The first thing I do upon reaching the library is take it all in. I walk around and take note of their organization scheme which is slightly different than previous worlds. This is likely due to the religious and spiritual nature of Alkahestry and its importance in a lot of society. So, they have a lot of spiritual help books in amidst the books that reference introductory Alkahestry examples. Thankfully the level 25 bonus to reading helps find the more relevant books to what I’m looking for. Though unfortunately I don’t know whether or not the information is correct just that it’s relevant to what I’m looking for.
When I start reading through my 50th book It’s describing the mix of herbs that are used to cure a specific affliction in the northern parts of Xing. I may be able to gain an idea of what sort of herbs I can use to attempt to make some more modern medicine.
Before I can really think too deeply on it though, I’m rudely interrupted by one of my guards. “Young master, it’s getting quite late. I’m sure you can continue tomorrow in the morning. Perhaps we best head back after a quick dinner?”
Letting out a long sigh I take that book and a small pile along with me back to my room. I can read in the dark now thanks to Unseen Eye. So, I might be able to get a quick read in before bed tonight… Looking at my reading skill it’s gone up a bit reaching level 40. Not much longer until I get another useful ability. I also feel like I should be able to make some progress with Alkahestry once I start getting some of the more specific details of how to use it. Rather than the materials used in specific cures, along with the duration of flames and all these useless details on feeling and rumbles of the jug before the concoction is completed.
Finally getting back to the dinning area mom and Su are there already.
“Jiang! You’re back. I was worried perhaps you’d be lost out there until tomorrow! So how was your day what did you do?” Mom starts up the conversation first while Su looks over at me likely knowing exactly where I’ve been all day.
“I was at the library. I was only able to read a few books though before I had to come back.” At this Su let’s out a small laugh. Mom seemed a bit confused at that though.
“Okay well what did you do afterwords or before that? You have to of done something else right?” I just stare at her blankly for a moment not really able to think of anything else I would have done.
“Um… no? I’d like to learn more about Alkahestry though. It’s an interesting subject and the library books don’t go into much detail about how to actually use it.”
“You just sat and read books for 14 hours? Um okay… Well um Alkahestry is a very difficult subject for most people… I’m sure you would do great but anything beyond the basics will require very special tutors. I’m sure we can have one of our pill makers give you lessons?” Mom turns towards Su who nods in affirmation before leaving.
“Now, let’s eat before bed, shall we?” I dig in for a meal as I do feel a bit hungry… I’ve been eating at least three times as much as I used to over the last year. I don’t know what it all goes besides likely a higher calorie requirement for my body to just sustain itself.
After the meal I head off to bed with my books in tow. I start reading just a couple of pages before sleeping…. Then a few more. Just another page or two before I fall asleep won’t hurt.
Eventually Su opens the door to wake me for breakfast. She seems a bit surprised that I’m already up. “Good morning young master. I’m surprised you are already awake at this time.” She looks over to one of the guards who is on post who gives a small shake of their head.
“Are you okay young master?” She moves towards me with a slight concern in her voice.
“Of course… um what time is it?” I look up with a slight heaviness to my eyes.
“Well, it’s still early in the morning… But I don’t think you should sleep now. I have procured an Alkahestry instructor for you in about four hours… Should I reschedule?” It takes me a moment to process that but then I snap back to myself.
“No no I should be fine. It’s just a couple of hours so I should be fine. It seems relatively simple anyways after I read all of these. I also have a lot of pressing questions I want answered.” I raise a small notebook nearly full of questions. A lot of them are about specific reactions that different substances have and at what temperatures, that way I can approximate their composition based on the results properties and what was added to them. Perhaps I can figure out a more efficient method of making a toothpaste and other general hygiene items that while they have them are still relatively primitive.
“Okay as long as you feel fine young master.” She turns around and begins to leave likely to go tell on me to my mom… Hah I can already feel a lecture coming on about this. For now, though I just get dressed and ready for the lecture. Organizing my notes and questions on matter of importance and specifics about the process. I’m sure most of it is just based on tradition and could be more modernized, like the equipment used don’t need to be mixing jugs over a fire. We have gas stoves so I can make a bunsen burner or even better create a thermoregulated heatplate so long as I have the proper materials. I’m sure they have the parts I need to make it. In the notes listed one of our somewhat neighboring countries has cars so it would be a surprise if we are that far behind them.
I start doodling various ideas on how to make a more modernized lab set up for my needs when I’m snapped out of it by Su. “Young master… are you sure you’re okay? You still haven’t touched your food and it’s long gone cold.” I look up from my notes and realize that mom and Su have both been staring at me for a while.
“Yes… yes I’m fine I just really zoned in there for a bit on my notes… Um do we have anything that stores electricity for extended use?” I don’t know the word for battery in this language yet.
“Like a battery? Yes but what would you need that for? I understand you have a lesson on Alkahestry later but I’m sure you can work your way up to anything as complicated as that right?” I cross out needing to make a battery in my notes… then rescrible it in considering they likely use some form of nickel-cadmium or some other basic battery when I can make a nickel-hydr-
My notebook is taken away by and it takes me a moment to blink and look for who it was that took it away.
“Su, I need that can you please hand it back?” She starts looking through the detailed notes.
“You have quite a lot here… You’ve been working on this for some time, yes? Well, eat first then you get it back. I’m sure your ideas will last until after you have your fill. If you don’t your body will suffer from both a lack of sleep and food later.” I begrudenly start hogging down my breakfast.
I eventually get back to my notes until it’s time for my Alkahestry lesson. By now my eyes feel like they are straining but I can keep pushing it back this is important after all. I have so many questions… like… I check my notes yeah it’s fine I’ve got this.
I go into a small room with a table and several books on the side. A man is there an looks quite annoyed that he has to be there.
“Ah I see this is the young master. Well nice to meet you let’s get on with this before I have to get back to work.” He immediately starts drawing on the table with some chalk.
I sit across from him slightly confused. Until he finishes his drawing.
“Now, I’m going to give you a simple demonstration of two of the applications of Alkahestry. Then I would like you to read these books before we have our next session, okay?” I give him a small nod staring at the design on the table. It’s a circle with a five-pointed star much like what I felt on my back during my first Chi lesson.
“Now this is the base symbol for most Alkahestry reactions. The Circle represents the world, the point of each end represents on of the different fundamental elements found within everything. Because this is just a basic circle it requires quite a bit of knowledge to make most reactions occur. But since it is not specialized it is equally okay at all forms of Alkahestry rather than good or bad at any in particular.” He presses his hands on the circle and in the middle the wooden table shifts up and forms into a Jug with a much more complicated symbol etched into it’s side.
“Now that is what is called a transmutation. Through a process of understanding the material and applying the feeling and energy given by the Dragons pulse I am able to harness some of it in order to achieve this change within the object. It requires a keen mind and great visualization to achieve this level of complexity.” He gestures towards the Jug.
“Now this is a more specialized Symbol. It’s frequently used for healing balms and ointments.” He reaches into his bag. While he’s doing so I try my best to get a good sketch of his symbol. It’s a circle with the same pointed star as the background but the star is a bit more faded and there is an image of a staff with two serpents crawling up the winged tip staff. Looks like the staff of Caduceus from Hermes which was originally the messenger of mother earth… Okay that makes sense with Chi and around the base of the circle is seems like the points that are wood and water are much more pronounced and thicker than the others and there is some detail of grass flaked within.
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As he finishes taking out the materials, I recognize most of the herbs. They were a part of a recipe that I’d seen previously.
“Alright, now in order to understand what I will be doing next you will likely need to study for a very long time. But I’m just showing you in order for you to have an understanding of what you can accomplish one day if you work hard enough.” He then shoves all the materials into the jug and lights the wooden jug on fire at the base. He then starts to activate the symbol on the side… It all seems very… inefficient. It’s nice that he can make this on the spot if he were outside in the field. But this also seems like a lot of waste if he needs a new jug every time he burns one. Also there may be wasted material inside…
After approximately 30 minutes in which time, I read through one of the provided books he finally finishes and wipes some sweat off his brow.
“Now that, young master is how a healing balm is made. As you can see it takes a lot of time and effort to make this much at once. You need to have a true understanding of the materials. This symbol is of my own creation. The different symbols help specific materials work more easily, requiring less information, concentration and visualization of the change in order to affect the material it’s focused towards. Something specialized though becomes much worse at all other materials. It’s the balance of the star anything dedicated towards water will push against anything being used to make fire.” He takes a sample of the healing balm out and presents it to me on a small cloth.
I look it over and it smells like a basic ointment, containing alcohol and some other substance that’s allowing it to be sticky and a faint hint of gingerroot so likely some kind of equivalent in this world which would make sense because it’s a natural antihistamine.
“Okay, thank you for your instruction. You answered many of my questions. Another important one is, will this work on any material so long as you understand it’s composition and make the appropriate symbol?” I start sketching my own in my notes but it’s somewhat annoying attempting to draw a perfect circle freehand.
“They are called transmutation circles and… Well, there are only two rules of Alkahestry. The Law of Natural Providence, you can only change one substance into another of the like substance. Such as water can only be made into things with the properties of water. Then the law of conservation of mass, where you cannot make more from less.” The second one makes sense it’s a fundamental law in the previous worlds I’ve been to as well.
“The first one doesn’t make sense. You just made a healing balm out of several herbs?”
“Ah, but that’s where it’s not entirely accurate. There is a little trick to it you see. Alkahestry is built around the concept of a universal solvent. First you must comprehend the object, then deconstruct it then reconstruct it. I have a grand understanding of these materials and that allows me to break them down into tiny pieces and mix in such a way as to create this balm.” Oh… do they not… do they not understand what atoms are?
“What is the smallest part of water then?” I ask testing the ‘waters’.
“Oh, one molecule of water. Any less and they become other substances, but they can’t be separated without adding something else, so we mix it in such a way that it makes what we want.” Okay promising. They have the basic idea of a molecule going.
“Okay what is water made of?” Okay now to see how much they know about molecules and atoms.
“Two small parts that we cannot determine. All we can tell is that two separate gasses are released when water is electrified. But they are just parts of a whole they are…” Then he goes on a rant about the connection to the dragon’s pulse for a while longer. Not really answering my question fully… I don’t think they have a full periodic table here. I don’t think they understand… are all of the major discoveries of the element’s secrets passed down only to trusted people because they don’t want everyone to be able to just use this power? Like now that I understand it I can probably just kill someone with carbon monoxide and no one would notice.
While reeling from that revelation I’m interrupted by the man finally noticing I’m not listening.
“Ah I’m sorry young master. I’m sure this is all too much for you right now. But after you read those books, I’m sure you will better understand.” I almost want to yell at him for his little understanding of even basic chemistry despite being a professional working under us. But I calm myself down. It just means that I can likely just do whatever I want here.
“Are there any other countries that are better than us at Alkahestry?” I’m curious if any of them are better.
“Well… to the west there is Amestris which is known for it’s automail and military alchemy. To the east there are several smaller nations that each have lessor specialties primarily in textiles and goods. Aerugo to the southwest are known for their unparalleled understanding of sand. They have never lost any land to any war due to their understanding of the terrain.”
“What is Automail and Alchemy? Are they different from what we use?”
“I’m unsure young master all we have are books explaining the subjects much. Automail is some sort of metal limb replacement. Alchemy though I’m to understand rather than the dragons pulse they use the energy from the earth below us. But that seems limited compared to the vast connection of the life of the planet.” Hmm perhaps it’s better to use tectonic plates though since taking energy from the life of the planet seems a little like it might bite us in the ass. While tectonic plates shift all the time not sure how they are connecting to it though. I understand Chi since it flows through everything. As for the limbs? They seem to have prosthetics there I wonder how advanced probably just basic plastic ones at this level of technology. Hell I’ve seen people walk around with leaves instead of umbrellas half the time and we don’t even have access to cars here despite one of our neighboring countries producing them.
“Well, that’s it for today thank you for your assistance.” I get up and nod in respect but don’t look down showing that I’m not bowing in submission.
“You as well young master I’m happy to see that my time was not wasted. You will make a fine scholor one day.” He bows fully before I leave with Su.
“So young master what did you think of your lesson?” I give her a deadpan look.
“Honestly? I can probably do better with my understanding of how things work. I’ll give it a try when we get back to my room. Can I have a nearby room turned into a personal lab? I’ll need several materials and a battery set aside for my use.” Su’s eyes go a little wide but nods tightly. Likely more curious to see what I’ll do with the materials.
“So, what do you have in mind?” arriving back at my room I pull out a piece of paper and start drawing the basic symbol on it… I fail to get a perfect circle several time before giving up and making a makeshift compass out of some other materials. Then use a straight edge to make the lines for my star.
“Alright… now with this I’m going to perform a small experiment.” I place the piece of paper on the table in front of me and I place another blank piece of paper on top of it with an ink well.
“First Understanding, then deconstruction then reconstruction.” I picture the composition of my ink. It’s pretty much just a mixture of a carbon from charcoal mixed with water and thickened with honey until it’s formed a thicker consistency.
In my mind I visualize the ink on a molecular level spreading over the page into a picture. While keeping that image in my mind I touch the basic symbol and I attempt to use Chi manipulation to activate it somehow. After a moment small beats of lightning start to jump about showing a successful activation. But the ink does not leave the well… Right that makes sense I suppose.
I pour a bit of the ink out onto the page and try again. This time the ink glides across the page into the symbol I want. It’s A circle with the five-pointed stare but in the middle are the molecular structure of Silicate in atom form and a picture of a mountain.
Taking that new fresh transmutation circle. I then place it onto a rock while picturing the change in it’s shape to be a mini figurine of Su. Not long afterwords thanks to my mental library I’m able to have a perfect figurine of Su. I even use a little bit of the ink to stain the rock in places to accent shadows and her mask.
That wasn’t much of a challenge though… Now that I can do this… there is so much more I can achieve… I can make the specific parts I need to make a generator I just need the materials. I just… I can blast this country into the future with technology… But should I? At the least I’d like to experiment with Alkahestry, and I may want to explore the other countries as well. I don’t see any harm in developing some basic pills from a more modern era first though. The chemical structure for morphine and a few other medical drugs are fairly simple.
I’m stuck in my now set up lab until late at night. By this point my eyes are burning slightly and I’m ready to pass out but there’s so much to learn! Some of these books detail specific properties of materials that I might be able to identify… But… It’s so… NO! I just a little bit more then I’ll go off to bed.
“Young master?” The sudden voice makes me jump a little bit and wake me up. Turning around Su is looking at everything scattered around the room.
“Ah, um ah Su. You need to knock first next time. Ah right I have something for you… Somewhere? I don’t I think I placed it…” I start blinking a lot trying to fight back how tired I am.
“Young master you need to eat and go to bed. You haven’t slept since the night before last. I’m worried about your health.” I wave her off dismissively. Plenty of people have lasted longer without sleep.
“I’ll be fiiine besides. My body is much better than most peoples now thanks to your training I can last much longer.”
“That may be true when your older young master, but you are still developing. It’s unhealthy to go without food or sleep that you need. So please let’s go to bed now.” I try to dismiss her again but feel a pressure in my head from trying to force my eyes open.
“Young master everything will still be here tomorrow, and you are not on a time limit.” I finally give in. On my way out I almost step on the little figurine of her that I’d made.
“Ah this is for you mo- Su.” Man, I’m tired. I almost called her mom. She looks at it for a bit her eyes smiling before tucking it away within the folds of her tunic.
“Thank you young master. I’ll be sure to show Xin when I return.” Xin? Who is Xin?
“Who is Xin?” I’m sure I haven’t heard of them previously.
“They are to be your designated bodyguard for when you are older. I am currently in charge of you as I am your mothers head bodyguard as I raise my son to be yours.” Wait… how does she have the time to raise him with everything she? Who’s the father? I’ve never seen her not be nearby heck I didn’t even know she slept!
“Oh… That makes sense. Be sure to wish him well for me.” I just nod absentmindedly as we make our way to my room, and I crash for the next 14 hours.