Jeb read through the section, still unsure what was wrong with reading an Alchemical Manual. He found that there were any number of easier ways that he could have made the Alchemical, including using a few completely unrestricted items. Instead, he had been forced to ask Professor Quicksilver for more Fireleaf every time that he wanted to make another batch.

“I still don’t see the issue,” he said when he had finished the section.

“Interesting,” Professor Quicksilver said. “What did you find about the difference between how the syllabus told you to prepare Alchemical Fire from Distilled Water and Fireleaf and how the Manual told you?”

Jeb pulled out the syllabus, unwilling to rely solely on his memory. “The syllabus,” he said, “goes through step by step what I need to do, and makes a point of noting that the only Essence we care about from the Fireleaf is the Fire Essence. The Alchemical Manual simply states to combine Fireleaf and Distilled Water.”

“And that is different because?” Professor Quicksilver prompted.

“The Alchemical Manual clearly presupposes that the reader will know how to extract and combine Essences?” Jeb guessed.

Quicksilver shook his head, before reluctantly nodding. “That is true, though not what I was getting at. You have worked with Fireleaf enough that I am certain you have come to learn its unique Essence profile. What Essences does it have?”

Jeb thought about the question. There was the obvious answer of “Fire,” but it sounded like that might not be the correct one. “It has Fire Essence,” he said anyways, getting a nod from the Professor in return.

“And?” Quicksilver prompted.

“It also has what I can only really describe as Leaf Essence, and a few others that I don’t have as good names or feelings for.”

“Exactly!” Quicksilver exclaimed. “Do you see the issue now?”

Jeb started to shake his head, but stopped himself in the middle of the motion. What was Professor Quicksilver trying to get at? He looked at the syllabus and Alchemical Manual again, trying to see what they each said about Essence. Suddenly, understanding clicked.

“Oh!” Jeb said, voice louder than he had meant, “the Alchemical Manual implies that the only Essence in Fireleaf is Fire.”

“I knew you would figure it out,” Quicksilver said smugly. The smugness was clearly not directed at Jeb, which made him wonder who the Professor had just proved wrong. “And do you see why that is an issue?”

Jeb grimaced. “Not really,” he admitted.

Quicksilver began to nod, as though he had expected that answer. “It is a subtle issue, but one which takes many Alchemists years to address. When you read an Alchemical Manual, which implies that Fireleaf contains only Fire Essence, you begin to only see the Fire Essence in the Fireleaf. It makes it easier to reliably produce Alchemical Fire, to be certain, but that comes at a high cost.”

“I think I understand,” Jeb said, “if I did not know that there was Leaf Essence in Fireleaf, I would not be able to do anything with that Essence.”

Quicksilver moved his head, as though debating how to respond to Jeb’s idea. “That is not entirely wrong, though it somewhat misses the point. The issue in using Alchemical Manuals too early is that it makes Alchemy seem like something that is completely prescriptive. We make Alchemical Fire with Fireleaf and Distilled Water, because that is what the Manual says to do.” Seeing that Jeb still wasn’t understanding, the Professor tried another line of inquiry. “If I told you that you needed to make Alchemical Fire, but I would not give you Fireleaf or Distilled Water, what would you do?” he asked.

Jeb only needed to consider the question for a moment. “I would make my own Distilled Water, like I’ve done all term,” he replied instantly. Quicksilver’s brows shot up, as though he had not realized Jeb was doing that.

“And then assuming that you meant that I was not supposed to use Fireleaf, I suppose that I would start with the Firegrass that I grew,” Jeb said. “Given that it is almost entirely Attuned to Fire, I am almost positive that it would have at least a little Fire Essence.”

“I am curious what you mean by Firegrass,” Quicksilver replied, “but otherwise that sounds like a completely reasonable course of action. Why would you not just pull the Essence out of a fire, though?”

Jeb shrugged. “Firegrass seems more similar to Fireleaf, and that’s what I have experience with. There’s no point in making a project more difficult for the sake of making it difficult.”

Professor Quicksilver nodded. “Now, if you had been using the Alchemical Manual all term, what would you have told me?”

Jeb glanced at the page and recited one of the other formulations. “I still don’t know if I see the issue, though,” he said, “how is that any different than what I just suggested doing?”

Quicksilver let out a sigh. “I realize now that this is an issue that almost needs to be seen in retrospect. Will you trust me, for now at least, that reading an Alchemical Manual would be harmful to your future development as an Alchemist?”

Jeb nodded. Other than hiding Alchemical Manuals from him, Quicksilver had been incredibly open for the entire term. If his Professor thought that the Manual was going to harm Jeb, he was willing to trust that, at least for now.

“Is there anything else you came to talk to me about?” Quicksilver asked, standing up.

Jeb mirrored him, turning to leave the room. “I am a little curious why Distilled Water is so expensive if it’s so easy to make,” he said, “and I would like to know what, exactly, I am allowed to bring with me on the day of the final examination.”

Quicksilver chuckled. “I was wondering when you would ask that. Before I answer your question, do you happen to have a sample of the Distilled Water you have made?”

Jeb searched through his bag, pulling out a small vial.

“Thank you,” Professor Quicksilver said when he handed it over. “What makes Distilled Water so expensive is the complete lack of any Essence in it. To pass the course, as you have identified, you need only make water pure enough to turn into Alchemical Fire when reacted with Fireleaf. Have you attempted to do that with standard water, by the way?”

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

“I have not,” Jeb admitted. “Is it difficult?”

Quicksilver shrugged. “Relative to making Distilled Water? Most would argue no. Relative to making Alchemical Fire with Distilled Water? Absolutely.” As he had talked, the Professor had pulled out a large apparatus, which he carefully poured a drop of Jeb’s liquid onto.

The liquid spread across the small glass plate and began to glow. At first, it was a dim blue light. As Professor Quicksilver turned a knob, though, the light grew brighter and more complex. Blue was still the dominant color, but Jeb saw lighter and darker hues in what had once been a singular color. As the light grew more intense, shades outside of blue began to appear.

A tinge of green appeared, before developing into a forest of its own. Just before Jeb was worried the light might get blinding, it suddenly cut off.

As Jeb blinked away the spots in his vision, Professor Quicksilver gave him an approving nod. “I will be honest with you, that is a much better product than I would have expected.”

Seeing Jeb still blinking wildly, Quicksilver slapped himself on the forehead. “I knew I forgot something. Well, for the future, it is in your best interest not to stare directly at the light from an Essence Meter. Remind me what your Vitality is again?”

Jeb didn’t think that he had ever told Professor Quicksilver his Vitality, but that fact didn’t seem particularly relevant just then. With a quick glance at his Status, Jeb said, “fifty five, why?”

“Oh good!” Quicksilver said happily.

Jeb noticed that the Professor did not say why his Vitality score was a good thing. As he stared at Quicksilver, he seemed to realize it as well.

“Sorry, any Vitality over forty is generally sufficient to avoid long term damage when looking at an Essence Meter. Of course, there are a number of confounding and compounding variables that can affect that number, but it works as a rough heuristic for prolonged staring. Since you only looked at it once, you should be completely fine in a few minutes.”

“I had been wondering what an Essence Meter was,” Jeb said, remembering the mentions to them in a few of the Alchemy books he’d read that term. “I’m still not sure I understand exactly what it does, though.”

Professor Quicksilver stood up quickly. “I have an Essence Meter I’m rebuilding in my workspace,” he said, “it will serve us much better for explaining exactly what an Essence Meter does.” With that, he rushed out of the room, and Jeb hurried to follow, dodging around piles of loose paper and books.

Inside of the laboratory, Jeb looked around, half in awe and half in horror. It seemed like every Alchemical he had ever heard of, and more than a few that he hadn’t, were piled in the room. Some, like Lime, were in neatly labeled jars. Others, like Fireleaf, lay in messy heaps.

Professor Quicksilver ran through the room, heedless of the chaos around him, and tore a sheet off of a shelf in the back of the room. Jeb was hit at once with a sudden wave of Essence. Quicksilver didn’t seem to notice Jeb’s distraction, too busy excitedly explaining exactly what every part of the Essence Meter did.

“At it’s core, an Essence Meter is really just a way to analytically say what Essences are in a material, and in what concentration. There are a few methods that people have used to build Essence Meters historically, but right now the standard is to put an Essence Stone in the center of the instrument, which you can then calibrate on known standards to see relative amounts of Essence. As you might have seen, there are two kinds of Essence Meters-”

Jeb couldn’t stop himself from interrupting. “Professor, where would I have seen that? The Essence Meter you pulled out in your office was the first Essence Meter I’ve ever seen.”

Quicksilver turned, eyes glowing a brilliant and metallic grey. “Hmm, I hadn’t considered that.” He seemed completely unaware of the fact that his eyes were actively emitting light. Jeb wasn’t sure how light could be grey, but somehow the Professor had managed it.

“Well,” the Professor said, turning back around, “there are two kinds of Essence Meters, those that rely on absorption and those that rely on emission. There are pros and cons to both forms, but I have always been more partial to emission Essence Meters. Of course,” he said, tossing a piece of the instrument casually behind him, “it takes minimal effort to interconvert the two.” He continued tossing parts of what Jeb assumed was a dismantled Essence Meter behind him, and Jeb was beginning to have to dodge out of the way to avoid being hit by flying chunks of metal.

After a few close misses, Quicksilver turned around. Even more of him was glowing, emitting the same strange but clearly active grey light. Jeb saw that it was not a single shade of grey, like he had initially thought. Instead, much as the light from the Distilled Water had broken apart into a wide array of blues, the grey light emanating from the Professor’s entire body was a rich tapestry of grey.

“This is the heart of every Essence Meter,” he said, hefting an object that practically screamed to Jeb’s Magical Senses. When he intentionally dulled his Magical Sense enough that it wasn’t unbearably loud to them, he realized that it was really mostly screaming Essence.

“What is that?” Jeb asked, tone somewhat afraid. Whatever it was, he had a growing suspicion that it was what was causing the Professor to glow.

“This is an Essence Stone!” Professor Quicksilver said happily. “It emits wide spectrum Essence. When you have an Essence Stone as nice as this one, it emits practically all forms of Essence, which is what makes it so useful for analyzing different Alchemicals.”

“Before you go any further,” Jeb said nervously, noting that his own hands seemed to be emitting a small amount of light, “is it supposed to be unshielded? I only ask because, um, you’re glowing.”

Quicksilver looked down and blinked rapidly, as though surprised to see himself glow. “Asking questions like ‘supposed’ presupposes a prescriptivist way of approaching the world.” Despite implying that there was nothing wrong with leaving the Essence Stone out, Jeb noticed that the Professor quickly put it inside of a container that looked custom made to hold it. Once the orb was stowed, Jeb noticed that Professor Quicksilver began to dim.

“As I was saying,” Professor Quicksilver said, clearly willing to move past what just happened.

“Wait,” Jeb said, “you were concerned about me looking at the Essence from Distilled Water a few minutes ago, why are you so unconcerned about direct exposure to an Essence Stone?”

“Jeb,” he replied in a calm and patient tone, “I already asked you what your Vitality is. Fifty five is more than high enough not to be harmed by a little direct exposure from an Essence Stone.”

Jeb weighed the pros and cons of continuing down the conversational path. Regardless of whether or not Professor Quicksilver ended up agreeing with him, the odds were pretty good that their conversation would end with settling that dispute. He had far more questions, and could always raise safety concerns another time.

Sighing, he asked, “what is an Essence Stone?”

Quicksilver beamed. “That is a fantastic question! Nobody knows, which is the best part! Well, that is not entirely accurate. We know that Essence Stones are a particular type of stone which emit broadband Essence continuously. Exactly how broad the range of Essence emitted and how powerful the Essence is comes down to a number of factors, but those are all factors we have used based on evidence, rather than anything based in theory.”

“Where do Essence Stones come from?”

The Professor shrugged. “I think people just find them in the ground sometimes. It is generally accepted that they show up more often in locations where there was a significant Magical battle, but the reason for that is still unclear. There are those who argue that landscape altering conflicts simply churn the earth enough that it brings them to the surface, and there are those that argue something in the clash of High Tier Magic creates the Stones.”

“How long do they last?”

“That is actually a fascinating question. There is a debate in the field right now about whether drifts in Essence Stone outputs are a sign that they do not have exactly the same output at all times, or whether something changed in the way that we measure Essence.”

“Do you have any satisfying answers?” Jeb asked, half exasperated.

Quicksilver paused, clearly considering the question. “You asked how Essence Meters work. The short answer is that an emission Essence Meter exposes whatever sample you place into it to Essence from the Essence Stone. As you saw, objects that are hit with a large enough dose of Essence will output their own Essence signature. By calibrating that to known Essences, we are able to build a catalog of what Essences produce what colors and effects, and then see what is inside of an unknown Alchemical.”