Chapter 52

"These… it feels unreal reading these." Alex said as his hand hovered above the names of the recipes.

'Potion of a wolf, potion of a leopard, potion of the other side, potion of youth.' After reading a few of the recipes in front of him Alex turned to the woman next to him.

"You excel in transmutation. Not only are the potions able to change appearance altering them, they manage to give the user the same perks of the form they take."

"No changing of appearance, they truly become what the potion states. But much like how mana transforms into a ball of water, that water will return to mana as in reality it never was water."

Alex looked down trying to understand the difference between what he had said and what she had described.

'So these potions are really capable of changing humans but at the same time not? Like a halfway between what is possible and not.'

"It feels like this is pushing the limits." Alex said.

The woman smiled. "That would be correct if you believe what you are told. But what if I told you something else? What if I said that there are no limits? That these limits were fabricated by people of the past. A man could never become a pig, right? Maybe, but unless it is tested, no one will ever know."

"At one point long ago it was said that man could never fly on his own. Someone crossed the limits and mana suddenly showed up, and guess what mankind flew. This is the golden age for magic and technology, there will come a time in which every true limit will be found. Maybe there will come a day when we look back and call our ancestors stupid for not finding out the truth sooner."

Alex looked at the collection of recipes as if grasping what she was implying.

'She alone created these recipes. There are tens of thousands of potions masters, just how long will it be before these complicated recipes become common, and more complicated potions take their place?'

'It is very difficult to create something new, but it is easy to expand upon something already created.'

Alex felt a pain in his head as he saw a glimpse of a possible future. The scale of how fast humanity was expanding its knowledge gave even Alex a headache.

"Then why have progress slowed behind a paywall?" Alex asked as the thought flew through his head.

"Why? There are many reasons. Potions are very finicky and only those who know what they are doing should be able to have access. While there are many who will buy the recipe and not have the qualifications, by them buying it and me not giving them it, prevents me from unwanted trouble when they create some mess."

"Although the main reason is beliefs. We dislike change, and while there is no doubt that we could have made scientific and magic discoveries centuries sooner, the potions guild would have been razed to the ground by the temple, by angry towns, by other kingdoms had we shown that what they believed was false. All it would take is a few wealthy puppeteers to mobilize a war. When you get older you will understand what I mean."

"If you are done here then I will go ahead and be leaving as well. However don't wait up on me I have my own exit." The woman said as she pressed on a wall and disappeared from Alex's sight.

'She has her own personal teleporter.' Alex thought as he walked towards the exit. His mind was spinning as he thought about how little it would take for the temple to shake a weaker potion guilds foundation.

'All they would have to do is call them unholy, and the guild would have a negative public opinion. A kingdom could call them unnatural.'

He continued to think as he went over to take a seat.

"Is this all of it?" Alex asked as the man from before came back with a basket full of items.

The man nodded and handed Alex the basket.

"Thank you for coming. I wish you the best of luck on your journey in brewing. My name is Leon, do tell me if you need anything at all. The market will be open all week, so you will more than likely be able to find me here." Leon said before turning away to find another buyer.

"You never handed me the bill." Alex said seeing him leaving.

"There is no need for you to pay, it was covered by the potions guild." The man said before continuing on.

Alex reached into his pocket and pulled out a some money. He handed it to the young man who handed him a tray with two steaming drinks.

"Thank you." Alex said before turning to leave.

Both of his hands were full but that didn't stop him, he lifted up his foot and opened the door expertly as if he had done so before.

He exhaled heavily as his nose was no longer strained by the strong smells. He sniffed a few times before looking to the herbs Lockhorn had wanted.

'Why do they all stink?'

Alex looked at the cauldron and herbs he had ordered for himself a smile filling his face.

'Well if I can make them successfully it will help a lot. If I can that is.'

"You must like plants a lot." A voice said from the side.

'Do I know her?' Alex looked at the person who had come from another walkway.

The dark prevented him from seeing the stranger clearly but he could make out a red tinge of hair.

'Must be one of Cameron's relatives.' Alex thought before responding.

"Meh, they are okay. Most of these are for my instructor and the reward he offered for finding them all." Alex said lifting the heavy basket up for the girl to see.

"Half of these smell like rotting cheese. Sometimes I like to stuff my nose before entering his room." Alex said gaining a giggle from the girl.

"So, are you going to take part in any competitions?" Alex asked.

"Me? No, I'm mostly here just to watch my siblings on Friday, don't have much else to do here. I haven't really got much skill in any of what is offered for first years." The girl responded.

"Oh, makes sense, not every mage can just fit into any category. Still it's a good time to get a lot of experience just from watching."

"Yeah and you, are you joining any competitions?"

Alex nodded. "I've got potions tomorrow, hunting the next day, and runes on Thursday. But even with all of that to do, there is still a lot of downtime."

"It sounds like it's a lot of work."

"It can be, but all of the training makes the tests easier."

"Three months is enough for you to call this easy?"

"No, not just three months. I've been training for a many years on my own." Alex answered.

"I would say that it gets boring, but I'm always too busy to get bored. Training is very isolating though… sometimes when I open my eyes after meditation it feels like I several I had been away for several years." He continued while turning to the side.

"My name is Alex by the way, it was nice speaking with you." He said before looking over to where Daniel was bundled up on a bench on a separate path. "I'm afraid This is where we will part. I have to give that fool over there a healthy beverage. I'll see you around during the competitions, feel free to call me out whenever you see me."

He turned back to the red haired girl. "Are you cold? Your shivering."

"I'm not shivering." She said before turning her head away slightly.

"I'd offer you my hoodie but it's covered in sweat." He said before pausing. "Here, have this. Some hot chocolate will warm you up."

She grabbed the cup that Alex had extended to her before speaking up. "Your the one that is shivering. Just look at you only wearing a shirt in this weather." She held the warm bottle with both hands. "I'll see you around good luck with your competitions Alex."

"Thanks." Alex said in reply. "Tell your siblings I wished them good luck as well." Only getting a nod in response.

'She never told me her name. Whatever, spotting her shouldn't be too hard. She wasn't wearing a badge but she should go to the same school as her siblings.'

Alex walked over to a trash can and tossed away the tray that held the drinks and held the coffee in hand before proceeding over to Daniel.

"I heard you had hot chocolate."

"Your ears are too big for you, if they get too big someone will mistake you for an elephant. Besides chocolate isn't good for people of your age." Alex replied.

"Show me some pity. So what did you get me then?" Daniel asked as Alex sat down next to him.

"Some coffee, I don't know how long you will be out here but you will need the energy. From the smell of things the potions guild even spiced it up." Alex said as he twisted the lid open, the steam rising and creating a stream of small clouds.

"That's very thoughtful. I will only be out here for a few more hours, but the coffee will do just fine." Daniel said after taking a sip of the coffee.

He went to pull out some money but Alex stopped him.

"The coffee was free so no need to reimburse." Alex said before leaning back and looking up to the sky.

"So have you caught any bad mages tonight?" Alex asked as he watched the stars through the transparent dome.

"A few. I think they are trying out to be spies with how far they go to try and sneak into the girls cabins."

"Hah, a tight patrol and countless powerful mages on lookout is not enough to keep them at bay." Alex said as he watched a shooting star pass.

His eyes locked onto the star as the light emitting from it disappeared and reappeared a distance away. 'It is blinking?'

"You would be surprised at the lengths we humans will go to to get what we want." Daniel replied.

"At this point nothing surprises me, unless I allow it." Alex said as he pulled out his phone and checked the time.

"I know, it's a heavy trade off… you should head back to the cabins, you'll have plenty of time to check out the runes building tomorrow. I don't want you to be caught out after ours, these guys are almost as lenient as the military."

"Alright. Have fun with your watch duty." Alex said standing up and lifting the basket of herbs.

Alex jogged back to the boys cabins, he stopped midway as he noticed a soft glow from a building nearby.

'Almost forgot.' He thought as he walked up to a vending machine.

He read the packages before inserting a note into the machine and retrieving two blue bags labeled 'Soothing Crisps.'

"Where are the showers?" Alex asked Taylor as he walked up to their bunk.

Taylor who was playing some type of game on his phone caught a blue bag that flew in his direction. "The showers are through there. Your lucky you are showering late, it was nearly full by the time I decided to take one."

"Maybe I'm lucky, or maybe it was calculated. Can you keep an eye on this basket? I need to properly store this stuff before putting it away."

"Sure what is it?" He asked before gagging as he smelled the foul basket.

"It's for Lockhorn." Alex said while grabbing a towel from his drawer. "Most of it that is."

——————

"Play it again, but activate the domes scanning formation."

"The scanning formation doesn't work in this room , it is isolated."

"Isolated? what kind of fool creates a room for children and gives them free reign to do as they wish? Don't lie to me just activate the formation!" A man ordered from over the shoulder of another man. The light from the screen illuminating their faces in the dark room.

The man seated at the computer sighed before typing a code into the computer.

A scene appeared on the screen. Alex could be seen in an arena running from a bipedal lizard thing. A cloud of dust rose from the ground and clouded up the area, but Alex and the lizard were still visible. The two were glowing.

Large clusters of energy spread out from Alex and he skidded several feet in a direction before the energy returned to him.

The two men stared at the scene in awe.

'He uses his wind affinity differently from other students. Rather than pushing himself he is pulling himself for shorter but faster bursts of speed.'

"He isn't even looking at the beast." The seated man said.

"He doesn't need to. see this foggy dome? It's a wind domain he can feel where it is."

"It's way too translucent are you sure?"

"He has some type of upgraded wind affinity, anything is possible."

A large spear slowly appeared on the screen, becoming more and more visible before it shot off and towards the lizard.

"It's too slow it won't hit." The seated man said.

"Are you stupid? The boy beat this beast, of course he lands this." The standing man said, frowning as he watched the lizard sidestep the spear last second.

The spear seemed to break all laws of physicals it bent and hit the lizard who surprisingly had a look of surprise on its face.

"You were right. The hologram summoned a sentient being. How did you figure that out?" The seated man asked.

"The grid sputtered for a moment, and I was in charge of watching this room. Some type of hacker managed to input their own data into the hologram, but I managed to fish it out." The standing man said before showing the seated man a sheet of paper.

The seated man read over the printed lines of runic code for a minute before smiling.

"Do you know what you have found?"

"I know! When I turn it in tomorrow and we will be famous for locating the hackers that were responsible for what happened a decade and a half ago." The standing man said.

"That's not what I said." The seated man said before he turned around in his seat, his smile turning awkward as he bared all of his teeth and his eyes stared holes into the standing man.

"Do you know what you have found?" The seated man asked in a hoarse voice.

"What?" The standing man asked before covering his nose. "What the fuck? Did you just shit yourself!"

"You've found a lifetime of hell. Congratulations!" The seated man said in a warped voice before pushing him.

The standing man fell backwards and disappeared from the room.

"Huh? What was I doing?" The seated man asked while looking at the blank sheets of paper in his hands.

He turned back to the computer and sniffed his coffee. "Why does nobody check the expiration date on these things. I could have died if I drank this wretched thing." He said before getting up to throw the drink away.

——————

Across the domed area.

"Did you speak to him?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Well, how did it go?" A tall dark haired girl asked a red haired girl seated next to her.

"He was wonderful we talked for a while about what our plans were and he even gave me hot chocolate, I even told him I was mainly here just to watch you and Kev compete. He even wished you both good luck, but…" The red haired girl stopped as she choked on her words.

"But what? Don't just leave it at that tell me."

"He didn't recognize me, maybe it was because I dyed my hair. Do you think I've changed a lot? I mean he looked directly at my face, and I recognized him."

"He may have forgotten. Listen Tori, first he tells you his feelings then he leaves without telling you. He is not worth the trouble. Especially since he can't even recognize you." The dark haired girl told her.

Tori nodded. "What should I do, just move on?"

"You should. There are plenty of better men out there."

"But what if I reminded him? He was just as kind as ever, even if he didn't recognize me."

"Do whatever you want. I just don't want you getting hurt again, do you remember what you were like after he left? Mom had to try everything to calm you down." Tori's sister told her.

Tori didn't respond she just laid down on the bed her face to the wall.

"Think it over. I have to go to my cabin now, I'll see you tomorrow."

Tori was too busy reminiscing over all of the days she and Alex had spent together, he was her closest friend that was a boy. She gave a sad smile as she went over the happy memories that had somehow gone bitter, and a tear slid down from her eye.

"You should talk to him." A head popped down from the top bunk.

"Not now Gwen." Tori said in a quiet voice. "I'm going to bed."