24 Sigils and Salts

The next Imp we fought was slightly more challenging to defeat, but we still managed it. It was clear that these guys were definitely stronger than hobgoblins, but we were still managing. I had brought my ingredient book with me and read any time we had a chance; I also gathered as many ingredients as I could find wherever I could find them.

Sarah was doing most of the work throughout the day, I felt bad for her, but unfortunately, the melee fighters couldn't hit the flying creatures. It did give me an idea, though, to help Sarah use less energy. I was just hoping that the idea would work. After we had killed eight Imps, I asked if we could go ahead and head back. I wanted to go see my Master to see if we could start working on some of the projects I had in mind. The others agreed, and once we made it back to the city, I separated from them and began traveling to Master's house.

I was surprised to find that Master was actually outside tending to her small garden out front instead of inside working away like she usually was.

"Hey, Master!" I called out to her getting her attention.

"Hello, Todd, how're ye doin today?" I exchanged the pleasantry with one of my own.

"I was just wondering if you could help me out with a couple of ideas I've been thinking about lately." Master got an excited look on her face, ever since the Tattoo Gun, she'd been waiting to see what other kinds of things I would think up.

"What de ye have in mind?" I started off telling her about the portable potion cooker, which could double as a stove to cook your food on. "Ah, love that idea. I couldn't tell ye the number of times ah've run out of potions in the wild and had to find some rock to draw mah figures on." The Master was normally a very ornery person, but lately, she was enjoying my company. I was quickly becoming her favorite student, but she would never admit that to me.

She tried to hurry me into the house, but I told her I had another couple of ideas that we could work on as well. We still went inside, but instead of immediately going to the laboratory, we went to the kitchen instead to discuss. I told her about the space heater idea and the problem that I would have with controlling the temperature.

"Tha's an easy fix Todd; we just have te add a stasis sigil into the formula; it'll act as a blocker for excess magic to go through the heat sigil."

"What's a stasis, sigil?" Master nodded, understanding that I was still a new alchemist, although a talented one.

"A stasis sigil is something that alchemists came up with when we realized some potions could only be made with long exposers to certain processes. So they created a stasis sigil and what it does is stops an alchemic process at the power level that it's at. That way, we can get some sleep during some of those processes. Most alchemists don't get far enough in their training te learn about it, though." I understood. The stasis sigil seemed like it would definitely be useful if I plan to continue making potions and other alchemic items.

"I have one more idea, it's not housing functional, but I think it will really help my Archer." She motioned for me to continue. "So I was thinking about making a type of arrow, but instead of it having a sharp head, it would have a vial of potion or even a syringe to inject a poison." Master looked confused.

"What is a syringe?" She asked me, and I realized that I had used a term for a technology that apparently they didn't have in this world yet.

"So a syringe is a device that is used to inject something or withdraw something into something else." The Master alchemist nodded; she was actually fairly interested in this arrow now, as long as she got to figure out how a syringe worked.

"How would ye make one?" I shook my head at her.

"I don't know exactly how we can make one, but I know the components of one." She motioned for me to continue my explanation. "It's only got a few parts to it, a hollow needle, a hollow tube that grips that needle, and a type of pusher that goes into the middle of the tube, allowing it to push or pull liquids in through the needle." I realized that the syringe itself wasn't actually alchemy, but the Master didn't seem to care. She was enthralled by the idea, as there were several potions that an invention like this could help in the creation of.

"Which one of these do ye want to start working on first? We'll have to get some outside help fer some of these components, like the larger metalwork, but we can go ahead and draw up plans fer the blacksmith." I decided we'd work on the arrows first since I thought that we could probably get some of those done today.

It took a little time to shape the needles and hollow them out properly, but after that, it didn't take much time at all. We connected the needle to a small hollow glass vial and made some adjustments to the shaft of an arrow so it wouldn't fall out and would create the vacuum needed to push or pull liquids through the needle. We tested out its functionality with water first, making sure that it could pull in liquid.

It was a success; the next thing we did was stab the arrow into a pillow close by and make sure that it could expel the liquid, which was also a success. We made a couple of these arrows, and Master told me to have my Archer test how they fired and if they would be successful in battle. The next thing we did was draw up plans for the traveling potion maker/stove/fridge. I had to explain what a refrigerator was as well.

"De ye mean te tell meh that ah coulda been savin food all these years just by makin em colder?" I nodded, and she sighed. I understood how she was feeling thinking about all of the money that had been wasted by having to buy new food all the time instead of just saving what she couldn't eat for later. This line of conversation led to my Masters's invention of a fridge, which was too painfully simple to create. She just had to send these plans off to the metal worker as well.

This day made me realize that I needed to get in touch with my local artisans; if I wanted to keep inventing, I would need to have a good relationship with those people so I might get discounts on large projects like these. The only reason I wasn't worried about them now is that Master was actually very well off. She just enjoyed her small cottage and the privacy that it provided her.

We worked through a lot of the evening, Master would draw up the plans for our new inventions, and I would explain what the items would do, and a rough explanation about how we could make these things. I don't think I could have done any of it, though, without Masters alchemic mastery, or her experience making alchemic tools in the past.

It was a lot of fun, and I could tell that the Master was enjoying herself as well. The sun began to set, though, so it was about time for me to leave. I began to get my stuff together when Master stopped me.

"As a thank ye for an enjoyable day ahm going te give ye something." She wrote something down on a piece of paper then got together a couple of small bags of ingredients from her storage. "Ah want ye te learn this, it's a minor incendiary salt."

"A salt?" Master nodded her head.

"Remember, not all potions have to be liquid, a salt is what we call a potion that takes on a crystalized form once it's finished. Come outside, and I'll demonstrate." I did as I was asked while she grabbed a couple of items. The Master walked out of the house carrying a knife and a small stone, which I assumed was an incendiary salt. She took the knife and placed it on top of the stone, then slid it forward. It wasn't like flint that only created a spark when struck.

This stone immediately lit the blade of the knife on fire. I was in awe but still had questions.

"What's the practical application of it? You could damage your weapon if you like it on fire like that." The Alchemist smiled.

"Yes, ye can, but watch this." The master put the stone down and put on a ring. The ring had a small crystal in it, which I recognized was another incendiary salt. She then punched the ground, and there was an outburst of flames on the ground that she quickly put out. She took the ring off and showed it to me.

"Once ye've learned how te make these, I'll help ye create yer own." She flipped over the ring to show me the inside of it. Inside the band was two alchemic figures carved into it. "One fer cooling, te make sure the metal doesn't get hot, one fer wind te control the direction of the flames, so they don't come back te bite ye. It's another alchemist tool, so ye'll have te be sure te charge it like I showed ye with the spade. But learn it first, then come back, and I'll help ya make one."

This was going to be incredible. I hadn't received an alchemists tool since the spade, although we had just spent the day designing them. I had one more question for Master before I left.

"Why can't I get my Daysprinkle to grow?"