Bylor carefully eyed the mixture bubbling behind the glass. Physical impurities were rising up but could do nothing more than rise to the surface of the churning liquid, unable to go any higher while the mixture evaporated and left them behind.

  Steam rose up, reaching the mouth of the tube where it follows through a long, spiralling tube and gets condensed into liquid once more. Distilling concoctions wasn't that strange for alchemists to do, especially when they want to make high quality potions, which often require a lack of impurities.

  Bylor is a mage first and although he is an alchemist, he doesn't specialize in material alchemy as he prefers to use the art to make potions but that doesn't mean he's completely oblivious to the inner workings of material alchemy.

  He knows how to make physical objects using alchemy, as any wizard worth their weight should.

  After another inspection, he saw that the aethex within the glass is soon to be fully evaporated, and when that time comes he would add extractants, coagulants and stabilizers into the distilled liquid.

  Then he'd heat it up some more until the brew solidifies and becomes a tiny stone, one containing all the effects of the ingredients he used to make it.

  And that's how material alchemy works, you make a potion and turn it into a stone using the alchemical trinity. It wasn't a hard art, but one would have a difficult time turning volatile liquids into solid materials if they aren't skillful enough.

  Bylor remembers that he had once met a man who boasted about his dexterity stat and how it helped him with his alchemy, that man never spoke to Bylor again after he lost a simple potion making contest.

  Truly, the pride of geniuses is their biggest problem. They lose once and then they are suddenly all depressed.

  It is good that young Rontress didn't have that type of issue. Her personality, while a bit on the manipulative side, is not that bad. Some might even call her kind hearted.

  "You know, for someone who said that he's just making a gift for his granddaughter, you sure know how to work your way around an alchemical table."

  Bylor turned and met the woman's gaze, his lightning blue locking in with her onyxes.

  Stearmon Kendote. This would be the name of the woman. She has fiery red hair, tanned skin, and a pretty aggressive demeanour, it makes one wonder how she became an alchemist with such an attitude. Art requires patience, a lot of it. It is shocking how she still has all her fingers.

  "I'm simply working based off of recipes." Bylor replied, trying to sound humble. Though it's clear that his work is anything but. "What brings you here?"

  "Curiosity." The woman replied. She stepped forward and sat on a nearby stool, gloved hands resting on her thighs. "I find it interesting how someone so old could move so deftly around an alchemy shop, and that potion too, I didn't expect you to make something so high quality out of the ingredients that you brought in here."

  "It's not high quality. Just good enough." Smiled Bylor, he didn't stop working even as the woman interrogated him. Tilting his head to take a measure of a vial full of herbs before he crushed them, he asked her a question. "How are you?"

  "Fine." Stearmon answered swiftly. She eyed the vial as well, her expression says she's thinking. Whatever it is that's on her mind, she didn't say it out loud and instead kept staring. "I've never seen mind soothing herbs around an alchemist before, what's it for?"

  "Protection. Or stability." Bylor cryptically replied, he really didn't have the time to answer her questions right now. "I want my granddaughter to have some peace of mind because of this, otherwise things will go bad."

  "Ominous." Nodded Stearmon, though she didn't make a move despite her prior aggressiveness. "You're more of a wizard right? Rituals and all that? I hear you guys can live pretty long, alchemists need the philosopher's stone to get the same thing."

  "And wizards require something just as expensive as a philosopher's stone, others merely cheat." Chuckled Bylor, he knows that argument well. He noticed that Stearmon stiffened when she realized he didn't deny his longevity. Is it such a shock?

  "Well, I guess that makes sense. So who's that for? Your apprentice?"

  "I wish." Wouldn't it be good to impart his knowledge to Rontress? Most people who know him would jump at the chance. "Though I know she would never accept something like that, so I am simply helping her." Unfortunate as the situation may be, Rontress is a bright girl and would go far even without his tutelage. "You aren't wrong you know, this is for a ritual."

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  One that would open the eyes of Rontress to the true world of magic, and a ritual that he wished he had done for himself during his younger years. All those decades wasted because of his lack of knowledge.... A lot of problems that plagued him could have been avoided if he knew about this ritual back then.

  "Yeah, I know you're making magical stones, which are commonly used for rituals." Stearmon rolled her eyes. "All the ingredients said that much. I expected you to actually make stones you know? Non-magical ones. As a gift like you said?" The alchemist shook her head. "I didn't expect you to make them for a ritual."

  She didn't sound shocked, perhaps that type of emotion has already passed when Bylor implied he's lived for quite a while. After hearing something like that, Bylor assumed that the girl must be thinking every other revelation about him is tame. He can't fault her for it either.

  Idle chatter passed between the two of them as he continued making ritual components.

  There are stones meant for magical guidance to give the ritual direction, stones that will protect the person inside the ritual, and stones that will keep them safe from the harmful effects of magic once the ritual finishes.

  It was all properly calculated because he cannot afford a single mistake. Not when doing something with this much importance and risk.

  When he's done making everything, he uses the remaining ingredients to make a piece of chalk. He infused it with a low tier monster core to make it more effective.

  That core had been the most expensive material he bought, everything else was cheap yet effective. Mere substitutes for the true ingredients he needed.

  None of this would have worked if it isn't him who's doing the alchemy.

  "Thank you for hosting me and playing along with this old man's whims." Bylor smiled at Stearmon, who seemed apprehensive. "I will take my leave."

  "Can you tell me how you effectively used all those ingredients? I've never seen someone utilize substitute materials like that before."

  "Experience." Bylor waved and left the shop. Such a fascinating character, Stearmon. She had been so aggressive at the start and now she almost didn't want him to leave her shop.

  Bylor found himself in a magical emporium after the alchemy shop. Here he bought magical scrolls, picking out the ones with the simplest runes before buying a book which details the explanation for each inscription.

  "Ah, making scrolls?" The old man at the counter said with a chuckle. "I know that Ghorise must be boring for a wizard like yourself but the aberrant meat harvested from the cull tastes so good it almost makes up for it!"

  Almost. Bylor had personally hunted an aberrant or two when he first got here and it never tasted good, it was only when Rontress cooked it that he could see why it attracts adventurers from all over Pwofuria just to get a taste of them.

  Perhaps he's the problem? He doesn't have a cooking related class and for the life of him, he can't get one.

  Then again, maybe it's just his bias towards the little girl that's making him think this way?

  After a bit of small talk, he purchased the scrolls and book. He then left the building and started walking back to Rontress, he's slowly gonna introduce Rontress to runic knowledge to increase her magical stat before telling her about the ritual, which will give her more stats.

  She should agree once he explains to her that [Rune Mage] is one of the best sub classes out there for someone who wants to become a magic caster but doesn't have a main class related to it.

  On the way there, he noticed panicking adventurers and guards rushing towards a single direction— the same one he's heading to.

  Did something happen?

  Well... Something did happen, an aberrant? Inside Ghorise? How did something like that pop in here? A mage who couldn't control themselves?

  Pathetic.

  People like that give magic a bad name.

  Shaking his head and deeming the threat as nothing more than a nuisance, he left the aberrant in the capable hands of the adventurers and [Town Protector]s.

  He did get a glimpse of it when he passed the main street; it was fairly large, around 8 feet tall or so. It wasn't strong despite that however, and Bylor assumed it's because it is still young, freshly spawned even. It hasn't been an aberrant for long so it's not acclimated to its new body yet.

  A chimera around here was unusual, but he's seen weirder aberrants and even personally fought multiple Warps so he just dismissed it. Whatever made it form is none of his business, quite frankly, there are a multitude of reasons for why it would even come into existence and he simply doesn't want to waste time figuring out which one it is.

  When he got to Rontress, she didn't seem to care about the aberrant fighting adventurers on the next street over, though everyone else looked visibly disturbed.

  The young girl turned to him, smiling. "Ward."

  "Little Rontress." He smiled and handed her the scrolls as well as the book. "I suggest that you don't use the scrolls and instead study them, I have news that you might like."

  Bylor looked around, instead of making up a reason for why he's recommending Rontress to not be a hedge mage, perhaps he should address the elephant in the room first. "Before that... What's going on with that aberrant?"

  "We're not sure." Jasiin answered, voice uncertain. "They were harassing us earlier and then they just suddenly became that way."

  "What he said." Rontress shrugged. "They chased me and then poof, they turned into... That. Maybe it's the alcohol I made them trip into? I don't know."

  Bylor blinked, the situation is related to Rontress? That's... Interesting.

  Should he actually investigate it?