"By the way." Aleister pointed his finger at the scroll in her hand. "I'm still waiting on you to translate the steps to create alchemical fire for me."

"Are you sure you want to do it now? If it succeeds, your soul will awaken on the spot."

"My fight with Brilnia is simply out of boredom. If I become a Weaver before then, that's two weeks' time saved, plus I don't have to lose. Win-win in my books."

"I'm surprised. You aren't as angry as I thought you would be."

"One of them was because of misinformation, it happens. On the other hand, the spellbook lie is a kind of annoying, but you were right. It was technically yours. I just misinterpreted that information and you played along," Aleister said with a sigh. "So I demand possession of the spellbook from now on. And I just remembered how you vaguely mentioned something about showing me spells to learn from? Is that something you can still do?"

Syn pulled out the scrappy looking tomb and tossed it onto his bed. "I've been unable to cast anymore spells since our contract. Just one of the number of unknown restrictions placed on me I bet."

"Do you know of any others?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but one of them is that I can only travel a certain distance away from you. Not the biggest of problems. Something already limited me in the distance I could travel even before the contract. And the other is that I'm not allowed to be on a different plane than you. The exception being the Ethereal Plane."

"Exactly how far?"

"Trying to stalk me, are you? That's fine. It's about five-hundred meters in any one direction."

"That's not as far as I thought. Also, that means you bought all of these materials from the marketplace! Why didn't you just force me to go? Would have saved me so much time."

"I didn't buy most of the materials at the sale price, and instead, their actual value. It was cheaper that way."

"Oh, well then, carry on."

"In addition to the magnesite and alcohol spirit you have out, you also need phosphorite and tree sap."

Aleister grabbed all the ingredients and moved them over. He took in a few breaths and cleared his state of mind. "I'm ready."

Syn dictated the steps to him.

First, he filled up his cauldron with magnesite and closed both vents. Then he lit the magnesite ablaze with a few matches and closed the top. This was a process of purification in which the volatile substances would burn away leaving only a dust. Steam pushed through the vents and forced them open. Aleister slid the top off and took a peek at the ashen contents.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"Wow, this smells absolute horrid."

"I didn't tell you to stick your face into it. And add in the alcohol spirit right now. You don't want to let it cool down."

"How much do I add?"

"Use the one in the jar, and I will tell you when to stop."

Aleister closed the vents and started to pour in the spirit of alcohol.

"Stop."

"Yeah, obviously. The cauldron literally cannot hold anymore. Should have just told me to fill it to the brim."

"I meant stop talking and start stirring. Make sure the magnesite emulsifies with the alcohol spirit completely."

Aleister stirred the contents with a glass rod until his wrist started to ache. "Alright its done."

"Light the solution on fire and add half of the tree sap slowly once it reduces past the vents."

"Lighting this on fire seems dangerous."

"It is. And it will burn at a rapid pace, so be ready."

He lit a match, and after a quick breath; he ignited the alcohol. The fire burst from the top of the cauldron and singed the edge of his thumb.

Syn wasn't joking when she said it would burn fast. By the time he grabbed the jar of tree sap, the fire had already a quarter of the ways down. Aleister held the tilted jar of viscous tree sap right on the cauldrons edge to reduce the few seconds it would take to drop in. He waited until the solution filled up only the bottom of the valve and then started to pour. The fire transformed from a brilliant orange to a dirty yellow before its eventual dissipation.

"Stir until combined and then drip in the rest of the tree sap."

Aleister picked up the glass rod and went to stir the solution once again. Unfortunately, the alcohol spirit and magnesite only amplified the viscous nature of the tree sap.

"You messed up," Syn said, noticing this.

"So do I need to restart?"

"No, you can continue."

Aleister clicked his tongue and went to work. He switched hands multiple times as they gave out. Eventually, the more the solution amalgamated, the less it effort it required. Once he believed it was combined thoroughly, he dripped into the rest of the tree sap. The solution's colour shifted from an opaque and ashen brown to a light marigold. As he finished and pulled his glass rod out, the way in which the sticky liquid looked and dropped was reminiscent of honey.

"The consistency is correct, but the colour is all wrong as it shouldn't have any colour at all."

"Did I add the tree sap too late or too early?"

"You added too much at the same time. It needed to de dripped down like you just did."

"Should have mentioned that."

"I did say slowly."

"Did you really?"

"Yes."

Aleister shrugged. "What's next?"

Syn said nothing and hovered over the cauldron. After a careful examination of the contents within the cauldron, she said, "It's not perfect, but its good enough, especially since its still producing the alkemical anima."

"Are you going to force that into me now?"

"No, you aren't done. Transfer all this into as many flasks as you can."

Aleister turned to his storage chest. "What type of flasks? I have way too many types."

"These." Syn pointed at a set of medium-sized rectangular flasks. "Those were the cheapest ones that will shatter easily and have the correct type of screwable cork lid. Three-fourths of the way."

Although he lit multiple fires in his cauldron, it was still cool to the touch, and allowed him to transfer the contents evenly through a single open vent instead of having to use a ladle. The result netted him twelve flasks. He spread across the minimal left over amount instead of bothering with an extra one.

"Now, with the phosphorite, you need to grind it down with your mortar and pestle. Any impurities it contains will only be of help. Then," she placed down a few tubes of transparent orbs, "You fill twelve of these up. Remember how you asked about how this was possible? These here are the answers."