The Lone Wanderer

Percy stirred the concoction at a modest, yet steady pace. A few bubbles began to form, but not too many. Instead of panicking, he continued going as he had, only carefully adjusting the temperature slightly with his free hand.

A few seconds later, the foam died down, the mixture settling into a transparent gel at the bottom of the cauldron. Carefully pouring the substance onto a membrane over a vial’s mouth, he watched it distilled into a clear liquid. The droplets made crisp sounds, splashing inside the sapphire bottle one after another.

“65 drops! Congratulations Percy! That’s over 16%! You’ve improved again!” Orin said.

Letting out a breath he’d been holding, Percy also felt a sense of triumph rising over his achievement. It had already been two weeks since his clone returned, and he’d been able to brew some elixir every day since. His yield had started off at a modest 15%, but it was already slightly higher than that. There was still some way to go before he could be considered a fully-fledged alchemist, but at least the losses were small enough he could stomach them on his own now. A good thing too, as today was his final session sponsored by his mentor.

“Thank you, sir! I owe everything to your kindness.” he said.

“How many times do I need to tell you to just call me Orin? And no, given how hard you’ve been working, I’m sure you would have reached this point sooner or later. I only helped you get started.”

Percy chuckled.

“That’s still massive. It would have taken me years to gather enough points by myself.”

Orin patted his shoulder before speaking.