Aiden headed back to the alchemy room so that he could continue to perfect the Swift Pill recipe. When he arrived, he was surprised to see an unfamiliar face waiting for him. A tall, slender young man, with long dark brown hair pulled into a braid that ran down his back, turned around revealing startling yellow eyes.
"You must be Alchemist Soulfyre. Pleased to make your acquaintance, my name is Dylan. I am in charge of all of the internal logistics of the Young Master's estate. If you should find yourself in need of anything, come find me so we can sort it out. Also, I have been informed that when you are ready to exchange pills that I am to report the numbers and grades to Gwyneth. Would you like to schedule a time for me to come retrieve them?"
Aiden quickly waved his hands, "You can just call me Aiden. Would after dinner work? That is usually when I have finished for the day."
"It has been noted. If you have no further use for me, I shall see you after dinner." Dylan paused for a moment to make sure that Aiden didn't need anything, before he briskly walked out of the room on to the next task. Aiden rubbed his neck as he thought, I guess I'm meeting everyone today.
Soon he pushed the meeting to the back of his head and began to prepare. Spiralgale leaves, Coal Peppers, Rivergrass, they seemed almost old friends by now. Aiden ignited the fire inscription beneath the cauldron, and while waiting for the heat to come up to temperature he meditated on the process before him. Visualizing every step; how much heat each component needed, how long it took to reduce each ingredient to essence form, in which order they had to be blended, every hand motion and gesture. Over and over he focused, and when he was ready, amber eyes shot open and with a wave of his hands the ingredients seemed to fly into the cauldron.
His hands slid through each gesture of the Rising Phoenix Palms without hesitation, the aura in the cauldron rising and falling with each motion.The herbs rapidly began to melt, turning into glowing medicinal essences, tinged with elemental aura. Next, it was time to blend them. It was a tense battle as each essence sought to overwhelm and devour the others. Aiden was hyper focused, every minute aura fluctuation became clear to eyes and his hands moved correspondingly. The essences reached a stalemate and split into nine separate clouds of energy, the battle continuing in each group. Hands moving in almost a blur, with one final sweep the energy condensed and steam rose up in column from the cauldron. The sound of pitter patter could be heard ringing out in the room as Aiden took a few deep breaths.
Glancing into the cauldron, eight pills were gathered into a pile in the center. Although he still wasn't able to condense the ninth pill, the qualities of these pills surpassed the last batch. This time four pills were low grade, and the other four were mid grade. Aiden lovingly put the pills into separate bottles based on grade. Then he pulled out another batch of materials to continue practicing.
This time his confidence was high, and there was no hesitation in his movements. Aura rotated swiftly through his fingers and he began melting the herbs into essence. Without missing a beat he smoothly transitioned into the blending phase, controlling the energy within the cauldron seemed to be getting easier. Nine pill embryos split off as he reached a balance point among the raging energies. Aiden had a sharp look in his eyes as his focus became more intense. A final gesture and steam rushed out of the cauldron dramatically. The fainting sound of pills hitting the bottom of the cauldron sounded like music to his ears. Aiden smiled in anticipation as the steam cleared.
Yes! He couldn't contain his joy as he bounced up and down like a rabbit. He almost wanted to sprint out of the room and drag the first person he saw in to appreciate the nine lovely yellow pills lying obediently in the cauldron. His hands trembled in excitement as he carefully poured the pills into the bottle. There were six mid grade pills this time, and only three low grade pills.
Aiden sat down cross legged on the floor of the room, he needed to meditate and calm his mind before he started the next batch. If he tried in his current state, he would explode the cauldron without a doubt. Taking a deep breath he started to visualize his last attempt, trying to analyze what he had done differently to achieve nine pills. Every gesture, every fluctuation in aura became crystal clear in his mind. Over and over again it replayed in his mind as vivid as if he was seeing it happen right in front of him. He analyzed every motion and every step of the process, coming up with improvements and understanding what he needed to continue doing to achieve success. Aiden meditated for almost an hour before he felt as though he was in the perfect state to continue.
He grabbed the next batch of materials, and began to fire the cauldron once more. This time the results had improved again, with seven mid grade pills and only two low grade pills. The low grade pills were even a slightly richer yellow than before, just not quite to the extent that the mid grade ones were. He lovingly put away these pills that had transformed in his mind into pure gold beads.
Aiden did not choose to continue making Swift pills since it was getting late and he needed to make dinner. Some quick mental calculation revealed that today he had produced twenty low grade pills and twenty three mid grade pills. A few weeks ago such a feat would not have featured even in his wildest dreams. Now however, he was confident that his skills would only improve.
Although it had been said with a little bit of humor, Aiden wanted that title of the greatest alchemist in the kingdom. He wanted to make his mother proud, she was an excellent alchemist from a magical volcano city after all. The Soulfyre clan was the goal he set for himself. He would become an alchemist worthy of walking those streets.
Today, Aiden decided to make a soothing chicken soup for Marcus and himself to help their bodies recover from the stronger medicinal meals that they had eaten earlier in the day. All the ingredients he chose had weak elemental biases so that there would not be too much energy rushing through their now tender and sore bodies. Aiden hummed as he tossed the ingredients into the cauldron, his hands moved quicker than usual through the intricate gestures of the Rising Phoenix Palms. He couldn't wait because after dinner Dylan would come to retrieve the pills and let him know how much he would get for each pill. When the soup was ready he sent word to Marcus and went to set the table. He was practically skipping as he laid the dishes down. When Marcus entered the room, his eyes were immediately attracted by the joyful hops of his Little Alchemist.
With a raised eyebrow he asked, "What has you so excited?"
Aiden looked up with a bright beaming smile and replied, "Dylan is going to come get the pills soon and then I will know how much money I made. Today, I made twenty low grade Swift pills and twenty three mid grade pills!" The last declaration was said with a hint of joyful pride.
Marcus was happy because this was the most animated he had seen Aiden in the few days they had known each other. He hoped that the younger boy would be more relaxed from now on. They ate immersed in the joyful atmosphere, and as soon as they were done Aiden sprinted back into the alchemy room to wait. Marcus had a thoughtful look on his face as he watched the boy's back disappear.
Dylan arrived quite punctually a few minutes after Aiden returned. "I hope I haven't kept you waiting," the calm voice came as the young man entered the room.
"Not at all, I just got back myself," Aiden smiled and tried not to appear too impatient. He attempted to seem nonchalant as he handed over the bottles that held the pills over to Dylan.
"Twenty low grade pills at twenty five gold a piece and twenty three mid grade pills at fifty gold a piece for a total of one thousand six hundred fifty gold. Gwyneth will record the sum in your account. Is this acceptable?" With every word that came out of Dylan's mouth, Aiden's eyes grew wider to the point he thought that they must surely fall right out of his head. When Dylan asked the last question Aiden nodded his head so fast that he became a bit dizzy. He almost wanted to shoo Dylan away before he could change his mind. Not that it mattered, because as soon as Dylan received his response he left the room with the pills.
Even just one gold was an unimaginable sum for Aiden, and now he was the proud owner of almost two thousand of them? Aiden was so ecstatic, with that much gold he could buy so many… Well he isn't sure what he could buy, but it must be alot. With his mind still buzzing, Aiden wandered back to his room in a daze.