• Closed • The Alchemical Deviation

[Elisabeth Black]

Ashan 103, Arc 722,

After her morning meditation on the beach, Elisabeth had spent some time watching the water and enjoying something of a perfect morning. In truth, any morning that started by her waking next to Balthazar was a good one, but it was hard to deny that she was in an exceptionally good mood.

Rising from her place on the sand and quickly brushing sand away from her clothing, the young settlement leader made her way into the collection of houses that made up Haven proper. People waved and smiled at her as she went, slowly checking on things without looking like she was checking on them – that was the key. Trying to engage in Haven business wasn't going to work – the settlers were making her take a holiday until she and Balthazar left for Scalvoris Town.

It had been an eventful few trials, but life in Haven was settling back down again, returning to normal or as normal as they were going to get for awhile. It had been nice, spending a little downtime with Balthazar, nothing pressing for the pair to do.

At some point, Balthazar had offered Elisabeth a lesson in alchemy basics after she expressed a desire to learn. Would it become something she enjoyed? Perhaps. It seemed to be an exciting topic, and there weren't too many subjects that the young Videnese wasn't willing to learn.

All that aside, the time spent learning from Balthazar was what she looked forward to the most. Time spent with him was precious, and she was even more aware of that now than she had been before.

He knew her to be a quick study, being her unarmed mentor, amongst other subjects. Elisabeth's Vidense upbringing shone brightest in the area of learning, although she shared little else with people from Yvithia's city. While Elisabeth would always love the city itself, there were certain aspects of it that she questioned mightily; time, distance, and perspective were incredible teachers. She realized things now that she hadn't before.

Sitting on a large bench outside Balthazar's workshop, she patiently waited, watching the settlers go about their trial, letting her thoughts run wild. It was difficult not having anything to do or not being expected to do anything. Of course, there were a million things she could do, just because she had the time, but to her, there was nothing more important than sharing time with Balthazar. Life and work would soon take the couple away from each other again, so enjoying the time they could was her highest priority.

[Balthazar Black]

103 Ashan 722

While Elisabeth spent most of her trial relaxing, either while meditating or while wandering the settlement, Balthazar spent his time preparing. He'd told Elisabeth that he'd give her a small lesson in alchemy but as the time drew closer for him actually to do it, he found himself less interested in it. He was far from a teacher but he would do what he could to fulfill his promise. If she liked alchemy, she could pursue it without him going forward. He'd learned just as much as he needed to harvest his own blood for blood magic and he'd stopped. Bombs were fun and all but he was not going to be teaching her how to make explosives for her first lesson. He was going to instead go for something much more similar to what Doran had taught him when he first found the alchemist.

To that end, he had set up a table outside of the workshop so that he would have the space he needed to teach. Ironically the forge he had built onto the side of the workshop was larger than the workshop itself. Elisabeth may have envied Balthazar's private space, but it was far from roomy. These trials he spent more time in the forge area than he did in the workshop- even if he was working on something alchemical in nature. He liked the open air aspect of the forge a little more than the walk-in closet aspect of the workshop though he was certain that when he finally found a stable place to build his lair he would feel differently, but he didn't have that yet.

He set out two bowls and a few strips of cloth which he held down with rocks he had found lying around. It was far from the sanitary environment Doran would have used but Balthazar had found alchemy was much like transmutation. If you were willing to let things mix, you could uncover entirely different possibilities. After all, he only learned how to make his explosives when he accidentally forgot to clean the bowl he was using thoroughly. So a rock with soil from Faldrass holding down the cloth? Not a big deal to the mage. He could dust it off first if he decided there really would be a problem.

He had put the bench outside the workshop exclusively for Elisabeth. He was not going to make a habit of giving people somewhere to sit right next to a collection full of potentially dangerous materials but Elisabeth he felt he could trust enough not to worry about her setting something off or getting too curious. When he was finally prepared for the lesson, he came around to the other side of the workshop where Elisabeth was waiting for him and he folded his hands behind his back. "Everything is prepared, are you?"

[Elisabeth Black]

Ashan 103, Arc 722,

A voice found its way to her – Elisabeth's favorite voice, actually. Hearing it reminded her that he was there with her for this time in their lives. It wasn't always so, so she held a deep appreciation for the periods when they were together.

Blinking a bit, she broke away from her internal musings, finding Balthazar looking at her. A smile slipped across her lips as she rose, nodding. "Ready, love. Thank you for the lesson. I appreciate it very much."

Joining him, Elisabeth kissed her husband on the cheek before following as he led her to wherever they were going. She had assumed the lesson would be in the workshop, but it seemed like that wasn't to be case, or else he would have just beckoned her inside from the door. No, the lesson was someplace else.

In preparation for the lesson, she had looked up a few things about alchemy, hoping to show him she was serious about the subject. "So, I was doing some light reading on the subject, and reagents are like ingredients, yes?" With some knowledge of cooking and medicine, Elisabeth tried finding commonalities for her mind to grab. With a bare minimum understanding of science and very little chemistry, she needed to look for similarities in other places.

"If I understand the basic process correctly, the simple explanation is that alchemy takes a property of one material and transfers it to another. Is that close?" Balthazar knew how eagerly she took to new subjects, so the fact that she had prepared a bit shouldn't shock him. Just by coming to Haven, Elisabeth had learned dozens of skills she had never dreamed of ever needing. Engineering and woodworking came to mind, but there had been a need for the settlement, and as the leader, it had been her responsibility to see to it.

Alchemy was a different beast. Yes, there might be some practical applications for the settlement - that remained to be seen - but it was mostly a curiosity for her and something to spend time doing with Balthazar.

Walking along with him, Elisabeth quietly enjoyed his presence, waiting to see if her findings had been correct.

[Balthazar Black]

103 Ashan 722

Balthazar lead Elisabeth around to the other side of the workshop where he'd set out the table and materials for the lesson. As they walked she asked him a question about reagents and Balthazar gave her a small shrug in response. He knew enough about the sciences that most of what he knew about alchemy was easy to understand or believe. Chemistry was an incredibly useful tool in the creation of explosives. Physics was useful for portals. Geology was useful for Defiance. All of it came together for alchemy in one way or another. "Somewhat." Balthazar decided, though he knew it was not the answer she was looking for. "I don't like calling them that because technically the formula for my explosive powder is a combination of different reagents if I let myself think of it that way. I prefer just to remember what is being used by name. However, what we're going to learn is a little more simple than that."

Balthazar gestured for Elisabeth to move to one side of the table with the two bowls and strips of cloth while he went around to the other. He knelt down and pulled a few other instruments and vials with different powders from a box he'd set on his side of the table. Elisabeth seemed to have done a bit of reading about the subject but he wasn't sure if that meant she'd been peering into his books or it it meant she'd gone out to find her own. Either way it seemed to give her the very academic and fixed idea of alchemy that Doran had tried to impart on Balthazar. Clean and proper. The right way. "According to any book you'll find, yes. That is what alchemy is." Balthazar confirmed for the sake of Elisabeth's curiosity.

"It gets more complicated when you start asking more complex questions. What sorts of properties can you transfer? How does blood magic contribute to it? If mage blood can be used, what other materials can be used? What happens if you try to make something using alchemy that has a reagent which has been enhanced with transmutation?" Balthazar rattled off the questions he had about the practice which he'd still not found answers to in books. Questions that he wanted Elisabeth to know, they would not get answers for totrial. "Alchemy is a broad but dangerous skill. I learned some of what I know from the Devout in Viden and the rest of what I know I picked up along the way. Totrial I'll show you what he showed me but bear in mind it's been a while since I made anything other than bombs." Which, given his memory, was not a great excuse.

Balthazar was fortunate that he had the forge because it gave him access to lots of metal scraps that he could use in alchemy. For now they would work with steel shavings since it was the most common metal he had and the most frequently swept up from the floor of the forge. He set a small vial of steel shavings beside Elisabeth's bowl and then another vial beside his own. )With a small wave over each bowl, he manifested a small amount of water to fill them half way. "Start soaking the cloth in the water while I get out the primer. Primers help prepare the receiving material, in this case the cloth, for whatever empowering agent we want to use. In this case, the steel shavings. Questions?"

[Elisabeth Black]

Ashan 103, Arc 722,

With Balthazar, Elisabeth was happy. He made her happy, and the simple fact that he was helping her understand some basics about alchemy – a subject he had a passing interest in – was something she appreciated. Who knew what applications alchemy could have if she enjoyed the material and set out to learn more?

Following her husband, Elisabeth's first question was met with a lackluster response, but she understood why. Two methodologies which didn't always agree but were equally compelling. Balthazar had a different way of looking at things, which sometimes put what he understood about a subject in direct conflict with the more straightforward academic approaches. On the other hand, Elisabeth generally worked from those basic methods, moving outward, expanding her knowledge base.

Balthazar had learned a thing or two about his wife during their relationship, however, and she noted him adjusting his explanation to suit her need for information better. Whereas someone else who didn't know her might have just cut short the answer, the mage gave her the context she needed.

He had prepared a lesson for her, and as they approached the table, Elisabeth took in all the things upon it, as well as the things he began adding. As he worked, he answered her question in a manner that immediately let her know that their dueling methodologies were tangling again. The way he worded his answer - she knew.

Perhaps that wasn't a bad thing, though. Elisabeth already had experience being taught by him, so all Elisabeth needed to do was apply what she knew from that. Balthazar's teaching methods were far more practical and less academic, so she'd have to find the balance between them.

He explained some of his questions about the complex nature of alchemy, and she soon understood why he was reluctant to classify anything outright. It seemed alchemy was a mix of many different skills, none of which she really had much foundation in. Well, medicine, but it would take a while to figure out how that would apply.

There was one term that caught her attention. Enough so that when he stopped speaking, she immediately asked. "Blood magic?"

And now that she was thinking about it...."Doesn't transmutation have a similar function as alchemy?"

When Balthazar mentioned Doran, a few tiny puzzle pieces slipped into place. Elisabeth knew there was history between the two and what had happened during the trial, but it hadn't been apparent precisely what their relationship entailed. Now, she knew.

He began setting up the experiment, conjuring water from thin air - something she couldn't do any longer due to her defiance corruption - and tasking her with soaking the material in the bowl. Everything he said made sense, although one curiosity was hanging in the air for her, and she decided to hold on to it, just in case he covered it in the lesson.

When he did ask about questions, Elisabeth grinned. "You should know by now that I always have questions, love. But if I still have them by the time you are done, I'll ask then." She didn't want to hold him up with the lesson, especially if he was going to cover the information anyways.

[Balthazar Black]

103 Ashan 722

For both the inquiry about blood magic and transmutation, Balthazar raised a finger to indicate he would let the question wait until he was ready for inquiries. He didn't want to interrupt the flow of the lesson or the timing of adding reagents until he was ready and neither topic was easily answered in a sentence. Sure, they could be, but if he wanted her to learn he would need to give her more adequate answers than the quick ones he could come up with. Rather than answer the questions when they were asked, the mage focused on the work he was doing. He produced a small vial of a strangely colored powder from the small bow he had beneath the table and set it beside the steel shavings. "This is crushed Carowa beak. It will work as the primer for the cloth to receive the steel. " He explained without divulging how he'd come across the material. Most materials came in the two different but equally excellent kits he'd been gifted over the arcs and the crushed beak was one of them.

When the time for questions came and Elisabeth said she would wait until the lesson was over before asking anything, Balthazar decided to take the opportunity to answer the two questions she had already asked before he opened the lesson to it. "Well if you're going to exercise restraint now, then I'll answer the things you asked earlier." Balthazar teased. "Pour a small amount of the powdered beak into your bowl with the cloth in the meantime." A 'small amount' wasn't an incredibly specific measurement but the primer didn't need to be perfectly exact based on the lesson with Doran. "As for the question about blood magic..." He paused as he realized she hadn't really asked a question as much as she had expressed confusion. "It is the practice of using mage blood as a reagent. If a mage is casting a spell and you draw their blood, you can use it to recreate the effect of the spell with certain triggers- as far as I know. I've had little success with it. My original plan for Haven was to create lasting portals to link the settlement to important places by using blood magic. It's part of the reason I chose an isolated area." Balthazar admit. "I let the Devout take my blood for his experiments but when I proposed that I could do the same, he called me reckless and refused to help me any further. I would not advise going to him for advice on it."

Balthazar knew the Devout had considered more things than the mage and given that the Devout was more experience with it, Balthazar probably should have considered the warning more carefully, but he knew that it was wrong. He did not need needles. He did not need bags to store the blood. He did not need medical knowledge. He'd been cut, stabbed, and impaled so many times that he was certain he could open his wrist and draw the blood he needed before his mutations involuntarily healed the wound. If he cut too deep, he could literally turn his wounded arm into wind, draw wind in, and heal it. Academics thought their way was the only way because they did not have magic. Hunters thought their methods of tracking were the only way because they did not have magic. The mundane did not consider what magic could do if applied correctly. It didn't stop them from trying to copy what it could do. If their science was so good, why did they need blood magic?

"As for transmutation... yeah." Balthazar gave a small shrug and took out two pairs of tongs from his box. He handed one over to Elisabeth and then used the other pair to begin moving his cloth around in the mixture so he could be sure it was thoroughly soaked. "I would say you could do almost anything with transmutation that you could do with alchemy but transmutation also allows you to do more. It helps with the other sparks I have- at least in terms of my understanding of ether. It's more versatile but also more... risky. Transmuted items almost always develop flaws and to learn the qualities for it, you have to experience them. To make a sword feel like it burns, you have to be burnt. Alchemy is more theoretical."

[Elisabeth Black]

Ashan 103, Arc 722,

Balthazar would know she was taking the lesson seriously, but a tiny part of his wife was far more relaxed than she usually would be. They had just been married a few trials prior, and a certain peace came from that fact, but it was more than that. Life was affording them a few trials to be together, so when Balthazar raised his finger, Elisabeth just grinned, waited, and listened.

Carowa beak. Interesting. He explained the purpose of the primer and precisely what it was. The primer would allow the cloth to receive the quality of steel. Elisabeth wondered if different primers acted in various manners with the receiving and donor material but held the question for the moment.

He was being a very serious teacher... up to the point he wasn’t, teasing her about the restraint of her questions. She understood the dangerous nature of alchemy, which is why she was mostly behaving. It was a subject Elisabeth had an interest in and thought it could be helpful to the settlement as a whole if she learned enough. Balthazar was simply setting her on the path.

He prompted her to pour a bit of the powdered beak into the bowl with the cloth, which Elisabeth did, listening to him answer her first set of questions. She found it odd that there wasn’t a more specific measure for something that seemed to be a precise science, but perhaps she had that wrong. Again, it was starting to feel a bit like cooking, noting that with ingredients, a little less or more wasn’t detrimental to the recipe.

The explanation for blood magic was straightforward, but Elisabeth found the topic of Scalvoris’ Devout more interesting. She knew from the trial that something had happened between the two men, and her own experiences with Doran were…complicated. However, it was the first time that Balthazar had mentioned what happened in detail, giving her valuable insight into both him and the professor. The information didn’t change anything, but it did add depth and color to what she already knew.

She felt Balthazar had a unique outlook on magic vs. mundane, and Elisabeth now understood a core issue between Doran and her husband. Balthazar always maintained that he wasn’t a good ‘traditional’ student. Doran was very much a traditional professor. The experience she had gained in educational settings allowed her to see how those two things could never mesh together. At least, most of the time. Elisabeth herself was in an odd spot. She had been educated in academia and was an outstanding traditional student but was also a student of Balthazar’s, learning in his more free-form environment, bridging both worlds. It allowed her to see things others couldn’t.

The mage was driving at something with the story about Doran, and now she knew what. “Love, you’ve been a mage, then restricted from your spark and restored again. You had to learn to acclimate to being without the magic that is a part of you. It’s a unique mindset to be saddled with, straddling both magic and mundane. Not everyone will understand. All you can do is try.” Her support, Balthazar would always have.

Taking the pair of tongs from him, she copied what Balthazar did with his tongs and cloth, continuing to listen as he gave her his opinion on the similarities and differences between transmutation and alchemy. Elisabeth had no desire to pick up another magic, but learning about the magics he had did interest her.

She understood what Balthazar was saying regarding the significant difference as far as he was concerned, but it was a bit disconcerting to her. “Experience them? So, everything you desire to do with transmutation is physical somehow?” Defiance, obviously, was the magic discipline she knew the most about. For the other three, there were small snippets of knowledge but nothing concrete. Rupturing was traveling, attunement was listening to frequencies, and transmutation was alchemy but not.

There was always an underlying worry about the nature of magic and sparks, but those concerns mostly went unsaid because Balthazar, not her, oversaw his own destiny. Elisabeth’s love for him would never stand in the way of that, but that same love occasionally kept her up at night, arms wrapped around him as he slept, wondering if sometrial, the magic would take him away from her.

[Balthazar Black]

103 Ashan 722

It was Balthazar's folly that he did not explain that primers could be used for more than one single purpose but it didn't occur to him. When he'd been taught the lesson he assumed the powdered beak would work for any type of metal he was trying to imbue in a receiving material. He didn't consider metals like Faldrunium which might require boiled water rather than the water they were using. Practice was often more complicated than the theory that premeditated it. It was the same for smithing. Steel was easy to work with but everything else became more complicated due to the many differences in materials. Steel was a strong foundation. Everything else was where creativity came into play and often where mistakes were most likely to be made.

That was part of the reason he wasn't sure alchemy would ever be useful for the settlement at large. They would make damaging and costly mistakes before they figured out the correct way to do what they were trying to do. He had considered many different alchemical solutions to problems that the settlement had been facing when it began to grow but at every turn he was met with problems. Supply chain problems. Resource access problems. The things that had seemed more important took his focus from the potential to turn alchemy to Haven's advantage beyond anything other than arming Haven. Bombs he could do. Bombs he could provide the settlement. Everything else had to hold until his grasp of blood magic was more acute.

Elisabeth was correct to think that alchemy required more specific measurements however what they were doing was not the same as making bombs. They had a little more wiggle room just to pour and use what 'felt' like the right amount and the more she worked at it, the easier it would become to tell what was right. Regardless of that, when Elisabeth mentioned the time in which his sparks had been sealed away from him a darker expression crossed Balthazar's face. He slowly removed the now soaked cloth from the bowl with powdered beak using a pair of tongs and turned it before putting it back in the priming solution. He knelt down to his box of alchemy goodies and produced a burner with a small bowl. "We have to let it soak for a few more bits. In alchemy, it is important to soak the pieces you will turn into the final product rather than just the final product- unless you want to risk gaps in the effects you're creating. The burner is to melt the shavings we have. The Devout had something to lower the melting point to speed up the process. I just try to keep the fire burning hotter." Balthazar explained rather than addressing what Elisabeth had said.

He still didn't like talking about that time. He didn't like people spinning it as if it was a lesson and not a blatant punishment from people who had no ground to stand on when it came to living with magic. They didn't mean to teach him anything. They were afraid of the damage he could have done and so they bound him until they believed he had been 'tempered'- or at least until they were comfortable enough to believe he was in control. Fortunately he was much happier to discuss what Elisabeth brought up next and his face showed it clearly. Transmutation as a physical magic? Oh no, not just that one.

"All magic is physical, not just transmutation." Balthazar said bluntly, "For transmutation it is clearer. You have to experience it to use it for the magic. It's a magic based all around the sensations that can be perceived and learned. It's difficult to explain, but I can imbue objects with qualities ranging from the strength of adamantine to the sound of silence itself- though I've not tested the latter. I've experienced it, but I worry about the flaws that would develop by trying to impart something so... non-material." Balthazar gave a small shrug and tried to veer back to the point he was making, "Defiance, Rupturing, even Attunement are physical magics too though. If I want to make a portal, I have to physically feel the distance that I'm cutting. I have to be familiar with the etheric signature of places I can't see and I have to take the time to prepare while I break the bond of space and time. Attunement is physical in a lesser sense. I feel and I perceive the frequencies like music- though it might not always be the same. As for defiance, it is the most physical. Our bond to the elements is as material as our bonds with our friends. Commanding them results in the same drawbacks that commanding friends would- unless of course you've already persuaded them to side with you."

He shrugged again and looked down at the soaking cloth. It wasn't ready for the next step yet but Balthazar knew he needed the time to melt the steel shavings regardless so he turned on the burner and set the little bowl above it before pouring his shavings into it. "When we take the spark into our body, we give a little bit of ourselves away in exchange for the power to physically do the things we do. As far as I can tell people fear the sparks because they see them as parasites but... well... in a way they are right. Yet calling it a parasite is like calling an immortal mark a slave collar. Both names demean the real thing. I don't feel enslaved to Vri's will or his domains, but I choose to emulate them as much as I can- even when I don't do it intentionally. By the same note, I feel all my sparks are not parasites, but a part of me now. Every time I step into an initiation, someone new emerges from it. It takes discipline to recognize the difference between the urges I had before and the urges I have now, but most sparks I've encountered don't seek much more than anyone living would. They want to be of use. They want to grow. They just have no choice but to use us as vessels for that. In my opinion, similarly to how we marked are vessels for the domains of our chosen immortals."

[Elisabeth Black]

Ashan 103, Arc 722,

Elisabeth carefully paid attention to the lesson, nodding as he mentioned that the pieces of a final product needed to soak in the primer instead of just the piece as a whole, which made sense to her. It sounded like that would be disastrous in some cases.

She knew, of course, that Balthazar disliked discussing specific periods in his life – the trial and time after being one of the big ones. They had gone through it together; in her opinion, it had been a defining time for them as a couple. As unpleasant as portions of it had been, it had given them time to work through issues and brought the pair closer together. The young mage didn't necessarily avoid bringing it up but tread carefully whenever conversation steered that way.

He didn't want to discuss her comments, choosing to leap-frog over them and land on a more acceptable subject. Elisabeth inwardly sighed and accepted it, but that didn't keep her from worrying. Balthazar hated that she feared as she did, but it was all part of the package when you loved someone. Perhaps it was simply the things she chose to worry about, which might have seemed insignificant to others, but the young woman knew trouble spots when she saw them – particularly when it came to her husband.

Balthazar Black was unique, evident since the moment they met. Everyone had faults and while his tended to land him in trouble with all sorts, so did hers, and she was a very different person. Others thought her blind to his faults, but Elisabeth was far from that. Instead, she accepted them as part of the man and loved the man with all her heart.

Fortunately, they landed on a topic he was more than willing to discuss – magic. He loved magic and, in an authentic way, was a creature of magic. Whenever magic became a topic, he had a lot to say about it, and Elisabeth didn't mind that. It was exciting listening to him explain how different spheres worked. Having only personal experience in defiance, he was her link to other types, knowing he possessed three other sparks. Attunement, well, she had seen that one in action a few times, but the other two were relative mysteries.

For her, listening to him discuss magic helped her see magic through his eyes. To Balthazar, magic was beautiful, and he broke it down into pieces that she could relate to, like equating their relationships with elements to friends. When he spoke about magic, Elisabeth felt she understood it a bit better. He knew how to put the words into a context she could understand.

"I never thought about it like that," she confessed. Then again, Balthazar saw magic so differently than she did, and it took his explanations for Elisabeth to understand. "So the physicality manifests in different ways within each sphere." It seemed like what he said could be boiled down to such, so she did.

Elisabeth watched him begin to melt the metal shavings, continuing to listen as he forged ahead, getting further into the topic of magic, giving her further insight into his thoughts on related subjects, including Immortal marks. She felt as he did that the marks Xiur and Qylios had gifted her were just that – gifts. She felt aligned with their domains and did her best to follow paths set by both, but that wasn't limited to those two. Saoire, whom she was fond of, also inspired Elisabeth.

"Different people view such things in a way that aligns with their perspectives and experiences," she offered. "You and I have lived different lives, yet our experiences have led us to believe something similar regarding Immortals. In a way, you and I strive to understand the obscure, which is not something many people are comfortable venturing into. It's gotten us into trouble on more than one occasion, but I'm not sure it's something we can stop doing. It's part of who we are."

The young mage didn't stop there, continuing on to give an opinion that would be considered somewhat unusual for her. Elisabeth, for everything she was, was a creature of balance. In that context, her opinion would make sense. The manner it was offered in however? Much more straightforward than normal.

"I have little use for people that stop trying to understand the world around them, or don't keep an open mind. The only avenue left to me in those cases is to try and make them see the error of doing so."

[Balthazar Black]

103 Ashan 722

He didn't know if he really enjoyed teaching or if he just enjoyed teaching Elisabeth but he certainly found the aspects of their conversation, as it related to magic and alchemy, entertaining. It wasn't quite the same sort of entertainment he got from working steel and other metals, but it was still pleasant. It didn't always satisfy him to feel like the most knowledgeable person in the room, but it did in this instance. However when it came to investigations, despite his aptitude for it, he did enjoy when others caught onto things that he might have missed. It generally helped to solve a crime or some other issue. Alternatively when someone in a classroom setting started boasting their knowledge, it generally felt like they were attempting to discredit him. That was part of the reason he would never make a good University student. He knew too much about too many things to find most of the beginner teachers credible. If he ever did delve into University learning, it would only be for the connections he could make that would further his web of intelligence.

Regardless of his mental musing about how much he was enjoying the lesson, Balthazar refocused on what he was doing and checked the cloth in the mixture once more. He still had enough time. He gestured to the bowl that was beginning to melt the steel shavings. "There are powders which could be used to make it melt faster, but it always depends on the metal you are looking to use. We are using steel, so it'll melt within a few bits- granted I am helping the fire a little. Once the shavings have melted, we submerge the cloth in the molten metal. Our solution here should prevent damage to the cloth and bind it with the strength of the steel." Balthazar explained the steps to Elisabeth before addressing anything else she said. However with the steps explained, he returned to the conversation that they were having.

He nodded in agreement with her summarization that the physicality manifested differently within the different domains. "Most people don't think of magic they way I do, and admittedly, I did not think of it as such a good thing when I first pursued it. I looked for power and the rest came much later." Balthazar explained, "You spoke of experiences but it's more than that. People tend not to look past the parasitic part of magic which most demonize. The part that changes and influences us as we pursue it. I would call it fear if I didn't know how right they were. I can remember myself before the sparks and I can remember myself between each spark. They've all changed me in more ways than the physical. That doesn't make them any less a part of me now. Everyone changes and everyone grows. We mages, sorcerers, whatever society calls us- we grow with our magic. We grow into it and we grow because of it." He shrugged slightly. "People fear what they do not understand and few people really understand magic. Even the professors at the University only have an academic understanding until they've lived with a spark. Magic can't be understood from an academic standpoint- only the effects of magic can. Defiance is the best example. People see what we can do and think us lords over the elements but we are not. We are engaging with our friends and we have the means to befriend the elements in a way they could understand. Immortal marks are closer to control. Defiers negotiate, marked command."

"I once spoke to a professor about necromancy and he didn't seem to favor my open mindset. Almost everyone hates necromancers because of the way their magic works. Even I admit, I'm not fond of the many I've encountered. I've fought necromancers on several occasions but still I don't think it is the spark that makes them what they become. I once knew a pair of necromancers who did not seem outright villains, but most tend to become that. It's hard to say whether it is society pushing them towards evil or the spark itself, but when the law is against what you need to do to progress- well..." Balthazar's voice trailed off. He didn't like the desecration of the dead but he understood the want. The drive of the spark to grow would always push a necromancer to do something unholy. However, could it not be argued that society had a role in what the necromancers became?

"Regardless, your pursuit is a noble one. I gave up trying to make people understand some time ago. There are too many people in this world and too many visions that have been planted with deep roots. All I can do now is live with it and seek to understand it further. Besides, few can deny that in times of trouble they are glad to have mages on their side. In Quacia I was drafted singularly for the power of my magic. In Viden, I was allowed to destroy a building because my magic was the best means of dispersing the Empty. In Scalvoris, I was punished and everyone I had helped turned on me because I was not needed anymore. None complained when they were in need, only after. Maybe if I discover where magic comes from, I can change that. However... it could also be that I discover the origin of magic and am instead horrified by what I let into myself... but I doubt it. Your cloth should be ready for the metal now."