Back pressed against the rough stone wall of the stairwell, I clutched the copper pots I’d stacked on top of each other to my chest as I listened to my brother talking with Darius.

“How could they just act like nothing happened?” Marcus ranted, his voice echoing through the forge. “The maid was already cleaning out Kadia’s room when I left my capsule. Almost everything was gone. All her books, her clothes. The only thing I managed to save was that resin periodic table she used to carry around like it was a teddy bear when we were kids. They were planning a fucking holiday cruise in the Caribbean. I tried to talk to them about happened, but they just kept changing the fucking subject, or telling me it’s for the best. Dad wouldn’t even talk about appealing the digitalization for Kadia. I had to contact a lawyer myself.”

“There is one thing I don’t get, Kadia said she was digitized because of her academic scores, but that shouldn’t have been enough to make her eligible for mandatory digitization, there are several criteria she would have needed to meet.” Darius’s voice was a low murmur, and I was only just able to make out what he said before Marcus started speaking again.

“Kadia has been at high risk of digitalization for a few years. It’s why she studied so hard. Getting into a good university and finding a job with low physical requirements was the only way she would be able to avoid it. When we were fifteen, Kadia injured her foot.” My brother said, and I scowled, annoyed he was so openly airing our family’s dirty laundry, while also curious about what he would say.

My injury wasn’t a subject we discussed, but I knew he held some guilt regarding the incident. We weren’t a family that openly talked about our emotions, though it seemed Marcus trusted Darius enough to share the details of what occurred that day.

“Not being able to bear weight on her foot for long periods of time puts her in the category of having a minor physical disability. If she got into Geraldine University of Science, and graduated, then Kadia would have been able to claim an exemption for academic achievement. That would give her three years from the date of graduating university to find employment. By not getting into university, Kadia was at risk of being deemed unlikely to find suitable employment due to a physical disability, and given a mandatory digitization order.” Marcus explained, causing my heart to ache as I thought back to the letter I’d received from the Universities I’d applied to.

“Doesn’t your father own a pharmaceutical company? Why couldn’t she work there?”

“Our company focuses primarily on private research for the government and other companies. You won’t find anyone with only a high school graduation certificate working there. The company has strict employment requirements which are heavily regulated due to the area of work. If a job was ‘made’ for Kadia, and someone reported it the company would be investigated and Kadia wouldn’t be able to continue working there. In that scenario, she would eventually be given a digitalization order when she failed to secure employment. There are very few jobs available that don’t require higher education and they are hard to get into even for someone with full physical capability.” Marcus said with a sigh.

Pushing off the wall, I stood straight, placing my right foot, which I had been resting behind my left, down onto the stone step. Until Marcus mentioned my foot, I didn’t even notice I was still picking it up whenever I stood still.

“Regardless of her physical disability, your parents committed fraud by switching out the exam scores. Surely someone will notice that before the exam she had high grades and realize there is an issue.” Darius said.

“Our identity numbers are only one digit different. As the first child of this generation in our family, the last digit of hers is one and mine is two. Supposedly due to my shitty handwriting, the computer read my test paper as having a one. I submitted my test before she did, as I didn’t bother actually putting any effort into it, so my test was recorded first and the system ‘automatically’ allocated Kadia’s to me when it saw her file already had a score recorded.” Marcus snarled, a loud thud from the room suggesting he’d hit something in his anger.

“The mistake was discovered when I attempted to report my parents for fraud. I managed to get a hold of the lawyer who manages her trust, and he said he’ll take care of things with our parents. He is in the process of working on an emergency appeal.” My brother concluded.

The forge went silent, neither of them speaking, and I took this as my cue to enter. Taking a second to compose myself, I straightened my shoulders, and walked into the forge with a mask of calm plastered on my face.

“Marcus, I have the pots and the list of things I want made.” I declared, and forced myself to keep my right foot firmly planted on the ground as I came to stand near my half-brother.

“Kads, how long..” Marcus began, but I held up my hand to silence him.

“Long enough, you spoke to Davis correct?”

“Yes, I…”

“Then there’s nothing else to discuss, Davis will do what he can.” I announced, staring at him with a fierce expression.

We stared at each other in silence, both ignoring the other occupant in the room. Eventually, Marcus pulled his gaze away from mine, turning his attention to the pots I held.

“Why’d you buy these dented, old pots? Just toss them. I’ll make new ones.” Marcus scoffed, picking up one of the pots I held and raising it up to eye level.

Both pots were the same size, with a wire handle used to hang them over a fire and were made of thin copper with a round bottom that pinched in slightly at the rim. The first pot was the worse of the two, with one side almost completely caved in, while the other only had a few dents on the bottom.

“Noctus says they are enchanted like Cook’s are, and he only paid twelve silver, which is less than what the mana crystal to empower them would cost.” Darius chimed in, startling me a little, as I’d forgotten he was there.

“Not much good without a ladle, can’t work the enchantment without the key.” Marcus grunted out as he carried the pots to the furnace and shoved them inside.

“I left the ladle upstairs.” I told Marcus before looking over at Darius. “Are the pots like the fire stones? Do I use the ladle the same way I use my fire stone poker?”

“Yes, the ladle is the activation key for the pot's enchantment. Once the pot has reached the temperature you want it at, the ladle can be used to activate the enchantment, which will keep it from getting any hotter. However, it will cool if you remove it from the heat source.” Darius explained.

“Fire stone poker? You managed to find a stone for your lab?” Marcus asked, looking up from where he was moving the pots around in the furnace.

“I allocated her one of the stones from the furnace here.” Darius said casually and Marcus leaned down to peer into the furnace, counting the stones.

“I thought there were two furnaces upstairs,” he said after a moment.

“There are,” I agreed, watching as he scrunched up his muzzle, looking thoughtful before he nodded to himself.

“You can have one of the other fire stones for your second furnace. Just let me borrow it if I manage to find some obsidian or something harder to melt.” Marcus announced, leaving me a little stunned.

The way Darius and Noctus spoke about how possessive Marcus was over the forge, I expected him to get angry over the fire stone and was mentally gearing myself up for an argument. Even Darius seemed surprised, as he began explaining the plans for a fire drake hunt to Marcus, whose face lit up at the prospect.

While the pots heated in the furnace, I conferred with Marcus about the lids I wanted him to make for the pots.

“It would work best if the lid is shaped in a cone with the tubing at the highest point.” I explained, sketching out a rough cone shape onto a page of the vellum journal.

“If you want it to be copper, then it will need to be cast. Marcus said, tapping a finger on the page which showed the sketch of a pelican flask “Some of these other items will be best cast as well, such as the pelican distilling flasks and the retorts. I’ll look for a potter to make the clay molds. In the meantime, I can start on some of the other items.”

“It just so happens we recruited a potter last night. He will be here in a few days to drop off an order for Kadia’s lab. Talk to him then to commission the molds.” Darius informed Marcus, as he pulled a thick, leather-bound book from his bag and turned to me.

“Kadia, this is your accounting book. I’ve already filled it out from yesterday and the format is easy enough to follow. I’ve deposited twenty thousand gold into your guild account this morning for the purchase of alchemical ingredients and tools. You will need to record all purchases and sales. It is important you keep accurate records, as they will be checked against the withdrawal and deposit records each month.”

Smoking Phosphorus! We spent just over five hundred gold last night?

“Don’t stress too much about trying to balance your profit and loss in the first months. Alchemy isn’t easy, so I don’t expect you to be creating much income to start with.” Darius reassured me, and I nodded glancing at Marcus who was flipping through the notes I’d made with a wide grin on his face.

“Two thousand gold for everything you’ve written here, depending on how long the potter takes to make the molds. I can have it all finished by the time we leave for Valonia.”

“Two thousand! Are you seriously trying to take advantage of your own sister?” I scolded, glaring at the Minotaur, who shook his head, smiling.

“You’re welcome to get a quote from the other smiths. They’ll charge you a lot more. I’m only charging for the cost of the resources and discounting you my time. Kadia, there’s over a hundred items on this list, and some of them you want multiples of in different metals. Do you really need twenty ten-liter caldrons?”

“If I only have one, then I can only work on one thing at a time. These aren’t normal caldrons either, they have a heating compartment so they can be used with the furnace. If you can’t do it, just say so.” I said, crossing my arms over my chest and glaring at the bull. I didn’t see how the caldrons would be hard to make. They were basically a metal version of a ceramic oil burner with a deeper bowl.

“Two thousand is my quote on the work, I have to cover the cost of materials.”

“Fine,” I grumbled, knowing it would be the best deal I’d get.

“I’ll get the pots done, then start on the smaller items first before moving onto the larger pieces.” Marcus grabbed a pair of tongs and pulled the first pot out of the furnace.

Darius suggested. “Since that is sorted, Kadia, I have some things in my bag for your lab, so why don’t we head up?”

As we walked up the stairs, the loud sound of hammering started, and I ground my teeth at the ear-aching noise.

“I should have realized that putting the lab above Markion’s forge would be noisy,” Darius said, his black, furred ears pinned back in response to the sounds.

“I’m hoping Noctus might have something that will help.” I told the Ōkami as we entered my lab where Bron and Taurie were still working to sort the storage room.

“Hmm, I know he has a noise muffling enchantment on his boots. If it won’t work on the room, I’m sure he’ll be able to enchant some earmuffs for you, maybe some fluffy red ones?” Darius teased.

With a low growl, I swiped my hand at him. Blue flames coated the tips of my fingers, where it formed flaming claws that raked across the front of his hardened leather vest.

Laughing, he leapt back, patting the leather to put out the flames that clung to his vest.

“Nice fire strike,” he praised as I stared at my hand in shock.

“I didn’t mean to do that.” I spluttered, wiggling my fingers, which were normal again.

“It is an instinctual Kitsune attack. Noctus told you about it last night, remember? Coating your fingers in flames to claw at your enemies is one of the first things a Kitsune naturally learns to do. Over time, you will uncover new skills and abilities. The first for a Kitsune is the fire strike, and the second is normally manifesting your true form. It was also around then that Yuki summoned her first wisp. Some things will differ depending on your chosen path, but the base skills and abilities will be the same.”

“Wisp? I remember Noctus talking about the claws now, and you also talked about transformations, but I don’t recall you saying anything about wisps other than about the ice wisp core.” I queried, glancing at the storage room to see if the other saw me attacking the guild leader.

Luckily, Bron and Taurie were in a world of their own as they chatted happily while labeling and stacking jars of spices onto the shelves.

“Kitsune have the ability to create and control wisps. In some mythology about Kitsune’s they speak of a Kitsune having an orb which contains a portion of their power. Yuki manifested a wisp core from her own power, and the core created was a pure mana wisp core with no element. It became an ice wisp, which we believe is due to the fact that it was winter and we were camping in the snow when she formed the core. Another Kitsune we know placed her wisp cores into different poisons to make poison wisps.”

If putting a pure wisp core into poison makes a poison wisp, would putting an ice wisp core into frozen poison make a poison ice wisp or a normal ice wisp? Do other wisp cores have effects like the ice cores? Lost in thought, I absentmindedly began sorting the items Darius was pulling out of his bag.

Soon, piles of plants lay strewn across two of the long work benches. On another bench was a scattered assortment of animal parts consisting of feathers, claws, fangs, horns, scales, gossamer wings and a pouch containing, what Darius called, slime cores.

Where do I even begin identifying all this stuff?

Shoving away his bag, Darius looked over to where I was inspecting a purple flower. “I’ve put up a notice on the board in the guild hall for all guild members to start collecting parts from creatures and any plants they come across. A collection box will be placed outside the forge, where items will be placed into cloth bags or jars that will be numbered.”

“How do we track who deposits what?” I asked, setting the flower down with several others.

“A log book. At the end of the week, Bron reviews all the resource submissions and hands out payment based on what has been provided. We use this same system for the kitchen, and other professions who need gathered resources such as the smiths, carpenters and masons. These items were submitted to me this morning, when I announced we’d be conducting alchemic resource gathering.” Darius explained.

“Oh,” I don’t even know how any of these need to be stored, or what half these creatures on this list are. I mean, grumble toad? What the heck is a grumble toad?

“We can help you get it sorted if you need, I’ve got to head back to the kitchen to work on lunch, but I can spare Taurie for a while.” Bron called out, looking at all the plants piled up, and then at Taurie who nodded silently.

“Thanks for the offer, but I need to catalog it all as I work through them. Thank you for helping with the spices, and letting me have the ice box, I really appreciate it.” I told the pair, making a mental note to find some way to repay the favor.

“If you need anything at all, just come find me.” The Orc said, before leaving the lab with the dark-haired elf in tow.

“I need to be leaving as well,” Darius said. “I won’t be around for the next few days. So, If you need anything resource related, speak with Bron. If the matter is more serious, then speak with Noctus, as co-leader he can help with most things. We tend to keep at least one commander in each city we have a guild hall in, and Yuki is due to take charge of Caruan from the end of this week.” Darius informed me.

“How many guild halls does Eternia have?” I asked, walking with him to the door.

“Three; this one is our main guild hall and the largest. We have a smaller hall in Airus, one of the four main cities which is built in the Almer mountains. The third is special, and the location is not told to any below captain or, in your case, a craftsman. Somehow, I don’t think it will be long before we are discussing your promotion in rank, so you will know about it soon enough. I’ll see you in a few days,” the guild leader told me with a smile.

As Darius disappeared around the corner of the stairway, I closed the door to my lab and turned to survey the mess that had been made of my previously neat workspace.

Right, where to start? Herbs and plants, I’ll start there as I have Felix’s guide to help with identifying some of them. Course of action decided, I began sifting through the bundles of plant matter, sorting them into piles with the ones I’d already identified on one bench and those which were still unknown on another. This shrub-like plant is morning dew. The potioneer’s guide said to infuse dried leaves, and Bron’s notes say morning dew is used to make tea. If I get all this dried, and make a big batch of the revitalizing tincture, I can give some to Bron and his staff as thanks for their help. Tea leaves are normally dried off the stems, so I need to pluck these branches.

Slowly plucking the leaves off the dozens of morning dew branches, I pondered the best way to dry the leaves. I think I recall a documentary about tea culture that mentioned tea leaves are sun dried or baked at low heat. Hmm, I need some drying screens. These won’t be the only plants that will need to be dried off the stem. I’ll speak with Narvi. A wooden frame with cloth stretched over it would work well and, if there is a gap for air flow, I can stack several together.

In the forge below, the sound of Marcus's hammer stopped.

Marcus must be done with my pots. Heading for the door, I bounded down the stairs calling out as I reached the bottom. “Marcus, are my pots ready?”

There was no response to my question, and as I circled past the forge, the reason became clear as I saw the hulking figure of a stone Minotaur standing with its hammer held mid-swing. He left the virtual world?

Peering up at the statue, which was frozen mid-action, I felt a surge of worry as I realized that he must've been pulled out through an emergency override. He wouldn’t have logged out himself in the middle of doing something.

Who would override his capsule? Don’t they know it's dangerous? If they needed him out, why not use the capsule notification function to ask him to log out? As that thought crossed through my mind, the image of the forge began to twist and turn, swirling around in a mass of color that bled away into darkness.