Annabelle looked at the vast amount of ink covering the walls and recalled how Thane had instructed her to deface the compound walls and main hall with what she thought would piss off the Xu Clan the most.
Now that she could see her work, Annabelle was happy she went with something simplistic as it had taken her a good hour to gather enough ink using her mana. Glancing at Xu Feng from the corner of her eye, Annabelle could see that he was close to the tipping point.
Looking at the room's occupants, Annabelle noted three old men that stood around Xu Xing with various looks of displeasure and anger. 'They must be the clan elders. Half of them look close to death's door.'
Xu Feng suddenly stormed into the middle of the room where his father stood staring at his shrine, which had been defaced the most, the velvet cushion he usually sat upon dyed pitch black.
"Father, what happened? Were we attacked?" Xu Xing spun around with wrath in his eyes, "What does it look like, you imbecile. There is ink covering the main hall and the compound walls. Of course, we were attacked!"
There was a flash of fear on Xu Feng's face as he nodded, "Forgive me, I merely wanted to know if any physical harm had befallen the clan."
Xu Xing huffed, "Can you tell me what it is?" Xu Feng hesitated for one second before he looked at the ink again, "A technique did this. The ink is almost completely made out of mana."
"Correct, the guards on duty yesterday swore they saw nothing of note. I fear that rumors of this have already spread. I don't want anyone showing their face in town before we solve who is behind this."
Xu Feng was about to protest when he suddenly remembered something, "I think this might be the same person from the Auction House. During the event, they bought the supposed cultivation technique of Zhou Feng. They might be the culprit behind this."
Xu Xing was silent for a second, "That is useful. Knowing this, I can have Thane investigate this more." Xu Feng's mouth curled in displeasure, "Must we have outsiders meddling in Clan affairs?"
"While I would normally agree with you, due to the sensitive nature involving this case. We mustn't show our hands too early. These are things you need to learn if you will rule the Clan one day."
Xu Feng bowed, "I will take my leave then. I feel as if I am on the cusp of a breakthrough." Xu Xing nodded dismissively before turning back to the three clan elders to discuss their following action.
---
Waking up in the morning, Thane groaned as his head pulsed with pain. He got out of bed very slowly and dressed as every sudden movement seemed to drive daggers of pain into his skull.
Arriving in front of Helga's door, Thane knocked on the metal before resting his head against cool steel. A second later, the door was ripped open, and he almost fell into the room.
Helga looked at him curiously, "What happened to you?" Thane shrugged, "I have a debuff. It's nothing to worry about. I'm still here for today's lesson."
Helga stared at Thane for a long moment before her eyes glowed. When the light faded, Helga smiled, "So you were able to break through, eh. Welcome to the world of cultivation, just in time too, as I didn't have much to teach you without an alchemist flame."
Helga disappeared into the room, and a second later, she returned holding a blue potion, "Here, drink this. It will get rid of the debuff."
Thane looked at the potion inspecting it and the screen that popped up a second later.
[Notice: Start]
You have found: Mana Potion
Quality: Uncommon
Durability:1/1
Ingredients: ???
Effects: Regenerates 40% of your total mana
[Notice: End]
Shrugging, Thane knocked back the concoction, which went down smoothly. Pleasantly surprised, Thane looked at the empty vial, "Tastes like blueberries."
His headache had also dulled down to a whisper of what it was before, "Thank you for that. I don't know how I would have gotten through the day without it."
"Well, in the future, maybe you can pay me back someday. But today, we focus on finding your alchemist flame." Helga said with a surprising amount of vigor and excitement.
Thane followed the alchemist into the workshop with a great deal of questions forming in his mind, "So what does finding this flame entail?"
Helga started to hobble around the room and gather vials filled with ingredients, "The alchemist flame is not, in fact, a flame but rather a spirit. That an alchemist must form a pact with."
His mind stalled for a second, "A spirit, like a nymph?" Helga glanced at Thane, "Those are some of the higher tiers and can only be found in the upper realms. But yes, they belong to the same category."
"So this spirit will be living inside me?" Thane asked, unsure if he was okay with another living entity sharing his body.
Helga shook her head as she started to clear a large area on the floor, "Not your physical body, but it will be bound to your soul. The fire spirit will obey your every command and will never seek to harm you. It will consume the ambient mana in the ingredients you use that can mess with the effects of potions you try and brew."
Helga uncorked one of the vials and started to draw a symbol on the ground, "You have a minute to make up your mind. But if you want to be an alchemist, there is no other way forward."
Sighing, Thane rolled his neck, "Okay, let's do this." Helga grinned, "It's about time now come closer and take this knife."
Thane did so and stopped just before he stepped on the sand, drawing of a fire, "What do I do with the knife?"
"Cut your palm and let your blood drip onto the flame," Helga instructed, which Thane quickly followed, letting a few drops of dark red bloodstain the sand.
"Okay then, now you might want to stand back for this." Before Thane could ask why Helga's hand erupted in flame, he jumped back. The flame jumped from Helga's hand onto the sand, causing it to explode into a bright green flame immediately.
Helga smiled at Thane, "Stick your wounded hand into the flame, and the fire spirit will bond to your soul." Thane looked at Helga as if she had lost her mind, "You want me to stick my hand into a fire."
Helga rolled her eyes, "We all know you're going to do it. So stop the pansy shit and do it already!" With his manhood insulted, Thane didn't bother to ask who was 'we' and stuck his still bleeding hand into the fire.
The flame jumped onto Thane's palm, but instead of burning his flesh, a pleasant feeling surrounded him like a cloak, and the wound on his hand started to heal.
When the wound was fully healed, the flame had disappeared, and a notification appeared in front of Thane.
[Notice: Start]
You have gained the title: Spiritual Bond I-(You have forged a bond with a spirit, the both of you are now joined on a level closer than anything you have known before.)
[Notice: End]
Holding up his palm, Thane could feel an entity dancing in the back of his mind and somewhat hungry.
"So, how does it feel?" Helga asked him, "Not bad though I feel hungry. Though I don't know if that's my own sensation or the spirits." She shrugged, "It doesn't matter. You two are one in the same. You can use that spirit inside you for more than alchemy."
Pointing his finger at the wall, Thane felt his mana dip as a stream of green fire shot from the tip of his finger.
"What are you doing? Do you know how much stuff In here can explode!" Helga rapped Thane on the forehead as she ran over to stomp out the flame. Thane winced, "I was trying it out. Besides, there was just a fire on the floor."
Helga glared at Thane but said nothing, "Whatever, now you and I are going to go make some potions. And we're not leaving until you make one of at least common quality."
"Common, I've only made a single poison, and if you can remember, it was trash quality. I have other things to do today." Helga shrugged, "Then you better get to it because you're not leaving this room until you've satisfied me."
Trying to stop the sudden wave of images coming to his mind, Thane sighed, "I have my work cut out for me."
---
Many hours later, Thane stirred a cauldron full of a bubbling liquid. His alchemist flame licked the edges of the pot, screaming at him to feed it.
The green fire expanded as Thane started to feed it mana, but a sharp wooden staff to the back of his head stopped Thane in his tracks, "Careful, if your flame burns too hot, nothing will be left. You must maintain a balance during the entire process. However, if your flame dies out, the ingredients won't mix, and you will have wasted a hundred gold on a thousand-year-old plant."
Thane sensed a story behind Helga's warning, but he didn't have time to spare as the liquid in the pot started to reduce rapidly as the water boiled off. In a few minutes, all that was left was a pool of glowing blue liquid.
Crossing his fingers, Thane moved over to the side of the cauldron and flipped the valve, letting the potion drain into an awaiting vial. Standing up, Thane prayed to a higher power before inspecting the potion.
[Notice: Start]
You have created: Mana Potion
Quality: Common
Durability: 1/1
Ingredients: Mana Crystal Dust, Rosewater, Juice of an Elderberry
Effects: Regenerates 20% of your total mana
You have gained: 10 XP for brewing Mana Potion
[Notice: End]
Looking over his character chart, Thane realized that he was halfway to leveling up, and he still had no idea what would happen. Before he could formulate a question Helga prodded him with her cane.
"So did you finally make a decent potion, or do I have to waste more of my priceless collection?" Thane rolled his eyes, "Please half of the vials I used were caked in dust. There is no way you miss any of them. But yes to answer your question I did make a 'decent' potion. Can I go now?"
Helga swiped the potion from Thane's hand and looked at it, "Finally now leave! I still have that damn potion to work on."
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