The next day Johan woke up to the snores of Pat and Anne. Sitting up, it seemed that Jen had likely left to do something already, he guessed this due to the sunlight filtering through the window in the room. They had stayed at David's last night, as the man had offered the group a safe place to sleep for the week.

Markus had his own room, while the rest of the group simply slept in a storage room that had nothing in it at this point in time, using their blankets as beds. It wasn't ideal by any means, but it was still rather nice considering that they didn't have to waste money, or pelts, nor did they have so sleep outside.

Johan stood up, stretching to his full height as he did so, his back, right knee, as well as both his ankles popping with a satisfying crack as a result. He paused and looked at the other two still sleeping. Anne was quite cute while sleeping, though if he had a marker...

Johan chuckled softly at the thought of it. Then he looked at Pat who had ensnared herself in a few pelt blankets. She looked rather cozy, though Johan thought it would be a bit too warm. Adv was currently facing the wall, the girls didn't like it when Adv watched them sleep, saying it had felt uncomfortable, and Johan couldn't disagree.

Johan sighed, he wasn't sure he really wanted to let the excess time to sleep go, but left the room with his stuff nonetheless. He walked into a hallway that was made of a soft oak with a couple mana infused lights. It was quite nice. There were a few other doors, but Johan passed all of those, and instead went downstairs.

"Morning!" David called from over by the counter.

"Morning." Johan replied.

"How'd ya sleep?"

"It was alright. Knowing that you're safe helps a lot. Thanks, again, for letting us stay here."

"Aw, shucks, it ain't nothing considering everything that Markus has done for me in the past."

"Heh, I guess so. On that note, where is Markus? He can't still be asleep, right?"

"Ah, He went out about an hour ago to find some others he used to know. Seems like he wants to relax a bit during this week.

"Alright, do you know where Jen, shortest girl in the group, brown hair, went?"

"Oh! that girl went to find some work to do today, she said that she wanted to get some more food while she was here." David laughed a bit at this. "That girl sure can eat!"

"David! You home?" A young woman's voice spoke from near the entrance.

"Yeah! Right here, Clare." David responded.

"Oh, right. Anyways, I have the next potions ready for you if you want them now... What is it?" The woman had a slim figure, and had long brown hair that went to her lower back, topped by a classic styled witches hat, that seemed to have some sort of magical effect. She was also wearing a green doublet and brown cotton pants.

"You're a mage, aren't you?" Johan asked, unable to help himself.

"What of it? I'm an alchemist too, if you were wondering."

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Ah, it's nothing against you. I just haven't met many mages before."

"Haha. It's awfully *funny* that you should come by today actually, Clare." David cut in.

"What do you mean?" The alchemist asked in return.

"Well, I was going to ask you if you could help this boy out."

"Why would I ever do that? You know how I am, it's all business in here." She pointed to her head.

"Well, you make healing potions right? I'm wanting to learn imbuement from a master of it, and alchemists tend to be pretty high up on imbuement mastery." Johan decided to come back into the argument.

"And? That doesn't mean that I *must* help you." She stared at Johan.

"I'd be willing to help you learn more about the light element, you use lightwater right? It's not much, but I developed a mana construct that actually *is* cheaper than the popular method of using it, and based on the fact that you use a mix of healing lightwater, I thought you could be interested."

"A better way to harness light? I want to see it first, then I will teach you."

"That's fine by me. I will say it's a bit complex, but from what I can tell, You seem to be pretty competent, so it shouldn't be too difficult for you." Johan then created his light trapping sphere. He had gotten drastically better in the last few days, taking only a few minutes to fully form it.

"You... How is your mana so pure? Moreover, using mana blocks in a mana construct? That's genius... I'll be honest, since you have only your mana heart at this age, I thought talking to you would be useless, but I suppose not. My name is Clara, but you can call me Clare." The woman held out her hand, she was now clearly interested.

"My name is Johan. I've only been a mage for... I think it's been around 8 months now? I've not been in this social circle for long." Johan took her hand and shook it, letting go as he started to think about how long he had been a mage for.

"What? That short? I'm shocked you even have a mana heart yet."

"Yeah. I lived in Ambevelance. Magic doesn't exist there. Had to leave because I had naturally learned a spell and the Magistrate came after me."

"Ah. Ambevelance. That country is hated by everyone, but no one can really do much to them right now. It's shocking how such a talented individual could have gone unnoticed all this time, simply due to where they lived. Anyway, I'll teach you a bit about imbuement, wait for me by the door, I've still got to do business with David here."

Johan nodded in response and then he waited for a few minutes, once she finished, Clara returned.

"Alright let's go. I will warn you, my workshop is a bit messy, alchemy is a chaotic process sometimes." She said as they walked down the street.

"That's fine, I don't mind a bit of mess." Johan replied.

They walked for around 10 minutes, then Clara turned a corner into a thin alley and stopped at a seemingly random door on the wall.

"Here we are..." The door came open as she twisted the key in its lock.

In the workshop was a pristine center table with alembics, vials of different colors, a small glass jar full of shimmering water, and a handful of things that Johan didn't really recognize. Outside of that table though, was a messy assortment of different things. Herbs, spices, some random rocks, and various vials and bottles were scattered through the entire place.

"You weren't lying when you said that it was a bit messy." Johan whistled as he walked in.

"Of course not. Ah, turn around." She replied.

"What, why?" Johan went to ask and found her pulling off her shirt, catching a sight of her exposed stomach, before quickly looking away.

"I'm changing into clothes more suitable for my workshop. I won't ask the same of you though, since you probably wouldn't have any. Sorry if it had caught you off guard."

"Well, it uh.. Certainly caught me off guard." was all Johan could stutter out.

"Alright you can turn back around." She was now wearing a form fitting, black, long sleeved shirt, and slacks. "Oh, You are quite red. Did I embarrass you?" She said a bit teasingly.

"No, I had um... Well. I looked at you went you told me to look away when I asked why..." Johan reddened even further, and couldn't help but notice that the woman was quite nice looking.

Clara had a soft brown skin tone, it played well with her brown hair, and the black shirt she had now put on. On her face she had a teasing smile.

"While I wouldn't necessarily say no... We don't have time for that now. We have imbuement training to get to."

Her statement made Johan stay red for a while as he kept remembering it, but he tried to throw it off as they started to get into the nitty gritty of what they had come here for originally.