Author's note: this is from Seraphina's point of view

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In the garden, as I followed after Krob, I noticed that Bulbine wasps were buzzing near the ceiling, and other than that, it was peaceful.

I wondered if I will get to see Glatellia again, but Krob was taking me in a different direction, away from that majestic tree with a black trunk, so I assumed that will not happen.

To my surprise, Krob took his task of teaching me seriously. He was meticulously explaining about every plant on the list Aldus gave me. Krob told me how to take care of each plant, how to harvest and preserve parts that we needed, and also any specifics, like if it's edible and the effects it has if touched or ingested.

I found it interesting that bluegrass (one of the plants from the list), needs to be cut with a wooden knife, or it will lose its potency within minutes. Also, as it dries off, it will release hallucinogenic vapors that (if inhaled) can make any creature with scales fall into a slumber that can last up to several days.

"To collect the vapors, you put the harvested blades in a sealed container, and let it dry in there. After one day of being released, the gas condenses and becomes heavier which allows it to fall to the bottom of the container...", Krob explained in great detail how to handle things.

"That can be handy if want to knockout snakes.", I voiced my thoughts while thinking that Indiana Jones would find this reptile-sedating gas useful when he fell into a pit of snakes.

Krob looked at me like I said something silly. "Why would anyone waste bluegrass on snakes? This is better used against hydras and dragons. Of course, grownup dragons are powerful and you will be lucky if you can knock it out for five minutes, but when you meet an angry dragon, every minute counts when it comes to running for your life. In any other case, you will get at least an hour even with a fully evolved creature."

Hydras? Dragons? My mind exploded. "Did you ever see a dragon?"

"More than once.", Krob responded right away. He inched closer and spoke in a hushed voice. "There was a time when Master would take me with him on travels."

"Really?"

Krob nodded earnestly. "That was before he trusted me enough to leave me here to take care of his secret laboratory."

"You are saying that he made you follow him because he didn't trust you on your own.", I rephrased his statement, giving it a different meaning.

"Is there a difference between what you said and what I said?"

'Yes!' I stifled a laugh. "Not really. What's next on the list?"

To my disappointment, alchemy is about 5% collecting ingredients (if you have them handy), 5% is preparing ingredients (squeezing, cutting, measuring, and mixing), and the rest is waiting for the right time to add the next ingredient into the heated cauldron which was lined up with runes.

Sure, I love to see runes lit up and dance a few centimeters away from the cauldron's surface, and the purple flame under the cauldron was lovely, but after an hour or two, it got boring. Especially because Aldus told me that it will take some time for an artifact to arrive which will allow me to control the runes, and until then, I can only watch.

"How long until the next step?"

"About twenty minutes.", Aldus answered my question. He noticed that my face fell, so he waved his hand. "You can go with Krob and familiarize yourself with plants. I will contact Krob when it's time for the next step."

I could feel my lips lifting into a smile involuntarily and I was happy to see that Krob was already at the door, ready to head out.

"Krob, how can Aldus contact you?", I was curious, assuming that they have a phone or some other device I haven't seen so far.

"The master-slave bond is allowing us to communicate telepathically as long as we are not far away from each other."

My steps halted as the information sank in. I don't know much about slavery other than what I saw in movies, and that usually involved slaves doing hard labor while in chains and being whipped.

"Master-slave bond? What does that mean?", I asked.

"Master saved my life in exchange for servitude. I am bound to obey his commands."

"What if you don't obey?"

"Pain.", he said with finality, and after a brief pause he added with a shrug, "Death. He can control the level of punishment."

"Oh…", a sound escaped my lips.

Somehow, I envisioned a harmonious relationship between Krob and Aldus and this was unexpected.

Sure, Aldus is treating Krob like he is a lower creature, but Aldus is like that with everyone and… I had no idea what I was thinking. I realized how naïve I am. For some reason, I thought that Krob is submissive because he is grateful to Aldus for saving him, and not because he is forced. How silly of me. Why would a ghoul obey Aldus, unless his life depends on it? Literally.

I wanted to brighten up the mood. "Do you want to hear about my classes? Or about my trip to Paris?"

Krob frowned a bit. "You don't want to learn about plants?"

I shrugged. "How things are going, we will have plenty of time to study later. What do you say?"

"Are you serious about wanting to learn alchemy?"

Krob's question left me flabbergasted. "Of course, I'm serious."

"Then, why are you slacking?"

"I was just thinking that we can take it easy for a bit.", I admitted in a low voice while guilt consumed me.

Krob let out a wheezy exhale. "Young Miss, if you really want something to happen, you shouldn't delay it and you should do your best to succeed. Master was always ahead of others, but he still spent countless days without break studying, experimenting, analyzing his failures only to try again so that he can achieve his goals. You need to push yourself, or you will disappoint Master. I don't know how you survived so far with your attitude."

I was offended. My intention was to do something fun for him, yet he is admonishing me. The only good thing was that he didn't address me as a fledgling. "What's wrong with my attitude?"

"You can thank Master for protecting you, otherwise others would use your lax approach and kill you."

I grit my teeth in annoyance. Sure, I died once, but that was an accident. Right? Besides, now that I am Seraphina Mezzanotte, who would dare come at me with bad intentions? "Why would someone kill me?"

"To get to master.", Krob said matter-of-factly.

I understood the meaning behind Krob's words, I am Aldus's weakness. Is that why Aldus is not letting me leave the mansion? Is that why he is not introducing me to anyone? Aldus is powerful, and that probably means he has many enemies. Am I Aldus's weakness? The only thing I can do is heal quickly and cause a riot when I'm scared, other than that, I'm no better than any girl, so… yes, I am his weakness.

Even a brainless creature like Krob knows that when he has a task, he should give it his full attention, and what am I doing?

Was I always doing things halfheartedly? I'm not sure, but I realized that when I hit a bottleneck, I ran to Aldus for help and whined, hoping that he will fix my problems. I am not only his weakness, but I am also a burden.

I exhaled a shaky breath. "I'm sorry, Krob. I lost focus for a moment. Thank you for reminding me what's important."

"Hmph…", Krob released a sound of disbelief, but he turned to the plant in front of him and started talking.

I hoped that Krob didn't notice I had difficulty focusing on what he was saying, because my mind was on pheromone control. It's not that I was not interested in alchemy, but pheromone control was obviously a more pressing matter, yet after facing failures, I decided to focus on something else.

Krob said it. Aldus would study, experiment, analyze his failures, and try again. I didn't analyze my failures, but I kept on repeating the same experiment. Of course, there was no progress. I needed a different approach, and I was determined to find it.

I told myself to pay attention and not waste Aldus's and Krob's time. When I get back home, I will reprioritize my activities because I refuse to be Aldus's weakness.

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