“And then we simply take a piece of the animal or beast in question and reprocess it along with these other materials to create the powder which is later compressed into a type of chalk for easier drawing. As you draw formations the essence of the creatures are left behind in a formation that bounces the mana in a specific way that allows mana to turn into magic. And that is the final process behind magic formation creation!”

Kohn and his fellow Earthlings were nodding enthusiastically at the grandmother’s teachings. They’d nod and encourage her to keep talking. To do anything other than go back to being a demon. The changes to Chiel’s physical appearance alone had been frightening, but when her voice dropped low and took on a more sinister tone everyone got small. Every breath she exhaled became visible as the temperature in the room noticeably dropped. The light coming from the windows dimmed and took on a blue hue.

The room around them, even the very air itself seemed threatening to their survival.

In about five seconds Kohn had thought up an escape. It was one of the most detailed plans he had ever created. Escape artists would clap and applaud when they saw it. And yet, it could be summed up in two words. Front window.

Then, out of nowhere the moment passed. The light came back, the light was bright yellow, and the room warmed up causing Kohn and the others to become drenched in a cold sweat. And Chiel was back to her open, warm, granny self. “Would you like another cookie dear?”

The Earthlings silently promised to each other to not reawaken ‘the beast’ as they once again hid the mysterious object that she called ‘cookies’.

They tried to distract her as much as possible while they in her little shop. Unfortunately they couldn’t just leave since her shop had been designated as part of their community service. Unfortunately when they offered to help her she scoffed at them and kept them in the small cozy living room to talk with her. The only thing any of them could come up with to distract Chiel was to ask her about her job.

Chiel’s official position in the Kingdom was as the Capital Khemute, literally meaning ‘one who transmutes’. Though there were of course other Khemutes, it was her duty to make the magic powder used to create permanent magic formations. And she was quite famous in the capital. During his time there, Kohn witnessed no less than a dozen passing pedestrians walk in to say hello to Chiel.

“Hello Chiel. How are you?”

“Oh I’m fine dearie. Did the last batch of Green Powder do the trick?”

“Yes, it worked great with the stone, but I think it’ll wear off after a while.”

“Oh dear…”

“How are you today Chiel?”

“Oh I’m fine dearie. Did you want some more cookies today?”

“No, not today. I got some cheap glue instea-I mean. I’m still full from second meal.”

So it wasn’t just Kohn and the others that thought it was a repulsive material and should never have ever been called a cookie.

A few nerdy looking teens came in and Chiel quickly talked with them to figure out what they needed. They were learning how to make magic formations. Unlike the Earthlings though, these little pipsqueaks were more advanced and practicing the actually drawing the formations rather than just memorizing them.

Eventually she got back to them and gladly taught them about the magic powder.

“Why do you think we just can’t use regular chalk or ink or some other writing material for making formations? Well we know that mana is generated by living entities interacting with each other. And when they die they cease to produce mana. Researchers aren’t entirely sure why living things can produce mana, but what they do know is that even in death a body can retain and channel mana. Through experiments, long before the Agossomore Kingdom was founded by King StoneTooth, Khemutes were able to create a crude form of magic powder. It was difficult to make and had loads of other problems, but it could be used to draw magic formations which only needed to be supplied with mana to activate.

“Early on magic formations used to be drawn on paper, but now they’re mostly drawn on metals with high essence absorption rates. Only specific metals can be used, but once again no one is entirely sure why some metals absorb the essence from magic powder better than others. Paper is always a good material with high essence absorption, but paper’s one major flaw is that it can’t handle the amount of mana needed for most of the magic formations. Paper tends to shred itself or even explode into a cloud of plant matter if too much magic is channeled into it.”

It was all fascinating to Kohn and internally he was calmly taking notes the entire time Chiel talked. Externally, Kohn was unable to sit still, bouncing around the edge of his seat and asking every question that came to mind.

“How much of those components are needed to make a single stick of chalk? How many magic formations can be made with a single piece? Can you make thick paper to handle the magic flow? What about just using wood planks? Is every chalk made with the same kind of powder? Have you tried testing different combinations? What about-”

“Whoa, whoa. Calm down a little.” Chiel chuckled at his earnest interest in her work. Though unlike the Tender’s position of he-who-shall-not-be-mentioned-in-front-of-her, the work of a Khemute is highly sought after and not easily given to just anyone. “I can’t just give you all the answers. Though I suppose part of being a professional in the Kingdom means I have a duty of finding worthy people to train in the realm of Khemute.”

Kohn was following along with what she was heading towards. “So how do you tell if someone is worthy?”

Smiling at him Chiel went to a shelf, grabbed a bag of powder out of a pile and tossed it at him. “It’s simple. Just tell me everything you can about that one bag. Now you’ve wasted enough time here.” Her demeanor drastically changed back into her demonic form again. “Go back and tell that old fool Hake that I’m coming for him.” She said, cackling manically as they ran out of the quaint shop.