Some time had passed for Avrin. It had been 3 years since he had been taken under the wing of the herbalist. When his parents found out, they were so excited. His mother had even cried tears of joy, thinking of how her son would be the village's new medicine man. In this small village, it was akin to a child becoming a surgeon in the modern world; the job held a lot of pride & prestige for the rural areas.
When the rest of the village found out, many came over to congratulate & even give gifts to get closer. Everyone knew how picky the old herbalist was. Many of the richer townsfolk had tried to even bribe him to take their children as disciples, but he had downright refused them all, stating that he can't turn trash into gold.
No one dared to be furious with him or make life difficult for him either. Being the only so-called medical expert in the village, he was more important than the village leader in some respects. Him taking Avrin under his wing meant that to him, Avrin was skilled enough to be taught & would definitely one day be the next village herbalist. If they could get close, then they could one day get benefits for themselves or their grandchildren.
Avrin's father was proud too. After all, hunting was dangerous, & who wouldn't want their son to have a job that was safe but also held prestige? Unfortunately, that seemed to be as far as their thoughts went. No one seemed to think Avrin had plans outside of the village. For Avrin, since he was born, he knew he wouldn't stay here. He just never had the heart or proper chance to tell his parents. He believed though that over time, his chance would come.
"Kid, look here. Come harvest this, & show me how much you have improved," the voice of the old herbalist sounded. Currently, both he & Avrin were out in the nearby forest, foraging for special herbs. "Got it," Avrin responded. Walking over, he had grown a bit more. His silvery hair was near shoulder length, face a little whiter, & his eyes more focused. Kneeling down, he took out a tool that looked like a scalpel on one side with a hook on the other. Instead of harvesting the herb straight out, he cleanly used the scalpel to cut an incision that was fine upwards an inch, and he then grabbed another tool like a pair of tweezers. Inserting it inside, he plucked out what looked like a pod, pulling it out gently, not using too much force to squeeze the pod as it was incredibly brittle. He dropped it into a vial of pure spirits alcohol for storage, repeating this several times before slowly pulling the tool back.
"Good, good. Now, seal it," the herbalist carefully eyed Avrin with admiration. He had done his best in these 3 years. In fact, he didn't need to; Avrin simply had a knack for learning. All he really needed was guidance every now & again.
Avrin nodded. He reached back into the tool belt after cleaning the tools with a special cloth that disinfected them. Afterwards, he grabbed a second vial that had a purple liquid inside. He put some of this liquid on a tool with a thick brush head and then swabbed it at the incision he made. The liquid was a type of glue and also a disinfectant for plants; it also had a special mix of nutrients that could be absorbed into the stem rather than the roots.
"Five intact pods from a single plant, not bad. How many did you leave?" the old herbalist spoke. Avrin spoke up, "Three." In response, the herbalist nodded in approval. "Good. Do you know why I only ever go for the pods?"
Avrin considered some things and then spoke. "The pods contain the greatest amount of medicinal properties. For the herb, these nutrients were stored as food for the winter during which there is little sunlight. One pod can sustain the herb for a month, but it takes two months for the plant to form a pod. Often when there is no more room for a pod to grow, the plant will force it out through the stem after a seed is inserted into the pod, which can help it spread, not requiring pollination at all, just like other special herbs. Rather than harvesting the plant which has limited use, the pods can be continuously harvested if care is taken."
Nodding with approval, he took the vial of alcohol with the pods inside it. "Good kid, you're learning well as ever. You know, the first day I took you out, I thought maybe you just had a perfect memory, but you're amazing at practical skills too. Don't let this get to your head though; these are just some trash level herbs, not even considered much of a magical reagent."
Looking at him, Avrin didn't say much. He stood up with a bit of eagerness. "When can I start making the more potent alchemical liquids?" The old herbalist's eyes narrowed a bit. "You told me over the years that you needed concoctions with mana inside them, & I keep telling you: without spirit veins, it's like throwing water into a basket that has holes. What's the rush?"
Avrin pursed his lips. He didn't tell him anything, not daring at all as this concerned his very existence. Greed & betrayal were something he didn't even want to dance around. "Teacher, I was reading your work on the recovery of spirit veins... & I'm really interested in trying my own experiments."
The old herbalist gasped, storing the vial. He reached over & tugged on Avrin's pointed ears. "You little brat! Going over the personal notes on my desk!" He didn't pull hard, but Avrin pleaded for him to let go. Soon, the two of them began to head back to the village. Avrin, being with the herbalist for 3 years, had never gotten to know much about him. He was simply told by his father that he one day showed up on death's door many years ago when his dad was still a baby, & his name was Forson.
"Is it ok if I ask, why did you come to this village? You're definitely skilled enough to go somewhere else," Avrin, unable to help but speak. His teacher stopped for a moment, reaching up & rubbing his beard. "I thought you would ask sooner. Ehh, I ran into issues & fled..." a look of regret on his face.
Avrin wanted to ask more but didn't, seeing it was no doubt a sore topic. His teacher could see his curiosity. "I used to be a student at a top level Academy, an ace student too! I was going to be big. I came from a crappy family. once-in-a-century genius, they called me." Memories of that time period on his face, remembering his youth, then sighing deeply. "I got cocky & arrogant. I bought a supposed ancient formula, spent my savings, & even got some investors to fund the materials. This formula was supposedly meant to grow spirit veins on those who didn't have them & strengthen the veins on those who did. I did the theory & spent 15 years carefully analyzing the formula & even each ingredient. When the day came for me to concoct it though..." a gloomy look of hate in his eyes, deep regret & sadness following.
"The girl I fell in love with & had been partners with for so long had secretly tampered with one of the ingredients. The concoction, of course, went haywire. If my own master at the time hadn't been there to save me, I'd be dead. That concoction though, definitely had an effect on spirit veins... mine vanished. I became a total cripple. I was so ashamed..."
Avrin was stunned. His heartfelt sorrow for this man, to have someone so close betray you like that. "What happened after?" he couldn't help but ask. The old herbalist & Avrin reached the exit from the outskirts of the forest as they hadn't traveled deeply to begin with due to potential danger.
"I found out my lover was actually part of a mage family that was against my master's. To get back at my master, they went after his disciples. All those years I was with her were for nothing. It almost caused a conflict to erupt in the capital, but I was just too depressed to do anything. I left the capital without a word to anyone and traveled around to clear my mind & heart, but I just accepted my fate. After being chased by some wild animals, I was saved by the former village elder & a hunting group, & stayed here."
Avrin felt his pain. He had figured his teacher was just some crazy eccentric, but he had worked his way from a family that wasn't well off, reaching great heights and being praised as a genius. Unfortunately, in the end, he was schemed against & kicked down to the bottom. He couldn't even climb back up even if he wanted to. It was pitiful & unfair. It was a reminder to Avrin that just like back where he was from, people, regardless of what sort of era, would enjoy employing their schemes to get at each other.