i stopped looking at the deflation path because i don't like feeling stupid, and looking at this simple solution to my problem makes me feel stupid.

as i looked around me, i decides to search the supplies, i want to see if there is anything i should do before Aqisol comes back.

Before i did anything, i took few aluminum cards from the wagon and i went to the door outside, i attached them to the door front, this will block any surprise interruption, it was necessary for me to work in secret, as they say. Hide from people your gold, you're going, and your doctrine.

The supplies were, a kukri blade replacement, 4 more cores. Samples of metals. Wards book. A bag of gunpowder, flintlock gun and its ammo. Monster encyclopedia. a warm coat. aura training manual, i have one like it.

i opened it to see the content. 'oh shit,,, it's not rocket science, it's worse,,, music theory,,, more, and more music theory.' just like all the books i have, they all handle aura control like music.

i kept looking at other things, oh look at this its a Fluorite Stone, the chief source of fluorine.

Fluorine, oh yeah, i had an idea i wanted to test and fit into my plan B, what's plan B, it depends on what i can make.

i will start with fluorine, i need to test my alchemy skills.

The Alchemy in this secretive world was strangely widely known, the books certainly only contain the simplified versions. as if the secret got out before it was blocked by all the power hungry bastards, i was sure if they could keep the existence of alchemy a secret, they would have, yet i found Alchemy to be primitive, like chemistry in 18th century yet to be explored, but it was still a field of study like non-magical chemistry.

With my understanding of chemistry i can take thing a step beyond the books, i know what i want and its half of the image, the other is this voodoo mana that needs more experimenting with to see how i can make my chemistry knowledge mix with it. And experimenting i will, with drugs.

Pills & elixirs, candy, just a fancy way of saying drugs. And cultivators are actually just drug addicts. all of them.

and i have some of the tools alchemists use to produce medicinal pills & elixirs.

These drugs, which can have all sorts of effects. Frequently taken to supercharge mana levels, or heal the body, purge poisons, cure erectile dysfunction.

i had books about pills and there effects but no instructions on making them, but i studied alchemy, i had the Curiosity and time, in alchemy i learned how to use that conjuring trick i used to collect aluminum, to collect elements that were needed in pill making. like carbon or oxygen.

and use them in a mana furnace, to produce the pill's, it was like chemistry only with voodoo mixed into it. i spent a long time in the hill bunker studying it and I solved a puzzle.

as i studied and learned, i found out that wards or runes whatever they are called by the different books, those magical symbols are more like a hardware programming language, a magical analog circuitry adding up different mana frequencies and power levels to achieve something, like heating water or releasing a fireball or hardening sand into sandstone. and author only knows what else.

the symbols, and the used material, i see it all as mana engineering, very similar to electrical engineering. or even mechanical engineering, its all about energy transfer.

and it can all be expressed as differential equations. That's why all wizards, mages or however they self identify, or call themselves, they all study mathematics, yet i found that the math in my books isn't complete, and i came to the conclusion that math is considered an advantage against enemies and only traded or discussed amongst allies yet never shared with outsiders without a benefit, like trading techniques, or building an alliance for example a marriage between two mage family's.

mages in this world hoard knowledge, so the majority of the population knows very little about math.

its a good tactic To effectively contain an enemy sect and its long life spanned members development, and disarm them, spending decades carefully establishing a foothold across such a long life span, there is only one way, using ignorance as a weapon.

Acquiring that knowledge helps the two sides build their power base, better wards more insight into the constriction of new wards that are custom-built and mana efficient.

yet the math isn't the only obstacle, purity is the real obstruction.

the point is, i have all the math i need to fill the gaps and more, yes i cant make all the pills i need, not yet, i can make any chemical molecules i know and want. like C17H21NO4.

a shit-eating grin was covering my face as considered making cocaine.

god know i need it, after all that i have been true, the mother of all pills is about to be made.

i took my old notes out they were my self-study notes and experiments, i started carving on an aluminum sheet, and i found peace in my work.

Strange how in this world a self-aware mind has power that manifests in many ways from the control over mater 'the body' to control over reality. what can I do if I fully control mana?, what's the limit?,. i contemplated as i finished my work on the aluminum sheet, like an architect i built my own modified voodoo alchemy formation, and placed a glass jar in the center to hold the finished product.

i powered it, and it started collecting the elements needed, and a small mana cloud formed and i guided it with aura control into the jar, then sealed the jar, and finished the work, i have the Nobelium, hydrogen and carbon.

i continued powering the alchemy formation and a powder started to form in the jar.

" Amarys,,, are you here, open up your house wards are making me nervous." amara asked from outside.

oh shit why is he here, “I’m right here, hold don't tutche the door.” i shouted to him, the only wards i had were on the wagon and house door yet he thinks i may added them all over the house, so why correct him the bandits maybe listening.

i opened up and found amara with his calculating eyes on me, he was a schemer or am just paranoid.

i didn't waste time talking, i don't want to listen to his lies, he entered silently and fallowed me to the storage room, heard him stopped in the kitchen then fallowed.

He entered to find me looking at the alchemy formation and powering it with pure mana.

i don't like him learning more and more about me, it's a one-sided transfer of information.

“This…this is a modified Cauldron formation,, why is it on the sheet, it's usually carved on an actual Cauldron" his voice was just a bit horrified, and he was eyeing me from the corner of his eyes, as he looked at it.

he had one look at it and he figured out its an modified formation, so amara knows about alchemy."amara am homeless, why would i have a cauldron."

he was now worried, "amarys you’re sure you know what you’re doing?, alchemy can be dangerous!, just knowing about it can be dangerous, it's probably how zvilna city exploded”. Now his voice was horrified.

zv what?, exploded!!!. okay note to self learn about this zvll and don't explode myself. "yes its alchemy, progress is always dangerous. why are you here?, aqsol said you where with granny. is she fine."

That shifty look was back on his face, "yes,,, she's fine, i just came back to see how you're doing."

see me or the mana, no am not playing with words against a 14 year-old, "can you go geet me some water, i need to finish this and i need some water. for the alchemy"

He looked at the mana i was feeding to the formation, "you know what you can do with that mana amarys, that purity, the aura you can have. Why use it in alchemy, it's a waste."

"the way your aura looks will not determine your value in life, only your suffering." its true aura is the bank account, status in socity.

He looked at me, "i'll get you the water" he went away after those words.

i concentrated my mind on the formation and finished powering it. And white dust started to fall from the mana cloud into the jar, and i stopped.

i went closer to my jar and took a pill sized sample in my palm, i used my aura to squeeze and compress the sample and added a small whiff of pure mana, then opened my hand to see a small round pill. i made four more, placed them in my pocket.

i picked up my jar and sealed it. Then placed it in my wagon.

Amara was back, he took his time getting the water, did i hint too harshly.

"Thank you amara, how was your granny?" shit i asked that before

"energetic you have seen her she asked about you, i didn't say anything about the attack"

"good there is no point in making an elderly woman worry" i spoke as i set up a new crafting formation and took a coper ball size of baseball and plased it in the crafting formation.

"yes,,, what are you doing"

"am using mana to make the copper liquid, i need to paint my wagon with copper"

"you're wasting more pure mana for that." he sounded sad.

i needed to find out whom I could sell my pills to? "its my mana, hey amara did you see the idiots that blocked our path last time"

"yes they in the village center it's their favorite spot"

"lets go say helo, i missed them" he grimiseed "dont worry am not looking for a fight just a talk, it is time we all had a talk."

"they wont talk to you after how you,,,"

"yeah i know, and in my defence, they started it, and The human body contains a lot of water, so I don't like to skimp on spitting on these forms. they can't bully me, i bully them."

"your very generous" he spoke as he studyed my modifaide formation i didnt like that "amarys is,,, this alchemical formation its not just absorbing molecular structures from plant,, no its making it?,,, how, where did you learn this?".

i stopped working on the copper and went to the alchemical formation i made.

"amara, you know that curiosity can kill, look at me am not asking you why the bandits want you or why they have two houses near you", that shifty look was back in his eyes, yeah you little shit if you don't like me asking about your life and secrets, don't ask about my life.

i picked up and rolled the formation sheet like an Architect picking his best blueprint, and hid it in the wagon, he still wanted to ask i can see it in his eyes, yet he didn't, and that confirmed my suspicions about him he is the source of this shit show.

i worked and talked to him, it took some time to convince him to take me, and eventually he did. and i was done the wagon looked as if it was made of copper and i added more wards on it and had a core power them. amara was just watching.

we went out and we found them, they were in the village center playing a game that looked like Beer pong, only they had circles in the sandbox and many small ball stones.

as we approached one idiot spotted me, and i smiled. then they all looked at me and they were both shocked and afraid, they started walking away.

i like this relationship i have with them, they know there place in the food chain and i like to be respected, it makes life simpler. i know how there minds work, bandits or bullies its the same thing, i just need to attract them with a promise of gold, some kind of reward.

"don't run boys." i ordered, they looked back and i showed a silver coin and they stopped. "so, how are my BFF's doing."

one of them the leaders or ambassador spoke to me "look were sorry, we didn't do it by choice, marvan told us to take your mace."

oh did he, yeah i figured that out on my own yesterday. "its sir, we are sorry sir, or boss. and i forgive you, i see myself as the merciful type" i said.

"boss!?,"

"yeah from now on am your new boss." as i said so, i pulled more silver coins and showed him the pills."i need you to sell them for me, start selling to one of your bandit friends, give him the first pill for free"

"what are they?" he held the white pills and was curious.

"This is what eight hours of sleep feels like, in the shape of cultivation pills", his curiosity turned to greed. i need to fix the problem now "hey don't be stupid, its for active cores only or it kills you, and it costs one silver coins per-pill."

the greed died from his eyes, "what can it do".

"it gives curage and more energy, get your other friend into the business." he looked back and his friends came closer, "boys, welcome to the new family business."

the deal was simple i pay them to sell my pills to the bandits, the bandits that don't know or trust me, my new minions have a way to talk to them and get them to test it and later buy it.

after i was sure they understood not to F with me then we left the new supply team and went back home.

i was in good mood, after listening to aqisol stupid ideas i was worried yet now i made the first steps to fix his stupidity, i have my first minions, and that's good. i will need more. yes more fodder to throw at the world.

after recruiting my first minions we walked back home, amara finally asked, "why are you selling cultivation pills to bandit it will make them only stronger".

“amara If we’re going to have open war in the village, its gonna get messy, just imagine it."

"that’s just not going to turn out good for anyone." he said in worried tone.

“yes, Gonna get messy, i am planting the seeds of victory.” hopefully it will turn out good for me. they will want more, and i will have an opportunity, to find people gather talent build my power in the form of noble family sect, and sect can be only as strong as it members.

and i have noticed how people with or without mana are treated, and worse how those people act. and i can predict what comes next.

i will meet new people and the more powerful the people are, the more arrogant they will be. as they say with grate power comes a grater superiority complex.