Master Of None

"You don't want to partner with merchants to send our items on trade routes first?" The old master alchemist was too surprised. He thought that this was just the understandable path to take. 

"No, we will rely on the Garnet family to open small stalls specifically to sell our potions with our seal on them. Then from there, the merchants will make deals through them. It needs to be a strong and trustworthy supply chain. The demi-human kingdom had problems with poisoned potions before and I will not allow that to happen with any potions from our guild." Remey was full of steel. Her words showed no room for negotiation. 

"Then that is what we will do. But what  think you should realize is that there will be competition at first from those who do not wish to be part of the guild." The old master alchemist was dead serious. He knew the risks of changing prices for potions and herbs and trying to change the very fabric of how alchemy sales worked. There would be many old masters like him that fought the change to the death.. 

"They won't be able to keep up. With multiple kingdoms and multiple alchemy geniuses, we will be on top. If there is push back the first year it will become jealousy the second. By the third, we will be on top." Remey was sure of this and did not seem to be looking at the present she was looking at the future. 

"You're so different from the little girl that came looking for herbs to reduce a fever. Come with me. I have something I want to show you." The old master alchemist drastically changed the topic and his attitude. He walked out of his personal lab in the alchemy building with Remey behind her. She carried the many pages they had written of rules and suggested paths. They weren't final now but they would be as soon as they wrote the final draft at the summit. 

"I have never brought anyone here before and it is only for those masters in charge of the alchemy building. Some of these have survived the fires from long ago and others have been recovered through various magic skills and master scribes' work." The winding hallways and many labs lead to a final stairway. One that didn't look like it was meant to be seen and one you could not see from the end of the hallway. 

"What do you mean? Where does this go?" The old master alchemist did not even look back as he climbed the staircase hidden in plain sight. When he neared the top he pulled out a small key and opened the door revealing the attic of the alchemy building. 

"This, is the archive. The journals of those who did not pass on their knowledge to an apprentice. Those who left the building or were kicked from it. All of their unfinished, finished, and failed experiments are here. This should be a good start for the main alchemy guild headquarters library." It was a surprise the old master alchemist had held for some time. This room was one that no one ever visited. It was a place that experiments were put to rest never to be picked up again. 

Remey was no fool. She knew that this wasn't just an archive as she was told. This was a graveyard of sorts for alchemists. A true alchemist would not care for their body or their grave. Their spirit would be in their work and what of it they left behind. Therefore, this room held their very being. Everything they spent researching, the hours of sweat and chills from brewing. And most of all, their goals and passions.

"Thank you." There was not much else to say. Remey moved to the nearest shelf. "I will need some help categorizing it to be brought over. The archives should be organized to perfection." The two did not hesitate and silently began to work on a catalog. Since the alchemy building would change and a guild would be born, these records would be a core from the past that would form the future. 

"Alright alright! Stella and my little shadow are off playing. That leaves you and me to explore the joys of taming!" While Remey was away and Walker and Su were busy with Midnight, Elise was introducing the demon girl to taming. 

Elise found that the girl she had been introduced to was less of a talker than anyone else she had ever met. She wanted to put it all on the way she had been torn from family and turned in to some mindless soldier by a demon. However, it seemed that this girl was just quiet and kept to herself. This was a stark contrast to Elise herself. 

"Ooookkkk, well. Taming is more than just a master servant pact. It is a bind to your very being with a partner or in my case and Walker's case, a sister. It is the sharing of your life and theirs and it will run deeper than blood." The usual aloof attitude Elise had become serious and powerful. 

"I-I understand." The demon girl knew that this was more than just a rule. It was something she had to acknowledge and live every single day. 

"Good. Now, my friend was kind enough to bring you a special treant egg. Or it can be called a seed. You have a quest to learn about taming correct? Well, you will learn then become a tamer right here." Elise presented the egg with brown and grey bark on it. "Walker was kind enough to carry this here for me and leave for today's lesson."

Elise had prepared a few gardening tools in a pile for today. "Treant are not the same as any other monster. Taming them is not best when they are in an egg or seed form. They will bond with someone who helps raise them." Elise grabbed a shovel. "Let's dig." 

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