Three days later.
Hami was lost in thought while relaxing on a leather chair. Occasionally, he would toss a small magical sphere onto a wall, which would bounce several times and change color, before returning to his hand.
This was a simple alchemy toy to relieve fidgets. It was usually created by novice alchemists to test their skills.
“If you have time to doodle around, how about helping me check these resource application forms?” A fat-looking apprentice pointed at a pile of files he was working on. He was responsible for recording the resources they needed and reporting the result to Brute Cavern.
“Old Boro asked YOU to handle it, not me,” said Hami impatiently.
“You are part of the reason why I must do this sh*t! Look at what you requested last time... a freaking music box? Boro earned a lotta scolding because of it. And I need to clean the mess afterward!”
Hami raised an eyebrow. “You peasants don’t know fashion. That thing is like a must-have among exquisite wizards. You know, enjoy some music and illusion while drinking your wine... nice!”
“Aren’t you a ‘supporter of practices’? When did you start to like this stuff?”
“Well, I can’t go and look for fights all day. I do my best when I fight, and I rest as best as I can when I’m not fighting.” Hami pretended as if he also had some serious noble standards.
“Just... stop haunting my ears with your nonsense. I need to concentrate here. Wait... Boro requested for the newest edition of The Mirror. Isn’t that magazine meant for wizards only? Will they give us one?” The fat apprentice scratched his head.
“You should spend more time on this job then. Each year, The Mirror gives us a double issue we apprentices can read. It tells us about newly promoted wizards and some commonly-used cantrips we can learn, and sometimes, it would even have the new policies in the organization. I think they published one pretty early this year. I wonder if anything interesting is there... Hey, fatty, help me request for a Blood Shark Suit, will you?”
“No can do,” Boro suddenly spoke. He was just entering the building.
“Come on. I’m so bored here. I wanna go to the sea and kill some monsters. Of course, I’ll hand in all the parts to the HQ,” Hami protested.
“We don’t have any allowance left,” said Boro as he lifted his long beard with one hand so that it didn’t reach the stairs he was climbing.
“Just remove your magazine from the list then. We won’t see any useful stuff on it anyway.”
Boro shook his head. “This year is different. I heard that the organization got a new wizard, ‘Raging Thorns’ Madelyne, the only survivor of the Sillian Family. Check her out so that you can recognize her when any of you return. Apart from her, I think we also found a new alchemist who occupied several sections on The Mirror. Remember his face so that you know who to ask for help if you need any.”
“What’s the point? It’s not like we can meet with them anyway. Just give me a Blood Shark Suit!” Hami retorted.
“Fine, so these aren’t important to you. What about something that concerns your lives?” Boro knocked on the floor with his cane to attract everyone’s attention. “You all heard about the thing happening at Sleepless City? The parasites are spotted around Parmigi Highlands recently, which means we Brute Cavern is very likely to get affected. The Mirror will explain the general situation, and we MUST read it.”
No one said anything this time. Boro was true—this was about their safety.
Boro then walked to the fat apprentice to check the application forms.
“Materials, utilities, books... looks fine. Now send it away.” Boro asked the apprentice to deliver the file through the transmitter upstairs, while he sat down and began working on a new route chart.
It took him some time. He had not finished writing when the fat apprentice returned.
Hami glanced at Boro’s paperwork and asked, “What’s that for, old man? Why are you interested in the sea routes around the Whalebone Sea?”
Boro briefly stopped writing to get some ink. “That mister on a recruiting mission, Padt. He has to travel across Devil’s Water this year, which means he’ll return around next year. He needs to know the schedule and routes of the returning ships so that he wouldn’t travel alone and lose his way in Devil’s Water.”
“Just tell him where the association set up their bases around the lands, and he can look for them himself!” Hami still felt annoyed at the man who hurt his feelings.
“I’m helping him as far as I can. That Mister Padt... He’s not a common man,” said Boro as he returned to his desk.
“Of course he’s not common. He’s an apprentice!”
“What I mean is, he does not look right. His speeches and manners did not fit with his age, and did you see him hiding his name on the bone card? Why?” Boro frowned. “I can’t tell. But this doesn’t mean I can’t help him. Even if he’s just an apprentice, it doesn’t hurt to know a new friend.”
“Why would you need a useless and dumb coward as your new friend??” Hami spat. “Like I said, a spoiled rich man who joined the academicians. He won’t give you anything in return.”
Hami returned to his seat to play with his magic ball again.
Boro sighed and continued writing down all possible vessels of the association Angor might use next year. He had not heard much definite information, so he had to spend the whole day noting down every possible choice.
The faint light from an oil lamp further added to the antiquated ambiance of the wooden building.
While enjoying the refreshing sea breeze at night, which slipped inside the room through the window, Boro finally put down his pen.
Boro checked the dark sky outside and decided not to bother Mister Padt at such a time. While it was rare for supernatural beings to sleep so early, he didn’t want to take the risk.
“I’ll give the chart to him tomorrow then.”
...
“There are two days before his ship leaves. Mister Padt never left his room in three days. What’s he doing?” Boro mumbled.
Then he looked at Hami, who grew so bored that he fell asleep under the sunlight. “Hami, did you see what Mister Padt was up to when you sent him breakfast?”
Hami yawned. “You know what? The b*stard’s making some clothes. When I got into his room, I saw him messing around with some threads and sewing templates on the floor. Why is he doing women’s work?”
“Quit it. Sewing is not exclusive to women. As a matter of fact, many famous weavers around the realm are gentlemen,” Boro scolded. “So he’s a weaver then? Did you get a good look at the materials? Are they tiered magical materials?”
“I’m not blind, of course I checked. No, all cheap mortal stuff. Well, except for the thread, which looks pretty expensive. But it’s still not enchanted.” Hami snickered. “You think he’s an alchemist? Don’t make me laugh. You don’t find alchemists so easily. Especially in this remote place.”
Boro slowly nodded. “You’re right... Unlike Floating Mech City, our organization does not have many alchemists.”
Boro decided to deliver the route chart to Angor at nightfall.
When he returned, he was pondering over what he saw in Angor’s room. Just as Hami said, that man was working on some average materials to make fabrics. But that tool on his desk...
I think I saw it from somewhere before?
He shook his head and stopped thinking about it.
I already finished my job, and Mister Padt thanked me. This should be enough.
...
Inside his room, Angor carefully put away the time chart he just received.
Originally, he planned to ask around for the locations of settlements ran by supernatural individuals around the world so that he would not lose his way upon returning. Boro just saved him a lot of time.
Telling from the details on the chart, he could see that Boro put some work into it.
Angor understood that this old man was trying to grasp any chance he could find before reaching the limit of his life.
And he didn’t hate it. The truth was, he tended to detest sudden kindness that didn’t have a cause. As for obvious equivalent exchange... it was acceptable.
Next, he returned to the work at hand. Since he was at someone’s territory and it wasn’t a good choice to practice illusions, he chose to get to another task on his to-do list, which was learning how to make clothing.
He had this plan a long time ago, and thanks to all kinds of incidents that occupied him, he only found time recently.
He noticed that weaving clothes was easier than he thought. As a Tooling Alchemist who knew the art of Enchantment, he would simply add extra effects to existing clothes to make basic alchemy pieces.
But it was harder if he wished to create tiered clothing. For this, he had to put many factors into account at the same time, such as using the right runes on the right arrays while applying everything onto the right material, without allowing anything to conflict with each other. For this reason, he could not use random materials to weave at his will.
Compared to Synthesis, the products of Enchantment were highly restricted by the materials one could use. It was pretty difficult for Angor to create something with the effects he expected.
For example, if he wished to get a silk robe that preserved heat, he would have to use a Preserve Heat Rune, which couldn’t be added onto silk materials because the rune would easily ignite it.
He had realized that enchanting clothes was relatively easy. But creating something with the correct effect, which both looked good and used the right components, was rather trying.