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A light breeze swept through a celestial mystical garden causing the tall coniferous trees to shiver and whisper tales of a forgotten era. The garden was laden with a colorful explosion of flowers and fruits waving enticingly in the breeze. And at the very center of this garden, surrounded by the taller trees, was a simple fountain; bubbling and glistening under the sunlight.
Next to this fountain, there was an ordinary table, on which two women were seated facing each other.
But one of them, a raven-haired beauty dressed in a simple set of white shirt and pants, and was fiddling with a rusty mud brown cauldron with great intrigue and interest, seemed to melt away into the surroundings... It was as if she was an extension of nature... or nature was an extension of herself...
On the contrary, on the opposite side of this table was a rather ordinary but familiar young girl in a white dress, with long blue hair and teary eyes. In front of her on the table, was another cauldron; rather ordinary, but aquatic blue.
The blue-haired girl was desperately focusing on the cauldron with tears in her eyes while sending streams of qi on to it. For a moment, this qi showed the slightest sign of a fiery nature... but disappeared within an overpowering mass of aquatic aether. As such, all the qi sent forth towards the cauldron manifested as a spurt of water, ultimately wetting the cauldron...
In the end, with tears of defeat, the young girl turned helplessly to the raven-haired lady and spoke out, "Mistress Nimue, this is impossible! It's the water's fault! With this cursed aquatic body, how could I ever become an alchemist?"
Noticing that the girl's attempts had stopped, the raven-haired lady, Nimue, looked up, momentarily distracted from the mud cauldron which had held her attention for so long.
Putting the cauldron aside for a moment, she laughed lightly while grabbing on to the crying girl's hands and spoke out in an amused tone, "Silly girl, I believe you are the first person to curse being born with a pure elemental body! Countless people would give up so much to be in your position!"
But noticing the sorrow in the girl's eyes, her own eyes softened and she continued in a more reassuring tone, "Either way, if you wish to practice alchemy, it will indeed be more difficult and different for you... You can't expect to master it in a couple of days, instead, it'll be a very long journey. So until the day that you truly understand... controlling fire, let alone alchemy will be beyond you. But if you're truly adamant there is a different type of alchemy--"
But seeing that the girl was still sniffling and brushing tears, Nimue paused her initial train of thought and spoke out with a slight smile, "Let me show you something..."
Suddenly, she clicked her fingers causing a monstrous amount of qi and law to gather in front of her. And with a mesmerizing twirl of her hands, she manifested torrents of fire and water aether.
These opposing laws mystically twirled and entwined around each other; coming close but never truly in contact.
The aquatic blue cauldron floated up, away from the stupefied blue-haired girl, and into the center of the torrent of fire and water law.
Nimue smiled lightly and calmly flicked in hundreds of ingredients into the cauldron. Next, she took out a familiar white silkworm and threw it into the air causing it to magically shatter into silvery-white dust particles.
The majestic aura released from these particles was however, shadowed by the terrifying aura of the opposing fire and water laws.
As Nimue continued to move her fingers about in a mystical motion, the divine particles rushed into the cauldron, causing torrents of even more divine particles to follow suit.
Whoosh!
Nimue flicked her hands once again causing the opposing fire and water aether to disappear just as soon as it had appeared.
And within mere moments, her task was finished and the azure cauldron slowly floated back on to the table.
At the same time, a pure white pill flew out from the cauldron and began to dance about the garden... almost in happiness and ecstasy.
Nimue smiled and opened up her palm, instantly the pill flew onto her outstretched hand like an obedient child. Under the eyes of the speechless young girl, Nimue calmly inspected the pill and muttered, "Hmm... not my best effort but it's good enough I suppose."
But the blue-haired girl was deaf to her words, as she was simply awe-struck! What she had witnessed was the legendary skill of instantaneous pill refinement, {Pills Through Thought}! Simply throwing in the ingredients into the fire and instantly obtaining the pill!
Ignoring her, Nimue spoke with twinkling eyes, "We Alchemists are vain creatures, I suppose, just like everyone else. Once we create something amazing, we have to, no, we need to, put a sign on it that blatantly say, 'THIS WAS DONE BY ME!' That is probably why we have the tradition of signing our pills."
Nimue began to laugh out loud at her own joke while looking at the blue-haired girl across the table.
By now, the young girl was contemplating the surprising miracles she had witnessed a moment before...
And to her further surprise, Nimue held out the smooth pearl-like pill towards her.
But the girl was frozen in place as she was well aware of the monstrous cost that this simple pill could go out for. However, the raven-haired lady simply smiled saying, "Don't worry, I'm not gifting this to you. I simply need you to do something for me..."
The young girl paused for a moment in thought and finally nodded, slowly and carefully taking the pill into her own hands.
The raven-haired lady clapped her hands in excitement and spoke out, "Alright! Vivienne, you are familiar with my insignia right? When you become an alchemist of your own someday, I hope that your insignia will be this..."
She twirled her hand about in the air causing a strange 'ᛚ' sign to appear out of pure water aether.
Still bubbling with excitement, much like the fountain next to her, Nimue pointed at the pearl-white pill and spoke out, "Now you try!"
But Vivienne frowned and spoke out, "Mistress Nimue, this is one of your own pills! If I were to sign it, the value will definitely go down..."
Nimue frowned and pouted in playful anger, "Idiot girl! Am I the mistress or are you? Since you can't practice refining pills for now... you might as well practice signing them!"
One again bubbling with excitement, Nimue waved her hands while shouting, "Now do it! C'mon, do it!"
Vivienne shook her head in exasperation, but with a slight smile began to wave her hand...
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
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The afternoon sun shone brightly onto the pavilion and the koi-pond in the central garden.
As the divine dust particles continued to swirl about the pavilion and the shadow of the silkworm on the pill was gradually intensifying, Vivienne heaved a sigh with a distant look in her eyes.
But, quickly bringing herself back to the present, she gracefully waved her fingers causing the divine white dust to rush into the pill cauldron.
At the same time, she lightly pulled out the half-refined pill and let it lay half-in and half-out of the cauldron while being bathed in the Conflicting Dragon Flame of red and white.
Vivienne gazed upon her first-ever pill, and whispered almost to herself, "Mistress, I know that you bestowed that insignia upon me... But, as my respect to you, let me disobey you just this once. I'll mark my fist pill with both our insignia..."
As she continued to control the silvery-white dust, they suddenly glowed with a strong force as they rushed towards the yellow pill in the cauldron. And the moment this divine dust touched the pill, they disappeared inside, leaving only a light mark on the pill surface. But as more and more particles disappeared into the pill, the light marks slowly formed into a faint 'ᛒ' sign.
Vivienne couldn't help but smile as that familiar insignia seemed to almost reach out to her in pride of her accomplishment.
She continued to wave her hands about causing the silvery-white particles to change their motion and rush into the pill in a different path. And thus, through this, Vivienne highlighted the upper portion of the initial sign and marked her own insignia... 'ᛚ'!
Vivienne heaved a sigh of satisfaction, 'Mistress wherever you are-- I hope you can see this. I lost the ability to control the annoying water element, but in return, I achieved my most important goal! Not the way you hoped, but... I have finally become a true pill-refining Alchemist!'
However, Zhen Shi was rather confused.
Noticing how Vivienne had highlighted the first insignia to show another insignia, he was unable to keep his mouth shut any longer and finally asked curiously, "Sis Vivienne, I get why you would put the first rune into a pill, but why'd you highlight that to give the Laguz rune?"
Vivienne turned to Zhen Shi in surprise, her hands still engraving the last few touches into the pill, "Wait, these symbols have an actual meaning? I've always wondered... Then, what does this 'Laguz' rune mean?"
Zhen Shi didn't even need to use the
But Vivienne was oblivious to what he was speaking after that. The only word, that reverberated within her mind was WATER.
The one thing that had stopped her from becoming an alchemist... An element that she had loved and enjoyed practicing, but had grown to hate simply due to that fact... And yet, also the meaning of the insignia granted to her by her mistress...
Water.
Tears streaked down her face as she started to sob uncontrollably.
Zhen Shi hurriedly stopped speaking as he scratched his head helplessly wondering what he had said to cause her to cry.
But Vivienne's crying grew only worse as her struggles to become an alchemist over the years and just now, realizing how much her mistress had believed in her, ran amok in her mind.
As her tears fell down, the pill refinement finished. Just as the white dust particles completed the absorption process, the pill slowly and unsurely flew out of the cauldron.
When Vivienne noticed this through her misty eyes, she held her hand forwards reflexively. Vivienne's mind was still contemplating the meaning of the 'ᛚ' rune, as the pill flew towards her. And just as it touched her hand, a strange and undetectable energy coalesced around the engraved 'ᛚ' rune.
The rune shone with a blue sheen and the pill suddenly glowed with an aquatic light as it instantly went through a qualitative enhancement!
Crash!
But, at the same time, Vivienne collapsed onto the floor with the pill still held tightly in her hand.
Zhen Shi immediately hurried to help her, but he didn't get too far...
Crackle!
A cold blue flame manifested as Myne suddenly dashed through his flame into the room while holding a strange cube with the talisman sigils for a formation glowing upon it. This cube was connected to a strange thread of qi leading up to the roof of the pavilion itself...
Myne and Zhen Shi shouted out at the same time,
"What the hell happened to my wife?"
"What the hell is in your hand?"
Myne and Zhen Shi paused for a moment to gather their thoughts and spoke out simultaneously while pointing at each other,
"Alright you first!"
"Alright you first!"
The duo hurriedly spoke out in answer, once more, at the same time,
"Fine then. You first!"
"Fine then. You first!"
Zhen Shi immediately realized how long this ridiculous situation might drag on for. So he shut up as he ran towards the fainted Vivienne. But as he knelt next to her, Myne spoke out, "She's fine... she just needs to rest. Her spirit and soul have been overexerted."
Zhen Shi frowned and asked, "So you're just going to leave her here?"
Myne grinned and said, "Of course. Do you think I want to be held responsible for her accusations of what I might've done while moving her? More importantly, I think she'd want to stay here considering the importance of the occasion to her..." finishing with a light sigh.
Zhen Shi nodded in understanding and fell silent for a moment.
But he quickly broke the silence, pointing at the strange formation cube in Myne's hand and asked once more, "So... what is that?"
Myne grinned and spoke out while clapping his chest proudly with his free hand, "What? Did you think this grand mage, the master of scrying, would be in the dark about my own wife's actions? I used the spell container to set up a formation and seal up the pavilion, the moment she started refining the pill... We would've been in trouble if anyone else had sensed the convergence of the divine aether due to that heavenly caterpillar."
But he suddenly frowned and spoke out in an accusing tone, "Thank you, for the heads-up by the way. Would it have killed you to maybe notify me?"
Zhen Shi was flabbergasted and spoke out, "But I did! And I couldn't sense you! How far did you think my pitiful spiritual sense will extend up to? And, by the way, it's a divine silkworm, not a heavenly caterpillar!" with a wronged look.
Myne cringed and spoke out, "FUCK! Are you becoming a herbologist as well?"
Still, the feeling for being incorrect gave a bad taste in his mouth and so spoke out in recollection, "Either way aren't they all the same in this modern world? You did say earthworms can become butterflies... So I figured silkworms could do the same. I mean if fuckin' earthworms can do so, why not the poor silkworm? Am I right?"
Zhen Shi was speechless, 'SHIT! You were supposed to forget that!'
So to change the topic, he spoke out while grinning forcefully, "Anyways, you admitted to being the Grand Mage right?"
And just like that, it was Myne's turn to be speechless.
But almost in the understanding of each other's situation, with a simple but courteous nod at each other, they stopped pursuing the questions that had made the other speechless.
Myne spoke out with the intention to forget this shameful instance, "So what happened to her? Even if she used all of her pill enhancement techniques, she is currently a Soul Destruction Stage expert! Not to mention she is a mage who learned under me! How the hell could she faint like this?"
Zhen Shi frowned and began to explain, "I'm not sure exactly... she started engraving in these old Norse runes into the pill. And she fainted, just after she began crying when I began to explain the meaning of the rune.
It's not because she cried too much right? Perhaps... because of Dehydration?" finishing with a question.
Myne raised an eyebrow and facepalmed, "You're kidding right? Dehydration my ass!"
Zhen Shi simply grinned in answer. He had simply attempted to make a strange situation slightly better...
Myne proceeded to ignore him and continued, "Norse? Do you mean the barbarians in the Northern Ice Lands including that fellow who won-- *cough* stole my Divine Furnace? As far as I know, they don't even have a proper written language... And how do you even know that it's Norse?"
Zhen Shi hurriedly spoke out with the intention of not answering the last question, "Yes, Yes! It was the Legaz rune which basically means running water, and it looked something like this," and began to carve it out into thin air simply for additional emphasis.
Putong!
But just as he started to... Zhen Shi fainted on the spot and collapsed on to the ground in a mindless heap.
Myne's right eye twitched, ಠ_ಥ. Finally he muttered in exasperation, "Tsk-tsk. Young people these days... So weak! Can't even handle writing a simple rune in the air..."
He heaved a heavy sigh as he eyed his fainted wife and sworn-brother. He wasn't particularly worried as he could sense that both of them would recover within a few hours.
But he was rather curious... So he pried open Vivienne's hand to observe the pill. He noticed the 'ᛒ' rune upon which the 'ᛚ' rune was highlighted. He then contemplated what Zhen Shi had said just before fainting, "basically means running water..."
And so, rather curiously, Myne began to draw the rune in the air. Unlike Zhen Shi, he made it half-way through the rune and was only a single move away from completing the rune...
Putong!
But, suddenly, he too fainted on the spot and collapsed on to the ground, leaving behind a pavilion consisting of three fainted fellow-students...