Aiden quickly arrived outside the sturdy wooden door to Marcus' study. Two stern-faced guards took up post on either side, their eyes vigilantly scanning for potential enemies. When he saw them, Aiden's excitement seemed to be doused by a bucket of cold water. He almost wanted to shrink back to the alchemy room, and pretend that he had never come this way.
Before he could give in to those timid thoughts, he roughly shook himself. Marcus himself said that he could relax here, and gave him the right to wear the golden oak leaf of the Sommerset clan. This wasn't the Moore family where he had to keep his head down low and avoid standing out. Marcus was his partner, and if no accidents occurred they would be together for a long time. The path of a cultivator was fraught with danger and obstacles, to achieve anything required a firm mind and a fair amount of risk. When he started his practice, Aiden promised himself that he would rise to the challenge and not cower in the face of difficulties. Not to mention that the attribute of the exercises that he practiced was fire, constant suppression could cause great defects in his cultivation much like the smothering of embers.
After a bit of internal scolding, Aiden psyched himself up and went to knock on the door. After a brief moment, he heard the cold voice of Marcus calling him in. Aiden breathed a quick sigh of relief before pushing into the room, it wasn't as hard as he thought. In the study, Marcus sat behind his intricately carved desk as usual seemingly reading some sort of document. In front of the desk stood the serious figure of Anton, who appeared to be reporting something to Marcus.
Two sets of eyes turned to stare at Aiden as he walked into the room. Despite feeling a sense of pressure, Aiden smiled brightly towards Marcus while holding up the two bottles, "Marcus look! I succeeded with my new recipe!" As he called out, Aiden recovered a bit of his previous excitement and joy. He bounced over to the desk and proudly placed the bottles in front of Marcus.
"These are Swift Pills, when taken they can give an influx of wind energy that drastically increases speed. For cultivators in the Body Tempering realm it can be considered as an excellent emergency resource. After all, the pill is made using basic magic herbs so beyond the Body Tempering realm it doesn't have much effect." While carefully listening to Aiden's discourse, Marcus opened the two bottles to observe the pills within.
His white eyebrows raised slightly seeing the difference between the two. He handed one of each type over to Anton, who immediately left the room to find someone to test the two pills.
"This time, I was able to make eight pills in one cauldron! Two of them also looked much better than the previous time, I wonder why?" Aiden mused curiously. In fact, even though he had an incredible amount of inheritance knowledge and resources, it was very different from having a teacher. There was a lot he didn't know and the recipes only gave him instructions on how to make each concoction as well as their purpose. The finer details and nuances of alchemy he had to explore on his own.
On the other hand, due to his condition, Marcus had sought out a huge number of alchemists and had a deep insight into the field of alchemy. According to what he had gleaned, the Golden Lion Kingdom in which they were located, had an extremely weak alchemy inheritance. The pills and elixirs available on the market were limited to a mere handful of types, even the alchemists who had supposedly deep and long lasting heritages were only a bit better. The countries directly bordering the Golden Lion Kingdom, such as the Rising Moon Dominion, were in a similar situation.
Further towards the center of the continent, supposedly the powers there far surpassed the Golden Lion Kingdom, and their alchemical inheritances were much more complete. Marcus had heard that pills and elixirs had grades of quality that determined their efficacy. Here, an alchemist was lucky to actually succeed at making a potion or pill, they certainly wouldn't be picky about the quality. Based on the two very different pills in hand, Marcus had the preliminary suspicion that the pale yellow pills were of low quality and the deeper yellow ones were of medium quality. He couldn't be sure though until Anton confirmed the results. While waiting, he filled Aiden in on what he knew.
"So the darker ones will be more effective? Then it seems that I have another thing to work hard towards! Not only do I need to complete all of the pill embryos to make sure that I am being as efficient as possible, but I also have to make sure that they are of the highest quality possible." Aiden clenched his fist in excitement, he actually really enjoyed having a goal to work for. Then every improvement no matter how small felt exhilarating, because it meant that his goal was one step closer.
"Good job, my Little Alchemist! If these are in fact mid grade pills, then you can be counted among the top alchemists in the kingdom," Marcus' emerald green eyes glimmered with mirth as he congratulated Aiden. A faint flush spread across Aiden's fair cheeks, although he had come to get praise, why did it feel less now that he knew how backward the kingdom's alchemy level was?! He squinted at Marcus in suspicion, feeling that he had done it on purpose. The mirth spread from his eyes into a smile as Marcus looked at the slightly puffed up cheeks of the little alchemist who had come to show off. Before Aiden could accuse him, Anton walked back into the room. With quick steps he strode over to inform Marcus of the results of the tests.
"Young Master, the pale yellow pill allowed a cultivator of the Body Tempering Realm to increase their speed by approximately twenty percent for a full minute. The darker pill allowed a cultivator of the Body Tempering Realm to increase their speed by approximately thirty percent for a minute and a half." Anton's voice had the barest hint of rush, belying his excitement. Body Tempering cultivators made up the large majority of the kingdom's warriors, only the noble families had elders in the Condensation Realm. This pill could easily turn the tide in battle, allowing a cultivator to explode with a speed far beyond their opponents expectations ending the confrontation in a swift movement. Or if the odds are overwhelming, these pills could allow a cultivator to escape certain death. Marcus sat back in his chair seemingly pondering.
"Anton, go and call Gwyneth. Be discreet, we don't want to attract unwanted attention." Anton nodded and immediately left the room again.
"Little Alchemist, I am afraid I may have to ask you to intensify your efforts. The Swift Pills that you concocted are of an incredible value," Marcus gently said to Aiden, surprise still visible in the way he looked at the remaining pills. Aiden himself was still in shock after hearing the results from Anton, and faintly nodded in agreement.
Several minutes later, a gentle knock sounded and Anton reentered the room followed by a young woman. She was similar in age to Anton, around sixteen, she had long black hair that reached her hips. Her eyes were an icy blue, and she was wearing a navy blue dress that brought out her alabaster skin. A faint smile hung on her pale pink lips, but it didn't seem to reach her eyes.
She gave an elegant curtsy to Marcus as she said, "Good afternoon, Young Master. How may I be of assistance?"
"Gwyneth, this is Aiden, my personal alchemist who is currently treating my condition." As he spoke, surprise flitted through her icy eyes and the smile she gave Aiden was more genuine.
"Aiden, this is Gwyneth, she is responsible for all of the industries under my name." Aiden peered at the stunning young woman carefully as he smiled in greeting.
In a noble family such as the Sommerset clan, each descendant was responsible for curating their own forces. This meant that although the family would provide resources for their children, the people who followed those children also needed resources that had to be acquired from somewhere. Even a family as grand as the Sommerset family would find themselves bankrupt if they tried to provide for every servant and follower of every family member.
However, these forces were integral for descendants to gather resources beyond what the family could provide and increase their standing. Thus, in order to attract talents and grow them, capable family members would create businesses to fund their operations. To be the person in charge of those activities indicated a high level of trust and competence. Like Anton, Gwyneth must be one of Marcus' close confidants.
"Gwyneth, Aiden has produced a pill that can increase the speed of Body Tempering realm warriors by twenty percent and thirty percent respectively for the low grade and mid grade versions. You will be responsible for keeping an account for every pill that Aiden produces and put the gold value equivalent in this account for him." Gwyneth's breath sped up imperceptibly at the mention of the Swift Pills, and she immediately nodded in acquiescence.
When he heard that he would be getting paid for each pill, Aiden's eyes immediately widened in surprise. His face was frozen in a look of shock, and he didn't realize when Gwyneth and Anton left the room with the remaining pills. Marcus lazily enjoyed Aiden's performance as a statue for several minutes before leisurely waking him up.
"Be careful that a bug doesn't fly into your mouth, with it open so wide." Aiden snapped back to reality, and couldn't help but to lean forward against the desk, his voice trembling with anticipation.
"Do you really mean it? You are going to pay me for making pills? I can have my own money?" Aiden fired off several questions in succession, his amber eyes desperately searching the older boy's face for any sign of deception. He had never had his own money before, and although there might not be much to spend money on when all his alchemical materials were provided for him, financial independence was another layer of security. It gave him a level of freedom that had seemed out of reach up to this point. Relief, anticipation, confusion, and many more emotions all swirled inside of him.
Aiden's eyes reddened slightly as he asked again, "Really?"
Marcus stretched out a hand and gently rubbed Aiden's maroon hair in comfort. "Really, like I've said, you are my partner not my slave. Of course I would give you your due compensation." His voice seemed slightly exasperated, Marcus hoped that Aiden could trust him a little more. He wasn't impatient though, they had plenty of time.