luxurious dining hall, a graceful elderly woman could be seen sipping tea and looking through documents. Though she looked somewhat uncomfortable at the moment and her right eye would occasionally twitch. Sitting across from her was what seemed to be the incarnation of a ravenous animal in the form of a little girl. She was continuously stuffing her face with copious amounts of food. The scene that the elderly woman and little girl displayed were polar opposites. These two people were, of course, Queen Lily and Delilah.
After she finished eating, Delilah wiped her mouth with a cloth napkin and rinsed her hands in a nearby bowl of water on the side. She then looked at her grandmother, Queen Lily.
"Grandmama, can you tell me more about Spirit Power?"
"It's your rest day, and you still have the mind to train?" replied Queen Lily in a somewhat scolding tone. She knew how hard her granddaughter had been pushing herself these past two months. Queen Lily just took it as one of her characteristics as it was the first time seeing Delilah train in magic and physical empowerment. She would have never suspected that she was the reason Delilah was pushing herself so hard.
"Please, just tell me about Spirit Power. If you don't…. Then, I'll just find out in the library although it'll take me a little more time and effort," said Delilah with a pout on her face. It was a very cute expression.
Queen Lily could not resist and shook her head. She asked herself when had her cute little fairy turned into such a rebellious girl, "Fine. First, let's start with something that you've already experienced, that is spirit potential. Spirit potential means the potential level a person's spirit flame can reach. Although not always accurate, it is more or less 99% correct. Now moving on to spirit flame level. There are 7 levels of spirit flames each corresponding to a color from the rainbow. Red is the lowest and where most people start, and violet being the highest level.
"However, this is as far as I know. I have never heard of a silver spirit flame. But, after looking through the book that you inherited from your parents, it cannot be something so simple. It should be equal to or even more powerful the violet spirit flame.
"If you want to start training your spirit power, I recommend you use the spirit portraits in the silver book you have. Spirit portraits are a rare resource used to train your spirit power by looking at it. Although it sounds easy, it is just as hard as training in magic or physical empowerment, or even more so. But the true value in spirit portraits lay in the speed at which it can train a soul and the fact that it is a reusable resource.
"An interesting fact to note is that the spirit portraits you possess actually fall into a sub-division of spirit portraits. Its name is the bloodline spiritual painting. This means that only someone possessing the bloodline of the person who made the portrait can use it. This is not common knowledge though and people will still covetously eye it. That's why even though I told you before, I want you to never, I mean never, under any circumstances let someone find out about the silver book. That being said for the archery manual as well."
It took a while before Delilah responded. This just furthered the interest she had in her parents. Delilah decided that in her free time she would train using the silver book. Starting from when she was young, she had an innate gift when it came to spirit formations. It was something she did not want to abandon.
Spirit formations used a person's spirit power to form spirit spells using hand seals. Not everyone could learn then and depending on the level of a Formationist, they were no less weaker than a Sorcerer or Combatant. Spirit formations could also be placed on things and areas and had a myriad of effects.
Clearly knowing her granddaughter well, Queen Lily proceeded to say, "Do not train in spirit formations. Just for the time being at least. Instead of you searching around the library and wasting your time I'll recommend you a book. That is the [Introductory to Spirit Professions]. It is the best book to start off with. It has a multitude of knowledge regarding spirit power and most importantly, introduces spirit professions. Spirit professions are a rare and respectable position anywhere in the world. Even our kingdom only possess a handful. Now go."
Delilah hopped up from her chair and rushed towards the library. She was excited. Delilah had always felt a strange connection towards things regarding spirit power. She now associated it to her origin.
After searching through the second level of the library, she finally found the book. Delilah quickly looked through it. It went over the basic information that she had already learned from her grandmother. As Delilah continued reading, she came across the section on Spirit Professions.
There was a multitude of ways to use spirit power, but there were four main uses for it. The practitioners who developed these uses were called Spirit Professionals, and their methods of applying the spirit power became Spirit Professions.
The four Spirit Professions included Formations, Blacksmithing, Enchanting, and Alchemy. Delilah had already experienced spirit formations and could be considered a potential Formationist based off of her knowledge of starter formations.
Delilah read over the descriptions speedily, but when she reached the description regarding Alchemists, she gaped. Alchemy was a profession where Alchemists used their spirit flame to refine pills and elixirs that could enhance a person's speed of growth, change their potential, or solidify their foundation. However, the thing that she was most attracted to was the concoction of medicines. According to the text, depending on the level of the Alchemist and their recipe, nearly any wound was curable.
After reading that, Delilah decided that she would pursue Alchemy. Although she didn't have confidence that she would reach the level where she could heal her grandmother within the time limit, going into the profession would give her a better chance of attaining the medicine.
When Delilah recalled her grandmother mentioning their scarce number of Spirit Professionals, Delilah did not remember their kingdom having an Alchemist. She was left on her own to study Alchemy with the little time she had. From what the book said, Delilah knew that the foundation of Alchemy lay in knowledge regarding herbs. This at least gave her a starting point.
Delilah decided to hold off on studying herbology as it would be better to ask her grandmother regarding this. Queen Lily had also mentioned to her that she was not to study spirit formations for the time being. Although Delilah was somewhat puzzled by this, she never questioned her grandmother's choices. Delilah spent the rest of her break day studying the first spirit portrait, or to be more specific, bloodline spiritual painting, in the silver book.
She pulled out the silver book from her necklace. Delilah was careful just to open the book to the first page as she did not want what happened last time to happen again. There was no introduction to the book just a blank page. She flipped the page and what lay there was a somewhat crooked line dividing half the paper and a dot underneath.
Delilah was instantly entranced by it. She felt herself being plunged into a unique state. It was different from the Ethereal State, and it felt like it was coming from her bloodline. As Delilah comprehended the picture she later found out that it was not just a line above a dot, but a seed in the ground. This seed like the origin of all things. The ground seemed like the most solid foundation ever. The earth lay the foundation for the seed which was the origin of life, which in turn nourished the earth. Neither components could be missing, and they relied on each other.
Soon it was nighttime. Delilah had been entranced for nearly the entire day. The first thing she noticed was pangs from her hunger. Delilah checked the clock in the library, dinner should have just been served by now. She rushed to the dining hall. When Delilah entered the room she greeted her grandmother. Queen Lily was quite surprised when she saw how bloodshot Delilah's eyes were, but accounted it to her reading all day.
Delilah soon informed her of her idea regarding Alchemy. Queen Lily was ecstatic as an Alchemist was something their kingdom was desperately lacking at the moment. Let alone one that would wholeheartedly serve them. Being a spirit profession in the outer territories allowed someone to acquire both respect and wealth. This led to many of them having arrogant demeanors and sometimes they would even go as far as to boss around their employers.
"Delilah, the Royal Library has the latest edition of the first 4 volumes of the [Herbologica Maxima]. That collection of books is the most widespread and used by Alchemists. The first 2 volumes are considered to be the foundation to become an Apprentice Alchemist. They cover the most basic and common 10,000 herbs. As for the 3rd and 4th volumes, you can study them if you have time after you've finished the first two volumes. I have faith that you can pull off a miracle and completely study the first two volumes before you leave," said Queen Lily as she looked at Delilah with shining eyes and a doting expression.
Delilah nodded and put studying [Herbologica Maxima] her highest priority after her training in magic, physical empowerment, and the newly added spirit power.
Thus Delilah's busy schedule became even more packed as she never wasted a single moment. Delilah soon broke through in both magic and physical empowerment from the peak of the first stage to the second stage. The second stage for Sorcerers was called the Mana Sea realm and for Combatants, the Bodily Vessel realm. The training was considered the same for both, with continuously added difficulty. For magic she started forming her Mana Sea, starting with a Mana Pond, and for physical empowerment she turned her body into a vessel to store and hold Qi, starting with her limbs, moving onto her torso, and then head.
The only thing that Delilah was stagnant was regarding her spirit power. Delilah was not able to study the second picture in the silver book, even considering the time she had studied the silver one. Delilah felt that it was due to her soul flame still being red and not yet orange. Her grandmother agreed and was also puzzled by her dilemma. She ended up just recommending that Delilah stay persistent with the first picture.
Like this, a few months went by. Delilah had seen reasonable results and was at the peak of the second stage for both magic and physical empowerment. Although her soul flame was still red, she felt an obvious increase in her soul power. The next stage for Delilah was a very important one so she was ordered to take a week off to prepare herself. Yes, ordered. Delilah had not wanted to take a break, let alone such a long one. She never wanted to waste a single moment. But with the constant stressing of how important the next stage in both magic and physical empowerment was, from her teachers and Queen Lily, Delilah stubbornly agreed.
The next stage in magic and physical empowerment were very similar. For magic, the stage was called Star Forming. As for physical empowerment, it was called Planet Forming. They did not tell Delilah anymore though and left that to another date.
Knowing the personality of her granddaughter and afraid that she might try to train some more, Queen Lily unwillingly decided to do something she had not planned to do until later. She summoned Delilah.
Delilah made her way to the Royal Study.
"What is it Grandmama," asked Delilah. Her grandmother rarely summoned her, and each time she did, it was for something important.
"Delilah I have something to give you. I was not planning to give this to you until later, but I have decided to do so now," said Queen Lily in a serious tone.
"How are your studies regarding the [Herbologica Maxima] recently?"
"Recently? I have not studied them recently," replied Delilah in a nonchalant tone.
"Delilah! I know your personality. You are a very hard working person, how could you not study? Have you lost interest in becoming an Alchemist? Is this the way I've raised you to start something and not finish it?" Queen Lily was very disappointed in her granddaughter. This was the first time as well. It was a weird feeling.
"I still want to be an Alchemist. It's just that I had already learned the first 4 volumes by heart."
"Nonsense! Learning even the first two volumes would take a person a couple of years!" Queen Lily thought that Delilah was pulling her leg.
"It took me about a week using my Ethereal State," Delilah did not know the weight of the words she had just said.
"Ethereal State?" Queen Lily was dumbfounded. She had always wondered how her magic training had gone so fast. It turns out Delilah possessed such a thing.
After clearing her throat, Queen Lily then said, "Well, I guess that barely satisfactory… Here I have an alchemical textbook. It goes over the basics of alchemy from medicines, pills, to even poisons. You can use this time of your break to study it."
Queen Lily handed the book to Delilah. Delilah was overjoyed. She was so busy with increasing her power these past few months she felt that her attainments in the alchemical field were not able to keep up.
"It won't be long until I become an Apprentice Classman. Just a few more steps and I'll be on my way to the Western State…"