The end of the tunnel was a cave of strange, white stone that looked very different to the rock that made up the Domain. Various tables and shelves occupied much of it, laden with tools and ingredients Raan could not have begun to speculate as to the purpose of.

  "The best-known use of alchemy," the alchemist began, unceremoniously, "is the tinctures of suspension that are used by those that have Forged their Flames. This, for instance," he said, conjuring a glass vial filled with a silvery liquid from his Will, "is what you will stoke your Flame with once you have undergone the First Forging, Arpy. The Pure Flame of Will. Its direct combat power is limited, but it channels the magical elements of one's Flame better than most - a critical requirement for an alchemist who Forges the Golden Alchemy Bloodline and the Golden Purging Flame. However, that is not the only use of alchemy. You, too, have benefited from alchemy these past months, Raan."

  "I have?"

  Yerabiyav tucked away the Pure Flame elixir and pointed with his tail at Raan's wing, still solidly bound in the web-like substance that had been applied to it while he'd been unconscious after the exhausting flight back. "The bone-setting paste was made by an alchemist here in this Hall, as was the healing elixir that was used on your lesser wounds. So too were many of the structures in the Spanheart built with the aid of alchemy, and a large number of Coalesced Forgings require the imbibement of an alchemical substance to bestow the new affinity onto their user."

  Raan practically ignored everything else the alchemist had said. "You can create affinities?!"

  "Ah, I should have been more cautious with my words. Apologies, young one." Yerabiyav sighed, and turned to pull a large box off one of the shelves with his Will, flicking it open to reveal a large, round object sitting on a soft cushion, with a half-dozen vials neatly set into clasps on one side of the box. The orb drew Raan's attention immediately just from the sheer power flowing from it. It seemed to be made of silvery metal, but dark smog issued from cracks in the metal as the box it was in moved.

  "This is known as the Heart of Gloom. When eaten, it imparts a temporary affinity to the conjunction of Darkness onto the user, which can subsequently be made permanent by certain Coalesced Stage Forging rituals that are designed to use it. However, not only is it made from over a dozen Wayfinder stage reagents, but even for a Wayfinder-stage dragon, to consume it safely they must first drink each of the preparations stored with it to strengthen their Light and Time affinities to balance out the power of the Heart, and to drink those, depending on their Bloodline, they must consume up to half a dozen further preparations to reinforce various other affinities. And all of those preparations themselves contain numerous Wayfinder-stage resources, even one of which would be far beyond your ability to withstand." He sighed, closing the box on the Heart of Gloom and returning it to its place on the shelf. "Senior Bilaj has searched our records, and the Archives, for a script to produce an alchemical substance that could grant an affinity to a Mortal stage dragon. There are none. And developing one - if it is possible at all - will likely take centuries. I am sorry that is not the news you were hoping for."

  Raan sighed, mentally scratching off yet another possibility from the ever-shrinking list. Arpy shifted closer and leant against Raan slightly, the smaller dragon's warmth a pleasant comfort. "It's okay. That wasn't why I was here originally. I just wanted to learn more about alchemical preparations."

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  "Well, I have no objection to giving you the same tuition we have been giving Arpy, but unfortunately your ability to actually perform alchemical preparations will be somewhat limited without the Golden Alchemy Bloodline."

  "Why?" Raan asked, curiously.

  "Well, the first reason is that it will only be safe for you to work with Mortal-stage ingredients or those below even that, and as resilient as we are, an alchemically refined ingredient, by its very nature, contains a dangerous level of Venom mana that has to be burned away by our Purging Flame. So while you could go through the motions, you would never be able to create a fully complete preparation on your own. The other reason is that lacking the instinct of the Golden Alchemy Bloodline...well, it is easiest to demonstrate."

  He stepped up to one of the worktables, using his Will to pull across a number of flasks and reagents from the shelves, and started to work.

  Raan could barely even see what he was doing. In what felt like just a few seconds, the reagents had been reduced to two large glass phials, one full of blue liquid and one full of green liquid.

  Yerabayiv turned back to the two wide-eyed young dragons, and chuckled slightly. "Do not worry about trying to follow my movements. When I want to you to reproduce something, I will explain it. Arpy, I presume you recognise these two solutions from when I gave you this same demonstration?"

  "Yes, Senior," Arpy replied promptly. "The blue one is Surging Ocean Solution, and the green one is Grinding Stone Solution. Both Mortal-stage solutions, and the two are the main two ingredients for a Mortal-stage Healing Elixir."

  "Quite so. Now, if you would be so good as to split the two in half?" Yerabayiv conjured more flasks from his Will, and Arpy stepped up to the worktable, using his wings to support himself and keep both forelegs free, and with movements that were impressively dextrous and sure for only a few months of practice, divided the two solutions into two flasks apiece before bowing to Yerabayiv and stepping back.

  "As Arpy observed, the combination of Surging Ocean Solution and Grinding Stone Solution is the basis for a crude Healing Elixir. Take the Surging Ocean Solution and pour it into the Grinding Stone Solution," he instructed Raan.

  The flasks were clearly designed for Mortal stage dragons to practice on without having access to Will, because they had easy ridges for him to grip with his forepaws, though with only one wing to push himself up he had to awkwardly lean to one side to keep himself upright. By the time he'd awkwardly poured the two solutions together - with only a small amount splashing onto the table - Yerabayiv had created a sparkling powder from a string of herbs that Raan had only been able to smell, not see, and sprinkled it into the newly-mixed flask.

  "And thus, you have a Healing Elixir - or at least, you would once it has been purified," Yerabayiv commented. "Now pour the other Grinding Stone Solution into the other Surging Ocean Solution."

  Raan didn't notice Arpy had taken a step back until he'd already started pouring - and the moment the two liquids made contact, the mixture erupted in a horrible brown gunk that solidified almost completely as soon as it made contact with anything, leaving him covered in sticky goo.

  "What...is this?!" he groaned.

  "Trust me, it could be a lot worse," Arpy smirked. Yerabayiv had already conjured and passed him a flask of something red, which he emptied over Raan, the brown sludge dissolving away into a still-unpleasant, but no longer sticky, liquid that drained away into holes in the floor that Raan had been wondering about the purpose of. "I couldn't even move when that happened to me."

  Raan might have been grateful for the removal of the sludge, but he still gave Arpy a look that promised retribution for not warning him. "But that...doesn't make sense!" he complained, once he was free of the infernal goop and could think more clearly about what had just happened. "They're the same thing! How can pouring one into the other be different depending on which way around you do it?!"

  Yerabayiv laughed softly. "Welcome to alchemy, my young friend."