Marcus moved slowly over to him and at this point Aiden realized that it was because Marcus physically couldn't go any faster. It was only through years of discipline and training that this slow shamble had transformed into an elegant stroll disguising the inherent feebleness of his body. Marcus came to a stop in front of Aiden, and looked deeply at him.
Then Marcus leaned down and picked up one of the books and gave him a slight smile. " Little Alchemist, let's start."
With that, he stretched out his wrist to Aiden seemingly waiting for something. Aiden was startled briefly, before realizing what Marcus meant. Carefully grasping Marcus' wrist, Aiden extended his mental power into Marcus' veins as it was instructed in his inheritance. As his mental power swam through Marcus' body, a shocking picture became clear in his mind. A body that was devastated on the inside, torn meridians and weak injured organs. It was a miracle that Marcus was even still able to move.
Aiden looked up at Marcus in shock, unable to believe it. Seeing this, Marcus raised his eyebrows, perhaps this little Alchemist really was talented. After fully examining Marcus' body, Aiden sat down on the floor and began flipping through the books. Although they existed in his head, there was something different about holding a book in his hand. Marcus also gingerly sat down and began calmly reading as well.
Of course this calm was only on the surface, Marcus had barely survived an assassination before falling off a cliff, being abducted by a remnant soul and forced to bind a contact with a little boy younger than him, and now what he was reading was probably the most comprehensive medical compilation on this continent. Having been terminally ill all of his young life, Marcus had done enormous study into Alchemy and therefore had a pretty good grasp of the knowledge that was available. These books however, vastly exceeded what he knew and it was shocking.
To be perfectly honest, Marcus hadn't had any hope for the inheritance that Aiden had spoken of. But looking at those pitiful watery amber eyes, he felt his heart soften slightly. After all, the little boy was younger than him and seemed very lost the whole time. Now though it seemed that he had picked up a true treasure. With the aid of this inheritance, Aiden would become a powerful Alchemist and maybe he really could cure him. Ambition lit up Marcus' deep green eyes for a split second before they regained their cool indifference.
Aiden knew nothing about Marcus' thoughts as he rapidly scanned through different compendiums searching for anything that matched Marcus' condition.
The two of them sat together in silence for almost an hour before Aiden let out a shout of excitement, "I think I found it!"
Marcus glanced over at him seemingly unconcerned but hidden in those eyes was a deep fervor. Aiden slid over to Marcus' side showing him the page of the book he had read. At the top of the entry was the title 'Natural Chaos Body' and the book was Rare Physiques and Bloodlines of the World.
Marcus' face remained impassive but his clenched hand belied his tension. Owners of a natural chaos body suffered from intense backlash if they cultivated without very specific methods. As aura entered their bodies they would lose control and the energy unleashed would run rampant through their meridians and organs wreaking havoc. This description matched the damage that Aiden had witnessed within Marcus' body. Continuing further, it detailed the enormous potential of a Natural Chaos Body, chaos was the origin of all things so they could use any type of aura unhindered by elemental incompatibility. There were even notes of unverified rumors that at the highest levels of cultivation, the Natural Chaos Body could create its own aura and survive even in the great vacuum of the Void. At the end, there were a number of recipes to use in the event that a Natural Chaos Body was found to nature it and prevent energy from tearing the person apart.
Marcus' gaze seemed to bore deeply into the page, his hands trembling slightly. He closed his eyes for a moment, when he had reigned in his emotions he spoke.
"I have tried countless times to breathe aura into my body. And every time all that awaits me is the tearing pain as it destroys my body bit by bit. I have strived to learn all I can about cultivation in an effort to divine my illness. Little Alchemist, for the first time in my life I have hope to break free of the shackles of my diseased and feeble mortal body. I swear on my eternal soul, that I will grant you protection to the best of my abilities and help you grow into a strong and powerful Alchemist! On my name Marcus Sommerset, I swear to you."
Although his voice never raised, Aiden felt as though it shook his whole body. As adrenaline coursed through his veins he impulsively swore, " I swear on my eternal soul that I will do my best to cure you and let you become a powerful cultivator that can stand at the top of the cultivation world! On my name Aiden Soulfyre, I swear to you."
At that moment the contracts that bound their souls together seemed to glow for a moment and then grow stronger. After his excitement faded Aiden was a little dazed, how could he get so excited and swear his soul away like that? Was he actually stupid? Marcus gave Aiden a gentle smile that melted away the ice and indifference that seemed to perpetually dominate his face. His sickly appearance brightened and his delicate features emanated an otherworldly beauty. Ah maybe that's why. Aiden thought dazedly, stunned by the looks of the boy sitting next to him.
Aiden forced himself to look back on the page and focus on the remedy. The book stated that slow conditioning with perfectly balanced aura was the safest and most effective way of rebuilding and then strengthening a Natural Chaos Body. This was because each element would restrain another element keeping them all mutually restricted and could calmly pass through the body. Hey that's just like… Oh no!
"Y-young Master Sommerset, I have to go out. My breakfast might be burning," Aiden stammered as he jumped to his feet looking for the exit.
"Little Alchemist, hold on a moment," Marcus' calm and collected voice rang in Aiden's ear. "If you want to go out, just think it in your mind and you will be able to exit."
With that Marcus vanished out of thin air. Blood rushed to Aiden's face in embarrassment, clearly they had both received ownership of the palace at the same time, but Marcus seemed to have a much better grasp of its functions. Aiden tried to cheer himself up before he too left the palace.
Back in the cave, the scent of food was entrancing. Both boys had had rough mornings and were starving. Aiden grabbed two clean rocks and ladled out some of the Braised Snake Ribs onto each and handed some crudely fashioned utensils over to Marcus.
"This is called Braised Snake Ribs, and it is a perfectly aura balanced meal so you can eat it safely," Aiden said timidly.
Marcus took the primitive tableware with grace and thanked him. The two of them ate with a feverish pace rapidly depleting the meal. For a very long time Marcus had had little to no appetite, the constant pain eroding any desire to eat. He often had to force himself to eat and enduring nausea was a normal occurrence. This was the first time that he actually craved food, and he had to spend a lot of energy to restrain himself from overeating.
Marcus felt the gentle aura from the food meander its way through his body, soothing the torn meridians and scarred organs. Although no substantial healing had occurred, this was greater progress than a hundred previous Alchemists combined. His Little Alchemist was truly a miracle. After they had filled their bellies, Aiden cleaned up the mess before sitting down in front of Marcus.
"Young Master Sommerset, um my name is Aiden Soulfyre. I just turned ten years old a couple of days ago, and escaped from the Moore family who were after my inheritance," Aiden reintroduced himself to Marcus more officially.
"Ah so the little thief from the docks was you," Marcus remarked casually.
"T-thief?! I am not a thief!" Aiden replied hurriedly, worried that his new partner would have a bad impression.
"I know that. That was just the excuse the representatives of the Moore family gave for causing such a scene the other day," Marcus assured.
After being relieved, Aiden dove into an in-depth explanation of how his inheritance came about, his relationship with the Moore family, and how he ended up here in the forest, although they had been brought together by force it seemed that they would be working together from now on, and it would be good to have an accurate understanding of each other.
In return, Marcus shared his situation. Marcus was highly respected and loved in the Sommerset clan as his talent was a rare and unique boon to the clan, so even without parents he grew up with an abundance of care. However, while his talent was beloved by the Sommerset clan, it was feared and detested by the other great families. If he could cultivate, perhaps even the royal family would try to remove him. Such a talent could reshuffle the entire power structure of the Golden Lion Kingdom. He was reluctantly tolerated now because as a terminally ill mortal his days were numbered.
The reason he was here in the forest was because he and a clan elder were bringing some of the younger generation of clan members into the forest for combat training. Marcus' insight was sharp and his knowledge encompassed all manner of things including the use of martial techniques in battle. Despite bringing a number of loyal guards with them, a sinister plot was able to separate Marcus from the rest of his family. His lead personal guard had held off the assault while he escaped, and ultimately fell off the cliff.
Aiden felt relieved after exchanging personal history with Marcus, despite the rocky start maybe their partnership wouldn't have to be so strained. In fact, he wasn't sure if it was a result of the contract or purely psychological, but he felt as if he could trust Marcus. Their souls were now tightly bound together, not just from that ridiculous contract, but also the oaths they swore to each other. That was a guarantee beyond any oppressive chains that linked them, the two of them would help the other get what they needed.
So in order to continue to try and ease the atmosphere, Aiden began to organize his spoils and regale Marcus with his time here in the forest. Marcus listened to Aiden chatter away with a faint smile, while helping him move the materials into the palace warehouse. Time and space were stagnant there, preventing things from rotting. After everything was moved into the palace, Aiden remembered the ore he had been trying to excavate from the cliff wall.
He couldn't find the rock he had been using so he grabbed another one off of the ground. Aiden began smashing the rock against the wall trying to expand the small crack into a fissure. Hearing the noise, Marcus made his way out of the cave to watch as Aiden slowly broke off pieces of rock. Aiden could sense the metallic aura becoming closer as he broke off bits of rock. Soon he could see the source of the aura. A small but thick vein of pale gray metal was uncovered glinting in the sunlight. A grin stretched across Aiden's face as he saw it, he worked even harder to try and break it out. It was difficult work, but soon after sweating heavily in the heat, Aiden held a fist size chunk of ore in his hands. He ran over to Marcus and held up his hand in elation. Marcus rubbed Aiden's hair gently in encouragement, before taking a look at the ore.
" This is Feather Iron, a very light weight ore used in small projectile weapons," Marcus said after a brief examination.
Aiden looked at him in admiration, he had a huge wealth of inheritance that he could use to identify materials at any time, but Marcus didn't. He could easily identify a raw ore in a matter of seconds because his knowledge was that vast. Of course it could just be a coincidence and he had happened to see this ore before, but Aiden didn't think so.
After carefully placing the Feather Iron into the palace, he ran around harvesting as many herbs as he could. Marcus had told him that someone would pick them up by sundown at the latest. While Aiden believed that these herbs were nothing to the wealthy Sommerset clan, he still wanted to gather as much as he could. When you have never had anything, and suddenly you are surrounded by wealth it is hard to not cling tightly to it.
Just as Marcus said, someone appeared to pick them up. Well, pick up Marcus mostly he was just an add on. As the sun headed west in the sky, a youth about sixteen or so scaled down the cliff. He was wearing black combat robes, and he seemed to have a few bruises and cuts. Light brown hair tightly bound behind his head, with deep brown eyes set in a serious expression. This must be Anton, Marcus' personal guard who had helped him escape. "Young master, are you alright? The elder is on his way now," Anton's eyes had lit up upon seeing his master unharmed. Although when Anton saw Aiden next to Marcus he immediately became vigilant.