Connor followed Victor through the manor to Victor's office.

Victor’s office was immaculate as always. Files were neatly stacked on his polished, wooden desk, and books were arranged in alphabetical order on the shelves.

Connor closed the door behind him, and all manner of wards activated around them.

Nobody outside the room would hear anything they discussed now. No one would be able to scry them and watch over them magically either, and if anyone tried to break in… well… good luck to them. They might as well just slit their own throat instead.

It’d be a less painful experience at least.

There was a reason Victor discussed more confidential things in this his office.

Victor had hired the best wizards in the country to ward this room. Each one placed layer after layer of protections ensuring no hole remained.

Once the door was closed… it’d take an enormous amount of effort to break through. The palace would be jealous of the wards that protected Victor’s office.

What did Victor want to tell him? Victor was cautious, bordering on paranoid, but he was acting more erratic than usual.

Victor turned to Connor with a grave expression on his face.

"You can never tell anyone about what I am going to show you. This is our ultimate secret, and learning it makes it your responsibility to protect it. I cannot stress how important it is that what you will soon learn never goes beyond the two of us," he said.

“Of course, uncle,” Connor said.

But, Victor just stared at him, reinforcing just how serious he was.

What was this secret? Victor hadn’t been this uptight since… well… ever.

"I promise never to tell a soul, uncle," Connor said.

Victor nodded, apparently satisfied, and turned to face the back wall of the office.

He pulled out a long, thin, hexagonal key, which he pressed against the wall. What had always appeared to be solid, gave way for the key.

How like Victor to hide something so well in plain sight.

He turned the key, and the wall slid away, revealing a secret passageway with a long staircase leading down.

Victor descended the steps and Connor was quick to follow.

The secret door slid back in place behind them without a sound.

Magical torches lit the tunnel, each one casting far more light than a regular torch would, without any fire or smoke.

The air wasn’t as stale as Connor would’ve expected. Instead, there was a soft breeze coming from below.

At the bottom of the stairs, was a room much larger even than Elgar’s office, massive libraries, and other rooms put together. It wasn’t nearly as tall, but it stretched off into the distance.

The magical lights cast an impressive amount of light everywhere and the air smelled cleaned and fresh.

He couldn’t tell where the breeze was coming from, and he’d never seen anything above ground to indicate this chamber…

He wondered if there was magic involved, but he was torn from his thoughts as he took in more of the room.

Tall shelves stretched off into the distance. They weren’t nearly as high as the bookcases in the wizard’s office, but there were far more of them.

However, these shelves contained very few books.

Instead, they held all kinds of jars, vials, and chests. There were boxes and globes and strange contraptions that looked like they belonged in a wizard's study.

He grew more curious as he looked over the room.

As he walked closer, he saw labels denoting what was inside the containers.

Some were common items, while others were things that he’d never heard of before, and many of them were unusual or downright disgusting. Everything from exotic plants to eyeballs of various creatures.

The shelves stretched beyond what he could see of the room, so he turned his attention closer to him, to the counters just in front of him.

Some were made of wood, others looked like granite, and a few were made of materials that he couldn’t identify.

Many of the counters and desks had papers and vials and strange swirling glass tubes, all neatly organized.

"Welcome to my workshop, Connor," Victor said with a proud smile as he gestured at everything around them.

Questions raced through Connor’s mind as he took all of this in. What was the family secret? Was his uncle a wizard? That didn't make sense. He had never seen his uncle do any magic, and they wouldn’t have to hide it if he were.

"What is this place? A workshop for what?" he asked.

"This is where you will do all of your most incredible work. Or somewhere like it, I suppose. This is an alchemy workshop. My alchemy workshop to be precise. You see, Connor, your father, myself, and you are all alchemists."

“A what?” Connor asked. He’d never even heard of alchemists before.

Seeing the confused expression on Connor's face, Victor explained further, "Alchemists can do such a broad range of things that it can be difficult to explain. However, to give you a basic understanding. You know the potions that sell for a fortune? Potions of such rarity and power that wars have been fought over them."

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Connor nodded, his heart brimming with excitement as he felt where this was going.

"Well... who do you think makes all of those?" Victor said with a gleam in his eyes, “Alchemists, Connor. Alchemists can make potions to do almost anything.”

Victor took out a vial filled with a bright-orange liquid and tossed it to Connor.

Connor caught it with ease and eyed the vial hesitantly.

"Go ahead. Drink up," Victor said.

Connor slowly removed the cork and, with one last look at his uncle, he poured the vial down his throat.

It tasted like sour milk and lemons. He shuddered as the slimy orange liquid went down his throat. With the foul taste and texture, came a soothing warmth that spread out inside him. It filled his whole body, and moments later a feeling of boundless energy surged through him.

He felt as though he was vibrating with vigor and strength.

“Well?” Victor asked.

“I feel… weird,” Connor said.

“Try lifting that,” Victor said. He pointed to a two meter long, granite desk that easily weighed more than both of them combined. A lot more.

Connor gripped the smooth surface hesitantly and hefted with all his strength.

It came off the ground so quickly and easily that he fell over backward, bringing the desk down with him.

He landed hard on his back, but the desk remained suspended above him. He turned his head and saw Victor held it up with ease.

Victor laughed as he set the desk back down like it was made of paper. "It makes you stronger aye, but the thing you lift is still heavy and lifting it like that will throw you off balance," he said.

Connor’s cheeks heated with embarrassment, but all he could feel was his heart pounding in his chest as his muscles surged with power.

He rose to his feet, careful to avoid rocketing upward, and dusted himself off. Just a single potion could give him this kind of strength? And Victor had tossed it to him like it was nothing.

Just how powerful was an alchemist? How powerful would he be?

"Now where was I?" Victor said as he scratched at his beard, "oh yes. We can make potions that do almost anything, and we can also make all kinds of interesting contraptions. Not to mention transmutation of course… but I’m getting ahead of myself here. You will come to learn everything in time as well as make new discoveries of your own, I'm sure."

Connor’s mind whirled with questions. He asked the one that stood out above all others.

"Why didn't you tell me about this sooner?" he said.

Victor sighed heavily. "I wanted to... I wanted to tell you so many times, but I thought if I only could get you more prepared, to teach you everything else I had learned. To train you and make you strong while I waited for you to be ready for the responsibility," he said as he rubbed his bearded chin again.

"And, you might think nineteen years is a long time, but alchemists aren't like wizards or witches,” he continued, “We don't age past our prime. We can’t die of old age. We are immortal, so nineteen years? That’s nothing, Connor. Not to us.

“But there’s more to it… while we are long-lived, it is next to impossible for us to reproduce. The fact my parents managed to have both my brother and I was nothing short of miraculous, and that your father managed to have you is truly incredible.

"Because we rarely, if ever, have children there are actually a very small number of alchemists, despite our long lives. I’d wager there aren't much more than a handful in the entire world, and that includes you and I.

“Witches, wizards, and the like may be rare, but they are not even close to as rare as alchemists. This makes it so one alchemist can radically affect the world."

"Are we truly so powerful?" Connor asked.

"We can be, although we can’t just whip out magic like a witch or wizard. Our power requires preparation,” Victor continued, “But, what I meant was: If a war were to start then both sides would likely have wizards and witches, and though they are powerful, they would balance each other out to some extent.

“We are just too few, and we can be immensely powerful. Especially when we have ample time and resources to prepare. Imagine what a single alchemist could do in a war where the other side has none. Imagine an army with that potion I just gave you.

“Do you see how quickly the scales could tip? So, naturally, any who find an alchemist will want to sway them to their side or kill them to prevent them from joining the enemy. Do you see why it is so crucial that you keep this secret?"

Connor said nothing as he processed all the information, it was a shock to learn he was an alchemist. That he was so rare and potentially powerful enough to change the course of the world.

And that he would have to keep it all a secret.

Victor gave Connor some time to think before he continued speaking, "So you see, I wanted to tell you, but I feared that you wouldn’t handle the responsibility. That you couldn’t keep it secret the way that you need to, so I waited.

“I wanted you to be ready, but in the end, I guess no one is ever ready for this. I suppose earlier today was a wake-up call for me that I should’ve told you about all of this already."

Connor nodded. “I understand why you did what you did. I don’t agree with you, and I wish you’d told me sooner, but I accept it. I’m just glad to have found out now rather than never,” he said.

The strength potion still coursed through him making him feel as though he could do anything, fight anyone, and win. He couldn’t wait to find out what he was capable of.

"So when do I start learning about what I can do and begin my training?" Connor asked.

"I thought that we could start tomorrow," Victor said.

Connor couldn’t hide his disappointment. Tomorrow felt like an eternity away. He was desperate to learn all he could about what it meant to be an alchemist.

Victor smirked. "I thought you might want to read through your codex first and learn more about alchemy, and what will become possible for you in the future. If you work hard of course," Victor said.

“My codex?” Connor asked.

Victor smiled the same way he used to when he trained Connor before things between them had turned more abrasive.

“An alchemist’s codex is like a wizard’s book of spells. It contains all the recipes for potions, instructions on different techniques and the plans for different devices. As you learn new things, you will add them to your codex. It's an alchemist’s most prized possession.”

“This,” he said as he held up a large, black, leather-bound tome, “is my codex. As you can see, mine doesn’t look very fancy, but different alchemists have different tastes.”

Victor handed a small, black and purple pouch to Connor.

"Your father left this for you. Inside, you will find your father's codex. Everything he knew about alchemy written down for you to use. That he gave it to you… I don’t think he expected to make it out alive…" Victor said.

Connor looked down at the pouch in his hands. The very same one his father had given him fifteen years ago.

He gently ran his thumb along the golden drawstrings and stared at the dark fabric for a long moment.

He took a deep breath and tenderly undid the drawstrings. He reached inside, and his fingers touched something hard, metallic, and heavy. Much heavier than the pouch itself.

He was still under the effects of the potion from earlier, but even so, he could feel the weight difference between the thing inside the bag and the bag itself… and it made no sense.

He pulled out a book much larger than the bag that contained it, with a metallic cover that gleamed in the light.

“You can tell he was more of a show-off than I ever was, even with his codex. I hate to admit it, but he was a far more talented alchemist than I will ever be. I wouldn’t be surprised if his codex has a lot more to it than meets the eye. I am giving this to you because I trust you to handle the responsibility intelligently, and because your father wanted you to have this.

“I urge you to remember that your father was an incredibly skilled and experienced alchemist. Experience he earned over a very long time. Most of what lies inside that codex will be beyond you for years to come. Don’t get too ahead of yourself. I didn’t spend all those years raising and protecting you so you could blow yourself up.”

“I’ll be careful,” Connor said, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the gleaming book in his hands.

“Mmhm,” Victor said, “as for the pouch, it’s a bottomless bag. It can store much more than its size would suggest, and it also reduces the weight of whatever you put inside. As I am sure you can imagine, it is an invaluable tool. Especially for an alchemist.”