After bidding goodbye to Anastesia, he made his way back to the village. Near the stables, the cart was still parked with Glenn still guarding it.
"Did you find any work?" He asked Brand, who shook his head, "Yes, but I still have to complete it."
"I might need some help with it later, though," Brand informed the man, who nodded in affirmation.
"Syrash warned me not to go too far north some time ago. You should also avoid that area if you can." Glenn relayed the information.
He has gotten involved in this mess as well, hasn't he? Rufus' farm is up north as well.
"Where is the alchemist's place? Syrash was headed there, wasn't he?" He asked the blonde, and Glenn pointed his finger east, "The house with chimneys and a slated roof, I think."
"Alright, thank you." He thanked the man before heading towards the house.
The alchemist's place was quite nice, with a garden with exotic flowers on the front and a greenhouse on the back, probably for growing herbs. He was the apothecary of the village as well.
As Brand approached the house, he couldn't help but notice the strange insects buzzing around, attracted to a strange concoction placed not too far away from the front porch.
He slowly approached the liquid and inspected it for a moment; it certainly had a foul smell, and the insects around were enlarged with unnaturally conspicuous mandibles and limbs.
"Hey there, my friend, don't touch that." Brand heard a sweet and melodious voice behind him, and he turned and was met with smiling, half-lidded eyes.
"It's you." Syrash greeted him with an unfriendly gaze. "What are you here for?"
"I heard the alchemist might have some catalyst stones lying around." He told the mage, whose expression seemed unchanged and sharp as a needle. He turned to the alchemist. "Do you have any?"
"I might have some, but I cannot simply hand them out for free."
The newly made mage thought for a second.
"I don't have any money right now, so I was wondering if you have any errands to run," Brand told the man, who seemed delighted and hummed happily.
"Perfect."
"Ulfur! You cannot possibly make him do that." Syrash told the alchemist, who shook his head, "He needs catalysts! Surely he must be a Blessed of the Chaos; we don't have to worry about the third one."
"You do not understand. He didn't know what family he belonged to mere hours ago." Syrash retorted.
"It doesn't matter either way; he just needs to stall one's attack long enough for us to deal with the other two," Ulfur said as he approached the young man, knowing how stubborn the alchemist was. Syrash gave up on arguing with him.
"Come inside; I will tell you what you need to do." He told Brand and led him inside.
The house only appeared decent on the outside, but the inside was a mess with leaves and branches scattered about, the bones of animals hung up on the wall, and organs and small animals kept in glass jars for all to see.
"What's your name, kid?" He asked the young man, who responded moments later, "Brand."
"Are you aware of what happens when animals utilize essence?" He asked Brand, who shook his head in response.
"Alright, let me tell you, they turn into monsters, big and scary ones." Ulfur made an exaggerated expression with his fingers curled up like claws. He chuckled, "And those monsters are quite awful, you see."
Brand nodded, scrutinizing the man silently. He turned to Syrash, who had an unpleasant glare on his face.
"So we need to deal with them. I'm in." He spoke for the man, who hummed in affirmation while nodding his head with his half-lidded eyes. "Yes, yes, you are a smart one, a smart kid! As for your catalysts."
The man chuckled and went over to a drawer, from which he pulled a box. "They're here."
He opened the box, revealing many colorful gemstones; some were clear and sparkling, while some were covered in a thick brown substance that appeared to have dried out and hardened.
"Is that blood?" He asked, and the man affirmed, "Yes, it's blood. They're harvested from animals you see…"
"That's quite intriguing." Brand looked around the small pile of crystals, inspecting a few of them.
"You can take a few outside and try using them; don't waste all of your essence, though," Ulfur told the boy.
Brand took out four crystals of different colors, thinking they likely represented different affinities or abilities: blue, maroon, orange, and one coated entirely in dried blood.
As the two older men talked inside about the specifications, Brand stayed outside and started fiddling with the four crystals at hand.
"Let's see…" He muttered to himself and placed the blue crystal in his hand and setting the others aside.
He poured essence into it and inspected it for a couple of seconds, only to realize his hands were wet from the inside.
The crystal was probably a water catalyst that generated water from itself, quite a weak one when compared to the fire generated by Syrash in the camp.
He moved on to the maroon one, which glowed brightly even in the bright sun. He theorized that the crystal was a light catalyst.
Then he picked the orange catalyst and poured essence into it, and a large fire ignited from the palm of his hand. He winced as he felt its heat burning him.
He quickly cut off the essence, and the fire dimmed down. Clicking his tongue, he realized his mistake; he had made a large sphere of essence around his palm, and as the essence got converted into fire by the catalyst, his hand got covered in it, burning him.
He tried it again but this time made the sphere a bit farther from his palm. Midway through, he realized that the farther he sent his essence, the harder it became to keep in control, so he made the ball of essence hover just a centimeter above the crystal in his palm.
The fire burned in a sphere but soon collapsed and fell downwards; fire was not like the essence that was connected to his body. After he stopped constantly supplying essence, the ball of fire behaved like any fire burned by a physical medium.
He realized that he could use the essence of his other palm—which didn't hold the catalyst—to contain the fire into a stable ball.
At last, it was finished, a fireball.