Chapter 91: Deal
In the end, Percy shook his mentor’s hand, the weight of their agreement settling between them.
Twenty years were just a touch more than he needed to reach Yellow. It wasn’t that much in the grand scheme of things, but he hoped his clones would bring back some additional advantages in that time. While the deadline added a tinge of pressure on his shoulders, he understood the enormity of Orin’s concession.
Wanting to show his gratitude for everything the old alchemist had done, Percy offered to brew the new elixirs for him. The man was already at Blue, which would have normally been his upper limit as an Orange-born. However, thanks to the new recipe, he now stood a real chance of reaching Violet in his lifetime!
Yet his mentor’s response surprised Percy.
“There’s no need for that.” Orin said with a dismissive wave. “The whole point of this twenty-year delay is to give you a head start. If I had you tied up brewing elixirs for me, it would defeat the purpose. Besides, I’ll still need nearly two thousand years to advance. A couple of decades aren’t going to make that much of a difference.”
Percy was moved by his mentor’s words. Especially because he knew it wasn’t as simple as Orin had made it sound. Twenty years saved before his promotion would translate to sixty afterwards. Over half a century! Even for a powerful mage, it was still a sizeable amount of time to just give up on.
But he didn’t insist, mainly because he understood he wouldn’t be able to deliver anyway. After all, he was planning to leave the Guild in a couple years. So instead, he tried to make it up to Orin by sharing the details about the cyan powder, explaining how somebody with a pure affinity could condense the crystals. That way, the old alchemist could look for another way to brew the elixirs by himself.
Of course, Percy still left a few things out. As much as he trusted Orin, there was no reason to tell him how he’d stumbled upon this discovery, nor did he need to reveal the existence of his second core. Instead, he said he had a friend helping him get the powder.
In any case, this exchange solved most of Percy’s immediate problems. The recipe was finally complete, and he’d successfully negotiated an acceptable deal with Orin. Yet, there remained one final obstacle to overcome.