Here we are with what I would call a special chapter - the first multi-part section you'll see in this story. Usually, these will be reserved for end-of-arc fights, but will crop up for special events on occasion. This, to me, is one of those times. This chapter details the basis behind Alchemy, something that will play a role in almost everything from here on out, and so I felt that it deserved to be well-detailed, even if that meant splitting it up to keep the length around the same as my other chapters.
Book I, Part II: Mortal Conflict - The Zodiac Brave Story
Chapter X: The Dawn Of Wisdom, Part I
[March 21, 2152 | Celsius, Second Level, Ben's Room | 6:47 AM]
Seven o'clock in the morning.
To say that I'm a bit displeased with the time of my first class as a SeeD cadet is an understatement, really.
"Where are my shoes..."
Frantic, too, would be an understatement.
Grabbing a pair of shiny, black shoes, I tug them on quickly, before checking myself over in a mirror for a second. I'm dressed in what I can only assume is the standard SeeD cadet uniform, identical as far as I can tell to the ones used at Balamb Garden. The outfit itself is fairly simple, a navy blue dress shirt with golden designs near the collar and neckline, and a pair of navy blue slacks. I look just a moment longer to make sure everything looks neat, before grabbing a thick textbook, a notebook, pencil, and pen from a table beside me and running out of the door.
About ten seconds later, I come to the realization that I can, in fact, just teleport. Resisting the urge to smack myself in the head for forgetting, I concentrate, vanishing a moment later to reappear just inside the front gates of Trabia. The cold Trabian air fills my lungs as I look around, seeing nothing but students rushing to get to their classes or other assignments. Seconds later, I'm but another face in the crowd as I head for the second floor of Garden
[Ethereal Plane, Palace of Creation]
A single figure walked into the room before the Creator, the figure of the Pillar of the Future, kneeling before her quietly as he often did.
"Will. You have completed your mission to gather the Holy Stones?" Freya asked, standing from her throne.
"I have, my lady," he replied, holding out a hand. Light flickered around it before a dozen shining gemstones appeared above it, suspended in air and rotating slowly.
"Excellent. I shall handle things from this point," Freya told Will, who nodded. The gemstones floated slowly over to Freya as she exerted her power over them, remaining suspended in front of her as she held one hand up towards the twelve Holy Stones, the other raised into the air.
"Kingdom of heaven, kingdom of sky, release your powers and hear my cry. Power of light, spirits of old, return these Stones into your fold."
A shimmer of light began to overtake each of the Holy Stones in sequence, the colors matching the colors of each of the gems. As the last was bathed in light, small beams of energy began to extend from each of the gems, spiraling both above and below the Stones in a rough diamond shape with the Stones in the center. Suddenly, as the beams of light met at each point above and below the group of gems, a single beam of rainbow light extended back to the center from each endpoint, striking the gems with a brilliant flash.
As the light cleared, the Holy Stones were nowhere to be found, sealed once again by the power of the Ethereal Plane.
[March 21, 2152 | Trabia Garden, Second Floor, Classroom 3-B | 6:57 AM]
As soon as I walk in the door, I can tell that this is going to be a vastly different experience than any schooling I may have had before.
Almost everyone that is going to be in the classroom is already here, it appears, and there's very little loud talking, instead more of a quiet, reserved attitude. I should have expected nothing less, really. Looking around the room, the only person I immediately recognize is Yuki, sitting silently in a desk near the upper-left part of the room. Quietly, I take a seat near the upper-right part, stifling a yawn and beginning to examine the electronic desk in front of me. It looks like a personal computer mixed with a full-sized desk, but far more advanced than any computer has a right to be. A keyboard is in front of me, built into the desk itself and looking like it's made of touch-panels, but no mouse is present, and I make an assumption that everything else must be touch-based. I'm about to experiment and test that theory, when...
"Good morning, everyone."
A familiar voice quashes that idea, and I look up again to see Katanas walk into the room, a textbook and folder in his hands, but nothing else. Moving to the desk at the front of the room, he flips open the book quickly, before looking up at us.
"Welcome to ALC 101: Introduction to Alchemy. I take it that most of you here are either Alchemy or Magic specialization students?"
Most people nod in agreement, but two or three shake their heads.
"Combat," one boy from the back of the room says, followed a minute later by a girl.
"General SeeD program."
No one else says anything, and Katanas nods, stepping out from the desk and in front of all of us.
"Well, then, I'll keep this brief. I'm Professor Katanas DeValle. You can all call me Katanas. I'm the head Alchemy instructor for Trabia Garden, as well as the SeeD Garden Commander."
No one says anything for a moment, and Katanas picks up the book on his desk again, leafing through it for a moment, before closing it.
"By the way, get a refund for those books," he continues, smiling. "I do things a bit...differently in this class. Here, I teach the practical aspects of Alchemy, the stuff you need in any given day-to-day situation. I do teach an Alchemy Theory course, but that's an advanced level class that will build off of what you learn here. Today, you will be learning about the major aspects of Alchemy, including the three central parts - Analysis, Deconstruction, and Creation - as well as the concept of equivalent exchange."
He pauses for a moment to compose his thoughts, before continuing.
"You'll also learn about the difference in quality between alchemizing using ingredients versus using your own spiritual energy. Even for experienced Alchemists, it's simply much more efficient and effective to use material. In a combat situation, of course, you generally don't get that luxury, but with sufficient skill and practice you learn to lessen the cost of mana per item created. Over the course of this class we'll also be going in-depth with basic, intermediate, and advanced potions, equipment, you name it, we'll cover it. I suggest you take careful notes and study them, or you'll get left behind in this course. Any questions?"
No one says a word, causing him to chuckle a little.
"Alright then," he says, clasping his hands together. "Since we're all going to be here for the next few hours, why don't we get started by getting to know everyone. We'll go down the rows to keep it simple. Just stand and say your name and a little bit about yourself, if you don't mind. I'll start off, since I suggested it."
Katanas clears his throat quickly, before looking up at us with a fairly stern expression.
"I'm Katanas DeValle, and if you want to pass this course, I'll expect to see cheesecake on my desk every morning."
His face may be stern, but his eyes say that he's barely containing a fit of laughter. The rest of the class has no qualms about letting out a fit of chuckles and giggles.
"Who's next?"
I just watch silently as the first person in line stands up, stating their name and beginning to tell a bit about their background. The first few go by with relative calm, but as a young girl with dark hair stands up to speak I can hear several people around me speaking in quiet whispers, obviously about the girl in question.
"My name is Silvia Conrad. I'm 17 years old, and a native of Esthar. I came to Trabia for magic training, since my dad wanted to see me go here to learn and train. This is my first semester here, and I'm majoring in magic manipulation with a minor in alchemy."
The girl sits back down, and I return to a more apathetic expression, curiosity being put aside for the moment to hear the rest of the students speak. It takes several minutes, but finally the line comes around to me. Calmly, I stand up, looking around at the class for a moment before speaking.
"My name is Benji Powell, I'm 19 years old and I live all the way in Balamb. I came to Trabia for the Alchemy program they offer, and I'm currently majoring in alchemy with a minor in close-quarters combat."
Quickly, I sit back down, retaking my spot in order for the person behind me to speak. Before much longer, everyone in the class has introduced themselves, and Katanas nods approvingly.
"Well then, it looks like we can finally get started. Please open your textbooks to page twelve."
Doing so, I take a moment to glance down the page as Katanas continues.
"Here, you will find all the basic similarities and differences between alchemy and magic. For example, they are both fairly easy to learn to use, but difficult to master completely. Both work on the same principles, with mental energy being more important than physical energy in the use, as well as both being a lifelong study to master. However, there are a few key differences of which you must be aware.
Unlike magic, alchemy can't be used by just anyone. Magic has a use limit before requiring rest, whereas alchemy has no such restriction. Alchemy can bend and mend various principles of modern physics that magic can merely scrape at. Magic requires less finesse, but more skill. These distinctions must be remembered, or you risk confusing the two terms."
The noise of furious typing assaults my ears as I, along with the rest of the students, begin to take notes on Katanas' words. Moving up to his desk, Katanas takes out a small bottle from his pocket, a Potion, and sets it gently onto the desk before continuing.
"Now. As I stated before, there are three major parts to alchemy. These parts are, in general order of use, Analysis, Deconstruction, and Creation. We'll start with Analysis."
Picking up the Potion, he looks at the class for a moment.
"How many of you are familiar with this common item I'm holding?"
The entire class voices their acknowledgment, and Katanas nods.
"It's a Potion, used to heal fairly minor injuries. Pretty simple. Now, how many of you are familiar with the overall ingredients that go into making a Potion?"
Only a few people raise their hands, showing their knowledge of Katanas' question.
"Good. Now, for my last question...how many of you are familiar with the chemical composition of the basic elements in a Potion?"
The class remains completely silent.
Katanas smiles.
"Well, that's what we're going to be learning today as we learn about Analysis. Before we get started, however, I have one other thing to do. Each of you, from now until the end of the semester, will be working together with another person in groups of two. Starting from the first row, we'll make pairs in order until we come to the last person. In the past, I've found that it is easier to learn a complicated subject such as Alchemy when you have another watching you to point out and correct errors."
Katanas begins to point out each pair of names, and I look behind me as he comes to me, glancing at the person who is to be my partner. A somewhat older girl, appearing to be around 20, with long dark hair stretching down to the middle of her back, black eyes, and a pair of black sunglasses sitting on top of her head, is apparently the one who I'm to be partnered with.
"I'll give each of you a moment to speak with your new partners before I move on."
Leaning an arm on the back of my chair, I look behind me at the girl before speaking.
"Hey. Nice to meet you...Sephrenia, was it?," I say, causing the girl to nod.
"That is correct. And you are?" she asks, looking back at me with an apathetic expression.
"Benji. Just call me Ben," I reply, shrugging a little.
The girl simply nods, saying nothing more, and I turn back around to look at my book once again.
'Guess she's not a people person.'
"Now that we're all acquainted with one another," Katanas says a minute later, "we can get started with the next part of the class."
Quickly, I turn my attention back to Katanas, as he begins to lecture once again on the basic principles of alchemy.
"The first thing that you all must learn about alchemy is a concept that ranges from incredibly basic to incredibly complex. That concept is the drawing and utilizing of glyphs called transmutation circles."
Picking up several sheets of paper from the folder on his desk, he begins to pass them out, one per row.
"These are some examples of the most basic transmutation arrays. Memorize how these are created, because without them, alchemy is impossible."
The sheet of paper I'm handed has a design that I've never seen before - two concentric circles, with a diamond overlapping the inside circle, each point touching the outside circle, and a square within the diamond, with each edge touching the sides of the diamond. Examining it for a moment, I commit the design to memory as best I can, before passing the paper to Sephrenia.
"As I just mentioned, those are merely some of the basic arrays used for alchemy. The amount of possible arrays that can be used for alchemy are endless, varying widely between the types of tasks each array is used for. Those basic circles, however, will do everything that is required for this particular class."
Taking a sheet of paper from my notebook, I draw the design as neatly as I can on the sheet of paper to ensure that I don't forget it, before looking back up at Katanas.
"With that, we can now move on. Analysis is the first step in the process of alchemic transmutation, and is the simplest to learn to use. First, I want everyone to take a sheet of paper, and draw one of the transmutation arrays that you just saw on the paper as large as you can."
Using the array I just drew for reference, I take out another sheet of paper from the book, recreating the array over most of the paper this time.
"Next, I'm going to hand each of you a Potion. I want you to place it in the center of the array you just drew."
Beginning to move around the room, Katanas takes out Potions and begins to hand them out to the students in the class...or so I think at first glance. As he comes closer, I can actually see what he's doing. Even as I watch, orange light shimmers around Katanas' hand for a moment, concentrated on the white glove that he's wearing, before a Potion just seems to appear in his hand. He repeats this for everyone he passes, and soon, each of us are left with a Potion sitting on our papers.
"Something else that you must remember. Until you become proficient with Alchemy, you must touch the circle that you are performing a transmutation with. Otherwise, you will have no way to utilize the energy correctly, and the transmutation won't work. Now, I want you to place both hands on the circle. You really only have to use one hand, but using both hands makes it easier on beginners."
Quietly, the class does as instructed.
"I'm sure each of you is competent with the skill of casting magic. Well, the same idea applies here. I want you to focus your energy, but push it out into the array. While you do this, you need to have it in your mind what you want to accomplish with the array. Whether it's creating items from your own spiritual energy, or changing items into other items, you must know what you want to do with an array, or it will not work. It may even backfire on you if you aren't careful. For right now, I want you to think of knowing what the Potion is made of, what elements in what amounts make the Potion what it is, while you focus your energy into the array."
One of the students, a teenage boy with blond hair, raises his hand, speaking up as Katanas looks towards him.
"Katanas? Does this work similarly to Scan magic?"
"You could say that," he replies, looking over at the boy. "It provides different information about something than a Scan spell would, but the overall concept is much the same." A moment later, he looks back over the class.
"Now, I want you all to try it. Concentrate on finding out what the Potion is made of."
Looking down at the array, I place my hands upon the array as I begin to focus all the magical energy I can within myself, before mentally forcing it out towards my hands, the same way a spell is cast. All the while, I keep the thought in my head of figuring out what makes up the Potion on the circle. Nothing happens for a moment, but as more of the energy gathers, a yellow light flares up around the circle. Immediately, I can feel information flooding into my mind, telling me the chemical composition of the liquid mixture placed on the array. All the information makes me visibly blink for a moment, and I take the pen up with my right hand, writing down the information now running through my mind. All around me, I can see similar flares of light from the students, letting me know that their transmutations also worked.
"Good, very good. Analysis is the simplest of the three to pick up on. I want you to try it again in a moment, but this time, I'll be providing you with Megalixirs."
Walking around the room again, Katanas takes the Potion off of each student's array, before orange light shines around his hands again, morphing and warping the bottle and its contents. The bottle that he places back on the arrays for each of us this time is not a Potion, but a Megalixir.
"Do the same thing you just did to the Potion," he instructs. Quickly, I place my hands on the array once again, focusing my energy down into my hands just like before. Yellow light flares up around the circle once again, and I can feel another rush of information as the chemical composition of the Megalixir floods into my mind. Taking up the pen again, I write this composition down as well, before looking back towards Katanas.
"Very good," Katanas says, looking around the class with a look of satisfaction. "For the next few minutes, I'll be providing you with various items. I want you to write down the compositions of them. This information may seem trivial, but it may be of great use later, when you find yourself in need of items and have no exact materials available for creating them with."
As Katanas begins to move around the room again, picking up the bottles on our desk and changing them into other items, I get my pen and paper ready, knowing that I've got a long day ahead of me.
"Excellent work, all of you," Katanas says, moving back to the front of the room nearly an hour later. "I think that will do for now. We'll take a break for 15 minutes, so that you can get up and stretch, get something to drink, whatever you want. When we come back, I'll talk about Deconstruction and Creation alchemy before we wrap things up for the day."
Yawning a little, I look up at the clock on the wall, which says about a quarter to nine. The two hours or so I've spent in this class feel only like an hour or so to me, despite all the lecturing and work. Stretching, I stand up from the desk, leaving my pen, book, and notebook behind on my chair before walking out of the room, headed towards the nearest water fountain.
"So, what do you think of the class?" a voice from behind me says, causing me to turn and see Yuki standing near the door.
"I like it. This is definitely something I could get used to being able to do," I reply, before taking a sip from the fountain beside me. Yuki just smiles, nodding quietly.
"I'm looking forward to what we're going to learn later in this class, but right now, I'm going to get a snack. See you after class," she says, before walking off in the opposite direction.
Taking another sip from the fountain, I wipe a bit of water from my mouth before heading back into the classroom, ready to see what Katanas is going to teach us next.
This chapter was one of the most difficult I've written to date, as I had to make sure I got all of the principles of Alchemy correct so as to set the basis for Alchemy use throughout the rest of the story. The second part of this mini-event will detail the other parts of Alchemy and finish setting the basis, among other things. As always, please read and review.