Elder Dill's office door had been left open, the only one along the floor that had been. He heard my approach and was already moving from behind his desk when I paused before entering. His desk had been positioned to face the wall, allowing him to access the same type of view screen that had been installed in my apartment. There was a last flickering of light as the view screen powered down.

"Elder Dill," I said in greeting. I didn't enter his office; an open door was not the same as an invitation. "I am Jai Myche, you asked to meet. I apologize if I have kept you waiting."

I wasn't sure about the protocols the Sect expected between members at this point, especially since this was my first day as an Inner Sect member. I thought it safe to perform the basic Wai, student to Elder. While not as deferential as a full bow, it was appropriate for this initial meeting, until our relationship was more fully understood. There were no hidden motives behind a Wai, it was about as non-threatening a greeting as you could give.

"Sit," He said motioning to a small furniture grouping that was comprised of four chairs and a table giving me permission to enter. I moved to take the chair with my back to the door, certain in this instance that I was satisfying propriety.

The choice of the chair I would select was as much a test as a signal that I understood our relative positions as the Wai had been one of uncertainty. Elder Dill enjoyed a higher cultivation Realm and Rank within the Sect, that entitled him to have the seat facing the entrance. It would allow him to react to any danger or attack that might occur. My position would serve to act as a shield, a position of weakness, but expected.

The furniture grouping served dual purposes. It was able to serve as a place to enjoy tea or for meetings, and as a small conference table. That there was no tea available said much about how this meeting was going to go.

As he took his seat across from me, I was given a better chance to examine him. For the most part, he typified any other male Elf; long hair, pointy ears, slim build, and elegant bearing. But there was none of the warmth or affability that Elder Tye projected.

Elder Dill exuded purpose. He was the type of person that had no time to waste on anyone or anything that didn't advance his agenda. That personality seemed to align with the obvious lack of hospitality he proffered for this first meeting.

I was beginning to understand that this meeting was not going to end well, he obviously had decided that I served no purpose to him or for Alchemy Hall. I didn't understand where the hostility, even as nuanced and subtle as it was, was coming from.

"Starting a new Sect comes with certain drawbacks," Elder Dill began once he was seated. "One of those drawbacks deals with resources, or rather the lack of resources the Sect has on hand.

"Four Element will eventually resolve these beginning setbacks. But when your profession requires a robust system to replenish stock, you have to ration what resources you do have. Alchemy Hall has gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to resources," he explained.

"There are veins of metal that have already been mined from within the mountain's depths. Enough resources to keep Blacksmithing and Array formation supplied immediately. Herbal Hall will take years before they can rely on any but the most basic farmed spirit plants to provide the herbs that Alchemy and Medical Hall require.

"I'll be honest and get to the point. You may be a talented Alchemist for a mid-tier Sect, but that isn't good enough here. Not when we have to fight for every spare resource, we can scrounge together. Especially when you consider that Sect members will be demanding pills, we simply don't have the resources to create.

"I won't stop you from trying to find spirit herbs on your own, or purchasing them with contribution points, but I will limit what resources you can requisition. For now, the only pills you are cleared to create are level one pills. And only those that you have proven you can create that will reach the perfected level," he informed me. His pronouncement ending any chance for growth in Alchemy I might have planned.

"The Alchemy texts the Sect has managed to gather have been proscribed, and you will not be given access until the issue of resources has been resolved."

"How long do you think that will take?" I asked, not happy at all in the direction this conversation had headed. If my skills were so bad, having placed fifth in the recent tournament, what was the point of the competition or the invitation?

He might as well as come right out and said that I wasn't worth nurturing. I had thought my Platinum Spirit Roots and my skills in alchemy were significant, part of the reason Patriarch Umbra had approached me. It seemed Elder Dill did not share her assessment. That only those scions that had gamed the system by resigning from a high-tier Sect so that they could join a mid-tier and compete were worth the risk.

"Ten years at the earliest. Fifty years would be a safe bet," he answered.

"Fifty years!" I exclaimed.

"There has to be some mistake. How can the Sect expect anyone to spend fifty years relegated to apprentice level duties?"

"We don't," Elder Dill rejoined. "We expect you to select another profession and concentrate on mastering that profession for the next fifty years. Leave alchemy, for now, come back to it in fifty years when the Sect has the resources to allow you to waste ingredients with failure as you learn."

"But I thought a cultivator could only master one secondary profession? Wouldn't this mean I'd never gain any real proficiency with Alchemy?" I demanded.

"What have these mid-tier Sects been teaching their members?" He sneered, clearly exasperated. "Do you think a Master Blacksmith that enchants his weapons does so without also being a Runic Master? Or that a Foundation Master requires the aid of a Master Blacksmith to form the metal they need to create arrays?

"Any real Master with ability will have mastered two or more ancillary skills. For alchemists, we usually manage to master herbal farming and array creation. How do you think the weather screen that is protecting Herbal Hall's fields was created?" He demanded.

"I'd thought the Hall had commissioned an array or formation master to build it for them," I admitted.

"That might be how it works in established Sects with plenty of manpower, but we don't have the time or people to wait until someone can get around to us. Those fields need to be protected from the cold now. We have no choice but to rely on our own skills.

"Remember this if nothing else from our conversation," Elder Dill said his eyes boring into mine. "You need to become as self-sufficient as possible. Don't limit yourself or believe that you can depend on others to do work that you are capable of doing yourself.

"I have often thought that all Outer Sect members should be required to gain at least apprentice proficiency in all the secondary professions to be promoted to Inner membership. You are going to live a very long time, even ignoring gains in life expectancy each time you gain a new Realm. Non-cultivating Elves can live five hundred years, so unless you are stupid or unlucky what better use of your time than to fill those years with hard work and study.

"Master everything that interests you, even those professions you have a very little talent with.

"Make your life as productive as possible, so that in the end, when you either advance to the Heavenly Realm and leave this dimension or die, you will have lived your life to the fullest. At least you might have left a mark, a legacy for family, House, or Clan that will enable future generations to build upon the foundation you laid.

"Everything that you have crafted with the skills that you can call your own is not only satisfying but prudent."

Elder Dill's words made sense, but they left me confused. He was refusing me access to all Alchemy techniques, tokens, and information. I could understand him refusing to allow me to requisition resources, but why block my efforts to study on my own?

His insights, his suggestion that I gain proficiency with other secondary professions made sense. His explanation was instructive. But the dichotomy of action and word, between help and hindrance, had me both angered and intrigued.