Return of the Fallen Volume 9 Chapter 3
Zephris waved his hand and with it, the frozen vines slowly lowered the heavy cauldron down until it was a few inches above the burning pit.
The old master stuck out his hand near the hot flames and felt the temperature. With a nod, he found that the heat met his requirements.
“Boy, make sure you keep the fire at this exact temperature until I tell you otherwise.”
Zephris nodded in understanding and used his magic to control the burning flames beneath the brown cauldron.
With the flames perfect, the old master began to pour in a variety of different ingredients. Some he personally prepared and some Zephris had taken care of. The old man had no complaints about the way Zephris processed materials. After showing the boy the way for more than two years now, the kid had learned greatly and had a fantastic memory. If he ever made a mistake, he would remember it and would never make the same mistake twice.
This was one of the reasons why the old man used the kid. He was perfect as an apprentice and helper.
After everything was placed into the large cauldron, the old man bit the edge of his thumb, drawing some blood. Dripping a single drop into the cauldron, the old man began to chant something. As he did this, several inscriptions lit up alongside the cauldron and the ingredients inside began to break down, falling apart.
Zephris stared with wide eyes. He had seen this thousands of times but it never bored him and instead, his interest grew every single day.
After chanting for many minutes, the color inside the cauldron changed from a reddish-orange to a dark green before things inside started to boil. Even though no one had increased the temperature, the reaction inside caused the liquid to boil.
A smell similar to dirt and iron began to fill the room.
The old man took note of the boiling and ordered.
“Increase the temperature until the burning black wood turns white. At that time reduce the temperature back down until the black wood returns to its original black. Repeat this for 5 iterations. Just like before, I’ll allow you to ask me a few questions about alchemy while you do this.”
The young boy did just as his master ordered and controlled the flame, repeating the process over and over again.
“Boy, what’s your first question?”
Zephris didn’t hesitate and immediately asked.
“Master in many legends there are stories about indestructible swords but a metal like that, as far as I know, doesn’t exist. Can master make such a sword with alchemy?”
“I thought your question would be more towards the actual process of alchemy but the question is interesting so I’ll answer it.”
The old master walked over and sat down on a small stool at his bench and began to think for a moment.
“Increasing the durability and strength of a metal is a simple process but that is only up to a certain point. Do you know why Zephris?”
“Master I thought I was the one doing the questions?”
“Hmm, so does that mean you don’t know the answer then?”
Zephris mumbled something under his breath before answering.
“I…Don’t.”
The old man didn’t laugh at him but instead asked another question.
“Tell me, what is alchemy?”
Zephris was a little annoyed that his question led to a different path that had nothing to do with his first question but he answered anyway.
“Alchemy is the process of breaking down ingredients and then combing said ingredients to transform them or create something else from them. Master, you taught me this on the first day, remember?”
“I know that boy. This question of mine do you think it has no purpose? Think about your first question and then think about the process of alchemy. Can you still not see the answer?”
Zephris thought and thought but he couldn’t figure it out.
“Master, I give up.”
The old cloaked man shook his head.
“You have to be more clever than that if you wish to follow the path of a true alchemist.”
The old man was going to leave it there and not tell Zephris anymore but seeing the kid’s disappointed look, the old man wasn’t cold-hearted.
“I am your master and you are still a child. I forget this sometimes because you excel in basically everything I throw at you. However, if you walk the path of alchemy and you don’t know simple things like this, it will be my name dragged through horses shit.”
The old man grabbed something from his workbench and revealed it to the young boy. It was a small fist-sized clump of metal. Placing a special glove on one hand, the old man used his other to place a single drop of blood onto the clump of metal. With a low chant, both the glove and the drop of blood reacted. The glove lit up with inscriptions and the clump of metal split slightly apart forming a tiny hair-sized crack along its edge. The moment the crack appeared, the old man’s drop of blood sank into the crack as if the clump of metal drank it up.
Barely a second later, the crack along the piece of metal enlarged several times over until a small noise rang out.
*Chk*
The piece of metal split perfectly in half. Zephris didn’t get what this demonstration was for but he was fascinated by the metal. It was perfectly split down the middle and the inside of both halves were as smooth as a mirror.
“Do you still not get it?”
Zephris just stood there in silence with a dumb look on his face.
“Listen up boy and remember this. You asked me about an indestructible sword and I in return told you to strengthen metal it is something simple up to a certain point and that is because of the ingredients themselves. Alchemy, besides breaking things down, you can combine ingredients. An expert can take out the worst parts of an ingredient and can potentially keep only the good. By doing this repeatedly, one can remove the impurities whilst purifying what remains, making it better and better.”
The old man tossed one half of the clump of metal to Zephris and he almost stumbled as he caught it. His attention was still split between maintaining the fire and focusing on his Master’s teachings.
“When my blood entered the metal, I controlled it with my soul. I made it find the weakest parts of the metal and attacked those weak spots in a certain manner until this was the result. Tell me, is blood tougher than metal?”
Zephris promptly shook his head.
“Right, obviously blood is nothing compared to metal so then how did me simply controlling a drop of blood break down the metal so much so that it split apart.”
Of course, Zephris had no answer for this but still, he felt like his master was looking down on him and blurted out.
“You made your blood stronger.”
The moment Zephris said this, the old man paused.
“You’re not too far off my boy.”
The old man took another drop of blood and allowed it to fall in his empty hand. After a few chants, the drop of blood began to shrink and harden. The old man then proceeded to flick it at Zephris.
*Tak*
The hard drop of blood struck the young boy in the forehead and it felt like he had just gotten hit with a little rock.
*Ow*
The boy was surprised by this and reached down and picked up the hardened drop of blood.
“Master, this is as hard as metal!”
The old man nodded.
“That’s because it is metal. Inside everyone, whether you be a man, woman, child, or old body. Everyone has tiny amounts of iron in their blood. It can not be seen with the naked eye nor detected by most masters that control the gordonia element but trust me when I tell you it is there. The moment my blood sank into the clump of metal and I chanted, that magic took the small iron in my blood and combined it with a certain amount of carbon also in your blood. With the added pressure from my magic, this simple iron transforms into steel. After that, it’s simple to divide this soft clump of metal.”
Zephris held the tiny drop of metal blood between his fingers and stared at it with astonishment. It was then that something clicked for him.
“Ingredients! Master, you showed me your blood but that wasn’t what you wanted me to pay attention to was it?”
A smile hidden in the shadow of the old man’s cloak spread across his face.
“And what was it I wanted to show you then?”
Zephris thought for a moment.
“Master…It was your magic that you wanted me to see. Yes, it was the blood that was ultimately transformed but it required your magic to pull it off. When you said it was simple up to a point, I think you were making a comparison between me and you. For me to split that clump of metal with alchemy I would need loads of time but I can do it. However, if the metal is tougher then it may just be something I can not do. You though could do it. Then the reverse is also true. If I made a sword using alchemy I could only make it so strong up to a point but you can make one infinitely stronger than mine because of our difference.”
“And what is that difference boy?”
Zephris stopped to think once more before admitting almost embarrassingly.
“Everything.”
“More or less. My magic capacity and power right now outmatches you in every way. That along with my knowledge, the strength of a sword, I can make an incredible one while you could make something that would be good for cutting firewood and that’s about it. So for your question as to whether I can make an indestructible sword, the answer would be no. In order for someone to create something at that level, they themselves would not only need ingredients cast from the stars themselves but they would also themselves need to be able to use magic that could threaten the universe. Only at that level would one be able to make such a sword from alchemy but at the same time, to be able to use such powers, that person would no doubt be a god, and then therefore they would have no reason to craft such a thing. That in itself leads one down a path of what-ifs at that point so…”
The old man spoke up to here but could see that Zephris was losing focus and forgetting about maintaining the fire and fire promptly broke out in the tiny house.
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