CHAPTER 5: ALCHEMISTS WORKSHOP

I trudged beside Rayna as we made our way to her workshop. The crunching of our shoes and the scraping of the sled were the only sounds to keep us company in the desolate landscape through which we walked. Cracked earth and small piles of sand made up most of the landscape, with craggy stone plateaus rising out of the ground as if they were the spine of some long dead monster.

Trying to distract myself from my increasingly depressing descriptions of the world I decided to ask my traveling companion a question that had been bothering me. “So, what is an alchemist anyways?”

“Really? You don’t know what an alchemist is?” she asked me as she raised an eyebrow.

“Well, I know you make potions, but that’s about it.” I sheepishly admitted.

“Not just potions,” Rayna corrected, “but all sorts of things. Alchemy is the art of turning the non magical into the magical, or the purification of magics into something stronger using mana. ‘Course, it’s a lot more complicated than that but that’s just a basic definition.”

“Is alchemy magecraft of magitech?” I ask, remembering my lessons on the difference.

“Can be both, just gotta infuse mana into your product. In practice though it’s mostly magitech. Very few would have the ability to infuse mana into something for three days straight, so most just use mana stones.”

“Would I be able to use your potions?” I ask.

“Yep.”

“But I’m not organic. Why would they work for me?”

“That has to do with how potions are made. Potions are imbued with the concept of their effect rather than a step by step guide. A step by step guide may be more potent or effective, but they’re only useful for that one thing. The other way though makes it so that the potion works on almost any injury, just with decreased effectiveness. Why it works on mechs is a bit of a mystery, but it seems to have to do with having a will of your own. Potions activate because their user wants them to. Maybe it’s a small amount of magecraft.” She stops at a door in one of the rock plateaus. “We’re here.”

As I got sucked into our conversation I had stopped paying attention to our surroundings. We had walked up to one of the rocky protrusions. Nothing marked this one as different from the others, except the almost hidden door placed into it. Right next to a much larger door.

Rayna pulls out a keyring from one of her belt pockets and shoves one of the keys into the smaller door. There's a click as she turns the key and she opens the door to let us in.

She walks in first, dragging the sled full of materials in behind her and I follow. A strange cocktail of emotions fill me as I look upon her home. The main room is a dedicated workshop filled with all manner of knick knacks and currently brewing potions. Some are gently heating above a small fire while others bubble and violently shake in their confines. A small hall runs off the back, leading to what I presume are a bedroom and bathroom.

It feels like home. The random parts and equipment might be different but it was just like Diala’s workshop. It made the emotions I was trying to keep in the back of my mind escape confinement. I missed my Mom. I was so scared.

I firmly shoved those thoughts back. I would get stronger. I would learn and I would come back to help her.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

“Come over here.” Rayna said while walking toward the hallway. “I got something to show you.”

Hurrying over to her while making sure to stay clear of her potions I follow her into the hallway, and through a door. This door leads to a large open room that has another door facing the exit. It seems this is that mysterious large door.

But what really grabs my attention is the weird carriage in the room. It looks like a wagon but is covered with a small inside. The wheels aren’t wood and instead rubber.

“What is it?” I can’t help but ask.

“Horseless carriage.” Rayna says “Was gonna show off the prototype here and try to sell them, but, well…”

I nod, trying not to think of the danger my city has fallen into. “Is this what we’re going to use to leave?”

“Sure is kid. I’ve got most of the potions to finish it brewing in the back, and the last ones I can get started with what I’ve brought back.” Rayna turned away from the carriage and heads back into the workshop. “I’ll take what I need from the pile, otherwise you can use the rest for your repairs and whatever else. Just make sure to get a dagger.”

“Why a dagger?” I ask while following her back.

“I want you to have something reliable instead of whatever prototypes you make. Having your only weapon stop working in the middle of a fight is a good way to end up dead.”

I nod at her explanation and wait for her to finish gathering what she needs. When she finishes most things are still on the sled. It seems she didn’t need much.

“Why’d you take so little but gather so much?” I can’t help but ask.

“Well, I figured having spare parts when I left would help. Could help gather some funds or take them apart and use them to replace old parts on my equipment or the carriage.”

I shrug and decide to just take an armful of scraps. Doesn’t really matter what I take anyways. Taking my bounty to an open table I place everything down then boost myself up next to it. Taking a large piece of metal I begin to chow down.

Glancing up I notice Rayna staring at me. “What?” I ask from around a mouthful of steel plate and copper wiring.

She shakes her head. “Just… just never seen anyone eat solid metal before.”

I scrunch my brow. How else would they do it?

“Most just use a compartment to bring it in.” Rayna answers. Whoops, seems I spoke that question out loud. I nod at her to show I understand and she turns back to her work, shaking her head.

I continue my meal, forging the metal into the different parts that I need to repair myself. I let my repair systems bring the parts that I need internally to their required places, and take the old parts to my stomach to get recycled. A make a strong magnet in order to pull out the dents in my frame.

Fully repairing myself takes a few hours. Time I spend thinking about what I should make. Diala never let me touch the super dangerous stuff, so I’m mostly drawing a blank.

I try to think about it differently. What are things that are dangerous in normal magitech? Ah, of course! Energy compiling circuits will explode! I quickly design a grenade that connects a circuit that will quickly overload a magic stone and explode with the press of a button. I produce a few of those along with the dagger and place them on the table.

I look over at Rayna for inspiration, but I’m still drawing a blank. I do think of a question to ask her however. “When are we leaving?”

She glances up at me. “Should be ready by tomorrow evening, so we’ll probably leave the next morning.”

I nod and go back to my own project. So I have a day and a half for whatever I can think of.

What’s another way to think of what I know? I look through the blueprints in my mind, trying to see things that could easily become dangerous weapons. I stop on my own blueprints. Heat strong enough to melt steel. Electricity strong enough to magnetize iron. And much much more.

I grin evilly.