"Oh? And what might this be?" The alchemist said while studying the glowing red "salt" he had just been given. "Fire salt , when an atronach perishes it 's body breaks down into shelf stable crystal dust that contains dense elemental mana. That jar came from a fire atronach hence the name." Nick explained honestly. "I see! What a curious creation these atronachs of yours are. You never did explain how you were able to make them without alchemy." Flammel pointed out with a smile. "I used an incredibly complex enchantment actually , I can't show it to you though since it's rather special and I would like to keep it to myself." Nick explained apologetically.-

"Rather disappointing but I can understand. I couldn't help but notice that vampire was able to use regular magic , your work I take it?" The old alchemist said curiously. "It is not that hard to do if you understand vampirisms effect on the magic in the body and have a way to change it to a degree. In Lucas's case I split the mana distribution from his core between his blood and magical network." Nick explained without any problem.-

Flammel had been around for over six hundred years and was naturally a very curious individual so Nick doubted it could have been that hard to eventually figure out for him. The atronach forge on the other hand was an entirely different story as daedric runes were an integral part of it's construction and so while it was technically possible to recreate without them it would be no laughing matter for even someone like the great alchemist. "Ah yes , I believe I came to a similar conclusion at one point but hadn't put it into practice for fear of causing undue harm should my calculations go awry." Flammel said honestly.-

"Well it wouldn't work on anyone below the first threshold as the split places heavy strain on the mana core but otherwise an even distribution of mana only caused three and a half weeks of weakness in Lucas who was on a steady diet of dragons blood." Nick shared freely. "Dragon blood? Rather expensive for meals no?" the alchemist asked in surprise. "A minor inconvenience at worse. The real problem was shaking the rust off of his spell work. A few years of stagnation almost voided the seven he spent in school." Nick said with frustration.-

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That was really a problem for Nick as he had to add in the full seven years curriculum to Lucas's studies in order to refresh his foundation. Since he had already learned the material it didn't take the vampire long to get back in the swing of it but it was still frustrating to deal with none the less. "I imagine so considering the large differences between normal magic and blood magic. That misty ability of his was also your doing yes?" Flammel asked curiously. "Yup , I gave him an extra four bloodline abilities turning him into a royal vampire in exchange for his loyalty , I fair deal if you ask me." Nick said with a grin.-

"Oh? Now that is certain to anger that vampress , are you sure that was a wise decision?" Flammel asked curiously. "It doesn't matter if she is mad about it since he outranks her now. Not to mention if I chose to release the information that Lucas was working for me to the public he would immediately have more political power than she does. I solved all but any covert methods of retribution already." Nick said with a grin.-

"What of the Tepes royals?" The alchemist asked with a slight facial twitch that Nick was sure had a story behind it. "Well four possibilities exist if they are even half as intelligent as they are portrayed. First is that they will seek to marry Lucas into the Tepes royals so that they remain in absolute control while adding a powerful new force to their members. Second is that they try to have him killed for the same reason as the first but this is unlikely unless they also wished to anger me. Third is that they will allow Lucas to build up his own forces to relieve some of the pressure on them with a few concessions from him."-

"The final option is of course that they entirely ignore him as he is not the important factor in this affair , I am." Nick said calmly. "I see you have given this matter the appropriate thought so I will not bother about it any longer." The alchemist said before taking a sip of the tea dotty just brought. "How unusual! The last time I tasted a tea like this was when I found an ancient wizards storage room under stasis thanks to a chronostone." Flammel said with a smile.