Last of The Fae

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---

"Alright, now steady. Make sure to grind the Dittany leaves into a fine powder, but not too fine. If the individual grains are too small, the mandrake concentrate won't be able to filter through and imbibe the healing properties." Thane instructed as he watched Luna gently grind the Dittany in a mortar and pestle. 

A few seconds later, the herb was reduced to a dark green powder that was only slightly more coarse than baking flour. Moving carefully so as not to kick up the powder, Luna gently scrapped the crushed herb into a gravity-fed filter before securing the top and flipping the filter upside down. 

Luna watched intently as the dark brown concentrate started to filter through the crushed dittany, coming out in dark black droplets that traveled down a clear glass pipe into an awaiting copper saucer. The substance had the same consistency as tar and a sharp medicinal scent that would make most people's eyes water and tear up. 

Luna, however, was unphased, waiting for the first five drops of the black substance to filter through before quickly switching out the metal saucer for a much larger glass vial. The droplets began to lighten in color, quickly taking on a red hue, which Luna left to collect as she moved over to the twin set of silver cauldrons sat atop a brick kiln, which was currently ablaze with silver fire courtesy of Thane. 

Both were currently boiling with purified water, but Luna moved to the one on the right and quickly poured the contents of the copper saucer into the cauldron before quickly grabbing a wooden paddle and beginning to stir. 

At first, nothing seemed to happen as the black goo disappeared into the boiling water, but after a few stirs from Luna, the cauldron's contents turned an inky black that bubbled like boiling tar. The brew also thickened, becoming much more challenging to stir, evident by the strain on Luna's face as she grabbed the paddle with both hands and used her entire body to keep the concoction swirling. 

Still, she soldiered on, continuing to stir the cauldron in a counterclockwise motion for precisely three minutes. It would have been easier if Luna had used an enhanced cauldron that could stir on its own for any amount of time needed. But at this stage, Thane knew it was vital for Luna to build up the more subtle techniques of alchemy, one of which was possessing an almost unnaturally exact internal clock and an eye for detail.

For example, the moment the black tar in the cauldron stopped bubbling, Luna stopped stirring, and Thane quickly reduced the flames beneath the cauldron to a bare simmer. 

Seamlessly, Luna shifted back to the glass vial, now filled with a blood-red liquid. Securing an eyedropper around the opening, Luna moved back over to the set of cauldrons, this time standing in front of the left one. Squeezing the eye dropper, Luna watched the glass tube fill before emptying the blood-red contents into the boiling crystal water. The water immediately changed hues, but instead of rushing to stir it, Luna moved back over to the workbench and grabbed a small velvet pouch that she opened to reveal a sparkling powder inside. 

Emptying the pouch into the cauldron, the liquid began to froth and boil violently, but before it could spill over, Luna waved her hand, levitating the heavy lid resting against the kiln into the air before it settled onto the cauldron, sealing it closed. 

"What comes next?" Thane asked. 

"Raise the temperature to 500 degrees kelvin to ensure the powdered unicorn horn liquifies," Luna muttered absently as she watched Thane's silver fire soar, coating the sides of the cauldron and heating the contents inside. 

A tense moment passed as Luna stared unwaveringly at the fire, which glowed brightly, "Stop, please." 

The moment Luna called out, the flames retreated, and she waved her hand, sending the lid levitating back to the ground. A geyser of glittering steam shot into the air, which Luna frowned at but moved on nonetheless as she peered inside the cauldron to see that the liquid had reduced by a fourth and thickened into an almost syrup-like consistency. 

"I got the timing wrong again," Luna muttered with a frown, her face visibly falling, "I didn't give enough time for all the unicorn horn to liquify, and the brew was supposed to reduce by half." 

Thane stepped up beside Luna and peered into the cauldron, "That may be the case, but that's the beauty behind reducing the mandrake into a concentrate rather than just using a stewing method. This batch is still potent enough to be used; I'd say it has around 68% efficiency, nearly a twenty percent increase from your first attempt." 

Luna still stared at the cauldron with a defeated look on her face, her usual endless cheer and whimsy absent, "Why can't I get the timing right?" 

"Because you're a first-year, and this is an advanced recipe," Thane replied without sugarcoating the fact, making Luna shrink in on herself, "So stop getting hung up on little mistakes. You haven't even noticed that you managed to nail making a batch of Jelly-Blood." 

Luna's head shot up, and she blinked, staring at the pot of thick black syrup. In an instant, her face turned into one of pure joy as she clapped her hands excitedly, "Oh my gosh, I did it!" 

The scene would have been wholesome if one didn't know that despite its silly name, Jelly-Blood was a deadly poison that, as its namesake claimed, congealed blood into a solid jelly-like state with a single drop. 

So it was a little bit more concerning seeing that Luna singing carefree and happy as she started to bottle the vat of lethal poison. 

The more interesting fact was that the poison was the more concentrated version of the life-saving congealing tonic, which acted as a coagulant, preventing people from bleeding to death before they could receive proper medical care. 

'They always do say the difference between a life-saving cure and a toxin is the dosage,' Thane noted absently before moving to help Luna bottle her concoction as she continued to sing. 

---

"Patience!" Thane shouted at Rose, spinning his quarterstaff behind his back and deflecting her wooden daggers before they could plunge into his back, "Control the pace of the fight, find the tempo, and figure out how to disrupt it. That is where your strength lies." 

Even as he tutored Rose, Thane spun around to face the shifty girl, who jumped back into the air as she thrust out her hand, sending a hail of razor-sharp icicles raining down at him. 

Thane thrust out his staff repeatedly with startling speed and accuracy, shattering each icy dart into a delicate but thick mist of powdered snow obscuring his view. Frowning, Thane spun his staff before slamming it into the ground, generating a heavy gust of wind, blowing the snow away, and revealing that Rose had vanished. 

'That's new,' Thane noted mentally as he swept his magical senses over the arena and found nothing, although they were heavily restricted. Nonetheless, Rose's ability to control her aura was worthy of praise as Thane slowly started to pivot around the arena, looking for any sign of her. 

A brief puff of icy mist was all the warning Thane got as Rose suddenly appeared by his side less than a foot away, her daggers aimed at his vital spots. With her too close to properly wield his staff, Thane slammed the butt of his weapon into the ground, which pulsed with a verdant green light as a writhing sea of vines erupted from the earth and surged toward Rose. 

In response, a pillar of deep blue ice suddenly emerged beneath Rose's feet, sending her soaring into the air. Thane watched as Rose channeled her magic into one of her daggers, quickly encasing it in frost.

Rose then leaped from her pillar, falling directly toward Thane, who directed his sea of vines to intercept her. But Rose was prepared, and at the last second, she threw her frost-imbued dagger, which exploded on contact with the sea of vines that flash froze, turning into solid ice. 

Rose kicked out her foot as she crashed into the frozen vines with a shout, causing them to shatter into a cloud of powdered snow. Thane braced himself, ready for Rose to crash through the dissipating cloud, but she never did, 'What is this?' 

Thane's mind raced as he tried to figure out how Rose managed to disappear into thin air when he heard the soft thud of a padded footstep. 

Thane whirled around, spinning his staff, which came to rest in seemingly thin air, but then Rose appeared. Thane's staff rested underneath her chin as the fine shimmering snow covering her body melted into droplets, "Damit!" 

Thane grinned as he retracted his staff, holding it in the crook of his arm while he clapped, "That was marvelous!" 

Rose scowled, but a blush spread across her cheeks, "You still managed to detect me." 

"You're using the snow generated by your magic to reflect light, rendering you invisible," Thane concluded, his eyes sparkling as he considered just how complex of a magic Rose had managed to invent, "Amazing!" 

Rose blushed even more at Thane's honest praise as she looked away, "I-I still can't hold it for more than a second. My mana reserves are shit." 

Seeing Rose trying to combat his affection by insulting herself, Thane pulled back his excitement for his sake, "Then you know what we have to do to fix it." 

Rose groaned but Thane could see the excitement in her eyes, "More sparing?" 

"It's either that or you meditate on the mana gathering ritual," Thane replied as he held out his hand created another wooden dagger for Rose who quickly took it and readied herself for the next round, "That's what I thought."