Chapter 122: Failures

“Now remember, Stryg, my grandfather can be a very strict and even brutal teacher. There will not be room for error with him, understood?” Loh asked.

“Master, I’ve spent the last two weeks getting beat up by Gale, I think I can handle whatever the principal has to offer. Besides, I was raised in harsh conditions without much room for error, this is nothing new to me. Well, except for the ‘being trained by an archmage’ kind of thing. Actually, no. Isn’t Ismene an archmage?” Stryg asked.

“Something like that. Don’t get me wrong, I’m confident in your abilities, but I’m going to stick around for your first lesson, just in case my grandfather does something unexpected,” Loh smiled wryly.

“...Okay,” he nodded. Stryg wasn’t sure what she meant, but he respected her decision.

“Okay then. Let’s go,” Loh pushed the door open.

Elzri stood in the corner of a small stone room. It was empty save for an arcane-etched steel door on the other side of the room and a large wooden crate. Elzri rested his back on the crate while he twiddled his silver bracelet.

“You’re both late,” Elzri said coolly.

“We were a bit busy,” Loh crossed her arms.

“Sorry, principal,” Stryg bowed his head.

“When we are in private, refer to me as master. From today onwards I will be teaching you chromatic red magic,” Elzri said.

“Yes, master,” he nodded.

“I’m here to make sure everything goes smoothly,” Loh said.

“Yes, I gathered that by your unnecessary presence,” Elzri stepped forward.

“Of course you did,” she narrowed her eyes.

“Stryg, did you go over the readings I assigned you?” Elzri asked.

“Uh, yes. The ones regarding alchemical ingredients, right?”

“Precisely,” Elzri raised his hands.

Pitch black shadows shot out from his left hand and separated Loh from Stryg. Elzri’s right hand formed a fist save for his index finger that pointed right at the goblin’s face. Before Stryg could react a flash of light burst from the tip of Elzri’s finger, blinding him.

Stryg shouted in pain and surprise. His vision went white only to suddenly be dyed black. The world came back into focus in the form of silver outlines. He could see the silver shape of Elzri staring at him with a steel gaze.

The shadows that had formed around Loh had been vaporized from the blast of light. She stepped in front of Stryg.

“What the fuck was that!?” Loh shouted with clenched fists.

“Before we begin our lesson I wanted to confirm a matter regarding one of your apprentice’s peculiar mutations,” Elzri said calmly.

“You can’t just cast magic on us whenever it suits your fancy! I’m not a child anymore and he isn’t yours to do with for whatever you please,” she frowned.

“Yes, yes. Your apprentice, not mine. Understood. Now move out of the way,” Elzri waved her away.

“...I’m watching you,” Loh slowly stepped away.

“You should be watching your apprentice,” Elzri stared into the goblin’s eyes. “Stryg, what do you see right now? Describe it to me in detail.”

Stryg rubbed his eyes, the shock from his eyes shifting visions was still quite jarring. He glanced between Loh and Elzri, trying to put into words what exactly he saw.

“Everything is dark, which is a little weird since I normally can see perfectly in the dark. I can’t really see the very small details anymore, like the texture of the grain on the wooden planks on the floor.”

“Go on,” Elzri nodded.

“What I can see is a very faint silver outline, almost grey, around each plank. As if someone had drawn the floor with a pencil and piece of paper. I see you and Loh likewise, except your outlines shimmer brightly every time you move, which is constantly, since you're breathing and all.”

“Interesting,” Elzri muttered.

“I already told you about Stryg’s bizarre vision, what’s the point of this?” Loh frowned.

“I’m not finished. Stryg, besides silver and black, do you see any other colors?”

“Hm, no. But, I have before,” he said.

“Yes, Loh told me as much.” Elzri raised his hand, his veins darkened to a dark grey, “Do you see any other color now?”

“No,” he shook his head.

“How about now?” A small wisp of a flame sparked to life above Elzri’s hand.

“Yes. There is an oil-like orange smudge above your palm,” Stryg said.

“And how about now?” Elzri extinguished the flame and created a small pale orb of light.

“Yeah, it’s a soft white. It keeps moving a little bit.”

Elzri opened the large crate and pulled out two freshly minted torches. He lit each with a small spark from a flame spell. One torch burst into an ordinary orange flame, while the other ignited with green flames.

“What do you see this time?” Elzri asked.

“You have two sticks in hand. The tip of one is wrapped around an orange smudge like before. The other is wrapped in a green smudge,” Stryg said.

“One last thing,” Elzri pulled out a jar from the crate and doused the torches inside. “Loh, I won’t shield your eyes with my shadow spell this time, so I suggest you turn around unless you want to be blind for the next few days.”

Loh turned around reluctantly, “Don’t hurt him.”

“I would never dream of it. Now, Stryg, tell me when it starts to hurt,” Elzri cupped his hands together and looked away.

An orb of light spun into existence in between his palms and began to grow in brightness.

“I want you to stare right at the orb,” Elzri said.

“Okay,” Stryg said.

The orb seemed like a spinning ball of white paint, with streams curling away from it and dyeing the walls. The orb continued to spin and grow until it overtook Elzri’s hands and the whole room was painted white. A large whirring noise came from the orb, bothering Stryg’s ears just a tad.

“Any pain?” Elzri yelled.

“Nope.”

“What do you see?”

“A white orb in your hands? The room looks white too. Everything else seems the same. Both of you are just standing there.”

“That’ll be all for now.”

The orb disappeared with a small pop. The white paint melted away leaving Stryg in a dark world once again.

“Wanna tell us what that was all about?” Loh asked.

“I did your job for you,” Elzri said.

“My job? Oh, please enlighten me, great elderly one,” she rolled her eyes.

Elzri pointed to his temple, “Stryg’s eyes, Loh. It’s his eyes. There are many recorded different forms of vision among species throughout the Null Realms. Yet, there are very few that record transitional sight. We need to learn exactly how Stryg’s vision works and I have already ruled out several possibilities.”

“You have?” Stryg asked.

“Indeed,” Elzri’s lips curled up slightly.

Loh sighed, “Well, go on, we’re listening.”

“From the descriptions you told me, Loh, it sounded almost as if Stryg’s sight behaved like clarity magic.”

“Clarity magic? What’s that?” Stryg asked.

Elzri pointed to his eyes, “Chromatic blue’s true spell-form. It’s very rare and you are a prime mage, so that already confirms you are no true blue mage. However, I am now sure your eyes do not act like clarity magic at all.”

Elzri went on, “Mana in its natural state is invisible to the naked eye. However, a clarity mage can see mana in all its forms. They can see mana flowing through the air, coursing through your veins, and stored within your heart. You clearly cannot.”

Stryg looked about the room, everything still seemed black and grey, “Seems about right.”

“I circulated mana throughout my body and I also cast an agility spell, your eyes did not react to either. But, when I cast a simple flame spell and bright spell you saw them in different colors. The same thing happened when I lit both torches, neither was magical in nature, yet your eyes reacted just the same.”

“In other words,” Elzri created a bright spell orb in the palm of his hand. “Your eyes react to light. Normally, your vision can see each and every detail in complete darkness, which of course creates an incredible sensitivity to light. But, when your eyes are exposed to damaging amounts of light, your irises widen, and your vision changes.”

“It is too soon to confirm, but I believe your second form of sight in a way acts like a failsafe. You may have lost the ability to clearly see in the dark, but you just took incredible amounts of light to your retinas without any visible discomfort. Not to mention you were able to see us though you should have been completely blinded by the light.”

“A failsafe?” Stryg looked at his silver-lined palms.

Elzri glanced at Loh, “You’re welcome.”

“Yeah, whatever. Let’s get to the magic lesson, already,” Loh yawned.

“You still have no patience I see. I hope your apprentice has more self-control. Follow me.” Elzri opened the steel etched door and walked into another room.

Stryg’s nose twitched the moment the door was opened. A thousand different scents assaulted his sensitive nostrils. He stumbled for a moment and grimaced.

“You okay? I knew it. That light was too much,” Loh gripped his shoulder.

“No, it’s not that. I’ll be fine,” Stryg shook his head. “Let’s go.”

“Tell me if any of this gets too much, okay?” Loh said.

“Okay,” he rubbed his nose.

The next room over was filled with over a dozen shelves, each stocked with bottles of different alchemical ingredients. Two large cauldrons sat above a fire pit. Elzri was already pulling out different items from the shelves and placing them on a small table nearby.

“I just ordered a complete restock of components from the White Rose Cauldron, so there will be more than enough stock for training purposes. As you can see and from your readings, it should be quite obvious that we are practicing the potion spell-form today.”

“Does it always smell this bad?” Stryg winced.

Elzri paused, “No. The scents often get worse, becoming putrid and rancid once the components begin to react to your magic in the cauldron. But, I suppose the scents are already quite tough on your olfactory sense.”

“Just a little bit,” he swallowed.

“It’s part of the job as a potion brewer, get used to it. We will begin with any of the three recipes I sent you to study. I’ll let you pick which you wish to begin with."

Stryg pulled out his notes from his satchel and glanced at the recipes. He recognized one of the ingredients. “How about the Blueberry Scented Mist?”

“A simple good aromatic for homes and wagons, good choice. Go grab whatever you need from the shelves,” Elzri said.

“On it,” Stryg went over to the shelves and picked out what he needed.

Some of the ingredients were on a high shelf. He simply jumped and grabbed them with ease. After a few minutes, he found the last piece and the only one he knew well. Loh had asked him to pick it up for her on various occasions for her necromancy.

“Isn’t that scented blue ore?” Loh furrowed her brow.

“Yup,” he nodded.

“Stryg, I don’t think tha-”

“No more interruptions. It is time we begin the lesson,” Elzri cut her off.

He flicked his hand, a small stream of fire flared out and lit the wood beneath the cauldrons. Loh leaned back in the corner and watched Elzri with a sharp eye.

Elzri began, “Creating potions takes a long time, ranging from a few hours to a week. Some of the time can be shaved off with the proper equipment, ingredients, and skill. But, at the end of the day potion brewing is a long and arduous process that requires constant focus. A single slip-up, a lapse of focus, will ruin the potion. The only benefit is that you will not be casting while under attack.”

“Seems easy enough,” Stryg nodded.

He was used to spellcasting under pressure, but this should be a nice change of pace. Of course, he was quite horrible at focusing for long periods if meditation was any indicator. He tried not dwelling on that last part.

“Red magic has always been about precision, no matter the spell-form. Any mistake can severely hinder if not outright collapse your red spells, remember that. You must have the exact components and measure them precisely if you wish to make a proper potion,” Elzri said.

The drow archmage opened a few bottles filled with various liquids, herbs, and even a few stones. He pulled out several vials and measuring equipment.

“These tools will be your best friends during your potion spell-casting. Never cast a potion spell without them. This brings me to the second most important aspect of red magic. Knowledge. Both ward and potion spells require extensive amounts of knowledge. Luckily, in potion casting, you can refer to notes. Hence, the recipes.”

Elzri pointed to Stryg’s note.

“Oh, right,” he nodded.

Stryg put all his ingredients on the table and followed Elzri’s example. He also grabbed the same equipment from a cupboard.

Once he was finished Elzri continued, “Make sure you separate and measure each component exactly. Once you’ve done so, go over it again, and then again.”

“Okay,” Stryg started.

He cut the few herbs to the amount specified in his recipe. He placed the herbs in a small stone bowl. He unstoppered a small bottle and poured out a yellow liquid into a small measuring cup. Then he poured the right amount into the bowl. He measured each component three times exactly.

Finally, he cut off a small piece of scented blue ore. The stone was quite soft and malleable and it came off with ease. Stryg particularly liked it because, despite its name, the ore had no scent whatsoever. Once he had his small chunk he shaved it down to a small pile of dust. Overall the whole process was easy if a little tedious.

“Now we really can begin,” Elzri walked over to the cauldron.

“All potions require a base, a liquid of sorts, to begin with. Luckily, many bases are the same and so most brewing stations keep some in stock. You will need 2 liters of Soft Rwond,” he took out a bottle from a cupboard and poured the right amount.

He handed it to Stryg, “The cauldrons have already been warmed by the fire. These are high-end cauldrons, magical equipment, etched with arcane words that control the maximum temperature of the metal itself. You will not have to worry about accidentally burning your potion, of course, it will still burn if left too long in the cauldron.”

“Right, makes sense,” Stryg cleared his throat.

“...Have you ever cooked before?”

“Not really, no.”

Elzri blinked, “Right, let’s crack on shall we? Pour the Soft Rwond in the cauldron. Not too much at once, you want to pour it in a drizzle.”

“Got it,” Stryg poured the blue liquid.

His finger slipped and he poured the entire bottle in at once, it sizzled and splashed, a few drops hitting his face and nose. Stryg sneezed uncontrollably and stepped back as he shook his head over and over. His elbow bumped into his table and pushed off his small bowl of herbs. The bowl clambered on the floor and rolled a few feet away, spilling out all the contents.

Elzri pinched the bridge of his nose, “I’ve seen worse.”