Maw 56
"So, is he going to live?" Kenki questions the disciple of the medical pavilion as they walk through a long hall of the building.
"Oh yes, definitely." The disciple confirms with a smile "He has a powerful water attunement, somewhere in the ninety percent. I don't believe that we even have to give him any potions, just the inherent healing factor of aquatic cultivators should be enough to see him through with no trouble."
"I… see." Ken replies as he follows closely behind.
"I never got your name." The disciple asks once they reach the lobby, a stack of papers suddenly in one hand and a thin brush in the other. Presumably they've been taken out from under one of the desks.
'Right, paperwork.' Kenki sighs internally.
"It's Kaito." He replies with his alias. To this day his real name is known only by the people of his village and those two lyraxi cultivators.
'At least I would like to think so. I'm probably well known by now in the second continent. The first human cultivator with a lyraxi master. My name will be spoken about for centuries to come…' He reminisces about the time back in Northern River's Village.
The disciple's brush glides across the paper, noting down the information.
"I know that you aren't acquainted with the one you brought in but do you happen to know anything more about him?"
"No." Ken shrugs "Other than the fact that he was beaten up by two disciples I didn't even get a glimpse of. It happened right outside of my hut, you see. There was a lot of muffled shouting I couldn't catch."
"Right." The disciple nods, writing something on the paper again.
"Brother, can I ask something." Ken speaks up.
"Not at all, brother Kaito."
"Who foots the bill in case you do need to use potions and medicine to save someone's life? I don't really want to save a disciple in need and then find them in front of my door enraged, ranting about how I ruined them since they couldn't pay for the expenses."
"Ah?" The disciple looks up from the papers, the hand holding the brush ceasing its movement. "Well…" he thinks for a moment, his eyes blankly trailing upwards in search of the relevant memories "...Brother Kaito, the sect takes care of most of the cost for medications but not all of it." He replies, raising an arm to gesture.
"About eighty or so percent? I'm not too certain about the exact number. Nevertheless, I don't believe that you have to worry about something like that. I've been working here for over a year, seen thousands of disciples come in and out and not once have we had someone that is incapable of paying." He awkwardly scratches his chin.
"Even if such a case arises I'm certain that our teacher will step in and pay off their dues. Maybe the unfortunate brother or sister will be forced to sweep the floors for a week as punishment but nothing more than that."
"I see." Kenki nods in understanding.
'I wonder if anyone has ever abused this system?' The boy wonders, his cynical side suddenly taking over.
'Disciples from the alchemy make a deal with someone, presumably some masochist, and injure him to the point where he will require pills and potions to heal. The sect pays off eighty percent of the price of the potions and the masochist the remaining twenty. A week passes, the masochist heals and then in some back alley the two parties exchange the coin. The masochist gets the twenty percent he'd been forced to put in plus some extra for his troubles and the alchemists get to keep the rest.' He lays out his thoughts before beginning to seek for any flaws in the scheme.
'Huh… but that is only assuming that the potions are produced at no cost whatsoever. And I seriously doubt that they can overcharge the sect. The profit margin will be too small for the trouble…'
'I wonder how difficult it would to become an alchemist.'
"Something on your mind, brother?" The disciple speaks out after finishing up the documentation, noticing that Ken is contemplating something.
"Ah…" Ken presents an awkward smile. "I was thinking on joining the alchemy pavilion. I do have a minor attunement to wood as well as a strong attunement to fire. But It's probably not worth it when I can just go and hunt beasts in the forest for coin."
"You should consider it regardless." The disciple says, standing up "Hunting for one's own ingredients should be every alchemist's goal. Even without having talent for alchemy it will still prove to be a huge boon." Papers in hand, he moves past Kenki. "If you'll excuse me"
'...'
A slight shudder passes through Ken's body as he watches the disciple leave.
'Man, I still can't get over how uncanny this is. Someone who's only thirteen or fourteen working in a hospital?' He scratches the back of his head as he looks around 'Where are the adults? Is this some sort of a kindergarden?' He manages to find only one person in the entire lobby that seems to be above the age of twenty, and they just happen to be clad in white robes –a servant. The finding causes Ken to release a long and heavy sigh.
"I guess that we're not meant to stay in the outer sect for long, you leave once you enter the foundation realm."
He turns to leave as there’s no longer a reason to stay
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"You rat bastard!"
The first thing that happens upon Kenki's return is that he gets kneed in the stomach.
"M–Master Naoe!?" Her servant, Yuki, screeches out. "Th- this really isn't necessary!"
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"By the emperor. Yes it is!" Naoe grinds out through her teeth. She throws out a punch the second time around but Ken manages to deflect it with his elbow.
"What the hells?" A voice full of exasperation leaves Kenki's lips. "I get that I locked you inside the hut but I was only gone for like thirty minutes." He sidesteps a roundhouse kick while clutching his abdomen.
"You could have at least told us what happened! What were you even doing that it took you so long to get back."
"I ran to the medical pavilion to save someone's life, what do you think I did!?"
"Oh…" Naoe exclaims, the fire in her eyes fading all at once.
"Oh? Oh!?" He chokes "That's your apology after nearly making me spill my guts out!?"
"I still think that you should have told us what you were going to do. Do you have any idea how frightening it was to be locked in there not knowing if I was gonna be let out? The walls are enchanted. Unbreakable! It felt like I was standing under a mountain!" She strides forwards with heavy steps before grabbing Ken's wrist.
"Come on, I’ve dealt with the other ingredients. We can get started with the fun stuff now." As she says so her expression shifts from one of disgruntlement to one of happiness, the sudden change throwing Kenki off.
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"Usually you'd want to use a special alchemical furnace to make the ether but a pot should do just fine." Naoe begins to explain the process as she retrieves the brand new cast iron pot that Ken had stored in his basement. "It will be exhausting this way since there won't be anything keeping your Qi inside so you'll constantly have to feed it more and more energy."
"Right." There's a nod of understanding from Kenki. He observes as Naoe fills the pot with water. "Don't you need to measure that? You aren't just eyeballing this are you?"
"M'not." Naoe frowns "Just watch what I'm doing, will ya? You can't just measure the exact amount of water and ethervine you need, mix them together and then leave them to simmer for twenty minutes."
"Now, first of all what you want to do is to bring the water inside to a near boil, it's very important that you use your fire Qi for this, a simple wood fire won't work." Saying so she places her arms on both sides of the pot and begins to channel her energy inside the water. One arm releases Qi while the other absorbs it.
"The biggest problem with this recipe is keeping the water at a constant temperature. Add too much heat and it will ruin the ingredients. Keep it too low and the process won't take place at all."
The two chat about how the alchemical process works while waiting for the water to heat up. Naoe either cannot answer or is uncertain about most of Kenki's questions.
"Next, we must add this thing here." She picks up a small cup filled with a red powder before gently sprinkling its contents inside "This is called 'Fuiren'... I think? Or maybe it was 'Fuiron'. It's some sort of a plant found in the forest. There's actually a long list of materials with similar properties you can use for this step. I'm using this one since it's the cheapest on the market."
"It is a catalyst, meaning that it speeds up the process. You don't need to use it but it shortens the reaction from something that would take hours to something that would take only a couple of minutes."
'Hoh.' A spark ignites in Kenki's eyes as he listens to her explanations. 'That sounds exactly like how chemical reactions work back on Earth. Interesting.'
"Can you reuse it after you're done making the Ether?"
"No." Naoe shakes her head. "One of the steps in the recipe is to completely destroy it to increase the purity of the final product. You'll see." She huffs out a breath of air, her breathing has been getting increasingly more labored as time passes. Constantly channeling Qi out of your body is quite the demanding process.
The red powder dissolves into the water at quite the fast pace, turning the liquid into an exceptionally vibrant, bloody red. It's as if a bucked of food dye has been poured into the pot.
"Woooah." Kenki can't help but exclaim in amazement at the sight of it.
"Pretty cool, eh pretty boy?" Naoe smiles widely. "Just make sure not to add too much or some of the powder is going to float to the bottom, you'll have to start over."
"Can't you just strain it if that happens?"
"Yeah. Good luck straining it while at the same time keeping the mixture in the perfect temperature. I'm sure that will work out." She huffs again, a drop of sweat forming on her brow.
"Yuki!" She shouts out.
"Y-yes, Master Naoe?" The door to the hut creaks open in short order, the servant boy peeks in with only one eye visible.
"How's the fire doing?"
"I've started it." The boy replies. "I- It's the same size as last time and I'm keeping it going so please take as long as you need."
"Good." Naoe nods with satisfaction as she returns back to her work. There's a small thump as the door is closed.
"Kai, scoop up some of the powdered ethervine and drop it inside. Not too much though, it should be roughly the same in amount as the 'Fairen' I put in."
'I thought you said it was called Fuiron!' Ken does as he is instructed, grabbing an empty cup and scooping some of the ethervine powder from the large bowl. After Naoe confirms that the amount is fine he sprinkles its contents inside.
"Now stir it." She takes a deep breath before cursing out loud. "Emperor's fucking nuts! I didn't think that it would be this tiring to use just a regular iron pot." Her face wrinkles up as she speaks "What they have me practice with might as well just be a copper pot that just happens to be shaped like a furnace. No enchantments or anything fancy on it."
"Maybe the very shape and material are what helps contain the Qi." Ken comments as he picks up a spoon and begins to stir the mixture around. "Also I'm fairly certain that furnaces have lids meant to be opened only for the purpose of placing more materials inside."
"Geh." Naoe chokes. "You do have a point there."
"I'd help you but my control isn't very good. I'd probably make the pot explode."
"Even if you had perfect control you'd still ruin it. 'The one who starts the alchemical process must see it through to the end.' That is an important rule of alchemy and it exists for a reason."
"Right. Right." Ken 'agrees' with her. She'd usually react with a snarky comment of her own but the exhaustion is getting to her.
"Is it just me…" He says with a frown as he continues to stir. "...Or is this losing its color."
"It would be weird if it didn't lose its color. I'll explain it later, just keep adding more until all the redness is gone."
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And finally, after some grueling channelling done by Naoe, the hardest part of the recipe is completed. The pot filled with what seems to be regular, although murky, water is placed outside over the fire. It only seems like water until one leans in to take in its foreign odor.
"There, you can take a rest now." Kenki tells her as he pinches his nose.
'The smell isn't terrible, but most certainly isn't pleasant.'
"Hah… Ahum." The young and aspiring alchemist girl dumbly nods. She's already spread out on the soft grass like a starfish, her face planted in the soil.
"So…" Ken takes a seat next to her. "What's next?"
Naoe twists her head so that her nose and mouth aren't buried in the ground, she stares at her friend with tired eyes. Going by the general aura she exudes to a regular person it would seem like she's aged by a couple of years.
"We just wait for the water to boil away." She begins to explain with a low voice, more than a whisper but less than actual speech. "Midway through we're going to add some minor ingredients that will increase the Ether's potency. I also need to recover for that since there's one last thing that requires my Qi… remember how I told you that the one who starts the alchemical process must see it through to the end?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, it's precisely because of things like this final step." She grunts, taking some time to turn on her back. "The way it was explained to me, the Qi of every man and woman in this world is unique in its own kind of way. Take me and you for example, we both have fire Qi, we both have wood Qi, and so do hundreds of other disciples in this sect. All of us have differences in the way our Qi is structured and in the way it behaves, even though it all falls under the same name. You following me?"
"Kind of, do continue." He urges her forward with a hand gesture.
"So let's take my wood and fire Qi. They are different but they are also the same because they come from me. Do you know what happens when you mix fire and wood Qi?"
Ken thinks for a second.
"The fire consumes the wood Qi and uses it as fuel to burn brighter?"
"That's exactly it. The final step is to infuse the mixture with a tiny amount of the wood element. It will cause the fire Qi that is attached to the Fairon to burn, destroying the ingredient and increasing the Ether's purity. The mixture will turn crystal clear as a result. But if you used your wood Qi to fuel my fire Qi, it won't work. It will only burn out a portion of the impurities since our Qi's are different."
"..."
"Is something wrong?" The girl raises an eyebrow at the awkward silence that follows after her explanation.
"No, everything's fine." Ken stands up "Anyways, you want something to eat? By the looks of things it's gonna take a while for the water to boil off."
"Yes I would!" Naoe exclaims in sudden excitement. "Do you have anything sweet??? Get something for Yuki too."
"Master, that isn't necessary!"
Kenki replies with a deadpan voice "I only have rations."
"Blergh."