David set down the distiller's main chamber with a thud in a corner of Niala's brewing room. At the sound, she spun around, looking at him like he'd just stomped on a baby animal. She was upon the distiller and dotting on it like a newborn child before he could wipe the sweat off his brow.

  He stepped away and observed the room, nearly completed to Niala's requirements. Several sturdy work tables were bolted to the floor, locked windowed cabinets held a variety of tools, glassware, and bottles filled with both dry and wet ingredients. Everything was labelled, and every label were listed on pages held in clipboards attached to each piece of furniture. Even the workstations had signage, and she'd set up a small table near the entrances with a logbook, which she was adamant had to be signed whenever they entered or left the room.

  He felt somewhat silly putting his name in the logbook when you could clearly see everywhere inside from any point; it wasn't that big of a room.

  But this was her domain, and her its, ruler, so he complied.

  Finishing her inspection, she stood up, ears wiggling. “Good, you didn't break anything. But! Be careful with it!” She pointed her finger at him.

  “It's made of metal. It can't be that fragile?”

  “Do you think I would brew potions in a metal distiller? Having trace elements of it seep into my brews? Ha! Everything in this piece of art is glass-lined inside. Completely neutral, reaction-less alchemist-grade glass.” She evangelized.

  “Oh.”

  “You have no appreciation for how perfect this distiller is...” She lamented.

  “Absolutely. I have no idea.” He agreed, looking at the big, time-worn leather tome resting on a lectern. “Is that your formula book?” He pointed with his chin.

  “It is! It's my personal formula book. Every self-respecting alchemist must own one, and this one is filled to the margins with 14 years of Niala-collected and curated knowledge.” She puffed her chest as she spoke.

  “Fourteen years? Aren't you, what, 20, 21? You started doing alchemy at 7?” He asked, curious.

  “Much earlier. I remember sitting on my dad's knees while he helped me brew simple potions. I started this book when I was able to write properly. Although some of the older entries are a bit... scribbly” She said.

  He nodded, impressed by her dedication to the craft, as he walked over to the book and, silently asking and receiving Niala's permission, opened the tome with due reverence on a random page.

  He couldn't understand anything. It was all symbols, numbers, abbreviations, and pictograms, arrows and lines pointing and going all over the page. He flipped pages a few times, the apparent madness greeting him every time.

  “Are you sure you can write?”

  She crossed her arms, ears held down, a sneer rolling up on her face. “It's written in codes only smart people can understand.”

  He analyzed the page some more before releasing a long breath. “I yield. What's this all about? Where are the ingredient lists? Is that what all the little symbols are?”

  Her ears perked up, sneer turning friendly as she walked up to the lectern and pointed at some of the entries. “Like I said, it's a code. Nobody but me should be able to interpret it. That's what a personal formula book means; it's personal.”

  “And you can make out a list of ingredients like this?” He tried puzzling out the code.

  “Not really, this is all mostly the manipulations, temperatures, and timing. What you'd call the ingredients are these symbols and the numbers next to them. I don't list ingredients, though, only the compounds I need.” She explained further.

  “Compounds? I thought alchemy used things like life sprigs and sting needles and bat guano. Which I hope isn't used in anything we have to drink.”

  “If you are nice I might not make you drink guano-based potions.” She grinned before returning to teacher mode.

  “But yes, most alchemists and formulas just list the name and quantity of ingredients. It's an easy and reliable way to get the compounds you need. But!” She tapped her finger on one of her formulas. “The real alchemists go further, and they use compounds!”

  “Explain to me like I don't know what you're talking about?” He asked.

  She held her chin and paced a few steps before turning back to him. “Take a life sprig. Within it are several compounds, or building blocks, in various quantities. Primarily, it's something we call Medius Vitae, or neutral life, but it also contains a bit of Furens Vitae, furious life. With me so far?” She asked.

  He nodded. “Mostly.”

  “Right, so when I want to brew a common regenerative, my potion needs a lot of Medius Vitae and a few other compounds. You could deduce then that, to make a superior regenerative, you could just chuck a bunch of life sprigs into the mix, but if you add too much Furens Vitae, which the sprig contains, your potion will have serious side effects. That's why the usual common regenerative formulas will list a specific amount of Life Sprig depending on how much liquid base you're using, so you don't unbalance the ratio of both compounds.” She instructed him as a tutor would.

  He half-raised a hand.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  “Yes?”

  “What are the side effects of the angry life?”

  She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Ugh. Whatever.” Giving up, she looked at him. “Depending on which other compound ends up inside the potion, you can end up with a regenerative that will make you restless and twitchy, or give you oversized scars, or even increase your libido.”

  “Hmm, I'm guessing then that you could end up with some serious side effects if you're not careful?”

  “That's right!” She praised him like a schoolkid who had answered correctly. “Following an ingredient list is safe, but it greatly limits you in flexibility, and deviating from the formula becomes dangerous quickly because of compounding effects. Using compound ratios is a lot more complicated, and you need to learn a vast amount of compound types and interactions, not to mention having to learn the ingredient's compound make-up, but it has many advantages!”

  She held out her fingers, counting on each. “Firstly, you can substitute ingredients much more safely since you can predict which compounds will be present and in which quantity.” She folded one finger. “Secondly, you can brew hybrid potions by matching the correct ratios of compounds.” Another finger folded. “Thirdly, and most importantly, you can control side effects by adding counter-acting compounds or just altering your brewing process to account for the compounds you wish to weaken or strengthen.”

  She held up her last finger, the index. “And that's why compound alchemists are number one!”

  He blinked, impressed. “Oh. Oooooh! That's a nice finisher to a great exposition.”

  Her cheeks tinted pink. “Thanks... anyway! Now you know why I filled my formula book the way I did!” She stepped over to the distiller. “And now it's time to assemble this beauty!”

  She began sorting the various parts and tubes, cleaning each one with a soft cloth and distilled water, and inspecting them for blemishes or damage. She was soon entirely enthralled by the task.

  He smiled and joined in, following instructions like a good little David.

  Later that day, now alone, Niala's re-assembly of the distiller was interrupted by a knock at the door.

  “COMING!” She shouted, setting down the part she was fiddling with and making her way to the door. Opening it revealed Karline, who gave her a little handwave.

  “Hello Ms. Niala.”

  “Karline! Hi! I didn't know you'd came back to town after going out to meet Horace!”

  Karline fidgeted with her hands. “Ah, well, I wanted to ask David something. Is he around?”

  “No, I asked him to go buy some gardening supplies. We're going to replant the garden patch tomorrow!” Niala announced with a little bounce. “I found so many, plants all around the town and they're all potted for now, but they really need to be properly planted. Oh, but you wanted to talk to David. Do you want to come in and wait? He shouldn't be too long.” She said, stepping aside as an invitation.

  Karline hesitated for a second. “Well, if it's not a bother.”

  “At all! The shop isn't open yet, so there's nothing urgent. I just busy myself with getting there. It's going to be soon!” Niala said as she led Karline to the kitchen area.

  “Are you thirsty? I tried making some sweet fruit water, and I need a second opinion.” She snorted. “David just keeps saying everything I cook up is great. I can't trust his wild man's taste.”

  “Ah, huh, sure! I'd love to taste! Your dinner last time was excellent, you know? I didn't get a chance to properly thank you after you...” The courier woman said, letting her gaze drift downward.

  Niala's lips thinned as she retrieved two cups and a jug from the cold box, pouring two servings in silence. She motioned for Karline to taste.

  She brought the cup up, the subtle fragrance hitting her before the liquid touched her lips. Allured, she took a small sip, her eyes widening, looking down at the cup before taking a longer pull.

  “This... is really good. It's got all the taste of a fruit juice, but it's not overly sweet, instead it feels super refreshing!” She tipped the cup back, draining a good third of it.

  Niala's cheeks rose over her smile. “Glad you like it. I had to fiddle a lot with the composition before I got the taste strong enough, but leaving most of the fruit's sugar behind. David kept draining all of the failures and saying it was the best. No help at all.” She complained, shaking her head.

  She observed Karline as she kept drinking the water. Her ears flopped down.

  “If I'm not prying, what did you want to ask him?” Niala inquired.

  Karline startled, looking up from her sweet nectar. “What? Oh! I just wanted to ask if he would take me on as an assistant or maybe apprentice.” She answered with a half smile.

  Niala's ears wiggled a bit. “Oh! You mean when he... leaves.” She said, the last word somehow painful.

  It didn't miss Karline's senses. She looked down at her empty cup, squeezing it.

  She locked her eyes on Niala. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

  Niala blinked. “Uh, sure?”

  “You really don't want to have him leave, do you?” Karline cut straight to the core.

  Cheeks flushing, ears flopping down, and tail swishing, Niala bumped her two index fingers together. “It's just... he's really useful to have around and... and... it's been a lot of fun too.”

  Her eyes moistened, her gaze grew distant. “The past few weeks went by so fast, and yet I remember almost all of it. Always, in all those memories, he's never far, and I know people around him act wary and standoffish, like he's about to strangle them, but I can't see it. All I see is a big goofy guy that can't help himself teasing me, and he doesn't tease other people from what I've seen, so that makes me feel special and that makes me angry but also really... happy...” Her tears overflowed, wetting her cheeks. She pawed them away.

  “I'm sorry I... *hic* I know it's silly, I know I'm being stupid. He always said he was going to leave.” She tried pulling her tears back, snorting. She looked up at Karline, eyes glistening like pools.

  “I really *hic* don't want him to leave but *hic* it's not my choice and I don't *hic* want to make him feel bad when he has to tell me that... that he's leaving anyway *hic* because I know he likes me and he wants me happy but *hic* not enough to want to stay so I'm... I'm...”

  She couldn't manage any more words. It was all she could do to keep the river contained, mouth and eyes quivering.

  Karline stared wide-eyed at the little catkin's abrupt unravelling.

  She barely knew the girl. She didn't like sloppy drama. She felt people had to fight for themselves and grab opportunities, just like she was thinking of doing by asking the Stallion to mentor her.

  And yet...

  In that moment, she felt like a big sister, looking upon the cute, little kind-hearted, and pure little sister she didn't have, who'd just told her teary-eyed that the local bully had called her ugly and smelly and ripped her favourite stuffed toy.

  She found herself already hugging the girl, offering her shoulder to cry on and comforting arms to find refuge within.

  And in her own heart, an indignant flame of anger alighted. Who! Who would make this pure, sweet girl cry! Why was she feeling sad about it! She hadn't come here to have her feelings stuffed into a press!

  Bleed this! Being a top-ranked courier was no excuse for hurting a maiden's heart!

  Once the bruised flower in her arms was done crying, Karline was going to hunt down David and have a talk.

  adorable. Right?