"Excuse me?" At first, everyone in the room was puzzled.
'How could he come to propose an apothecary duel… Without proper tools to begin with?' This was one thought that resonated in the minds of both Sheeren and Zen, but in Aina's head as well. But after a moment of thought, there was hardly anything strange about it.
'Ah, I guess he is a traveller. That would explain some parts…' The elder rubbed his chin while squinting his eyes.
'So he travels light-weight… That alone is a formidable feat.' Zen's face turned grim. If previously he took the man for some irritating vagabond, now he started to look at the alchemist with some basic respect.
'Right, he had those circumstances of his, makes sense.' Recalling the first time she met with him, Aina's eyes flashed with understanding.
"Sir, how about the one I just used?" Putting the pill aside, Sheeren pointed his hand at the cauldron. "It's already warmed up, so I think…" before the elder could even finish, both the look that Zen and Sebian gave him rooted him in place.
"Uncle, it's unbecoming. This cauldron is already prepared, it's heat optimal. Even its walls are already infused with a portion of the medicinal oils." Releasing the handle of his weapon, the elder of the Gloryhouse sect crossed his arms on his chest before shaking his head. "It would be an unfair advantage for the duel."
'Naive!' Despite the urge appearing in his heart, Sheeren held himself back from reprimanding his partner. But before he could placate the situation, Sebian already smiled before shaking his head as well.
"No, I need to start with a clean slate. I already memorized the smells of the herbs you used. Would you mind if I go and get what I need from your warehouse?" Stopping in his tracks to indicate that he had no wish to recklessly intrude, Sebian pointed his hand at the younger of the two. "I don't mind if you go with me or not. I just find it stupid to needlessly waste a ton of materials on my own pill."
'Memorized the smells?' Hearing the other party utter those words after acting so high and mighty before, Aina's body shivered. She was currently putting up a show, right in front of the elder from the sect! If only she could impress him somehow, her chances of getting accepted by recommendation would skyrocket!
'Such an opportunity!' Battling between the rational and irrational choice, Aina quickly reached her limit. But just as she was about to prostrate herself once again and beg for forgiveness, a familiar feeling washed through her head.
"Actually," catching a glance of the girl's suddenly widening eyes, Sebian forced himself to remain calm while turning to the elder. "If you wouldn't mind, I would like to already ask for a slight favour. If I were to lose, I will surely part with the stone, but I would like not to waste the substances I will prepare over the course of the duel." Acting genuinely politely and even bowing his head lightly, Sebian slightly angled his body to the side, just in time when Aina's expression suddenly soured.
"That's more than reasonable. Waste is the greatest taboo in our line of work after all." Smiling amiably, the elder nodded his head before looking at his younger party. "Zen, go help this senior to get the herbs."
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Watching as the two of them left the main building, Aina could only tighten her jaws and bear with the pain. Attacking her mind once again, turning even something as simple as standing into a real challenge.
"Are you okay?" Finally noticing the disposition of the girl, Sheeren looked intently at Aina's face.
'Shit, I can't act weird now. If I want this stone it's all or nothing!' Forcibly overcoming the torture of her headache, Aina once again put the same smile that she wore back in the shopping hall on her lips. Gently leaning her head to the side, the girl forced her lips to move. "Thank you for your worries, respectable elder, but I'm all right." Sebian's order to remain silent was long gone, but it was this simple smile that he forced on her lips back then that allowed her to somehow fool the elder.
"What? Are you serious?!" Suddenly, Zen's panicked voice came from the back of the shop. "Stop it! Are you sane?!" For a few more moments, those and different shouts continued to puzzle the two that remained in the main room. But they didn't need to wait long to understand the situation.
"Coming through!" Shouting as he kicked the doors open, Sebian marched out of the workshop with two huge cauldrons under his arms. The fine decorations along the rims of both of the utensils only indicated how expensive they were.
'Are you serious?!' Lamenting in his heart, Sheeren could only smile when Sebian brought two of his most prized possessions! And all of that while carrying a bail of water on each of his shoulders, with one more to top it off right at the top of his head! 'What he is, a clown?!' Despairing over every off move of the daring intruder, the elder could only breathe a sigh of relief when this man somehow placed all of the items safely on the fireplace.
"Let's prime the water first…" Muttering to himself, Sebian started the fire under one of the cauldrons. Mercilessly pouring the water inside right away, he then reached to his pouch only to drop several grade one stones into its metallic stomach.
"STOP!" Sheeren's eyes widened. His entire body tensed before his real strength was revealed. Despite managing this clearly rundown shop, he somehow reached the pinnacle of the first dimension of cultivation!
While not properly awakened yet, he wasn't someone that Sebian could fight with yet. Thankfully, his means were more than enough to stop the man in his track.
BAM!
With the energy from the stones quickly diffusing in the boiling water, a dense fog quickly started rising from the cauldron. Circulating his own energy through this fog, Sebian directed its explosive force towards the elder. While it was far from enough to do him any harm, it was sufficient to greatly hinder his movement.
"Do not disturb me now!" releasing his aura of authority, Sebian's voice changed. In a flash, everyone in the room was forced to sit down, as if puppies before a roar of a mighty wolf.
With the problem dealt with, for the time being, Sebian brought the upper part of the cauldron, before slowly closing the pot. Coating his hand with his energy, he then pressed his palm against the top of the pot, forcing it down against the pressure of the condensing steam. But just when his strength reached his limits, Sebian happily smiled before reversing the flow of his cultivation that he used to supply the fuel to the flames. As devastating as this manoeuvre would be for someone already burdened with complex cultivation, Sebian made sure to perfect his paths, making the reversal as easy as spitting the water after drinking it.
The energy, rather than flowing in the flames, started to suck it out from the fireplace. Instantly cooling the pot, the immense freeze quickly turned the vapour within the pot into shards of ice, before the entire thing frozen all over.
"Your method of concocting pills is wrong, to begin with. Obsolete, you could say." Smiling to his own thoughts, Sebian turned his head to the elder while reversing the flow of his cultivation once again. With the flames searing the bottom of the cauldron once again, the icy insides of it instantly started to vaporise.
"Let me show you how the real alchemy looks like."