Chapter 3: Some Time

'Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, and twenty.'

The young boy lifted his body off the ground with effort, as his arms trembled with fragility. He sat on the large carpet that lay in the centre of his room. It was the fur of a massive Black Berry Bear his uncle Brute had killed in his youth. 

Michael looked over the thin books that rested on the rug, one was a copy of the Longevity Art, while the other was a copy of Fiend's Day that he himself had written. 

'I'm sorry uncle. I thank you for those kind words, but in this world I have to take everything I can. Especially since I'm not so gifted.'

Michael once again got back into push up position and proceeded to do another eighteen, and like so, he continued until he could push no longer. Thankfully his father had not left him out to dry completely, he would still receive tonic soup everyday to speed up his natural recovery. 

Nonetheless, his father had become colder to him as he would rarely speak to him. Michael only smiled in response, he was not too worked up on the matter. 

'Although I don't treat them as my parents, it's really a wonder how they switched up so quickly.'

Michael lay on his bed in exhaustion, occasionally a warm stream would slide down his temple. He thought of his past, and he thought of his future in this world. He desired to become stronger, but he still was not completely motivated, he had nothing in this world worth exhausting his body over and over for.

He stared into the circular, wooden ceiling. 

"Discipline and ritualization."

'I'll do it regardless, I won't pursue just strength for the hell of it. I'll give it my all everyday and we'll see where that lands me. Okay, yeah I'll do that then.'

At that realisation, he shut his eyes and fell into a peaceful sleep.

— —- —-

Time passed like the fleeting wind and the vicissitudes of life had already begun to catch up to Master William. His sharp eyes no longer held their vigour of before, and his house had also begun to reflect his poor condition. The maids gossiped about the master's sickness, the young master's lack of progress, and their uncertain future.

In Master William's study.

"Father, how much longer do you have?"

It has been about five years since Michael had begun his training, his body reflected it as his body was no longer the frail one of before, instead it was completely packed in defined muscles, a testament to his ceaseless efforts.

"Cough, cough."

William covered his mouth with a handkerchief, but its white colour did little to hide the blots of red blood that he coughed out. 

"The doctor said I had another five winters at most. What about you, how much longer until you become a knight? Cough, cough, cough."

William fell into a coughing fit as he held onto the edge of his desk with a trembling hand.

"It'll be much longer father, it was only last week that I advanced into an intermediate apprentice."

Michael shifted in his seat slightly as he was asked, it wasn't only his father that was disappointed, but he too was fed up with his slow progress.

"Hahh, don't worry too much son, I'll have Brute take over until you become a knight. I just want you to look after your mother, she hasn't taken this too well."

William and Michael's relationship had gotten closer about a year ago, after multiple failed attempts at conceiving another son, coupled with his spontaneous disease, he realised that he needed to rekindle his relationship with his son once again.

"Alright, I'll check up on her later. I also wanted to talk about resources. Father I'm going to need more resources, uncle Brute mentioned a special elixir that he purchased from Lander's shop recently. It's one gold a bottle, so if I use one once a week, I'll need an extra four gold coins added onto the previous two."

Michael looked into his father's eyes, being as direct as he could. Since he knew of his father's limited time he had stopped being cordial, after all, at this point it was his father that wanted to amend the relationship not the other way around.

"Alright, I'll speak to Jefferey, for now take this note and go ask him for the first four."

William pulled out a quill and wrote an official note, making sure to sign the bottom.

Michael didn't stand on ceremony, he grabbed it and headed out towards the ground floor. He walked familiarly down a remote corner of the mansion, the door similarly to the rest was an indistinct wooden slab.

Michael knocked twice.

"Come in."

A middle aged man, with greying sideburns welcomed Michael in.

"Uncle Jeffrey, here, father asked me to come and receive an additional sum this month."

Michael passed the parchment note and sat on one of the leather chairs as he waited for his coin.

"Four more gold coins? Your Uncle Brute also asked for an increase this month for the apprentices."

Jeffrey looked through a cabinet and sighed deeply.

"This knight stuff is seriously expensive, I can't imagine the training costs of a grand knight."

"Haha, uncle Jeffrey, grand knights aren't a common occurrence, there might only be one in a whole county."

Jeffrey looked up from his task and pushed up his eyeglasses.

"Yeah, you're right."

"Alright here, this cloth pouch has six gold coins, your monthly allowance and four extra gold coins."

"Thank you, uncle. I'll be heading out then, time waits for no one."

Michael stood up and headed out of the mansion with a pep in his step. Few things excited him, but the Golden Salve Brute mentioned would completely change the speed of his training. 

A carriage was always prepared in case of emergent trips so Michael did not need to wait long, he boarded the carriage and headed out of the Longstein property.

Soon, the sounds of laughter and elaborate conversation sounded as his carriage entered the shop centre. This was the cornerstone of the Central District, all the most popular shops with the highest quality of goods stood here. 

The carriage stopped in front of a more desolate shop. A large wooden slab had the Lander's title and insignia carved. 

The familiar silver bell rang, its high pitched sound easily penetrating the carriage cabin.

Michael stepped off, his leather boots lightly landed on the nicely paved road.

"Thank you Anthony, I'll be a little while."

"Take your time young master."

The carriage driver was a young man, due to his rare red hair he was given preferential treatment. Being a carriage driver was not only decent pay, it was also a light task, so Anthony seemed to always be in a good mood.

Michael walked around the shop observing its goods. A lot of what he used came from this one shop, like the Potential Exhausting Salve, the Nutrition Pouches, and the occasional Vitality Tonic.

This was one of the rare alchemist shops. Due to the difficulty in the profession, shops like these were rare, and it was common for there to only be one for every major city. An alchemist was both trained as a physician and an herbalist, and although it was an interesting profession it was imperative to find a teacher. 

Unlike most common knowledge, herbalists and physicians did not share their research or findings, they were traditional like knights and only passed on their knowledge through a master student relationship. 

"Can I help you young man?"

At this time an old man with a slight hunchback was followed out of a room by a young woman.

"Yeah.."

Michael inspected the old man and the young woman.

"I usually send my guard to your shop, so it's my first time here. I heard you had a special elixir you concocted recently?"

The old man looked at the young man for a moment before coming to realise his identity.

"Your William's son right? I saw you last year when I went to check on your father. How has he been recently?"

"He has not been well, his condition has only worsened since then. I apologise for not having introduced myself that day, I had some things on my mind and was not in a good state to meet with people."

"No, it's okay, I see you're a well mannered child, no need to apologise."

His voice was light and his smile was amiable. They were divided by a long brown wooden table that was about a metre and a half tall. On Michael's side it was bare and plain wood, while the other side had many carved cubbies for the storage of the more expensive items. 

"I believe that this is what you are here for."

The young woman, of about seventeen, pulled out a small glass container, a thick syrup that appeared to be honey filled it to the brim.

"Yes, this is the Golden Elixir right?"

The young woman nodded and Michael continued.

"Can you introduce me to it?"

"Well it's the fruit of a decade of research, its main effect is its incredible ability to heal the body, and although it can't help you regrow limbs, it's not far off. With it, your training as a knight should reach a new level."

This time the young woman responded with a crisp melodious voice. The old man only looked on smugly, his face nodding in affirmation.

"It sounds amazing, can I get four portions of this Golden Elixir, ten Vitality Tonics, thirty vials of Potential Exhausting Salve, and forty Nutrition Pouches."

Listening to Michael's request, the old man's eyes grew a surprise glint. 

"Is this all just for you? I wanted to remind you that this elixir won't do much for your father's condition."

"I figured as such since he told me it was incurable. But yeah, this is for my training this month."

"I have to warn you son. Although the Golden Elixir can keep you in one piece, it's not good to train so much. Your body is not the only important component, you also have to take care of your mind. Such physical measures can also take a toll on the mind. You are free to do what you want, just be mindful."

The old man gave him some advice as the young woman swiftly packaged the goods into a wooden box. The old man was done conversing and returned to his study at the back of the shop.

"That will be 56,000 coppers, or 5 gold coins and 60 silver coins. The Golden Elixir is 10,000 coppers each, the Nutrition Pouches are 100 coppers each, the Vitality Tonics are 600 coppers each, and the Potential Exhausting Salves are 200 coppers each."

The young lady spoke about such a fortune simply, as if they were talking peanuts. Michael held a similar attitude as he forked over the six gold coins out of his pouch without worry. This extravagance was only among the upper echelon as even just 1 gold coin was a large sum, the yearly income of a middle classed person.

The young woman counted out 40 coins and pushed it towards Michael. Michael filled his empty pouch with lower denomination coins with a smile. He grabbed the small wooden chest and walked out of the shop with some excitement.