The Way Ahead 3 by Kaleb England

Author:Kaleb England
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Podium Publishing
Published: 2022-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Alchemist Vital

Oh, cool! Did that mean he’d gotten and completed the Alchemy Vitae Path? Had he created life of some sort? Edwin might want to ask about that at the end of this. He finished entering the room and—

“Close the door! You’re disrupting the heat!” his teacher snapped, as Edwin was doing just that. While annoyed, he wasn’t petty enough to abort his action just to spite the man.

. . . Okay, Edwin might be that petty on occasion, but he wasn’t going to do so this time.

“And now who are . . . Ah, Alchemist-Errant? You would be Maxlin, then.” The alchemist’s voice wasn’t too scratchy, but it still rubbed Edwin the wrong way.

“That’s me,” Edwin agreed as he took a seat opposite the man, “though you can call me Edwin. And you are?” he prompted.

“Alchemist Galen,” the man snapped. “And don’t you forget it, Maxlin!”

Edwin hadn’t done anything to warrant that sort of hostility, had he? He figured he was probably just being overly sensitive, and he dialed back his threshold for “actively hostile” from the elderly alchemist in front of him.

“Certainly, Alchemist Galen.”

“Hmm. Well, you learn quick, if nothing else. Good!”

He continued, “So . . . you’re some fool who wants the First Aid Skill when you’re at Tier 4 already? Or didya get a medical Skill from an upgrade. Why didn’t your hometown medic get ya licensed, boy?”

“There were . . . extenuating circumstances. I didn’t get my medical Skill until after I had left home, and once I did, I tried to apply for the license when I was in Vinstead, but that didn’t go well. So, here I am.”

“Hmm. It’s a disgrace you were able to get the Skill prior to completion of the course. Though I must ask”—the man stood up—“what medical Skills do you possess?”

Edwin hesitated. He wasn’t sure that he wanted to share. But then again, it had been fine when he had talked with Rizzali. Though that was extenuating circumstances. Would it be safe if he told Galen?

“Well, come on! We don’t got all day for this!” the alchemist snapped, as he paced back and forth. Or was his hostility sensitivity too high still?

“Primarily First Aid and Anatomy.”

“Eh? You got First Aid? Howzat work for ya?”

“That’s a . . . long story, but one that I’d rather not go into at the moment.”

“Bah! You youth and your secrets. I swear, you better not go Adventurer on me now.” He waved a finger. “Far too lenient on those kids these days, I swear. Back in my day, I’ll have you know, we didn’t play into the ‘oh I’m so special’ mentality they allow these days. If you wanted to play with the Empire, you played by the Empire’s rules, you contributed to society properly. None of this nonsense running around the woods.”

Edwin very carefully stayed silent.

“Buncha blind fools, who think they know better than centuries of Imperial crafting. Makes me sick! I barely even recognize some of the kids these days, with their new classes and all .

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