Aleister woke up the next day well rested. Quite the odd occurrence and rarity, but a pleasant surprise nonetheless. An indication that the rest of his day would go well. Hopefully.

"It's about time you woke up," Syn said as she shuffled a variety of items around on his table. With a groan, Aleister turned to his side and covered his head with a pillow. "That's not the kind of attitude you should have."

"Please extend your vacation," he grumbled.

"I wasn't out on vacation, I was out gathering materials to continue your training."

"Go gather more materials."

"I would have, but I didn't want to use all of your money."

Aleister let out a wet cough as he clutched his chest. "Please don't tell me I only have like three gold pieces left."

"I'm not irresponsible. I still left you a couple hundred gold coins," Syn said, tossing a rugged rock between her hands.

"Acceptable," he said with a nod. "Is that where most of my money went?"

"Most isn't the correct word here, but I dedicated most of your money towards the ingredients for alchemical fire." Syn tossed the rock behind her. "This right here is just a chunk of magnesite."

He recognized the name and clutched his chest a little tighter. The metal was common and found in many parts of the earth, however it usually wasn't in large chunks, and more so tiny flakes. Thinking about the extraction process, large pieces like the one in Syn's hand weren't cheap. His memory told him that the best source for separation is liquid from deepwater pools, which wasn't a realistic situation. Ocean water was the next best option, however it took longer to extract, which in turn, also raised costs.

"What difference does alchemical fire even have? Is it just a substitute for regular fire? It's not like I'm lacking on spark stones."

"Someone's been slacking on their studying," Syn said with a shake of her head.

Aleister sighed. Why does she always do this? "It's not mentioned in any of the books you've given me."

"You aren't wrong. Alchemical fire is essentially a fire substitute with multiple uses. The most obvious being for the one in its name."

"It's name doesn't make its use obvious." Aleister let his clutched hand relax as he rolled out of bed. He glanced past Syn to the other materials on the table.

"How is it not obvious?" she asked, her voice pitched higher than usual.

"Is it like, actual fire? Or just another ingredient?"

"Both."

"Of course it is."

"Contrary to whatever you're thinking right now, alchemical fire is primarily a liquid and only ignites once it comes into contact with air."

He put his finger across his lips. "Then, how is this even brewable? It will encounter air every step of process."

"That certainly is a problem," Syn said with the wave of her index finger.

"Don't agree with me! Just give me the answer."

Syn shook her head again as her hands rested on her hips. "No one has ever asked such a question before, it appears—"

"I don't have time for this," he reached his hand out, "Just hand over the recipe."

She took out a parchment from her robe and placed it in his grasp. "When did you become such a killjoy?"

"Three minutes ago." He opened up the parchment, and after a quick glance, threw it at his bed. "Yeah, I'll take care of that later."

"You still have time before the eclipse even starts," Syn said as she slumped down into a chair.

"Not enough to decipher the mess you just handed me."

"It's not even that complicated."

He didn't even bother to argue with her now. He grabbed his bag after changing his outfit and headed out to Kaynmur Castle. Swollen white clouds dimmed the sky. Blocking the sun and moon from view.

Aleister walked past the marketplace and came upon a sudden realization.

"What?" Syn asked, unsure of why he came to a sudden stop.

"Earlier, you bought a bunch of materials, but how did you even manage to buy anything as a bird?"

"Oh." Her eyes drooped. It seemed as if his question disappointed her. "First of all, my form isn't a bird. It's an elemental recreation of a raven, okay? And, I just grabbed the item and left the money for it on the counter when nobody was looking."

"So you can just phase through walls and such, right?"

"There's no way I haven't explained this to you before."

"You have, but, why do you even bother giving them money instead of just taking the item?"

"Because that would be stealing and could finically cripple someone's livelihood?"

"Since when did you care about other people's lives?"

"I care about not ruining the lives of people who haven't caused me ire. If anything, they have actually helped me." She shook her head and placed her hands on her hips. "Are you suffering from memory loss? I refuse to believe that I haven't said all of this many times before."

"Yeah, some parasite latched onto me and causes me constant pain which compromised my mental functions."

"Oh no! That sounds horrible!" Syn raised her hand to her mouth and let out an exaggerated gasp. "Wait, you aren't talking about me, are you?"