Chapter Thirty Eight - I commission a small stove?

"Wow, looks like a 'ammer woz takin' to i'," the apprentice exclaimed as he sought to remove the nails that fixed the broken hinge to the door. "Don' worry like, I'll 'ave this dun in a jiffy."

The apprentice had met with Leon and Mino in the morning as promised and the student had guided them both to his set apart little hut in the woods. He had offered them both tea, wanting to try the dried herb blend he had purchased the day before. Mino had declined, but cheekily suggested that he was looking forward to obtaining a fresh batch of mushrooms. He had left them not long after, once Leon had showed him which direction he needed to take in order to get back to the heart of the school.

Leon lit a little tinder and carefully tempered the fire in the pit until it was burning away nicely. And then he placed the tripod over the fire and balanced the kettle on it in order to heat the water and stew the leaves. The apprentice watched him for a moment before returning his attentions back onto the door. After finally prying off the broken hinge without too much damage to the wood, he began to hammer the new one into its place. By the time the tea had been brewed and seeped through a cut of linen, he had completely fixed both door and frame to the new hinge. He tested his workmanship a few times before carefully shutting the door of the hut and joining Leon, who placed a cup before him.

The tea was fragrant and fresh to taste, with just a hint of sweetness. "'oney?" The apprentice questioned. "You added 'oney t'the tea."

"Y-y-Yeah," Leon replied. "D-do you n-not l-l-like it?"

"Na, it be good," the apprentice told him. "People don' norm-a-ly. 'Oney ain't cheap." Leon agreed with that statement. The small jar of honey was a whole silver, but he had always loved the sticky, sweet product and had decided to splurge. The apprentice passed Leon his empty cup. "I no'iced tha' you don' 'ave a fireplace in ya hut."

"N-no," Leon agreed.

The apprentice scratched his head. "I' be jus' tha'... well I fancied makin' this me'al box with i's own chimney for hea' and cookin' like. But me Master thought like i' be a to'al waste o'time like, seein' as peeple use a fireplace. I was tryin' to come up with a way t'get porridge withou' ash innit!"

Oh, it sounds like he wants to make some sort of stove. Leon was intrigued. "That s-sounds a-m-mazing," he said honestly, causing the young man to beam. He was missing a tooth in front. They discussed it a little more and when Leon was convinced it would work for him, he gave him 2 silver to help begin his personal project and agreed to pay for any additional costs of materials and labour once it was completed and installed.

After the apprentice left, Leon examined what herbs he had in his inventory, noticing that they seemed to remain fresher for longer within the interspacial bag. Perhaps he ought to invest in another one once he made his next trip down the mountain. He was looking forward to testing the keg.

There were enough ingredients for a handful of pills as well as others that could be turned into potions. Namely, the only potion that he knew how to create; the basic purifying potion. Unfortunately, Leo had not created an improved version of the potion. He had not created any improved versions of any potions, so perhaps he hadn't gotten around to it or was just more interested in pills. Leon was curious to wonder how the boy had come to the conclusion that he could make tiny adjustments to the recipes and improve them. Leo had made some comments about the herbs themselves in his diaries, perhaps he had gained some clues from his learnings. If that was so, it would not hurt Leon to follow suit at some point.

Leon began the process of making the potion, using his cauldron to boil the water and not pouring it into the keg until the powered nettle roots were completely dissolved. After adding the sunclover, he slowly added his spiritual energy to the lid until it was sealed. He hadn't been sure just how much energy to use, but the lid sealed with a satisfying clunk and he could not pry it loose with his hands. Now he could leave the potion to itself.

Seeing as his spiritual energy remained plentiful, he decided to create normal pills for the remainder of the day, so that he had plenty to take to the Herb Hall the following day.