Ray waited, waited for any more questions or snide comments. All of these people here knew nothing about Alchemy, but they had curiosity, and curiosity can be turned into something more. The professor knew that all too well for it was his own curiosity years ago that led him down the path of the Alchemist. Or maybe, he let this thought wander in his brain, maybe it was fate. Though how he loathed being controlled by such powerful forces, one day he will make himself an exception, beyond the all-reaching hand of fate, beyond the power of even the gods. He knew the truth lay buried in the various alchemical formulas, and if he could just isolate the right charger, get the right reaction, he could very well improve himself beyond his means. Alchemy allowed him a fine control over the reality of the target, if he could tweak it just so… Though he banished such mad thoughts from his head, he had no time to brood such schemes now! He had fools to educate.
Then another question came from the girl who had been asking them all along, at least she was eager to learn. She had some drive, a thirst for knowledge and understanding. He liked her, but not her attitude. It was that attitude of hers that would get her killed in the grand scheme of things. Brilliant, but not too bright. Too eager. He had seen this many times before, and in response he clasped his hands together and looked at her, then to the rest of the class, ”You will experiment with alchemy soon enough. Soon enough, you don’t even know how to operate the circle yet!” he pointed out, ”That would be good to know, yes?” he asked turning a glance at the circle that he had drawn before.
”As I said before, all alchemists work will be done via the keystone.” he pointed again at the keystone, ”Within the circle will be placed items of value, items whose properties will be transferred to the target. Remember the circle is bipolar, having two distinct sides, the positive and negative, the give and take, the fount and the filter.” he explained, ”In the fount you will place items which have the desired properties you want your target to exhibit. However, not everything in the fount is desirable, so we have the filter, which will catch and attract the djed that has the same properties of the item placed in the filter slot. This allows the alchemist to fine-tune a reaction and only get, theoretically, the components he wants.” he nodded, ”The djed which is ripped from the fount, passed through the filter will apply itself to the target, the speed of the djed current forcefully mashing and introducing and binding itself to the item targeted.” he said making hand gestures, trying to make it easier to understand for the students. One especially which was effective was when he clapped his hands together in front of him as he explained the mashing of the djed current onto the item, permeating and trespassing on the target.
He reexplained the concept for the students before moving onto the nuts and bolts of how to do it, ”Now that we know the very basics of how the alchemy circle works we can focus on how to work the alchemy circle.” he said simply, hand grabbing the eraser and with a couple practiced swipes he erased his diagram of the circle and spoons only to, moments later, grab the chalk and draw an even bigger alchemy circle, one fount and one filter again. ”Now, as alchemists we must work methodically. There is an order to everything in this world, alchemy is no different. As you journey on the Alchemists path you will find that this order will become clearer and clearer to you. The truth is out there, you only have to decode it.” he announced, ”Sometimes you will find that Alchemy works in mysterious and sometimes unexpected ways.” he said, before doing something akin to a fake laugh, ”Wong!” he said, ”Everything happens for a reason. If your product did not come out the way you wanted it to, then you obviously overlooked something. Maybe your filter didn’t block out what you wanted it to? Ask yourself why, trial and error. Through experience you will find your answer, and experience will tell you all that order and logic dictates the outcome of all your Alchemy. Everything has to be accounted for, and if you do not have an eye for detail then I suggest you go find another world magic to toy around with and fail.” he announced. ”The results of any alchemical reaction can be predicted and accurate if done correctly.” he ended his little side rant.
”Method is most important. You want to plan out your reactions with reason and logic.” he put the number one on the board and wrote in big, bold letters ‘Plan your alchemy; set a goal’.
”Next, you gather your needed materials, founts, filters, and any other miscellaneous items you might need to complete you goal.” he wrote the cliffnote version as he explained, putting the number two by it.
”Check the polarity of your circle and then you load the circle.” he said, putting ‘load circle’ as step three, ”Loading is the term alchemists use when placing the items within the circle. Order does matter when you load your circle. You do not want to put your supposed fount in the filter, and the filter in the fount. Pay attention to the pull of your circle and don’t make stupid mistakes. Yes, I say stupid, because every mistake you make as an alchemist will set you back time and money. You cannot afford to make a mistake, so get it right the first time by at least loading the circle properly. If you are going to make a mistake please have it be an ineffective filter and not something as basic as having loaded the circle wrong.”
”After you load, you charge the circle.” he wrote ‘charge circle’ as step four, ”This is where the blood sacrifice is paid. This is where the magic happens.” he said simply, ”Just poke your finger and place it on the keystone to start the reaction. This is the most vital part and longest steps of the entire process, so be sure to do this right. Even though it may take hours to get your circle up to speed, you will find its well worth the time taken. Half-baked reactions, or half hazard ones will give you less than desirable results. This is the part where you put your heart and soul into your work. Focus is key.” he said, jumping all over, not entirely knowing that all of this is quite a lot for the students to take in at once. He went on unaware of the glazing eyes before him, ”This is where, through your connection with the circle, you will the djed around the circle. It is with this will, this want, this power that all alchemy is performed. Focus on moving the energy and the circle will react accordingly. Does anyone else find it endlessly interesting that, as Alchemists, to change something all we need to do is will it?” he asked trying to get them to think even deeper about the subject. It was with that question he stopped, waited, and watched. He wanted to be sure his words were sinking in.
”After you have charged the circle, making sure that you have got the djed to spin about the circle as fast as you possibly can, you activate the circle.” he said, writing ‘activate circle’ as step five. ”Activating is simple in concept, but I assure you that one of you is going to mess this up. Its easier said than done.” he said. Moving on from the disclaimer he continued, ”Activating is simply the willing of the energy cascading around the circle to the target along with the breaking of your attachment to the circle.” he said pointing to the ‘target’ in the middle of the circle. ”Easy said, but in that step there is a lot to do and think about.” he warned, letting the students think for themselves what he meant. If they had questions then surely they would ask… Right?
”Step six is the ‘cooling down’ of items transmuted.” he said, ”Important, because cooling down dispels much of the djed radiation attached to the item. If an item is not cooled down properly there is high risk of health issues arising from just being around the product. Cooling down something that has been alchemically charged is simple: you just submerge the item in water and let it sit for a few chimes.” he said.
”There is one more step.” he said, ”Step Seven- Evaluating your results!” he announced, ”Alchemy involves a lot of trial and error, it’s a learning process. Did you get the desired results? If so, why? Outline and keep detailed notes on your process and thoughts behind it. If you did not get the results wanted, then why not? Think of things that could have went wrong, and then go back and edit your reaction and formula. If you want to progress as an Alchemist I would highly suggest keeping as detailed notes as possible about your alchemical achievements, and failures.” he punctuated the last word for the class saying it louder than he should have. Was he insinuating something?
It was only then did he realize that he lost half the class. They were all staring blankly at him, but some were taking notes. His eyes looked over each and every one of them, and as if they could feel his annoyance at their actions they perked up feeling the unwanted and uninvited attention of the Professor. He would make sure to keep them all on their toes, and the ones that listened to his little lector would be rewarded… those who fail will, well, fail. Muttering something to himself he clapped his hands together loudly getting a few people who jumped, ”And so that is the alchemical process in seven easy steps.” he said with a smile, ”I sure hope you have taken detailed notes, asked any lingering questions, and listened to my lector.” he said disappointed with students today. They hardly showed the passion he did when he first discovered the art. This was probably just another class for them. Fools. All of them. ”By next class period I would like each of you to have come up with an alchemical formula of your own, and have produced a product. I will not accept duplicate ideas, nor any examples I have used in class. Experiment at your own risk. If you want supervision then I will gladly watch you preform your alchemy and look over your equations.” he said, ”Class dismissed.” he announced, ending class early. He had given them a lot of material and he was sure they would need the time to relax and absorb what he had just tried to teach them. What they would do with the free time, he could only guess not Alchemy.
Then another question came from the girl who had been asking them all along, at least she was eager to learn. She had some drive, a thirst for knowledge and understanding. He liked her, but not her attitude. It was that attitude of hers that would get her killed in the grand scheme of things. Brilliant, but not too bright. Too eager. He had seen this many times before, and in response he clasped his hands together and looked at her, then to the rest of the class, ”You will experiment with alchemy soon enough. Soon enough, you don’t even know how to operate the circle yet!” he pointed out, ”That would be good to know, yes?” he asked turning a glance at the circle that he had drawn before.
”As I said before, all alchemists work will be done via the keystone.” he pointed again at the keystone, ”Within the circle will be placed items of value, items whose properties will be transferred to the target. Remember the circle is bipolar, having two distinct sides, the positive and negative, the give and take, the fount and the filter.” he explained, ”In the fount you will place items which have the desired properties you want your target to exhibit. However, not everything in the fount is desirable, so we have the filter, which will catch and attract the djed that has the same properties of the item placed in the filter slot. This allows the alchemist to fine-tune a reaction and only get, theoretically, the components he wants.” he nodded, ”The djed which is ripped from the fount, passed through the filter will apply itself to the target, the speed of the djed current forcefully mashing and introducing and binding itself to the item targeted.” he said making hand gestures, trying to make it easier to understand for the students. One especially which was effective was when he clapped his hands together in front of him as he explained the mashing of the djed current onto the item, permeating and trespassing on the target.
He reexplained the concept for the students before moving onto the nuts and bolts of how to do it, ”Now that we know the very basics of how the alchemy circle works we can focus on how to work the alchemy circle.” he said simply, hand grabbing the eraser and with a couple practiced swipes he erased his diagram of the circle and spoons only to, moments later, grab the chalk and draw an even bigger alchemy circle, one fount and one filter again. ”Now, as alchemists we must work methodically. There is an order to everything in this world, alchemy is no different. As you journey on the Alchemists path you will find that this order will become clearer and clearer to you. The truth is out there, you only have to decode it.” he announced, ”Sometimes you will find that Alchemy works in mysterious and sometimes unexpected ways.” he said, before doing something akin to a fake laugh, ”Wong!” he said, ”Everything happens for a reason. If your product did not come out the way you wanted it to, then you obviously overlooked something. Maybe your filter didn’t block out what you wanted it to? Ask yourself why, trial and error. Through experience you will find your answer, and experience will tell you all that order and logic dictates the outcome of all your Alchemy. Everything has to be accounted for, and if you do not have an eye for detail then I suggest you go find another world magic to toy around with and fail.” he announced. ”The results of any alchemical reaction can be predicted and accurate if done correctly.” he ended his little side rant.
”Method is most important. You want to plan out your reactions with reason and logic.” he put the number one on the board and wrote in big, bold letters ‘Plan your alchemy; set a goal’.
”Next, you gather your needed materials, founts, filters, and any other miscellaneous items you might need to complete you goal.” he wrote the cliffnote version as he explained, putting the number two by it.
”Check the polarity of your circle and then you load the circle.” he said, putting ‘load circle’ as step three, ”Loading is the term alchemists use when placing the items within the circle. Order does matter when you load your circle. You do not want to put your supposed fount in the filter, and the filter in the fount. Pay attention to the pull of your circle and don’t make stupid mistakes. Yes, I say stupid, because every mistake you make as an alchemist will set you back time and money. You cannot afford to make a mistake, so get it right the first time by at least loading the circle properly. If you are going to make a mistake please have it be an ineffective filter and not something as basic as having loaded the circle wrong.”
”After you load, you charge the circle.” he wrote ‘charge circle’ as step four, ”This is where the blood sacrifice is paid. This is where the magic happens.” he said simply, ”Just poke your finger and place it on the keystone to start the reaction. This is the most vital part and longest steps of the entire process, so be sure to do this right. Even though it may take hours to get your circle up to speed, you will find its well worth the time taken. Half-baked reactions, or half hazard ones will give you less than desirable results. This is the part where you put your heart and soul into your work. Focus is key.” he said, jumping all over, not entirely knowing that all of this is quite a lot for the students to take in at once. He went on unaware of the glazing eyes before him, ”This is where, through your connection with the circle, you will the djed around the circle. It is with this will, this want, this power that all alchemy is performed. Focus on moving the energy and the circle will react accordingly. Does anyone else find it endlessly interesting that, as Alchemists, to change something all we need to do is will it?” he asked trying to get them to think even deeper about the subject. It was with that question he stopped, waited, and watched. He wanted to be sure his words were sinking in.
”After you have charged the circle, making sure that you have got the djed to spin about the circle as fast as you possibly can, you activate the circle.” he said, writing ‘activate circle’ as step five. ”Activating is simple in concept, but I assure you that one of you is going to mess this up. Its easier said than done.” he said. Moving on from the disclaimer he continued, ”Activating is simply the willing of the energy cascading around the circle to the target along with the breaking of your attachment to the circle.” he said pointing to the ‘target’ in the middle of the circle. ”Easy said, but in that step there is a lot to do and think about.” he warned, letting the students think for themselves what he meant. If they had questions then surely they would ask… Right?
”Step six is the ‘cooling down’ of items transmuted.” he said, ”Important, because cooling down dispels much of the djed radiation attached to the item. If an item is not cooled down properly there is high risk of health issues arising from just being around the product. Cooling down something that has been alchemically charged is simple: you just submerge the item in water and let it sit for a few chimes.” he said.
”There is one more step.” he said, ”Step Seven- Evaluating your results!” he announced, ”Alchemy involves a lot of trial and error, it’s a learning process. Did you get the desired results? If so, why? Outline and keep detailed notes on your process and thoughts behind it. If you did not get the results wanted, then why not? Think of things that could have went wrong, and then go back and edit your reaction and formula. If you want to progress as an Alchemist I would highly suggest keeping as detailed notes as possible about your alchemical achievements, and failures.” he punctuated the last word for the class saying it louder than he should have. Was he insinuating something?
It was only then did he realize that he lost half the class. They were all staring blankly at him, but some were taking notes. His eyes looked over each and every one of them, and as if they could feel his annoyance at their actions they perked up feeling the unwanted and uninvited attention of the Professor. He would make sure to keep them all on their toes, and the ones that listened to his little lector would be rewarded… those who fail will, well, fail. Muttering something to himself he clapped his hands together loudly getting a few people who jumped, ”And so that is the alchemical process in seven easy steps.” he said with a smile, ”I sure hope you have taken detailed notes, asked any lingering questions, and listened to my lector.” he said disappointed with students today. They hardly showed the passion he did when he first discovered the art. This was probably just another class for them. Fools. All of them. ”By next class period I would like each of you to have come up with an alchemical formula of your own, and have produced a product. I will not accept duplicate ideas, nor any examples I have used in class. Experiment at your own risk. If you want supervision then I will gladly watch you preform your alchemy and look over your equations.” he said, ”Class dismissed.” he announced, ending class early. He had given them a lot of material and he was sure they would need the time to relax and absorb what he had just tried to teach them. What they would do with the free time, he could only guess not Alchemy.
