Epiphany

Evan choked on the food in his mouth. 'Student? It was really that easy to get him to teach me. I knew he was excited, probably because of my dad's talent.' Evan thought condescendingly. He felt like he had the old man right where he wanted him, well, apart from those damn chores.

"Yes, I would absolutely love to be taught by such a renowned Alchemist like you. Would I live here or?" Evan asked hopefully. He did not want to return to his home and see his parents. He felt disgust even remembering what those faces looked like. If his body was old enough, he would love to beat Filmen just like he would Evias.

"Ok then, was it Evias, or Evan then? I should call you by the name you would like, this is the start of a life of your own after-all. No, you will not live here, but it's too late for you to go home right now. There are dangerous animals in the forest after dark." Feldman chuckled happily, feeling as though he had won the lottery.

"Evan, please. I do not want to be associated with those vile people." Evan responded with disgust in his voice.

"Step one, read your 'Introduction to Alchemy" book. Then you must tell me what it is missing." Feldman responded with Evan's first task as his student.

"Why would it be missing something?" Evan was confused.

"I can not accept you as a student if you're not talented enough to find out what is wrong with this book. This book is just a guide on how to become an apprentice, not even an Alchemist. It is missing something very important. If you can find what is missing, then I will know that you have a future as one. The book is designed this way to find out if one has an affinity for the art. Otherwise anyone could be an Alchemist." Feldman's response was very detailed and even gave the clue that the book wasn't complete.

'So, the book is actually a test for anyone to see if they have the affinity for Alchemy. That actually makes sense. If anyone could be an Alchemist from a book, they wouldn't be so rare.' Evan was contemplating Mr. Agates words carefully. He had to make sure that he succeeded. Mr. Agate was full of knowledge and wealth. That furnace was perfect proof. 'I don't know what rank that treasure was, but I know it wasn't low. The power I felt from that thing, I don't think I could even touch it without getting hurt.'

Evan was actually correct. If he had tried to use the treasure his body would have been overloaded with spirit and exploded. That's not even mentioning attempting to use mana before he was tempered for it. He was just going by the instinctual sense of danger that hit him the moment the treasure was pulled out.

Evan was unaware, but Feldman could no longer use the treasure either. When he destroyed his pathways, it was the same as eradicating Inner Spirit from his body. Any attempt to use the treasure would undoubtedly cause him to explode from pressure. He only brought it out as a gimmick to ensure that Evan would take him seriously as a teacher. The aura from an X ranked treasure was no joke, and he himself would still stare at it in awe, even after so many years of ownership.

"Yes, um I am sorry to ask now, but what should I call you?" Evan had just realized that he had never asked Mr. Agates name, although he knew him as Mr. Agate, that seemed to informal for his teacher.

"Just call me Feldman. I hate titles, and my father was Mr. Agate, so please don't refer to me as such." Feldman heartily laughed in a deep rumble after the statement. Apparently, he found himself quite funny.

"Ok Feldman. I will start right away unless there is something else, I should be doing. If you don't mind me asking, where did you pull the furnace from?" Evan was most curious about where he was hiding the furnace. It was quite large at around 6 feet tall, with the smokestack, and at least 4 feet wide, with the cauldron on top. Feldman had pulled it, seemingly, out of thin air.

"Oh, you're a little too young to learn about your spirit subspace. But it is basically your own storage dimension, you will learn to do it after you hit your age of ascension." Feldman responded nonchalantly, like this was common knowledge. He didn't realize that Evan's parents barely took the time to feed him, let alone teach him about the world.

'Subspace? Like a pocket dimension? I need one as soon as possible.' Evan loved this. The idea that no one could steal his things unless he took them out were amazing. He could even stock up on things like food and water to make sure he would never go hungry or thirsty again.

"Sir, I'm sorry to ask, but why don't you keep those tools in the shed in your subspace then?" Evan wondered. If those tools were something he used, wouldn't it make more sense to keep them in his subspace?

"Oh, those are Alchemical Tools, they repel spirit energies in materials. This makes it easier to collect the materials that are easy to damage or ruin by picking. The book should explain most of them to you. Since, I can no longer practice Alchemy, there is no use of keeping them on me all the time. I just can't seem to find it in myself to sell them though. They were such a huge part of my life it seems wrong." Feldman said this in a depressed tone, full of regret.

It seemed like a touchy subject, so Evan dropped it immediately. He didn't want to upset Feldman, he was his best chance of surviving and succeeding in this world.

Feldman walked into another room and shut his door, clearly not wanting to talk anymore.

"You have until tomorrow's midday to tell me what is missing, or I will not teach you." Feldman's voice was slightly muffled through the door and walls, but Evan heard him clearly and got to work.

As he opened the book to the first page again, the progress bar was once again displayed over the book still at zero percent. So, he started reading quickly. His progress was fast, and his retention was amazing. The reading speed was quick due to the years of study Evan had put in on Earth. He had quickly progressed in school and graduated early. Then college was even worse, taking multiple classes that ranged anywhere from Anatomy to Botany. Cramming for tests was a normal thing so reading quickly wasn't a problem, and he was pretty good at retaining what he read before.

His retention rate now was 100%. He didn't forget a single word and was quickly done with half of the book within a half an hour. The book was focused mainly on tempering the materials. This is the first step in Alchemy. You would use your inner spirit to create pressure on each material. This would strengthen the base of the product to allow the use of fire to burn away impurities that would gather through growth.

It seemed very comprehensive at first, but the process to start was never explained at all. It would describe how to exert your inner spirit onto the material, like crushing coal into diamonds, but never explained how to push your inner spirit out of your body and onto the material. Everything but the initial push of your own inner spirit out of the body was explained in grueling detail.

He had finished reading the book and it appeared that the progress bar had paused at 97%. Feldman was right. The book was missing something, and it was apparently important. So now, he would have to try and figure this out without any context. The only context he had was the book in front of him. Time to read it again.

'So, in order to become an Alchemist, I need to learn to push my inner spirit out and interact with the world around me.' Evan was deep in thought. He had read the book twice at this point. He didn't need to read it again, as it was already ingrained into him memory, but it helped with the thought process.

Evan was reading the book for a third time, when he noticed a phrase from the book. "Pathway control is key to tempering any material." The book described pathways as a vein-like pathways in the body that control the flow of your inner spirit.

It clicked for Evan in this moment. He would need to control his pathways to alter the flow of his spirit outside of his body. After it left his body, it could be controlled, with practice, through his mind and instincts.