William had rapidly waved his hands in front of his face, trying to disperse the thick smoke. His eyes had watered uncontrollably, and a heavy cough had racked his body.

His voice, a gravelly croak, had emerged from the smoke. A wide, triumphant grin had split his face as he had looked down at his work, “Finally finished after almost 5 years.”

His palm had closed around the cold, heavy orb. It was as large as his fist, its metallic skin etched with intricate Alchemist symbols. He had examined it closely, a mixture of relief and awe in his eyes. “Thank God,” he had breathed, his voice thick with emotion. “I knew tempering the steel could’ve cracked the shell, destroying all of my hard work.”

He had squeezed his eyes shut, desperate for a lungful of clean air, but instead, a fresh bout of coughing had seized him, violent and insistent. When it had finally finished, he had looked around his makeshift workshop. It was, in fact, a repurposed horse stable, a relic of another age. Abandoned and forgotten, it had become his sanctuary. With his parents’ permission, he’d transformed the once-pungent space into a haven for his AlcheTech.

The floor was awash with tools and devices in what could only be described as a chaotic array. There were several hammers and pliers, some intricate devices for infusing objects with essence, a bunch of flasks in different sizes boiling God knows what, and piles of books mostly on essences and their combination. "I need to clean this place up," William muttered, setting the metal ball down gingerly on a nearby table. He set to work cleaning up, sorting tools into their labeled containers. As he did, he caught sight of the filth crusted under his fingernails. He peered into the reflection with a polished tool and released a startled squeak.

"I look like a mole rat!" he exclaimed, bending closer to inspect his grimy reflection. "If I go home like this, the lecture from Mom will never end." He shuddered at that. He slid easily into a high-pitched impersonation of his mother: "William, I didn't raise no hooligan! Why are you so dirty? I told you to stop messing about in your little playhouse!" A giggle slipped from his lips as he broke character. His eyes fell back upon the large metal ball he had created. A smug grin spread across his face.

"She won't care about that when she sees what I've created," he boasted, his eyes gleaming with mad ambition. "It's my masterpiece, no. It's my magnum opus!" He paused dramatically, stretching out an arm as if to a crowd. "Yes, it is my magnum opus. Alchemists far and wide will know the name William Magnus!" A maniacal laugh burst from his chest. He caught his breath, some of his sanity returning. "But probably a good idea to clean myself up first. No reason to be a filthy mess if I can avoid it."

He closed his eyes and dove deep into his soul. The blackness that surrounded his vision started to fade away, revealing six strings of light. Two of the strings of light shone brightest; those were his essence affinities, water and wind. The wind glowed with a transparent light while water shone like the sky. Meanwhile, the other essence types shone in dull colors: life, death, earth, and fire.

Then beside the strings of color was his flask. It was incomplete; the top half was not finished as yet, but in time it would be finished. And when it was, he could finally choose his path of alchemy. Then William faced his strings and touched them instantly. He could feel the essence flowing to his body. He slowly opened his eyes, revealing to him one hand with water essence while the other had wind essence. “Still, at the visualizing stage, it’s slow, but it gets things done,” he thought to himself. Then he used the water essence and made it wash his body off, revealing a smooth face with dark brown eyes and hair that was just as dark. His hands were full of scars and burns from days in his workshop. Then he used the wind essence to dry off himself.

“It’s so convenient to have two Essences that work so well together,” he chuckled to himself. William grabbed his metal ball, put it into a box that was specially designed to hold it, walked up to the window, and looked out, seeing the forest behind his workshop. Then he closed the window, stepped outside, and took in a big gulp of air. Then he could notice his mom practicing her techniques behind her two-story house, built out of bricks and wood. Then William noticed that his mom wasn’t practicing her techniques alone; his brother Jacob was there. William shook his head. “This is not going to go well. I can just tell already.”

His fists clenched around the box in his grasp, causing little crushing wrinkles to develop. Then he began to stroll on the grass, which was soft and readily shaped by his footsteps. He approached them cautiously but confidently, eventually standing a few steps away.

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William watched with rapt attention as his mother coiled, then unleashed a force-laden punch. The air crackled with energy as her fist hurtled towards Jacob. In a desperate gambit, Jacob erected a shield of wind, but it proved feeble against the onslaught. The barrier exploded with a sharp pop, sending a gust of wind that ruffled William’s hair and stirred the grass into a frenzy.

Jacob’s eyes widened in alarm as his mother’s fist connected squarely with his midsection. With a grunt, he retaliated by conjuring a sphere of water to shield his body. Gripping her trapped hand, he twisted with all his might, trying to break free. But his mother, unyielding, amplified the air around her, causing the water to disintegrate in a shower of droplets. With a swift, acrobatic maneuver, she launched herself into the air, her foot a deadly missile that collided with Jacob’s shoulder. The impact sent him tumbling to the ground, his outstretched hands cushioning his fall.

“Do you heal, boy?” she said it with a melodious voice.

With an angry, quiet answer, he said, “Yes.”

“No need to be angry, Jacob. I am at high nigredo,” she said with pride in her voice. “While you’re almost at true nigredo, you’re just one stage behind me, my son,” she smiled while she looked at him. She used her wind essence to blow the droplets of water off her clothes.

Jacob then stood up and looked at his mother. Lines started to form on his face.

One eyebrow shot up on her face. Her brown hair swayed back and forth in the wind, her blue eyes looking at him. “Are you angry because you lost your mom? I thought you would get used to this by now. I’ve been training you from your little boy, and not once have you defeated me. But you do show promise.”

Jacob shook his head, “No,” then he pointed. His mother followed the direction of where his hand was pointing, and she saw William standing there with a smile on his face. Her eyes went wide, then her eyes narrowed.

With enhanced essence in her voice, she said loudly, “William Magnus, why are you so filthy?” William immediately tried to put his hands over his ears but almost dropped the box in his hands.

William waited for the ringing in his ears to subside before calling out, "Mom, are you finished?"

Her response was swift and accusatory. "Why are you so filthy? Were you playing with tools again? I knew I shouldn’t have let you build anything in there."

William’s eyes rolled. This was a familiar routine, a predictable storm gathering on the horizon. He wouldn't let it deter him this time.

"Mom, before you start, I have something to show you," he pleaded, his gaze earnest.

"Well, show it!" she demanded.

Fumbling with the box, William nearly dropped its contents. He tilted it towards her, his heart pounding. His mother’s interest was minimal.

Jacob's laughter echoed in the air. "A metal ball? That's what you’ve been working on?"

Ignoring his brother, William focused on his mother. "I know it doesn't look like much now, but with Dream and Light Essence, it will come to life. Then I can show you what it really does."

Before he could continue, his mother cut him off with a flat, "No."

Desperation crept into William's voice. "Mom, this device can absorb and analyze essences. But that’s not all. It can tell you how a path works!"

She cut him off again, and with a flat tone, she said, "No." Folding her arms across her chest, she regarded him with a distant look. "And stop calling me or Mom. You're no son of mine if you don't want to practice our family Alchemy path."

William met her gaze, his expression unchanged. A response that would have once reduced him to tears now elicited no reaction. A triumphant smirk plastered itself on Jacob's face.

"Besides," she continued, "what you're asking for is incredibly expensive. A third-stage breakdown of life and fire essence isn't something we’d waste on you."

"I know I'm not your golden child, Mom, I mean Sarah, but don't worry, I already know you have some," William retorted, a hint of bitterness creeping into his voice. He looked away, his eyes following a lazy cloud drifting across the sky. Then, his gaze returned to his family, focusing on his brother. Jacob's eyes held a smoldering hatred, a stark contrast to their physical resemblance. William closed his eyes, gathering his thoughts before addressing his mother once more. "I only need a tiny amount, a fingernail clipping of Light and Dream Essence."

"Still no," she replied, her voice filled with pity. Her lips formed a disapproving line. "Why can't you be like your brother?’’

“Because I’m not him. I don’t want to practice our family Alchemy path. I want to make my own path. What’s so hard to understand about that?”

“You carry the name of Magnus. We are known throughout the other houses for practicing the alchemy path of streamlining. We have practiced it for ten generations. And you want to be the first to break away from our alchemy path. Do you know what embarrassment that will bring on us? Do you only think about yourself and not others?” She gave William a stern look. “To turn away from your house is to spit in the face of those who came before you, those who spent hours, days, years, and centuries perfecting our family Alchemy path.”