Soon another student arrived. The woman had fiery red hair worn in braided pigtails. She looked surprised to see me.

“Oh. I am not the only one taking this class? Cool! Hi, I am Cassie.”

“Hello. I am Koyuki. Why did you think you were the only one?”

“Advanced alchemy is not popular. Well, not in this academy. Most people who are interested in the topic will go to a civilian school. I think many underestimate the value of a good potion, or bomb.”

“Ah. I am taking it to help with necromancy.”

“Eh, bones are not my thing. I just want explosions!” Her blue eyes gleamed with excitement.

But we were not the only ones taking the class. A third student arrived. He had white hair, glasses and looked more like a scholar than a fighter.

Cassie waved at him. “Hi. We are just introducing ourselves. I am Cassie.”

He took a moment to consider, then walked towards us. I noticed his golden eyes, not a common colour for a human. But a lot of mages had quirks like that.

“Hello. I am Finley.”

“I am Koyuki, nice to meet you.” I greeted him.

“So? Why did you take alchemy?” Cassie asked. “Is it explosions?”

He frowned. “No. I am aiming for a posting in the logistics division. Alchemy is a good fit for that.”

Our conversation was interrupted as our teacher arrived. “Three students this year, splendid!” Horas said.

“Welcome to advanced alchemy! This class is a bit more personalised than your other subjects. One of the advantages when there are so few students. While you all need to learn the basics of how to brew something, you are allowed to choose between a variety of recipes.”

That sounded nice. So I could just focus on things that helped me with my necromancy.

“First though, how is alchemy performed? There are two important parts. The first is just like cooking. You have a number of ingredients that you measure and prepare in a certain way. Anyone can do this and many alchemists hire assistants for that. The second part is where you need magic. What truly makes a potion work is the infusion of mana.”

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He let that sink in for a moment. Or maybe he was waiting if there was a question. When nobody raised their hand he continued.

“Essentially the recipe creates a spellform. One that uses neutral mana. At least most recipes do. The ingredients themselves provide the element. A basic fire bomb uses parts of a fire affinity monster.”

I raised my hand.

“Koyuki.”

“How does the spellform work? Do we just channel mana into the pot where we mix things?”

“Sadly, it’s not that easy. Otherwise any mage could do it without training. You need to identify the natural spellform that your ingredients created and match that in your mind. Then you channel the energy. Those spellforms change depending on the type of ingredients and the amounts. For common potions those are well documented. As long as you follow the instructions precisely, the spellform you need to use can be looked up.”

Cassie raised her hand.

“Cassie.”

“But does that not mean every mage can do it? They just follow instructions and use the spellform in the book?”

“To an extent, yes. The problem is that even small changes require you to alter the spellform a little. Is your iron root too dry? Nudge a line here. Is your gronberry too sweet? Change a line there. Ingredients are not always the same. No two apples are really identical. The art of alchemy is to get the spellform just right for your potion.”

I raised my hand again.

“Koyuki.”

“What happens if your spellform is wrong?”

“Now that depends on what you are trying to brew. If it is slightly off it might need more mana, or result in a weaker product. For a simple potion with only a few ingredients you can stick with the base spellform. For more complex things you will need to make modifications for any kind of success. Failures range from nothing happening to explosions. Big explosions.”

I glanced at Cassie who was grinning madly. I made a mental note to keep my distance from her workstation.

“Now the really important question is: How do you figure out the right spellform? There is a spell called alchemist’s sight. The good news is, it is easy to learn. It allows you to look at a mixture and identify the mana pathways within. The bad news is, interpreting what you see and adjusting a spellform accordingly is hard. It takes a lot of practice. Some really gifted people can even design new potions with it. In the book for this class you will find the spell, I expect you to learn it quickly. Next week you can choose your first project. But for today we have something interesting.”

He looked at me with a smile. Then I noticed a door in the back opening and a skeleton floated inside. The bones were not entirely clean and smelled of rot.

“Another spell you might want to learn is mute scent. Many things in this class will smell bad. It’s also rather helpful on a battlefield. Anyway, Koyuki here has a high affinity for death magic. Her teacher asked me if I could help prepare her first skeleton. So I will use this as a demonstration.”

He dumped the bones on the floor behind him.

“Mind you, I will create the alchemical solutions you need but applying them is your job.”

I nodded eagerly.

“The first thing we do is create a cleaning solution. Now why are we not just using soap and water? Because besides cleaning the bones my creation will increase their ability to absorb mana.” While Horas was talking he arranged a number of ingredients on his desk. Then he used the pipe next to the stove to fill a pot with water.

“There are lines inside the pot for basic measurements. That is usually good enough for water. Part of it will evaporate when you boil it anyway. This can make it tricky to get the right amount of water in your final product.” Horas explained. “Now come here to my table and watch.”

He explained his steps as he prepared ingredients and added them. The most interesting part came when he infused the mana. We could not see the spell but the result was visible. The fluid in the pot glowed and turned from brown to light blue.

“And it is finished! Once it cools down you can use it to clean the bones Koyuki.”

For the first time in my life I was looking forward to cleaning.