He did every step slowly and methodically. He added the ingredients to a crucible that he fixed above a flame powered by a magical enchantment within the workbench.

“This must be a lot harder without all of your equipment,” Connor said.

“It is. Everything in this workshop was frighteningly expensive and difficult to get, but definitely worth it. Everything about being an alchemist is preparation. Even alchemy itself,” Victor said.

The mixture bubbled away, and a putrid odor filled the room.

Connor coughed and gagged.

Was there was a potion for a stronger stomach? He might need one if it got much worse than this.

“Very good. Now, you’ll want to start using your alchemy to refine the ingredients. Otherwise, all you’ll have is a very disgusting soup, and it won’t do anything for you. Except make you sick,” Victor said, seemingly oblivious to the noxious fumes.

Connor stood in the circle exactly as his codex depicted, and closed his eyes.

His heart pounded in his chest like a drum. He couldn’t help but wonder if his alchemy would work, or if it would be just like his magical talent.

This was the moment of truth.

He reached inside himself as he would for his magic, and willed his alchemy power to connect to the bubbling mixture in front of him.

But, nothing happened.

He ground his teeth. This was it. This had been his last chance!

“Relax, Connor,” Victor said, “you’re shaking.”

“But it's not working!” Connor said.

“Calm down and focus just as I told you. Use the circle. Let it help guide you. That’s what it’s there for. You’ve done everything up to this point calmly and meticulously, so relax and approach this as you have each step so far,” Victor said.

Connor’s heart still hammered in his chest and fear gnawed at his insides like a feral beast, but he forced himself to take deep breaths.

He focused inside himself once more. Feeling for a power he’d never used before. It leaped to obey him, surging and flexing like a muscle he hadn’t used in a while. It was difficult and weak, but there and responsive.

Something else gently pressed on his awareness and helped him shape this new energy.

He smiled. It was the circle! It was working! He was doing it!

“That’s good, Connor,” Victor said, “now keep it there and open your eyes. You’ll want to see what you’re doing.”

He took deep breaths. What if it disappeared the minute he opened his eyes?

But, he steeled himself and grudgingly opened them.

The power inside him flickered a bit, but it remained.

It was still there. It was working. It was nothing like his magic. It responded easily, and it felt incredibly natural to him.

The second he realized this, it was like a switch had been flipped inside his mind. His doubt gave way, and the power within him surged forward.

The white chalk lines at his feet glowed bright red and crackled with energy as red lightning played over his fingers.

He felt like a god.

“Slow it down, and focus on directing the energy into the potion and refining it. The circle will help you, but it won’t do everything for you,” Victor said.

Connor turned his attention to the bubbling solution in front of him. He focused this strange, new energy as his codex instructed him.

He reached out his hands, hovering them around the crucible, but not touching it. Red lightning arched from his fingertips into the solution.

New sensations lit up in his mind as he felt through a sense he’d never used before. Essences swirled in the crucible, just waiting for him to refine them. He understood what his uncle meant now.

Hearing from the bat, sight of the dragonfly, the mole’s sense of smell, and a crocodile’s sense of touch… he felt all of that surrounded by essences he didn’t need or want.

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He focused his power like a surgeon’s scalpel and cut away what he didn’t want, using his alchemy to strip it away before recombining it in the form his codex described.

Soon, the revolting smell vanished as he wasn’t simply cooking a collection of disgusting things. It had been hard to understand before, but now that he could sense it… it was clear that the heat was mostly just there to help him in his process of refining the essences.

It helped to speed it up, making it easier to break, combine, and mold everything into the form he desired. The form that would turn it into a potion.

Connor laughed then as he worked, with a joy only children feel before their innocence is taken away. But, while making this potion… he felt that very same joy.

He was closer to his father and his uncle now, but it was so much more than that… this was what he needed to do.

His heart and soul sang as he worked. This was what he was born to do.

His hair stuck to his head and droplets of sweat ran down his back, but he pushed himself to keep at it. He had to finish what he started… to complete his first potion…

How much time had passed since he started? How much longer did he have to keep this up? Did it even matter? He’d suffer through exhaustion a hundred times greater than this for the rewards alchemy offered.

“Keep going,” Victor said, “you’re almost there.”

Connor gritted his teeth and squeezed out every drop of power from his aching body. Just a little more…

Thank goodness he had the focusing circle helping him shape his energy, what would he do without it?

Even so, his control started slipping. His head throbbed, and spots danced in his vision. His hands trembled above the crucible, and his legs threatened to give way as he pushed himself harder and harder…

Finally, he could go no further.

The red lightning sputtered out of his fingers in fitful bursts, and the red glow in the circle died out.

Connor collapsed.

He lay bonelessly on the floor, panting for breath, vaguely aware of Victor saying something, but he couldn’t focus. The room was spinning, and his consciousness threatened to slip away at any moment.

Gradually, the aching weariness subsided enough for him to hear his uncle’s words.

“Well done,” Victor said, “you’ve completed your first potion. I must say I’m impressed. It took me several attempts to complete my first one. I think you’re a natural.”

Victor offered Connor a hand and hoisted him to his feet.

He steadied himself against the workbench and slumped onto a stool. His first potion boiled away in the crucible.

All traces of the original ingredients were gone, and the solution had turned into a turquoise liquid that gave off a sweet aroma like nectar.

Nothing at all like what he’d expected given what went into it.

He turned off the magical flame on the workbench and stared at the still bubbling liquid. He smiled wearily. Now he really was an alchemist.

Why did his alchemy respond so differently from his magic? He shook his head. Couldn’t he just be happy he had this?

He and Victor talked a bit while he recovered enough for his hands to stop shaking so badly. By then, the crucible had cooled enough to touch. But, on Victor’s instruction, he still used a pair of tongs to hold the crucible as he poured the liquid into different vials.

He filled up five vials, and that was that. He was finally done. He put a cork in all the vials except one. The one he planned to drink right away.

He wanted to experience what he had created. He wanted to know what it did. If it worked, and how it worked.

He held the vial up to his eyes. He hesitated. How could he not think about what he’d put into it? He’d changed it completely since then… but still.

“Go on lad,” Victor said with a smirk.

Connor put the vial to his lips and poured it down his throat.

It tasted sweet and smooth. It spread a warm feeling through his chest and stomach on the way down, almost like alcohol.

He licked his lips and set the vial down.

He furrowed his brows. “I don’t feel any different,” he said.

Victor chuckled. “Give it a second, lad.”

Seconds passed, and Connor still didn’t feel anything. He looked at the vial again and sighed.

Then everything went insane.

The world around him shifted, changed, and exploded with color. He squeezed his eyes shut, and waves of dizziness washed over him.

A drum beat loudly somewhere close, and his nose was assaulted with a plethora of scents. He recoiled away from it all and fell over backward.

He landed hard on the ground and pain tore through his body like he’d fallen from fifty feet up. He could swear he felt ripples along the earth from the impact.

He crawled away, but everything followed him. He opened his mouth and screamed, but a horrifying wail like a banshee fighting a hurricane pierced his ears, drowning out his own voice.

Then everything snapped into focus all at once.

He let out a heavy sigh and sat up.

Everything he saw was crisp, clear and filled with vivid color. The drum still thundered in his ears, but now he could tell it was just his heart beating in his chest.

He could still smell and feel the same as he had only a second ago, but it was like his mind had caught up with his new senses, and he could interpret them properly now.

Victor guffawed. “I wonder if I looked like that the first time that happened to me,” he said.

“You knew this would happen? Why didn’t you warn me?” Connor whispered. He wanted to yell, but he wasn’t sure how his sensitive hearing would handle that. Screaming hadn’t been pleasant…

“Because this was so much more fun,” Victor said.

“I hate you,” Connor said.

“Oh come now, lad,” Victor said still chuckling, “I’ve got to have fun somehow. You should have seen your face!” Victor burst out laughing again even louder than before.

Connor gave up on talking to Victor, who was still laughing at him, and turned back to his codex. It gleamed like never before thanks to his enhanced vision.

He read through what his father had written again, and found what he missed last time.

“Warning! There is a time delay between the senses being heightened and the mind becoming able to comprehend the new information. Brace yourself.”

Connor muttered angrily under his breath. Why was this note off to the side instead of right at the top!

Were all alchemists sadists at heart?

Still, he felt immensely pleased with himself. Even if his nerves were still in tatters.

He saw more shades of color than he ever had before. He felt the clothes on his body shift as he moved, and the way his muscles contracted and expanded.

He felt his posture and balance and smelled the crisp, fresh air that came from somewhere further inside the workshop. He could even hear the blood pumping through his veins.

His old senses felt mute by comparison.

He felt like he was truly seeing for the first time, and he never wanted to let it go. It was exceptional. This was just a minor starting potion, but it felt glorious, and he wanted more.