Connor got down on his hands and knees with his codex open on the floor beside him as he drew the complicated diagram with chalk on the smooth floor of the workshop.

It was only now that he noticed just how perfect the floor was for drawing such a diagram, though it was still awkward to draw on the floor. Especially as the diagram was large, complex, and needed to be exact.

It had to be at least large enough for him to stand in while focusing his energy, but he made it even bigger than he thought he would need.

Just to be on the safe side.

His muscles soon ached from the awkward position as he drew the different shapes and symbols as perfectly as he could.

He was meticulous, correcting even the tiniest mistake as Victor watched, and gave an approving nod.

“Remember, you’re using this to help you direct your energy, so if you don’t do it right it won’t be as good. With other circles, it could cause some truly disturbing results. Make sure to be utterly flawless in everything you do with alchemy,” Victor said.

Connor finally completed the circle, complete with the script that went around it. He let out a heavy sigh and stretched his aching muscles, being careful not to scuff the chalk.

“Good work. Next, you’ll want to bring over a workbench so you can start on a basic potion,” Victor said.

Connor stepped out of the circle, his body still a bit unsteady and stiff as he dragged a workbench over. It glided over the floor impossibly smoothly, yet didn’t budge an inch unless it was purposeful moved. No wheels could be so perfect.

Victor must have had these workbenches specially made too. Where did he get the money for so many enchanted items?

“You know you could have brought it for me, so I didn’t risk messing up my circle,” Connor said as he adjusted the bench into position near his circle, without brushing against the lines.

“I could’ve, but I won’t always be here when you work. You need to get used to being careful and fixing your circle if need be,” Victor said.

“Couldn’t we make a permanent circle, so we wouldn’t have to worry about that?” Connor asked.

Victor smiled like he was proud that Connor had asked.

“Yes, and I’ve used some before, but they take up space and especially for such a basic one like this… it would be a waste. It won’t be long before you won't need this circle anyway. Besides… you need the practice,” Victor said.

Next, Victor had Connor page through the beginning of his codex until he found a potion that he thought would be a good starting point for Connor.

Once again, Victor stopped Connor on one of the pages. “You’ll do this one,” he said.

Connor read what his codex had to say about the potion.

The Potion of Heightened Senses.

Difficulty: Novice.

This potion heightens the imbiber’s senses: Sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste are all greatly enhanced.

The amount they are increased by varies depending on the ingredients used, the skill of the alchemist, and the subject's baseline.

It didn’t sound nearly as exciting as the strength potion Victor had given him, but at least it was something.

The rest of the entry contained detailed instructions on creating the potion as well as some notes. Most of which, were about changes to the preparation, using different ingredients, and some of his father’s musings about possible ways he thought it might be further developed.

Connor gently touched the writing in the codex. It was like he could hear his father’s voice speaking to him through time as he read.

Victor said nothing and they continued as if nothing had happened.

“It says it’s a novice level potion… I’ve seen different difficulty levels for the other entries. What are the difficulty levels? How do they work?” Connor asked.

“Novice level is the most basic level I’ve ever found for alchemy,” Victor said, “above Novice you’ll find Beginner, Intermediate, Proficient, Advanced, Expert, Adept, Master, Legendary, and so on. There are a huge number of tiers, and each one is a massive jump from the one before.

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“I’d say that Beginner is two to three times more difficult than Novice, and Intermediate is perhaps ten times more difficult than Beginner, and it just gets harder from there. Despite my long years, I haven’t reached anywhere near the top levels of alchemy.

“Your father probably did though. He was supremely gifted. You must understand that it takes decades, centuries, or even longer to advance. Especially in the latter tiers. Alchemy takes hard work and determination, but it’s worth it,” Victor said.

“Hmm,” Victor said, “I wonder if all of your father’s entries are slightly different from mine. I have all the ingredients and equipment that you’ll need here anyway. So hop to it.”

Connor looked over the ingredients the potion required, skipping over his father’s notes about how different ingredients could be used.

Dragonfly eyes, bat ears, a mole’s nose, and crocodile skin? He gagged.

He had to drink this?

He shuddered, and his skin crawled.

Victor chuckled.

“Try not to think of it so literally. You won’t actually drink any of these ingredients. Rather, you’ll use your alchemy to refine them and take in their essence in a way.

“Anyone could throw these things in a pot and cook them to make a disgusting soup that’d probably make you sick. You’re going to use your alchemy to refine the aspect… the essence of the thing you want… you won't be drinking the thing itself,” he said.

Connor felt slightly better, but his stomach still turned at the thought.

“So I won’t be eating bat ears?” he asked.

Victor laughed again.

Connor couldn’t remember the last time his uncle was in such a good mood.

“Not unless you want to,” Victor said, “with this potion, the purpose is to heighten your senses. So, you will refine the bat ears with your alchemy until you reduce it to the essence of its keen hearing for you to use. The same goes for the other ingredients. You’ll get a better idea of what I mean once you start.”

Connor still felt disgusted, but he could think about it without immediately gagging which was a plus. Alchemy came with its own downsides it seemed.

He picked up a jar of bat ears and asked his uncle the question that had been swimming in his mind for a while now, “Where do you get all this? There can’t be a great market for bat ears outside of alchemists.

“I’ve never even heard of alchemy before yesterday, so there can’t be many people that specialize in selling these items. Where do you get all your ingredients and tools?”

“You’re quite right. But, you haven’t forgotten one of the first lessons I taught you have you?” Victor said.

Connor raised an eyebrow. “Which one would that be?” he asked.

“There is very little in this world that cannot be bought with enough money,” said Victor.

“So you just send off men to go get you bat ears?” Connor asked.

“Close enough,” Victor said.

“But, that would cost a fortune. How can you afford to do that? Even a small kingdom would struggle to keep an alchemist stocked up on some of this, and what about all these enchanted items?” Connor said.

“You’re not wrong,” Victor said in the same tone of voice that he always fell into when he was lecturing Connor, “follow me.”

Connor did as he was told, still holding the jar of bat ears he would need for his potion as the two moved deeper into the workshop.

Victor led him to a box a few feet taller than he was, and made of a glossy metal with runes engraved on it.

The box had a little label next to it that said “Gold.”

“Open it,” Victor said.

It had a door on the front, so Connor turned the handle and opened it, revealing gold. Lots of gold. More gold than he’d ever seen in his life.

He’d seen the box during the initial tour, and he’d been impressed. A box of gold this size would make anyone’s eyes gleam with greed, but there was a world of difference between the size of the box and what it actually contained.

Row upon row of bars of solid gold that stretched off into the distance. The box was more like a doorway into an unfathomably large warehouse filled with nothing but gleaming bars of pure gold.

It made the palace vault look paltry by comparison.

“How…?” Connor said.

“Do you like it?” Victor asked with a smug smile, “it works much the same way as that little bag of yours. Cost me a bloody fortune to get a group of wizards to make the damn thing, but it was worth it. It’s a heck of a space saver.

“Among an alchemist’s many gifts is that of transmutation. The ability to turn one material into another. Say… lead into gold. Of course, you have to keep in mind other less magical laws like the laws of economics.

“If you made enough gold you would crash the gold market and make it almost worthless. I like to keep it on hand in my little box though.”

“So this is how you afford to have people gather materials from all over the world specially for you?” Connor asked as he ogled the gold.

“Yes,” said Victor, “though not just pure gold like this. As I said, you don’t want to crash the gold market. When you can make gold so easily though, it isn’t hard to buy up businesses, land, and basically, anything you want. An alchemist is never wanting for wealth, Connor. And, alchemists are immortal remember?”

Being an alchemist just got better and better… even if it did mean drinking bat ears.

“So I could make all of this too?” Connor asked.

“Of course. You’ll get there in time. If you’re patient and work hard of course,” Victor said.

“If you have so much wealth then why do you work for the palace?” Connor asked.

“I don’t work for the palace for the money,” Victor said, “I do it to keep connected with everything that goes on politically. This way I can avert wars, or even help to start them… there is much more going on beneath the surface of society. You know this.”

“But you could just buy the city!” Connor said.

“Remember what I said about keeping things a secret? It wouldn’t be beneficial for me to be so open. All the gold in the world won't protect us from the armies that would descend on us.

“Alchemists are too valuable. If word got out… we wouldn’t stand a hope of stopping them all. There is much you don’t know, but let’s leave this conversation for another time. You still have a potion to make,” Victor said.

The rest of the process went smoothly as Connor collected the rest of his ingredients, placed them on the workbench, and stepped inside his circle once more.

He looked at his open codex and followed the instructions under his uncle’s watchful gaze.

“Remember, Connor you’re the one that’s going to be drinking this. If you don’t do it well, you could end up growing a tail… if you’re lucky,” Victor said.

Needless to say, Connor took his time.