Chapter 4 - Gifted Alchemist

“Now take your time; this is a delicate process. Stir the solution to the right, throw five stalks of Gold Bay Grass…” Haryk instructed Sylvie calmly.

Four years have passed since that fateful day when Haryk invited her to his shop as a potential mentee after she expressed her desire to learn alchemy.

Sylvie had both changed and learned a lot during that time.

The first few months under Haryk were like a trial for Sylvie to see if she had the talent and drive for alchemy.

Though Sylvie was very young, she was close to the age at which a Wood Elf would take a mentor.

Usually, a mentorship would largely determine your role in the Wood Elven Society. Your mentor passes everything they know onto you, meaning Haryk taking her on as an apprentice at an age when she requires a mentor, makes it appropriate for him to become one if she shows genuine desire to learn alchemy.

Sylvie knew that Haryk would teach her regardless of whether he became her full mentor, but undertaking her mentorship with him meant she would learn far more. Knowing the alternative was following her Mother and Brother, Lanren's path, Sylvie was determined to impress Haryk since she knew her true talents lay in alchemy and would be wasted elsewhere.

An alchemist is a step above most crafting professions in Falamel. There was always a demand for alchemists' potions, offering them higher status. Even as a Journeyman Alchemist, Haryk's status would be above that of a Guardsman like her Father, making Haryk one of the most popular prospective mentors in her district, Neolune.

For that reason, despite her Father being a good friend of Haryk, there was no guarantee he would mentor her for that alone.

Sylvie did her best to show glimpses of talent while maintaining the guise of being a perfectly normal elven child.

At times, she grew worried that she was overdoing it, but that all faded when he continued to give her introductory lessons on alchemy after a few tense months visiting the shop, he revealed to her that he would be asking her parents about taking her on as a mentee and if she would be happy with that.

That was how Haryk became her mentor. The learning capacity of a ‘Gifted Alchemist’ was not for show; she rapidly learnt anything related to alchemy.

At first, Haryk provided her with thick books on alchemical materials, but since she had yet to learn to read and write Elvish, Haryk, as her mentor, undertook that himself.

Her mother was supportive during this time and also helped her, allowing her to progress rather rapidly.

While she learnt to read and write, Haryk demonstrated the process of creating potions and informed her of the materials and their properties while he brewed the potion.

He would reference the thick books whilst doing so, pointing to the diagrams and pictures of the materials, allowing her to grasp things quicker.

Sylvie enjoyed her time with Haryk; she spent more time with him than with her parents during this period. Haryk taught her more than pure alchemy; he even introduced her to the history of Falamel.

Wood Elves were proud of their culture, and Haryk was no different. Though incomplete, he showed her a map of the world since Wood Elves rarely venture from their home.

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The world she now lived in was called Aetonor. It had a ginormous amount of land mass, and she could appreciate the sheer size of the world even more from the illustration. Sylvie found the section involving the Wood Elves' territory incredibly detailed, as they have scoured every inch of the Great Forest, Lathlorian. Other sections marked other territories, and there were known human lands far outside the boundaries of the forest. The High Elves were also highlighted, showing their significance to the Wood Elves.

Haryk described Wood Elves as having been around for a long time. Falamel is an ancient city; the Wood Elves have resided here for hundreds of thousands of years.

Sylvie thought it seemed an incomprehensible amount of time, though the Wood Elves were both incredibly long-lived; they had been around and were the ones to nurture the Tree of Life that made up the entire City today, watching it grow from a sapling to a tree that was taller than the most prominent skyscrapers on Earth.

Haryk went through everything related to the Wood Elves' love of nature, their ancestry, and the difficulty of the ones before them, who built this grand City in a hostile environment filled with powerful monsters.

Sylvie soaked everything in, though he took on a serious tone when she asked about the High Elves and other races.

“The High Elves are responsible for many innovations in our Great City. They were responsible for the mighty walls, powered by their enhancements, which meant we no longer needed to rely on our Warriors as much. In the past, we placed far more emphasis on teaching every Wood Elf to become a capable Warrior in their own right, with us living in the Great Forest, conflict was common. We were always known among the Elves for our physical prowess and adeptness in the Forest. However, we always lacked in other areas, especially crafters. Yet, the High Elves have brought innovations here, contributing much to the city structure. Far more of us have become crafters, and those desiring to become a Warrior have grown less and less. Every Wood Elf in Faramel used to be reasonably proficient at using the bow and short sword, yet now that is far less.” Haryk said as he stared absently for a moment as if in deep thought.

Only when Sylvie reminded him of her presence did he snap out of it, then Haryk said, “Don’t mind my musings. Things are complicated.”

Then, Sylvie decided not to push further about the High Elves and other races. Sylvie knew something was hidden behind Haryk’s eyes, but she had no idea what he was thinking.

Burying herself in alchemy instead, she improved swiftly, and time flew by.

Now, recently turning nine years old, Sylvie was already confident she could pass the examination to become an Apprentice Alchemist, and so was Haryk himself.

Sylvie felt she could have passed the assessment a year ago, but she wanted to make sure she was as prepared as possible.

She was now almost in the process of successfully brewing a Potion of Vigour, a minor potion many Warriors utilise to boost their prowess, temporarily increasing their speed and strength.

Part of the assessment is to be able to brew at least five different apprentice-ranked potions.

The Potion of Vigour was the fifth and final potion recipe Haryk taught her to use to pass the assessment.

And she was on the brink of brewing it after some failures and attempts. Sylvie learnt the hard way that alchemy was a process of repeated failures, learning from each one until you grow enough to succeed.

Being even-tempered was essential to becoming a competent alchemist. However, Sylvie knew Haryk had already sunk a small fortune into her mentorship. Even with her being a ‘Gifted’ talent in Alchemy, it still required her to work extremely hard these last few years to just reach the prerequisite for an apprentice alchemist, making her realise exactly why becoming an Alchemist was such a rare profession.

“Almost there, Sylvie, take your time… no need to rush and… done, step back!” Haryk said enthusiastically as she followed his instructions.

Inspecting the freshly concocted potion, he seemed to look at its texture and scent before taking a small sip and nodding.

Sylvie felt nervous as she had already failed to brew the Potion of Vigour a number of times successfully. It was the most difficult of the five she had to brew.

Haryk seemed to draw out even longer for suspense as she felt her heart beat in her chest from nervousness and excitement.

“Sylvie. Well done, well done. I can’t believe it, but I recommend you take your Apprentice Alchemist assessment. We might be looking at the youngest Alchemist in Falamel’s history.” Haryk said with a proud gleam in his eye.

Sylvie felt great satisfaction from his comments until she heard the final sentence: ‘The youngest in Falamel history’.