Chapter 03: A Reforged Will

{Spring, 07th | 1 MT | At the House}

"Mana, the father or power, the mother of life... the source of all nature... I, Riku Kiesling, have pledged to uphold the sacred tenets and laws of Lilith. In honor of that pledge, I have come to form an oath to uphold that pledge to become a full-fledged Alchemist and uphold the oath to Lilith"

I feel sort of a tingle that comes from my feet to my head and that should be it for this ceremony.

     "Now, slowly open your eyes and exhale

in a relaxed manner" my mom gently whispered.

She smiles brightly, maybe this is one of the things that my mom waited for so long.

"Congratulations, Riku, my dear! You're now a full-fledged alchemist!" She said that cheerfully. "Thanks, mom!" then she frowned "I wanted to send you to the Academy where I studied"

    "Because you still need a lot of training and you still have less knowledge than me, well, we only have the book we had in the house, so it's to be expected," she said.

"Don't we need a lot of money to get into the Academy, I heard a lot of noble kids got there easily because of the "connections" they had. It's okay, Mom, don't blame yourself too hard" I consoled.

     She does seem sad and disappointed. But, it's not her fault. It's been one year since I started studying Alchemy and I'm now 3 (6) years old. My mom is forcing a smile now.

Even though I'm a "full-fledged" Alchemist, it doesn't mean that I can just go for the job that we usually have. Those that are fully-fledged usually are only permitted to freely use Alchemy of course by following the oath.

     But it's not preferred to do the job and they usually go to a school of Alchemic studies to get experience for then they can apply for a job or get the permission of opening a store, that's what usually happens after you have graduated from those school.

But, man, they're excruciatingly expensive for the folks like us, and if you're aiming for a place with a lot of prestige, you need some sort of connection or relations with the nobles.

    Difficult? It is, but I think, for now, I'm gonna help around the village and save up some money myself to get to a school.

It's not only for getting a job but also I wish the knowledge that I don't know, something I wish to have all these years living here.

     Honestly, I want to go, but even though I can't go, I also cannot think of the days when I was taught by mom is useless or with no result at all, she taught me with all her utmost ability and that also shows me that she is a very talented Alchemist though very clumsy.

"We gotta cook something good to celebrate this, Riku, what do you want to have?" She asks happily.

    Thinking about mom's cooking, it's very good, but it requires lots of cleaning afterward. I sighed and remembered that time when mom made Egg Custard Cake which came with a night full of cleaning egg spills.

" I'm thinking of making some buffalo and eicheloa steak myself, but you can help me base it?" I smirked. "You must have thought that the times I was clumsy, aren't you?" She sulked. I laughed a bit.

We ate a good feast that night and after that, I went to the terrace and looked up to the stars while thinking of what to do next.

     Suddenly, I heard a big cough from the dining room, and I know it would be mom and I rushed back in, "Mom! Are you okay?" I yelled.

There, my mom is standing and holding her mouth close, with some of her blood on her hands. "I'm okay," she says in pain, I rushed to her and goes to the medicine box to grab a heal jar, at least it could help to kill the pain and close any wound inside.

     After it's calmed down, we sat together. I'm very worried now, she seems okay now, but it's not the first time she's like this. Her symptoms look exactly like Tuberculosis,      but then again there are no doctors in this world.

I do know the chemical structure of one of the antibiotics used for TBC, Rifampicin, but I don't know the materials in this world that could be used to make it.

"It's okay, Riku. I knew you worried about me a lot, but I'm afraid, it's something you cannot help me with" she must have seen me worried all the time.

     My heart aches, I don't want to lose her, I don't want to let anyone die or break in front of me again, no, not this time, I won't let it. Then it struck me, it's my time, my chance to save someone dear to me, this is the time.

I was given a chance. This time.

I was reminded of what happened to my mom in my past life, if I was there with her, stand by her, maybe I could have saved her from dad.

     If I was there with my girlfriend that spends me so much bravery confessing her. If I could've been with her every time she goes home, protecting her from all the harm, rather than having overtime at work.

She could have been saved. I had no will to save them, be with them, suffer with them, stand with them, rise with them, protect them, and smiled with them.

NO! I DON'T WANT TO LOSE HER!

NO! NOT THIS TIME!! I WON'T LET IT HAPPEN! I WILL SAVE MOM, NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, EVEN IF I DIE TRYING, I WILL NOT LET IT HAPPEN! NO! NOT WITHOUT A FIGHT!!

     What is this feeling? I felt a sudden surge in my soul, something that has never happened to me. Is it ambition? Is it hope? I feel like I have to try, even if it ended bitterly, I will try my utmost best and believe in myself.

Something that I have never done yet in my past life because I've always has been belittling, and distrustful of myself. Not this time. I clenched my fist and grit my teeth.

     "Mom, even if you say that I can't change your conditions, even if I fail, I will try all the possibilities to save you, I have to, whatever you say" I promised.

She forces a smile again, "I'm lucky enough to have you, well, I can't stop you, can I?" She patted my head. "One thing I want to say before you try, it's okay to fail sometimes, my passing is something to be expected from my birth," she said.

      "Okay" I cried a little, my mental age could be of 25 years old grown man, but in this world, I'm just a 6-year-old kid, I can't stop my tears. Seeing me teared up, she hugs me, "It's okay".

The night goes and the morning comes, she slept soundly, but I can't sleep, I'm already planning for her possible treatment.

{Spring, 08th | 1 MT | At the House}

     We had breakfast and I did my farm chores, let's start the research! Even though I do want to search for the cure to treat her conditions...

I'm a realist, all my work could fail and I'm afraid, even if I find the cure, her body might not be capable of receiving any of the treatment, so I have to prepare for the worst of outcomes.

     I put on my usual researching pose and began thinking of ways to preserve her body. Formaldehyde? No, it'll be just the same as preserving a dead body, I want her to stop aging or decomposing, and be alive without the need for water and food. What it could be?

" Ah! Cryogenic Sleep! It's just like the way a hibernation be done! I see a lot of it in movies in my past life!" I frowned again. "But, how to do it? It has to be in a cooling vessel, full of oxygen to keep her alive.

     But again, ice could melt and nitrogen, it's hard to even synthesize. Wait, I think I heard something about unmelting ice, called the Frozen Rain, how do you get that thing? I heard that it can be harvested from a specific cold cave in the north.

I wanted to ask mom and rushed to her, "Mom, have you heard of Frozen Rain?" I asked. "Why are you so flustered? Yes I know of that because I used it a lot in the past" she said.

My face brightened, "Do you know of its elemental structure?" I asked again, "Yeah if I'm not wrong, it's made of 4 drops of the water element and 2 drops of the air element" She explained. "Thanks, mom!" I then rushed to the lab.

     She might be wondering what I'm going to make, but I can't tell her yet. I carefully synthesized a handful of Frozen Rain, to my surprise, it's very cold, if I'm not careful, I might get frostbite. And it does spew up nitrogen bit by bit, gotta wear a face mask.

It seems I don't need to synthesize nitrogen gas myself, and I could just make a pipe to pump in oxygen since it's safe to breathe nitrogen as long it's mixed with correct the correct amount of oxygen. I need to make a lot of it.

     Now, the vessel. Iron? I don't think so, since it has oxidation and it could be bad for the human body since oxidation could harm vital molecules in our cells.

It has to be stone and glass. Stone, huh. It could be granite or just plain concrete. And it has to be isolated perfectly, I don't want any bacteria to infest my mom's body after all.

     After 3 full days of deliberation, I decided to make the vessel of a mixture of concrete mortar made of calcium carbonate and some granite as the base of the vessel. Also with an insulator made of synthesized carbon fiber with a bit of iron plating on the outside just to avoid the oxidation coming inside.

To tell you the truth, it's easy to find the materials since there is a cave with a skarn deposit and we have a mountain full of quartz sand on the outskirts of the town.

     It took me 4 days to make the vessel and the glass observatory door, it looks like a coffin with a top made of glass and the coffin vessel made of cement inside and iron outside.

{Summer, 12th | 3 MT | At the House}

I then fill up the bottom and side part with linings of Frozen Rain and comfortable and soft bedding for her body.

For the oxygen and carbon dioxide pipe, I made a simple filtered air pump powered by a simple generator that produces power from the lightning elements.

It is also connected to an oxygen mask that can be worn made of silicon, so she can breathe easily while in deep sleep.

But for me, it is not enough, I still need something to stop the time and keep her alive in time. And I'm also just realized mom has been glaring at me and the Cryogenic coffin for a long time now, she must have been so curious about what I'm making.

Also, it's summer now, it's damn hot, lucky that I made air conditioning with the Frozen Rain to cool ourselves down. Mom's been liking it too.

     "Riku, I've been wondering, why are you making a coffin, I know my condition, but I'm not gone yet" she sulked. I took a big bite of the roast chicken, we're having lunch, you see. "You will know later, mom. It's not done yet" I'm silent for a bit.

"Well, it's for the worst that could happen, I want to have it done before that time" I explained. "I see, don't push yourself, you hear me? She smiled, " I know". I sighed.

...

"Mom, do you know any recipe that has some  function to stop time?" I asked. "There's something" she stopped for a bit, "You can't rewind time, but you can either do stop the time or accelerate it," she said.

     "It's called the Chronicle Slab, it was an ancient device made in the past to be used to see what happened in the past or what will happen, but upon finding it, they can only be used to stop the time or accelerate it a bit" she explained.

"Do we have the recipe?" I asked, "We do, it's in the book with the red and gold casing, I don't know what you'll do, but I think you shouldn't play with the time, but it won't stop you, right? Just be careful with it" I nodded.

     I spend a full night making it, luckily we have all the materials in the home but it was very challenging to make.

"So, it only affects the time within 4x4 meters surrounding wherever you placed it, and you need to put your magic power to specific runes on it either to stop the time for a specific time or fasten it up," I thought.

     I will save this for the time, you'll never know what will happen in the future, so I feel good having it ready. Now, is the time to make the cure for her condition.

But then again, I'm just a scientist and an alchemist, I'm not a doctor, it will take some time to grasp what kind of illness she has since this is the world of magic and alchemic things, I'm afraid that her illness is something I can't deal with my scientific knowledge.

     But whatever happens, I will try to find it, even if I feel I can't, I have to try because I have been given a chance, I will not let this chance goes away without a struggle. To the bitter end.

> End of Chapter