Looking out over the mountain as the sun sets I can see the motes of earth mana wisp away towards the elemental earth stone that powers the golems separating our village from the kingdom’s domain. There’s more to it than just powering the village’s measly defenses but I don’t really know much about it. With my legs dangling over the cliff I don’t notice my brother sneaking up behind me until he taps me on the shoulder, sitting down to join me in admiring the view.
“It’s time to head back home Jack, dinner’s on soon and if you wanna listen to the old man’s lesson tonight we’ll need to run there.” Said Andrew.
“Alright then, let’s get going. Did you manage to find anything good while you were out hunting? I don’t wanna be eating dry bread again tonight.” I said, standing up from the cliff’s edge. Before he can react or even answer, I break into a run. “I’ll race you back! First one home gets the last fruit!” Chuckling to myself at Andrew’s bewildered expression I sprint down the path towards home.
Huffing in a faux attempt at anger, Andrew, drawing on a slim few motes of the earth mana seeping off the hillside strengthens his legs as he runs off after his brother. “You know you can’t beat me! You haven’t even attuned yet!” Shouts Andrew, handily catching up to me. “Doesn’t even matter anyway, you know mom’ll save the fruit for you. Plus I got plenty of berries today out hunting.” Said Andrew as he got into stride just over my shoulder.
I shrug in response as I continue running, too out of breath already to respond any further. My brother’s cheating anyway using his spirit attunement. That lucky bastard managed to bond a minor earth spirit. My expression sours at that thought as I was supposed to be the one to bond the earth spirit. Unfortunately my mana pool was too pitiful to pay the tithe required for the bond and dad gave Andrew the spirit instead. Jealous at the thought of my brother’s luck I tune him out as we round the path to the creek just before the village. “Save me some dinner, I’m not hungry right now. I’m gonna just head to the old man’s lesson a bit early tonight. Even if he’s just going over the basics again with the kids.” I say sourly, turning away from the front gate as I head over towards the old man’s shack. Walking up my grimace turns even further as I hear him rehashing the basics of alchemy.
“Alchemy is the art of refining magical materials into powders, potions, pills and transmutations. There are several elemental affinities that alchemists draw from in their works but the main affinities are fire, water, earth, and air. There are also the rare affinities of light and dark, but there are few enough plants with the affinity to make it barely worth mentioning.” Said the old man.
Having heard this explanation dozens of times by now I glance around the fire. Seeing all the kids paying rapt attention to the geezer. Somehow he always managed to get us to sit down and listen to his lessons, even when it's not something all that new or interesting.
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“What’s even the point of learning alchemy? It’s not like the kingdom will let us practice it in their cities, and our village doesn’t have the equipment for it.” I say with dejection. Still upset over my lack of ability for spirit bonds.
“Ah, Jack! You’re early tonight!” Says the old man with a fatherly smile. “The beauty of alchemy is that anyone can practice it! You needn’t have even a lick of mana or even an affinity of your own to practice it! All you really need are a few plants that you could gather or grow yourself!” He says in response.
Looking over the fire I can see the goofy grin on his face as he rehashes the conversation we’ve had countless times before as the motes of fire mana smoke away. I know he’s only trying to make me feel better but I can’t help but have my jealousy rekindled over my meager abilities. “I thought alchemists needed to use their mana to control and temper the energy from the plants to do their work.” I snap back angrily.
“Well boy, you see, that’s a crutch of lesser men! The beauty of a skilled alchemist is that they can guide the motes of elemental mana without using their own as a bludgeon.” Says the old man as he grabs three motes of fire mana before they can smoke away. “You see, when you work long enough as an alchemist you realize that the motes have their own form. They can be guided and shaped. They have a pattern that they want to return to, but even mortal men can guide and coax them into other shapes!” says the old man, grabbing a pebble off the ground, and drawing out a singular mote of earth. I marveled at that power.
I never noticed before but as he paces around the fire, talking about the uses of alchemy, I can see the wisps of mana dancing around him. “Why’s the mana doing that” I say in quiet surprise hoping the old man would tell me. Looking back at me with an inquisitive expression on his face the old man gets back to his demonstration, completely ignoring my interjection. Looking around, the other kids don’t seem to notice the strange behavior of the motes or the mana as he moves.
“Anway, alchemists typically use cauldrons, mortars, pestles, and other tools to extract the power from plants before they refine them using the same in order to turn them into useful concoctions.” The old man says before mashing his two hands together in a clap with several motes clasped between. “Anyways kids, It’s time that you all go off for dinner now. The bound’s training is starting soon.” Recites the old man, reading my expression as he goes. I can’t help my surprise as I glance at his hands, seeing the rose gold light seeping from his closed hands. Nobody else seems to notice it. I watch his hands as he slips the light into the pockets of his coat, where it snuffs out before sitting back down on the log. Sitting down on the log in front of the fire everything seems to freeze as the previously smoky wisps and motes of mana suddenly stop all their movement. Looking back at the old man all I see is a void surrounded by a multicolored hue. Breaking the silence, everything seems to move again all at once as the motes lurch back into motion. “Well shit, you can actually see them properly.” Says the old man, suddenly looking even more ancient.