Master Of None

”What do you mean grooves? The old man will kill us if there are cracks on even one cauldron. Ugh, this isn’t fair we never even used them and we ended up left with something broken.” Remey complained loudly as she walked over to where Walker had been scrubbing. She knew that the old man would go full on strict alchemist mode and punish them even if they had not been the ones to damage a cauldron. ”Let me-” Remey stopped talking and sprinted to the alchemy lab. Walker stood there with his jaw dropped at how fast Remey had just run away and inside the lab to tell the old man.

”I’m going to die...Remey just went to sell me out and I am going to die in the hands of an old man.” There was no other possibility, Walker thought he had completely messed up. Remey had obviously seen this and rushed inside to save herself from whatever further punishment there would be.

Second later the old man and Remey were walking out with very serious expressions. ”What do you mean grooves on the cauldron boy!” There was no anger in his voice but it was harsh and serious. 

”Well I found them while scrubbing and they were filled with a bunch of black ash so I just kept cleaning it. If they are cracks I have no idea how they formed, they are so perfect.” Walker was about to try and explain more that they were already there when he was stopped. When the old man started to run his hands over the grooves tracing them, He followed every groove up and down the cauldron feeling every single spot for possible damage. 

”You said this was already here for years right? You didn’t buy this to learn potions somehow? Nobody gifted this to you?” The old man started to interrogate Walker wanting to know the truth.

”No these were all here when we moved in. We had to take a lot of time to clean things up. This whole mansion had been left in disrepair since the family passed on.” His answer caused the old man to look at him intensely. 

”You kids may be the luckiest people in the kingdom, there are only five cauldrons like this in the entire alchemy building and they are only owned by myself and the other master alchemists. They are known as elemental cauldrons. They are extremely rare and often hard to find anywhere in the country because of how hard they are to craft. The only race that has ever managed to properly pass down the knowledge to do so are the elves.” 

”I knew it as soon as I saw it, It’s the same as the one you use.” Remey became all smiles at this. She knew that when she saw the grooves Walker was talking about that they were almost the same as one a master alchemist had on their cauldron. There was no difference in the two.

”This is indeed a good find, if we had cleaned the inside the same as a regular cauldron we would have damaged it. You did well to come get me Remey. We need to get some herbs, you don’t have them though so we need to get back to my lab to get them.” The old man was starting to fall in to his own thoughts and leaving Walker to be the only one confused about what an elemental cauldron was. 

”Um, what is an elemental cauldron?” His question drew both the old man and Remey’s eyes to him. They were looking at him like they had just been asked what color the sky was. 

”I forget that you didn’t come barging in to my alchemy lab like this troublesome kid did. The elemental cauldron is made with certain skills and patterns in it that will help it pull in natural mana. This will boost the efficiency of the potion making process. It is not something that could change the quality but it will help finish the brew faster. It also is more gentle on the herbs inside the brew. Some herbs will crumble at the lightest touch but in this cauldron that can dissolve slowly and easily. That is why they are valuable. For a master alchemist this means we can make more potions and experiment faster. Not to mention the rare herbs we go hunting for won’t be wasted in any way.” Walker had a look of enlightenment on his face. So this cauldron was really something amazing.

”This is great, we have a master alchemist’s cauldron in our alchemy lab, I wish I could make potions too. I want to use it and make the high mana potions you do. I want to make all the healing teas and salves I can’t make without skills.’’ Remey was being sucked in to her daydreams, Walker had never understood just how deeply her desires to perform alchemy lay. She had always watched another person make the things her family needed at the orphanage. She had felt powerless since she could not provide the medicines they needed when they were sick unless she had another make them.

The old man changed the look on his face to a much softer smile, his hand rested on her head for just a moment but it was enough to show that Remey was near tears. He had seen how badly she wanted to have these skills as a child and how strongly these feelings still resided in her. He could only pray to the world that one day there would be a way for her to use all of the years of study she had used when watching him. As far as he was concerned she was better than any of the apprentices he had ever had. She had always memorized the things he did and knew how to do things in the lab after one look. She cared much more than others and that was what the other apprentices who had their system lacked, the fire.

Remey regained her mind and pushed the old man’s hand away, ”Let’s go get those herbs if we don’t then we are letting gold sit in in the storage room and dull.” Remey already took a step toward the gate with her words. The old man had no intention of waiting there for her to get the herbs herself. Walker was feeling a bit awkward having witnessed the scene that just occurred, he felt he had interrupted a very important family. 

”Wait, Don’t ditch me here!” Walker realized that the two had already started to head out of the mansion grounds ahead of him while he sat there thinking. 

The three moved fairly fast as they wanted to get the herbs quickly and go back to their newfound treasure. 

’Emergency quest: Robbery

A young noble woman was walking with her father down the street when a robber pulled them in to an alley way and forced them to drop their belongings. The woman’s bag was taken and the father’s gold pouch stuffed inside. 

Requirement:

The young woman’s purse must be returned

Capture or defeat the robber.

Reward:

50exp’

Walker and Remey dropped in to a fighting stance. The old man looked about wondering what had triggered them. Their eyes scanned the area around them. The street was surprisingly empty at the moment which was very unusual for this time of day. 

”Walker over there, it looks like a guy running!” Remey and Walker shot off toward the brown cloaked man running away from an alleyway. His brown cloak hid his face and arms but he was clearly clutching something under it. 

”Let’s catch up to him and get him cornered. I can’t use magic here without damaging the city or anyone else that is inside the shops!” Walker wanted to let off a fire bolt to stun the robber but he was too limited to what he could do in the city. Luckily both his and Remey’s speed was enough to start to catch up to the robber.

The robber tried to duck in to another ally and escape, Remey was only a few steps ahead of them but when she turned the corner she jumped back. ”Walker, get back, he’s not alone!” The robber had turned about wearing bandages on his face to keep his identity covered. There were four others dressed just the same with their faces bandaged. 

These other four robbers had been keeping the street blocked well enough so that people were not coming down it. Most nobles would avoid strange people on the streets out of their own will. The now five robbers had tried to face their chaser’s answer ready to fight them off. Walker decided that there was no longer any way for him to avoid using his magic. He needed to get serious. 

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