Chapter 1

The tower stood before him. Everything rested on the next few years. If he would be able to break his family's curse, or they would continue as lowly masters.

Name: Seth Masters

Class: Alchemist (Master)

Secondary Class: Enchanter (Master)

Tertiary Class: Craftsman (Master)

He shook his head looking at his class list. His name mocked him all the while. So close yet oh so very far.

Making his way into the courtyard at the front of the tower. He could see the various runes etched into the walls of the building. At any moment they could turn this place into a fortress. Leaving the bustling street of the Capital behind, he made his way to his apprenticeship.

Coming up to the enchanted door, he could trace that they had already known of his arrival.

His parents always taught him to be polite, so he went up to knock on the door.

He stood waiting for a few moments more. Seth had long since mastered the talent for patience. He needn't have worried as a breathless young woman opened the door in front of him.

Opening the door, she had been quite surprised to see him. She seemed to have prepared to bow, but seeing Seth her demeanour changed.

After all to her Seth was no one important. He hoped that would change.

Soon the name Grandmaster Seth would echo throughout the human lands.

"Can I help you?"

Having gained her breath back, she was staring at him with an inquisitive gaze.

Seth cleared his throat. He did want to make his best impression on the people he would be working with in the future.

"My name is Seth Masters, your master has given me a placement as an apprentice."

She looked him up and down once more.

Not looking best pleased with what she saw, she whispered under her breath.

"Another one of them."

Seth decided to ignore what she said. After all, he doubted he would be anything like "Them".

Whoever they were.

"Alright, follow me then. It won't take long."

Seth was quite happy with how prompt this whole thing was. He could already imagine working under the grandmaster. learning what those final oh-so-important steps were.

"May I ask your name?"

The girl turned back, looking quite annoyed.

"You can call me Senior Seira, follow me."

Seth followed behind Senior Seira with a spring in his step.

He didn't much mind calling some younger than him senior.

After all, he never had senior or junior apprentices around him.

It was all rather novel.

"How soon will it be before I can meet with Grandmaster Amos?"

Senior Seira laughed for a few moments, turning to look at him.

"I didn't take you for.... oh, you're serious."

Seth stared back at her. He didn't see why that was so funny.

"Hand me your notice one more time."

Seth handed over the letter that his father had given him.

His father had saved the Grandmaster's life a few decades ago and had got a favor in return. Of course, Grandmaster Amos had been nothing but a Master at that time.

Now that he managed to surpass his father, he decided it would be good for Seth to study under a true Grandmaster. After all, if he could break his family's curse of never reaching that level, he would be a hero for his family.

"Yep, nothing strange, you aren't joining as a Core apprentice. As an outer apprentice, you won't get a chance to see the Grandmaster at all."

Seth took a moment to let that settle in.

"Of course, if you become a talented apprentice you might rise through the ranks, but you are already a little old. So I wouldn't be too confident."

"How long will it take to become a core apprentice?"

Senior Seira seemed sympathetic about how downtrodden he was in the situation.

"For most, it will never happen, but there is an appraisal every three months. That allows apprentices to rise and fall through the ranks."

Seth could work with that.

He doubted there would be many other Master alchemists willing to work as an apprentice.

It would be easy for him to rise through the ranks and become a true apprentice to the Grandmaster.

"Okay, that's good, when is the next appraisal?"

"It will be another two months before the next appraisal, but I wouldn't get your hopes up. It can take years for people to rise through the ranks. Even I have been stuck as an outer apprentice for two years."

Seth wasn't too surprised by that, after all even after inspecting her. She didn't give off the feel of an accomplished alchemist.

He continued to follow her through the tower. Both were content with silence.

He supposed it wouldn't be the worse thing in the world. It would be good to learn about the situation of the Grandmaster over the next few months.

After all, one day he would have a tower of his own if he could learn about the best ways to run them. It could only be good for him.

With that resolution in mind, he felt content following Senior Seira. He could look at the next few months as a vacation before his true work would start.

He could feel his stress start to melt away thinking about it. After all his family weren't expecting him back for years.

He was a little less pleased with the idea when they arrived at his accommodation.

Senior Seira had taken him to a storage room filled with basic primers for alchemy as well as robes.

He had brought far higher quality items in his storage necklace, but he supposed he couldn't be too out of place.

After Senior placed two robes and a primer in his hands, he followed her to rooms for outer apprentices.

They were below ground, with not a hint of natural light. Only a few alchemical lights lit the way.

Arriving in the Dorms, he looked at the various doorways in front of him. They were far from the quality of the door to the tower. Not a single enchantment could be seen.

Simple wooden affairs with even simpler locks. He could pick them up in his sleep.

"This is where you will be staying for the foreseeable future. You are only allowed to leave the tower one day of the week. You will get basic ingredients at the start of every month. You will report back your progress to whoever is in charge of you. You should find out tomorrow. Enjoy your time here as an apprentice."

With that nice farewell, Senior Seira left him and went back up the stairs. Back to do whatever her duty was. He hoped it was a little more involved than answering the door.

Looking around at his new room. The only thing he could be glad of was the little bit of privacy.

The tiny wooden desk and the straw mattress didn't do much to give him confidence in his future comfort.

He placed the primer on the small bookshelf beside his desk. His new robes went into the locker beside his bed. He closed the door behind him as he sat on the uncomfortable bed.

This wasn't what Seth had in mind. He didn't let himself dwell on what he was to do now.

After placing a few minor enchantments the place felt quite a lot better.

He wandered out of his room to look around the dorm in more detail.

The large circular room had doorways going all around.

At the center was an underwhelming dining area, he wasn't sure where he would be able to get food.

Seira had left that out in her introduction. By the end, she had been far more concerned with returning to her post than giving him all the information he needed.

He strolled down the path they hadn't gone down before walking down the stairs to the level below. He arrived at an area that looked a bit like the dorm. The doors were the only difference. There were far fewer, and they were far more sturdy. Instead of the paltry wood, these rooms had the protection of enchanted iron doors.

While they were only basic enchantment it was still a world of difference to the floor above.

Moving over the the lone open doorway he gazed into the room.

An alchemy station that had seen far better days was the only thing in the room.

That would explain the higher security and protection. It seemed a little overboard for the standard of equipment there. He wouldn't question the judgment of the Grandmaster yet.

The path had been following ended there. The alchemy stations for the outer apprentices were the lowest level of the tower.

He went back up to his room, content with going to sleep for the moment. It had been a long journey to get to the Capital after all. A bit of rest would do him good.

Senior Seira did say that his teacher would wake him up tomorrow and explain the rules in full.

He was looking forward to that, his family had never been too concerned with rules. Their way of teaching crafting was quite a bit different from the standard route.

After all, they had a lot of time to guide him and his siblings.

Falling into a peaceful sleep, he dreamt of the days he would become a Grandmaster.

He awoke to someone knocking on his door. He was quick to rise and get dressed. The enchantments he had placed in the drawer had ensured that his clothes were clean and fresh.

They were quite a bit nicer than they had been the night before.

He opened the door to a scowling face. He looked up at the taller man, his steely eyes and scowling mustache not looking best pleased.

His robe was different from his own and Senior Seira's. Instead of the muted brown, it was a black affair, with green accents along the seams of the robe.

"Took you long enough apprentice, follow me."

The man took off, expecting Seth to follow behind.

Trailing behind the taller man, he came close to a jog to catch up.

Feeling a little annoyed, Seth decided to inspect the man. After all, if he was a Master then he would be a good person to get to know. Anyone else wouldn't be able to tell they were being inspected by someone more skilled.

Name: Arthur Hird

Class: Alchemist(Adept)

Seth could understand why the man was so annoyed. He hadn't even unlocked his secondary class yet.

Seth followed the man up a few flights of stairs. He wouldn't be able to tell the true size of the tower.

While it had stretched up to match the height of many of the other towers in the capital. It had several powerful spatial enchantments throughout. Judging its true size would be difficult.

Walking into a larger room, he finally saw other people. A few apprentices in robes milled around the room.

There was only one other person in black robes, who was sitting in the corner. His robes were also accented with green. So his newfound instructor and that man were in the same ranks.

They made their way to an opening in the wall.

A sole woman stood behind the opening, staring back at them. Boredom is clear on her face.

His new instructor strolled right up to her.

"Give me a set of beginner ingredients, along with a starter set for apprentices."

The woman nodded and went through the door behind her, keeping the rest of the room hidden.

The instructor turned to him once again. The scowl had still yet to leave his face.

"Your name is Seth correct?"

Seth couldn't even respond before the man continued.

"My name is Instructor Hird, you will always refer to me as such, is that clear?"

Seth tried to give his affirmative, but once again didn't get the chance.

"I will give you the basic instructions to make three low-level potions. I expect you to master them all before the year's end. I will judge your best work at the end of each month."

Seth nodded once again, expecting the man to continue. After a few moments of silence and an expectant stare from Arthur, Seth responded.

"Yes, Instructor Hird."

The woman returned with his new gear. Before Seth had a chance to thank her and ask for her name, Arthur went on the move once again.

He followed him down to the lowest level.

Arthur gave him an enchanted token as they reached the bottom of the tower.

"This token will allow you to work in one of the chambers for four hours each day."

Arthur went up to one of the rooms and touched the token to the door. It was a simple enchantment that let them in.

"If you have any questions you can ask one of your fellow apprentices."

With that, Arthur went off.

Seth was alone in the room. His only companion a substandard alchemy setup and some of the worst ingredients he had seen in his life.

It was not a good start to his time as a Grandmaster's apprentice.