Chapter 16: Fifteen

Back pressed against the rough stone wall of the stairwell, I clutched the copper pots I’d stacked on top of each other tightly to my chest as I listened to my brother talking with Darius. 

“How could they just act like nothing happened? The maid was already cleaning out Kadia’s room when I left my capsule. Almost everything was gone. All her books, her clothes. The only thing I managed to save was that resin periodic table she used to carry around like it was a teddy bear when we were kids. They were planning a fucking holiday cruise in the Caribbean. I tried to talk to them about happened, but they kept just changing the fucking subject, or telling me it’s for the best. Dad wouldn’t even talk about appealing the digitalization for Kadia. I had to contact a lawyer myself.” Marcus ranted, his voice echoing through the forge. 

“There is one thing I don’t get, Kadia said she was digitized because of her academic scores, but that shouldn’t have been enough to make her eligible for mandatory digitization, there are several criteria she would have needed to meet.” Darius’s voice was a low murmur, and I was only just able to make out what he said before Marcus started speaking again. 

“Kadia has been at high risk of digitalization for a few years. It’s why she studied so hard. Getting into a good university and finding a job with low physical requirements was the only way she would be able to avoid it. When we were fifteen, Kadia injured her foot.” My brother said, and I scowled, annoyed he was so openly airing our families dirty laundry, while also curious about what he would say. 

My injury wasn’t a subject we discussed, but I knew he held some guilt regarding the incident. We weren’t a family that openly talked about our emotions, though it seemed Marcus trusted Darius enough to share the details of what occurred that day.

“Not being able to bear weight on her foot for long periods of time, puts her in the category of having a minor physical disability. If she got into Geraldine University of Science, and graduated, then Kadia would have been able to claim an exemption for academic achievement. That would give her three years from the date of graduating university to find employment. By not getting into university, Kadia was at risk of being deemed unlikely to find suitable employment due to a physical disability, and given a mandatory digitization order.” Marcus explained, causing my heart to ache as I thought back to the letter I’d received from the Universities I’d applied to.

“Doesn’t your father own a pharmaceutical company? Why couldn’t she work there?” 

“Our company focuses primarily on private research for the government, and other companies. You won’t find anyone with only a high school graduation certificate working there. The company has strict employment requirements which are heavily regulated due to the area of work. If a job was ‘made’ for Kadia, and someone reported it. The company would be investigated, and Kadia wouldn’t be able to continue working there. In that scenario, she would eventually be given a digitalization order when she failed to secure employment. There are very few jobs available that don’t require higher education, and they are hard to get into even for someone with full physical capability.” Marcus said with a sigh. 

Pushing off the wall, I stood straight placing my right foot, which I had been resting behind my left, down onto the stone step. Until Marcus mentioned my foot, I didn’t even notice I was still picking it up whenever I stood still. It was an automatic action, something I did without even registering that I was doing it. 

“Regardless of her physical disability, your parents committed fraud by switching out the exam scores. Surely someone will notice that before the exam she had high grades and realize there is an issue.” Darius speculated. 

“Our identity numbers are only one digit different. As the first child of this generation in our family, the last digit of hers is a one and mine is a two. Supposedly due to my shitty handwriting, the computer read my test paper as having a one. I submitted my test before she did, as I didn’t bother actually putting any effort into it, so my test was recorded first and the system ‘automatically’ allocated Kadia’s to me when it saw her file already had a score recorded.” Marcus snarled, a loud thud from the room suggesting he’d hit something in his anger.

“The mistake was discovered when I attempted to report to my parents for fraud. They say an investigation will be done, but I doubt they will bother. Like I said, Kadia already met part of the criteria for digitalization, they won’t consider it a mistake that she was digitized, and even if they did, it would be covered up to prevent any backlash. I managed to get ahold of the lawyer who manages her trust, he said he’ll take care of things with our parents, and is in the process of working on an emergency appeal.” My brother concluded.

The forge went silent, neither of them speaking, and I took this as my cue to enter. Taking a second to compose myself, I straightened my shoulders, and walked into the forge with a mask of calm plastered on my face. 

“Marcus, I have the pots and the list of things I want made.” I declared, and forcing myself to keep my right foot firmly planted on the ground as I came to stand near my half brother. 

“Kads, how long..” Marcus began, but I held up hand to silence him.

“Long enough, you spoke to Davis correct?” 

“Yes, I…” 

“Then there’s nothing else to discus, Davis will do what he can.” I announced, staring at him with a fierce expression. 

We stared at each other in silence, both ignoring the other occupant in the room. Eventually, Marcus pulled his gaze away from mine, turning his attention to the pots I held. 

“Why’d you buy these dented old pots? Just toss them. I’ll make new ones.” Marcus scoffed, picking up one of the pots I held and raising it up at eye level. 

Both pots were the same size, with a wire handle used to hang them over a fire, and were made of thin copper with a round bottom that pinched in slightly at the rim. The first pot was the worse of the two, with one side almost completely caved in, while the other only had a few dents on the bottom.

“Noctus says they are enchanted like Cook’s are, and he only paid twelve silver, which is less than what the Mana crystal to empower them would cost.” Darius chimed in, startling me a little as I’d forgotten he was there. 

“Not much good without a ladle, can’t work the enchantment without the key.” Marcus grunted out as he carried the pots to the furnace and shoved them inside. 

“I left the ladle upstairs.” I told Marcus before looking over at Darius. “Are the pots like the fire stones? Do I use the ladle the same way I use my fire stone poker?”

“Yes, the ladle is the activation key for the pot's enchantment. Once the pot has reached the temperature you want it at, the ladle can be used to activate the enchantment, which will keep it from getting any hotter. However, it will cool if you remove it from the heat source.” Darius explained. 

“Fire stone poker? You managed to find a stone for your lab?” Marcus asked, looking up from where he was moving the pots around in the furnace. 

“I allocated her one of the stones from the furnace here.” Darius said casually and Marcus leaned down to peer into the furnace, counting the stones.

“I thought there were two furnaces upstairs,” he said after a moment. 

“There are,” I agreed, watching as he scrunched up his muzzle, looking thoughtful before he nodded to himself.

“You can have one of the other fire stones for your second furnace. Just let me borrow it if I manage to find some obsidian or something harder to melt.” Marcus announced, leaving me a little stunned. 

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The way Darius and Noctus spoke about how possessive Marcus was over the forge, I’d expected him to get angry over the fire stone and was mentally gearing myself up for an argument. Even Darius seemed surprised, but he recovered quickly and began explaining the plans for a fire drake hunt to Marcus, who looked excited at the prospect. 

While the pots heated in the furnace, I conferred with Marcus about the lids I wanted him to make for the pots. 

“It would work best if the lid is shaped in a cone with the tubing at the highest point.” I explained sketching out a rough cone shape onto a page of the vellum bound journal. 

“If you want it to be copper, then it will need to be cast. Some of these other items will be best cast as well, such as the pelican distilling flasks and the retorts. I’ll look for a potter to make the clay molds. In the meantime I can start on some of the other items.” Marcus said, tapping a finger on the page which showed the sketch of a pelican flask.

“It just so happens we recruited a potter last night. He will be here in a few days to drop off an order for Kadia’s lab. Talk to him then to commission the molds.” Darius informed Marcus, as he pulled a thick leather-bound book from his bag and turned to me. 

“Kadia, this is your accounting book. I’ve already filled it out from yesterday, and the format is easy enough to follow. I’ve deposited twenty thousand gold into your guild account this morning for the purchase of alchemical ingredients and tools. At the end of next month there will be the guild council meeting where we will review your financial needs and the income you’ve generated through your profession. You will need to record all purchases and sales. Any income earned through the sale of alchemic products needs to be deposited into your guild account, which can be accessed at the bank through your guild token. It is important you keep accurate records, as they will be checked against the withdrawal and deposit records each month.”

Smoking Phosphorus? We spent just over three thousand gold last night? Staring at the entry for last night's purchases, I felt a little dizzy at the amount of gold I’d spent in just a few hours. 

“Don’t stress too much about trying to balance your profit and loss in the first months, alchemy isn’t easy, so I don’t expect you to be creating much income to start with.” Darius reassured me, and I nodded glancing at Marcus who was flipping through the notes I’d made with a wide grin on his face. 

“Two thousand gold for everything you’ve written here, depending on how long the potter takes to make the molds. I can have it all finished by the time we leave for Valonia.” 

“Two thousand! Are you seriously trying to take advantage of your own sister?” I scolded, glaring at the Minotaur, who shook his head, smiling. 

“You’re welcome to get a quote from the other smiths. They’ll charge you a lot more. I’m only charging for the cost of the resources and discounting you my time. Kadia, there’s over a hundred items on this list, and some of them you want multiples of in different metals. Do you really need twenty, ten liter caldrons?”

“If I only have one, then I can only work on one thing at a time. These aren’t normal caldrons either, they have a heating compartment so they can be used with the furnace. If you can’t do it, just say so.” I said defensively, crossing my arms over my chest and glaring at the bull. I didn’t see how the caldrons would be hard to make. They were basically a metal version of a ceramic oil burner with a deeper bowl. 

“Two thousand is my quote on the work, I have to cover the cost of materials.” 

“Fine,” I grumbled, knowing it would be the best deal I’d get. 

“I’ll get the pots done, then start on the smaller items first before moving onto the larger pieces.” he said as he grabbed a pair of tongs and pulled the first pot out of the furnace. 

“Since that is sorted, Kadia, I have some things in my bag for your lab, so why don’t we head up?” Darius suggested, nodding in agreement as I left the forge with the guild leader.

As we walked up the stairs, the loud sound of hammering started, and I ground my teeth at the ear aching noise. 

“I should have realized that putting the lab above Markion’s forge would be noisy,” Darius muttered, his black furred ears pinned back in response to the sounds. 

“I’m hoping Noctus might have something that will help.” I told the Ōkami as we entered my lab where Bron and Taurie were still working to sort the storage room. 

“Hmm, I know he has a noise muffling enchantment on his boots, if he will be able to inscribe that onto the floor and walls depends on the power requirement and the radius of effect. If it won’t work on the room, I’m sure he’ll be able to enchant some ear muffs for you, maybe little fluffy red ones?” Darius teased, reaching up to tug lightly on my left ear. 

With a low growl, I swiped my hand at him. Blue flames coated the tips of my fingers, where it formed flaming claws that raked across the front of his hardened leather vest. Laughing, he leapt back, patting the leather to put out the flames that clung to his vest. 

“Nice fire strike,” he praised as I stared at my hand in shock. 

“I, I didn’t mean to do that.” I spluttered, wiggling my fingers, which were normal again. 

“It is an instinctual Kitsune attack. Noctus told you about it last night, remember? Coating your fingers in flames to claw at your enemies is one of the first things a Kitsune naturally learns to do. Overtime, you will uncover new skills and abilities. The first for a Kitsune is the fire strike, and the second is normally manifesting your true form. It was also around then that Yuki summoned her first wisp. Some things will differ depending on your chosen path, but the base skills and abilities will be the same.” 

“Wisp? I remember Noctus talking about the claws now, and you also talked about transformations, but I don’t recall you saying anything about wisps other than about the ice wisp core.” I queried, glancing at the storage room to see if the other saw me attacking the guild leader. 

Luckily, it seemed Bron and Taurie were in a world of their own as they chatted happily while labeling and stacking jars of spices onto the shelves. 

“Kitsune has the ability to create and control wisps. In some mythology about Kitsune’s they speak of a Kitsune having an orb which contains a portion of their power. Yuki manifested a wisp core from her own power, and the core created was a pure mana wisp core with no element. It became an ice wisp, which we believe is due to the fact that it was winter and we were camping in the snow when she formed the core. It worked out rather well for us as she gained the ability to control other ice wisps. We used her control over them to gather wisps to harvest ice cores. When she manifested her second tail, Yuki was able to form a second wisp core which she gave to her hawk, who flew with it through the sky for three days before it manifested into an air wisp. The third wisp was a fire wisp, which she awoke with her fox-fire. Another Kitsune who is a part of the silver arrow guild placed her wisp core into different poisons to make poison wisps. She has four tails and uses a different poison for each wisp. She can kill you with those damned things before you even know she is nearby.” 

If putting a pure wisp core into poison makes a poison wisp, would putting an ice wisp core into frozen poison make a poison ice wisp or a normal ice wisp? Do other wisp cores have effects like the ice cores? I pondered, completely forgetting Darius was there, as I moved to a bench and began making notes for future experiments.

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