Talin rushed to the Dracneir District, where the housing for medical and alchemy students was located. The golems here looked like the dracneir, a scaled horse with a drake-like head. The larger golems near the entrance to the district had bright orange-red manes that seemed to be made of fire. They nodded at Talin to show he was allowed in.

He continued past them and ran all the way to his cousin's house. Jessup wasn't back yet, so Talin sat in the grass and waited. He looked around at the scenery. All the houses had a walled-in private backyard the students could use as a garden for their ingredients. They had to give up some space for this, so it was not as spacious or beautiful as his dorm.

There was a single mist willow in the middle of the circle of houses with some aquanine orchids arranged around a little pond about 5 strides across. The cobblestone-paved walking path circled around the little area of greenery, wide enough for couple carts to travel on abreast. Talin took in the peaceful atmosphere and cultivated silently.

It was not long before Jessup appeared. Upon seeing Talin, he smiled. "Little cousin, I should have known you would be waiting on me."

Talin stopped cultivating and stood up. "I would have been here this morning but I overslept. Is it ready?"

"Tsk, who exactly do you think you are talking to? Would this genius disappoint?" Jessup posed dramatically, and Talin snorted through his nose.

Jessup went to the door now and led Talin inside. "Little cousin, do you remember what I promised you?"

"Don't tell me you really succeeded?!"

Jessup laughed. "The highest quality pill that I have created in the past is an upper middle rank. This pill I poured my heart into actually turned into a low tier high rank pill, just barely making the cut. I managed to preserve more than 85% of the formula's maximum efficacy. Tell me, am I a genius or what?" Jessup’s voice quivered with excitement as he said all this.He pulled out a bottle and showed Talin a shiny pinkish-red pill about the size of a thumbnail inside.

Talin stood dumbstruck for a minute before getting excited. He rushed forward and gave his cousin a hug. He knew how much effort his cousin must have put into this pill for it to reach such quality. Jessup acted like it was no big deal but Talin could see the bags under his eyes.

Talin wanted to say thank you, but his words stuck in his throat. He had not realized until now just how much he feared leaving the academy. He had been afraid of being sent back to his family’s manor where all those horrible people were and where his father was always too drunk to care. Thankfully Jessup seemed to understand and just patted his head while Talin gathered himself.

“Thanks.”

“Think nothing of it, little cousin.”

“Do you need to record this with the alchemy department? This is a pretty big achievement right?”

“I took care of it this morning on my way to class. You should have seen Professor Krinos’ jaw drop” Jessup went back to grinning smugly.

“You have to be one of the best alchemy talents in the country.”

Jessup’s smug grin turned a bit awkward. “Ah well it isn’t so simple.”

“Why not?” Talin was confused. “I thought you were a genius in alchemy.”

“Not if you look at the kingdom as a whole. Sovereign Guard’s alchemy department used to be the top in the country but Ignosi Academy has held the top spot for nearly thirty years now. I am afraid our top talents in alchemy are below theirs. I would probably only be a bit above average over there.”

“Ignosi, that’s the big academy for mages right?”

“It is the top academy for mages and scholars alike. Entrance is based on intelligence or magic talent, either one can get you in. Their graduates often work in government and due to having a well rounded education, can fill a variety of roles. Their alchemy department is the best there is.”

Talin stayed silent for a moment wondering if it would be inappropriate to ask…

“You’re probably wondering why I didn’t go there instead, aren't you?”

Talin froze as his thoughts were revealed. It must have been pretty obvious. He had not wanted to offend Jessup in case his cousin had tried and failed to get into Ignosi.

Jessup laughed. “Alchemy is something I am talented at and I enjoy it, but my goal is to become a great physician and healer, alchemy is only a small part of that. The shamanic healers of Sovereign Guard are still the best in the kingdom so I chose to come here. Sovereign Guard is much more specialized in what they teach, however an aspiring shaman could not ask for a better place to learn.”

Talin smiled as he thought about it. “You are going to make an incredible healer Jessup.”

Jessup grinned at his compliment. “Have you put much thought into what you want to do after you graduate?”

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Talin’s good mood faltered a bit. “Not really. The teachers still can’t determine my soul’s main attribute so it’s hard to make plans. They say that should change when I finish Soul Forming and can sense my soul lake better.”

Jessup nodded. “Sometimes it’s like that and it is fairly common actually. I read a theory about it in Kinheart’s Amalgam of the Soul that listed it as having something to do with the soul lake’s boundary. I will try and find the book later so you can have a look next time you come over.”

Talin continued to chat with his cousin for a while. School would take a break soon and students that didn’t live too far from the academy were encouraged to go home. Jessup said grandfather was going to send a small carriage to pick them up to go home. Talin was definitely not looking forward to that. He told his cousin that he was heading back to the dorm to cultivate and headed out.

Jessup walked him to the door and watched his departure somewhat wistfully. The events of their childhood replayed in his mind. His mother had been very sick, and everyone was certain she would die. Talin's mother, who was a healer, put forth great effort to cure his mother. In the end Jessup's mother recovered, but Talin's became ill instead. She had exhausted her reserves healing his mother, and thought she would only need to rest to recover. She did not realize until later though that she had been infected as well.

She died, and when Talin's father came home from working abroad and heard what had happened, he lost himself in grief. Jessup had not been able to interfere in that or in the things that followed, but finally he felt that he could be of help to his little cousin and pay back a bit of the debt he owed his aunt. His smile was tainted by melancholy as he remembered those times. He sighed softly and closed the door.

Talin did not know of his cousin's grief, and was instead happily heading back to his district. After reaching the dorm, he rushed into his room clutching the bottle in both hands. Unable to contain his excitement he sat down on the bed immediately. After taking a moment to adjust his breathing he swallowed a pill and began cultivating.

Gathering Spirit Pill was basically only useful for first stage shamans still in the Soul Forming stage. The pill was still very beneficial though as it contained a large amount of essence and had the added benefit of helping gather essence at the soul lake. As soon as it entered Talin's stomach, he felt great waves of essence roll out from it. With barely a thought from him the essence began to gather at the soul lake. The still formless soul in the center of the lake was excitedly absorbing the surplus of essence being fed to it, and as it did Talin could actually sense the spiritual energy within the lake growing.

He could feel the lake getting closer and closer to being full. After cultivating under the effects of the pill for several hours, Talin finally felt pain coming from the spherical soul lake inside his chest. The effects of the pill were fading but he only needed a little push now. Talin redoubled his efforts, focusing on the natural essence in the air and pulling it towards his soul lake. The pressure within the lake reached a crescendo and Talin felt an intense pain coming from the center of it.

The formless and weak soul could finally stand no more as the pressure became too much. Talin felt it twist and turn within him as it struggled within the intense spiritual energy. Finally, there seemed to be a weak flash of light from within the soul lake and Talin blanked out. His senses within his soul lake suddenly became incredibly clear. For the first time he could sense every facet of his soul, each movement as it struggled under the pressure of spiritual energy. This was breakthrough clarity.

According to what he learned in class this was the best moment to try resonating with the Source. He took deep breaths and focused on keeping his head clear from distracting thoughts, something hard to do in practice, especially under the excitement of his breakthrough. He took his time to breath and calm himself, careful not to break the trance his breakthrough had provided.

Once he was calm, he took his time to start feeling out his soul. Calling it formless didn’t seem right anymore as the surrounding pressure pushed it into something like a ball. It moved and pulsed strangely, seeming simultaneously alien to his senses yet familiar to him, like a part of himself he always knew was there but had not been able to feel until now.

Now with utmost care he focused his senses on it, tuning everything else out. The sensations of his body, the beating of his heart, every distracting thought was filtered out. Only the soul was left.

There was a stillness like nothing he had ever felt. As his physical sensation left him, he became the soul, floating in nothing. Then he felt something else. The Source. The origin of everything.

It was nothing like he had imagined it. When the teachers described the Source he had always pictured it as some far off... thing, some unknowable power far beyond his world, but the truth was that the Source was right there. Maybe it was better to say it was everywhere. It was everything. The essence, the air, the animals, the trees, the ground, even he himself. Everything was a part of the Source. The teachers had said everyone experienced this moment differently, but Talin could not see how the truth could be anything else.

He revelled in the sensation for what felt like days, maybe years. Time had become difficult to judge. When he finally came around and realized what he was doing Talin almost lost his concentration and slipped out of the trance. He berated himself for losing focus. He had no idea how long he could hold this state and knew this would be his only chance to resonate with the Source. If he messed things up and failed to gain any benefits from the Source it would be a big regret.

Calming himself again he began to send out his senses into the Source. Strangely something within the Source seemed to respond. He felt something like a presence within the Source. It felt familiar but distant, like something he knew long ago but had forgotten. It guided him with gentle urgings towards a certain spot within itself, a place that felt like himself but was not. It gave a strange sensation like the cold air from a deep dark well and the moment his senses touched it, he knew it was what he came for.

Abruptly, Talin felt his awareness shift back to himself. The feeling of being one with the Source faded as it gave him what he needed. Slowly his soul began to still before collapsing in itself. Slowly it began to change, changing to look more like himself. As it began to gain form, something else began to change within it as well. Something Talin could not quite explain. It felt more like himself than it had before, more complete.

Talin came back to his normal senses now with great excitement. His soul had finally taken form and now he could finally find out what his attribute was. Attributes could be thought of as elements like fire and water, but it could also include fusions of elements and parts of elements like blood and ice.

The attribute determined what uses the Shaman's soul magic would have. For example, a wood attribute Shaman would be able to catalyze plants for various uses. Giving the soul form was an important part in strengthening the soul so it could control the attribute it possessed naturally.

Another point to be happy about was how similar it looked to himself. The soul would naturally come to look more like him as he cultivated, but it was said the closer it matched you after forming the easier it would be during the third stage, Soul Binding. At the end of the week he could go to register his advancement and take a talent test to find out more about his attribute and talent.