Chapter 24 Book Learning
Inside of a white townhouse, on a bustling street.
"Ahahahaha! Harper! Good News!"
Ira laughed wildly as he sat on the edge of his bed. A black book was on his lap with strange words and symbols. The reason why he was laughing was because he finally understood one page in the book. The faint whispers that occurred when reading the book seemed to stop for now. He ripped the page out of the book but the contents faded away and it became a plain piece of paper. The words slowly reappeared onto a different page.
A barefoot Harper walked into the room rubbing her eyes.
"Ira...what is it?"
She said as she yawned.
Ira grabbed her and tossed her up.
"Waah!"
Harper shouted in surprise. As she fell back down she landed in Ira's arms, before he tossed her up again.
"Hahaha!"
She giggled wildly, as she flew through the air. Her giggle sounded like a high-pitched version of Ira's laugh.
"Alright."
Ira caught her and put her down. Her brown and black hair was very messy, but she paid no mind and continued to giggle.
"You go to the general store down the street and get some pencils and paper. I'll go buy breakfast."
Ira waved his hand and gave Harper 100 Gre.
"Alright!"
Harper nodded her head and ran to put on her shoes.
Ira chuckled as he went downstairs ahead of her.
"Wait for me!"
She giggled as she stumbled to put her shoes on.
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After getting some breakfast, pencils, and some paper. Ira and Harper sat at the dining room table eating their food, Ira had a few steaks and a couple pieces of fruit, while Harper ate the same meal, but with one steak and less fruit. Ira finished his food first and began writing. He finished and nodded his head in a satisfied manner.
"Harper, do you know what this is?"
He asked as he smiled brightly.
Harper shook her head as she closely guarded her steak.
"Ha, it's a recipe. For something great."
Ira laughed as he scanned over the paper again.
"What's so great about it?"
Harper asked as she peeked over.
"When we go see an alchemist you'll understand."
Ira got up and walked towards the door. Harper looked at him and then her food, she decided she would finish it later and chased after him.
Wsssh.
Ira appeared at his original position and took the rest of Harper's steak.
"Hey!"
She stomped her feet.
"Let's go."
Ira chuckled as they left the house.
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Ira and Harper reached a small run down building in a far corner in the capital.
Small crooked letters, made from iron that had long since gathered rust, sat above the building.
They read as follows:
Charlie's Alchemical Concoctions.
The door for the building was made from plate iron and gave it the appearance of a vault if anything.
Creeaak.
Ira opened the creaky metal door and stepped in. Harper wasn't far behind him.
Inside was a mess. The counter was cluttered with jars and tubes of mystery creatures and liquids. Books were strewn across the floor, and the actual bookshelf was close to empty. Boxes full of beakers, tubes, and a variety of other tools were placed in the corner, in short, the whole room felt as disorganized. A man charged out from the backroom which emitted a rotten scent.
"Customer or Mercenary?"
A middle-aged man emerged from the room and closed the door.
"Both."
Ira said as he smiled.
The middle-aged man had a patchy beard, long dark brown hair, which was very unkempt, and a black apron over a set of plain beige clothes. He had a name plate on his apron which read "Charles".
"What do you need?"
The middle-aged man picked up a notepad and began writing hastily.
"Can you help me make this?"
Ira asked with a chuckle as he slid the paper onto the counter. The man sighed as he pulled out glasses from his pocket. The numbers of times he was given idiotic personal requests were too many to count. Most people were ignorant about alchemy, they just brought various potions and mixtures, not diving into the specifics.
"Listen, if it's another request about a love potion I-"
Charles was stopped in his tracks as he read the contents of the paper.
"T-This..."
He repeatedly looked over the paper then at Ira.
Ira laughed as he snatched the paper back.
"Well can you?"
Ira asked.
"I can, but are you using it for yourself?"
Charles asked wide-eyed.
"No. I think my sister needs it more than me."
Ira said as he stepped to the side and pointed at Harper.
"Perfect!"
Charles shouted.
"With her body still in its early developmental stage, we just need to make it."
Charles cackled madly. Right now he was brimming with joy.
"Do you know what it is?!"
He asked passionately.
"A recipe."
Ira shrugged casually.
"Not just that! It's the process for filtering out genetic traits and splicing them all into one cohesive bloodline!"
Charles said as he breathed heavily.
"It's not a specific set of ingredients listed, so there are literally hundreds upon hundreds of possibilities. If this got exposed to the world, I'm sure every major power would fight for it."
Charles rambled on unrestrainedly.
"Not only that! It may ramifications beyond the control of any lifeforms."
Charles somehow performed a miracle and widened his eyes even further than they would previously go.
"Could you explain it better?"
Ira scratched his head in a confused manner.
"Yeah, can you explain it better?"
Harper echoed after him and scratched her head the same as Ira.
"Hold on!"
Charles ran into the backroom and came back out with a large white colored board and started drawing five circles and a series of different black lines.
"Are you aware of the Origin Forces Theory?"
Charles asked.
Both Ira and Harper shook their heads in response.
"To simplify it as best as possible. Imagine our world is the circle. Each line is a force beyond the laws that govern our world. Some people speculate there are an infinite number or forces and others speculate there a finite amount...Sorry, I'm getting ahead of myself. Imagine gravity as one line, mana as another line, fate as another line, and so on and so forth. Each line is a singular force that passes through and exerts itself on our mortal plane, granting us abilities as a result. Imagine the biggest circle as a curtain, behind the curtain, is thought to be the divine plane and that's where many theorize these forces originate from."
Charles looked at back at Ira and Harper to see them in the corner staring at a jar.
"Hey! You didn't-"
Charles started.
"I'm listening. Just get to the important parts already."
Ira turned and smiled.
Charles withheld his frustrations and continued to explain.
"It's safe to assume there are divine beings who can tap into these forces, or maybe they have full control over all of them. Imagine your holding a string in both your hands if someone came along and tugged it you'd surely know."
Charles tried to explain as best as possible.
Ira stared at the Charles and waited.
"I'm saying if you create a new bloodline, it could cause a small rebound in a known or unknown force since it goes against the natural order."
Charles finished.
"So...bad things could happen?"
Ira asked simply.
"Y-Yeah if you wanna put it like that then I guess you could."
Charles made a wry smile.
"I have two really important question."
Ira's expression turned serious, which Harper thought she was witnessing for the first time.
"W-What is it?"
Charles felt the mood turn and asked cautiously.
"Can you help me make a prosthetic arm and why are there two moons?"
Ira laughed loudly.
"Hehehe."
Harper giggled as she felt she was tricked.
"Yes. I can. I can't tell if you're serious about the moons. In winter the second moon, Ulta Minor, appears."
Charles had a deadpan expression. When he ranted earlier he would've earned an award from the Mage and Alchemical societies, but in front of this boy, he earned nothing but a headache.
"Write down your name, address, and a time. I'll get the proper equipment to set up, you can handle the ingredients."
Charles sighed deeply as he massaged his temples.
"Did you still need help with that job you posted?"
Ira asked curiously.
"No."
Charles said quickly.
"Alright. Let's get some food, Harper."
Ira and Harper both exited the store leaving a frustrated alchemist.
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