Sitting upon a well worn stool working away with my mortar and pestle i can never help but hum a tune to pass the time. Once done with i've completed lip balm i place it into a small bag with a few other items like hangover potion, mouthwash, and some eye wash. Checking off the now made item i couldn't help but let out a small chuckle again when thinking about how big of a party its gonna be if Tathalus had ordered this much of it, i just hope no one gets hurt, but then again maybe ill be able to sell a few jadice ungents with all the tripping or Nemoih ungent from something getting thrown at someone's head.
"No no no, don't be like that ya goof" I say to myself as i close the bag and attach a calling card and the bill to the side pocket, then setting the bag aside in a cubby along with the others and decided to call it a day.
Grabbing my pipe and a glass of whiskey i sit and stare at the unlit fireplace before me wondering if i should even bother lighting it, it wasn't really getting that cold and i didn't think i had anywhere to be at the moment but i am kinda forgetful, and i'm sure mother would give me a good talking to for wasting good firewood if she were alive if i did have to leave suddenly again. Now that i think about it i wonder what they would think of how far ive come. Then again would they even really care? Not in a bad way i mean but they never did like attention good or bad, they just kinda were there. Dad was a good man though he preferred to be out gathering firewood and prepping it to sell while mom was the face of it all and like meeting people though getting her out keep a relationship with others was difficult on good days, she really just wanted to read and spend all the time she could with dad. I think seeing this lackluster motivation is probably what irritated me the most overall and made me want to try something better, to be just another rock in the riverbed was not gonna suit me at all.
Taking and small sip of the whiskey and savoring the taste, which reminds me i need to buy more since i think that was my last bottle. You really think spending all that time in the tail unfriendly library i would learn to take better notes let alone pin them to the door so i don't miss them. Though time in the library was a fun one, i got to read about all the odd lil creatures and such but history was never my favorite and i think i picked up the urge i had to read on merchantile practices and mathematics was probably my moms doing, she was always good with numbers and could sell ear warmers to a dessert elf if she tried. But i think my enjoyment of the books and being a regular of the library while getting to know people was the best part of that time now that i think about it, though i think i was getting on the libraries staff nerves since they would task me with running small errands for them now and again. One time i had been asked to deliver a letter to the forging society and me being still very young and kinda tired of reading at that point since it was lunchtime though it would be good to get out and pick up some food so why not but then i got dragged into hauling crates of coal to the alchemy society.
Stuffing my pipe with some cherry tobacco and lighting it i made a small mental note about trying to dry and make some tobacco myself with better flavor since the cherry one most of all always had a really poor initial smell with you first light it but the flavor was the best but didn't last as long as id like. With a small flick of my ear recalling my memory i grabbed the discarded envelope next to my chair and place it on the small stand next to me quickly grabbing a the quill nearby and jotting the note down before scratching it out realizing i still had hundreds of order volumes to complete and im sure some were putting their adventures on hold tell i was done. Muttering to myself some i give a large sigh and begin puffing on my pipe a few times trying to get the ember to relight so i can have a proper breath of cherry. All this rushing around is all Lanshado's fault i swear it! If i had just left a few roi sooner that old human never would of caught me in a curious mind, then again that's what i get for wondering what all this coal was gonna be needed for and WHAM he got me. He showed me what they did with drying, prep work on herbs, handling of them as not to damage the quality, crafting process and much more. Spotting some kinda potential it seems he brought me to to his class that started the month before but it was just some numbers and such so catching them wasn't too hard but that's when the problems began.
Ouch! Hm, seems that that though kinda agitated me a lil more than i thought and ended up biting my pipe too hard. After another long drag of my pipe i couldn't help but think of all the issues, between fumbling around some of the concepts in prep theory and understanding proper quality analysis all of which hit me the hardest followed by trying to remember proper craft steps was a close second. I think all of this got me because we weren't allowed to take notes since he wanted all this to be "second nature" to us because when were running around were not always gonna have time to look at a book, While it wasn't wrong i hated it. This all combined put me so far behind that the other members of the class used to joke about how i was always in everyone's shadow and don't look like ill be really going anywhere with it. This kinda led to the unofficial title placed upon me as the "Shadow alchemist", not really one i fancied myself back then in all honesty but i showed them. One of my major skills was just pure grit, i stuck with it. I was never the best but i was the most determined to complete every task and then it hit me, i don't know what or how or even why but something just... 'clicked'. Suddenly i was able to smooth over mistakes some of which stumped me for hours util they were of little issue, being able to proportion out ingredients to proper volumes so they aren't deadly was never a big one but there was alot of back and forth with some things so it slowed me down until i did small cheats to keep a consistency, then all that and better motivation my speed overall improved . Don't get me wrong i still wasn't as fast as some but it was night and day over the course of a many months, to some my speeds were dizzying and some even tried to say i wasn't actually doing the work but Landshado thankfully was smarter than that.
Tipping the glass back to drink the last of the whiskey was a nice smooth taste to follow the cherry taste of my pipe. Letting out a small purr of contentedness before setting down the glass once more. Feeling a little eager i stand up and walk around the room some, not being able to take many strides to cross it was annoying but i don't need much else though if my fireplace was big enough to actually put my cauldron in i wouldn't complain. Walking over to the window i see a few kids playing with some kind of ball made of a stiff reed allowing it to have a small bounce as its kicked around as they laughed and cheered. I do remember being pretty happy about graduating from my class thought, during the last month i decided to take up their mocking title of me and don the title of the "shadow alchemist" as one last jab at all the nay sayers in there. I do have to say im not a fan of how they teach out there though, just how many student would of been amazing alchemists had they just stuck it out some? I'm willing to bet a few thousand silver pieces some could of been a match of Landshado i some regard or another. That right there is why i now teach those "unteachable" students, the ones they wont teach for being too slow. I show them what a real teacher can do and what do i get for my efforts? Some amazing students i tell ya. Over the years i have brought people who have failed his courses, left from frustration, or just down right discouraged to join due to the low pass rates and i show them what a small amount of determination can do. But i do get odd looks from even my students when they see just how dedicated i am to my art form. You may get a chuckle from it but i have been approached by barons and the like to make remedies for war efforts, training sessions, personal needs, and more so i cannot complain especially since i have made a good name for myself, an honest name id say.
My ears perk up when i notice the sun beginning to set. "Holy pally hammers!!!" i say aloud without even realizing it, this is what you get for living alone for so long. I run over to my guests stand to grab my coat and hat, i need to buy that whiskey before the shop closes. "One of these days maybe ill find the time for a vacation" i mutter
