I was all ready to deny responsibility; I mean I had never even seen an alchemist create pills before today, for Elder Tye and Dalis to use my idea was one thing, something I thought amazing until the explosion, but I refused to accept blame for the outcome.
I needn't have worried. They were both too busy laughing at my dumbfounded expression to think about faulting my idea. Elder Tye finally sobered up enough to give the room at large an inspection. As dust and debris continued to rain down on him from the hole in the wall he'd created with his body, he finally began trying to extricate himself. Tarrah's snort as she began laughing at his attempts to peel himself from the wall in a dignified manner, set me off, and soon the room was flooded with laughter once more, as we watched Elder Tye try to extricate himself.
Our laughter only increased when his Hanfu got hung up on a nail and gave the room a gander at his underwear, rather his lack of underwear, something he failed to notice until he turned to bellow through the door for a clean-up. His actions exposing far more of his backside than he intended, exposing his full moon for all and sundry to enjoy. Elder Tye ignored his clothing malfunction with a dignity that belied the blush of embarrassment that graced his cheeks, both sets, to examine the remains of the pills he'd created. He even went so far as to taste test the residual ash before he turned thoughtful.
"I think the paste will work," he finally said sharing his thoughts with the rest of us. "The problem was one of concentration. Jay's paste was so concentrated that the usual ratio is unworkable. I think we should try this again using a tenth as much paste and see what happens."
Putting action to words, he sent Qi and Dharmic fires to cleanse the cauldron before considering the remaining ingredients that had been processed but not included in the last trial. "Maybe a cooling reagent is needed too," he mused, "something to work as an inhibitor against the explosive reaction."
Any further discussion or attempt at a lesson was lost at that point. Elder Tye was engrossed in his experiment and had no time for me. He did instruct Tarrah to supply me with a jade slip that had formulas and manuals for a beginning level alchemist before dismissing us.
The information contained in the jade token was a start, combined with the knowledge I'd learned at my mother's clinic it was probably enough for a self-study program to help me attain a novice ranking. Tarrah was kind, used to her master's idiosyncrasies to offer to answer questions and demonstrate methodology if I ran into any problems. The most important thing for me to do, she informed me, before I made even my first attempt at creating a pill, was to learn the Dharmic spells and hand gestures that would allow me to control fire. Until I could maintain a steady flow of Qi and regulate the cauldron temperature accurately, any other progress I might make was impossible.
Identifying herbs by their medicinal property, grinding them, and learning the precision required for measurement only became necessary once I could master Dharmic control. Until and unless I was able to do that, the secondary alchemist profession would be closed for me. I could become a potion brewer like my mother, but real alchemists and those capable of Pill creation required a level of Qi refinement and control that grew as more complex formulas were attempted.
Tarrah showed me to a room, a place of study, and to experiment. A place that would be mine exclusively. The Pill Creation room I was assigned was locked, with the same restrictions my home had, it was keyed to my Qi signature; the settings changed so that only my jade token, Tarrah's, and the Elder could gain entrance. The room was bare bones. Tables, a shelf system that resembled a spice rack to hold jade slips, and nothing else. I would be allowed to check out tools as needed from the same place where I could withdraw herbs, but my access to tools and supplies would only be granted once I gained control of my Dharmic abilities.
Once I was able to show even a beginning level of talent, I would be expected to purchase my own beakers, scales, mortar and pestle, and cauldron. The cauldron would be the largest expense because it would need to be inscribed with runic enchantments. It wouldn't pay to accept shoddy workmanship, even at a beginner's level. I hoped that Cyntyne's shop might have one. If not, I would have to source the material for the Sect blacksmith department to forge something I could use, and then gather the materials for enchantment.
"Elder Tye will expect your first cauldron to be at least of an uncommon tier," Tarrah informed me as she turned off lights and motioned for me to lock the door behind us. "You probably can have the materials gathered quickly if you use Mission Hall to source the materials for you, but you might be better off trying to find them yourself.
"Mission Hall will supply the ingredients you are looking for, but members that are out harvesting will prioritize quantity over quality. Unless you specify a certain tier requirement, and if you do that, the contribution points you will have to pay will increase, often doubling for each increment in tier-level, then you have to settle for whatever quality someone gathers."
With nothing left to do but begin to study the material and resources Elder Tye had gifted me, I decided to leave that for now and pay a visit to the Library. The edifice, even with my prior knowledge of how impressive the building was on the inside, still looked like something that would be better condemned, razed to the ground and rebuilt.
Elder Cix was busy helping another Sect member when I entered, so I found a quiet place to sit. With nothing better to do, I did begin browsing the material Elder Tye had given me. I had always been able to subsume my awareness when I read, blocking out all extraneous sounds. That single-minded focus had driven my parents crazy, often forcing them to snatch whatever I was engrossed in, to gain my attention.
Elder Cix must have identified my condition because his hand gently removed the jade token I was focused on. Startled I looked up, and only after a quick glance did, I realize where I was and who was in front of me.
Standing immediately, I performed the deep bow that Tarrah had demonstrated, "Forgiveness, Elder Cix. I too often become engrossed in my reading."
"Nothing to apologize for, child, except for mimicking Tarrah," he smiled. "I will say to you what I have said hundreds of times to that child. That bow is unseemly, it gives me too much honor and deference. I am but a retired Elder that has chosen to spend the last days of my life in an environment I love.
"That bow should be saved for those Cultivators that strive to attain and breakthrough to the Immortal Venerable Realm. Believe me, when I say, I understand you do me great honor, but it is not necessary. Helping Sect members attain enlightenment, matching new members to suitable martial and cultivation techniques gives me more joy than I could ever describe.
"Of course, Honored Elder," I agreed, deciding to consider his words later. Perhaps Tarrah by insisting to genuflect before the Elder was doing him a disservice, what she meant as a show of respect may have become more insult, as she time and again ignored his request.
"Enough of that, what brings you to my Library today?" He asked. "Have you decided [Transcend the Heavenly Footpath] is too onerous and would like to exchange the token for another technique?"
"Not at all, Honored Elder," I answered. "This humble novice has had some success with the technique, enough to have progressed to the lower stage of the Body Refinement Realm." My words only verified what his senses had already told him. He had known after only the briefest of glances that I had managed to take that first real step in becoming a cultivator.
"Elder Shadow has instructed me to gain three martial techniques that would be suitable for my cultivation. A Movement, Bow, and Tessen technique. He asked me to inform you that the Sect has awarded me access to Elder An's private library, and that can be included in any search parameters you might use."
"A Tessen technique," he mused. "Not many have the agility and patience to attempt to master the Fan arts. The fighting style contains elements of Dance as well as the Katas that transform the aesthetics of beauty into something so deadly it has become acknowledges as the [Dance of Death].
"I wonder what he saw in you that made him decide you would be well-suited for such an esoteric fighting style?" He pondered aloud. "No matter. Elder Shadow's ability to separate the wheat from the chaff is well established. If he finds you suitable for a Tessen technique, then he is most assuredly correct."
His words helped me understand more the great gift Elder Shadow had given me when he'd agreed to share my obligations between him and Elder Tye. I had thought it strange that he was willing to invest so much time and energy into a new sect member. I'd rationalized his gift of time as his method of apology. I'd thought he regretted involving me with Elder An and that faction of the Sect. But maybe I was wrong. Maybe his ability to discern talent had seen something in me that he thought worth polishing.
"The Movement and Bow techniques are easy enough," he said, "the techniques that Elder An has filed better suited to your Spirit root and elemental affinities than anything the Library has available.
"I would suggest [Lighting's Rush] for your movement technique, it teaches you how to fuse both elements together to create elemental lightning, in effect, giving you control over three elements instead of two. As the name suggests, those cultivators that manage to understand and harness the full functionality of the technique are some of the most agile.
"As for the Bow, Elder An's [Water Pierce] can be trained to create arrows of ice. Ice that can be formed to shatter on impact or only when they have penetrated the body. It also allows you to use your air element to guide the path of each shot, and increase the speed, slow it, or curve a shot to confuse those defending against it.
"But the Tessen technique is something that the Library has owned far longer than makes sense. It has never been practiced, because of the difficulty in attaining mastery. In [Tessenjutsu] There are fifty-one kata and movements that must be mastered, ten per level, until the last level when an ultimate attack can be learned that contains elements of the prior fifty movements."
He didn't wait for my input or offer any other suggestions. Three jade slips with the techniques he had decided on were unceremoniously thrust into my hands. If Elder Shadow was preeminent in his field of martial arts, and Elder Tye was without peer in the Sect for his Alchemical skills, Elder Cix's knowledge of the multitude of available options just as profound.
I suppose it didn't matter if I agreed with his choices or not; I admit the requirement of mastering fifty-one kata was daunting. But I thought the Elder was inordinately pleased that a Tessen technique that had been long abandoned would finally find a use.