Alchemist Apprentice (The Alchemist Book 1)

by Dan Michaelson

  “Most of your evenings will be occupied studying. The library is open to all students, regardless of skill level, so utilize the resources that we have. And again, do not get yourself into trouble.”

  Sam’s breath caught. He hadn’t even given any consideration to the possibility that there might be something more in this for him. A library. How long had he wanted to have access to a library?

  And he had thought the books that he would’ve had access to in Erstan at Arne’s shop would have been impressive, but they would have been nothing compared to what he would find here.

  “Your time and attention should be spent working on preparing yourself for the testing at the end of the year. All students must pass in order to move on to the next stage. Those who do not, unfortunately, will not be invited back next year.” She looked around before pausing. “As you can imagine, it is highly competitive to even be admitted into the Academy. It is highly competitive to remain in the Academy. Only the best and brightest can remain. Those who are here for reasons other than mastering the Arcane Arts, will find that they do not have the talent to proceed.”

  She looked at each person in the room in turn and then nodded to herself before striding forward.

  Chapter Eight

  Sam nodded to Mia. “Come on. We need to catch up to her.”

  Bethel had already stepped out of the door, leaving the rest of the students murmuring quietly amongst themselves. Sam didn’t feel comfortable lingering here until he and Mia had been formally placed into a tower and had changed into the appropriate robes.

  “I don’t want to go talk with her,” Mia whispered. “She scares me.”

  “We have to figure out which tower we need to go to,” he said.

  “We know the towers. We just have to find out which ones they are.”

  He slowed at the door, realizing that she was right. They did know their towers, and unfortunately, chasing down Bethel, regardless of whether it might provide him with some answers didn’t help.

  “Then let’s go figure out which tower you need to go to.”

  She looked up at him, and he expected her to argue, but she didn’t.

  For a moment, Sam thought that Mia might finally break out of her shell. He had tried to encourage her to take a greater role to find the fearlessness that he remembered from when they were younger, but life on the streets, even in a place like Erstan that wasn’t all that large, was hard. It had been especially hard on them.

  They followed the stairs back down to the main part of the Academy before Sam stopped. He’d made a mistake. “I just realized that I don’t know how to get into the towers,” he said, turning and smiling to Mia. “Imagine that.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You can’t know everything, Sam.”

  “I know. I was prepared to get you into the Academy. That has been my purpose all along. I never ever considered the possibility that I might have to come here, too.”

  “Are you disappointed?”

  “No. I think it’s better that I’m here with you. Two of us have a much greater chance of getting you to succeed.”

  “You could study and succeed, too,” she said.

  Sam chuckled. “That isn’t going to happen. I have to have…” He lowered his voice, leaning closer to his sister. “A different type of talent than what I have. And that’s okay. I have a plan.” It hadn’t taken long for him, either.

  Not only would he spend the year saving up the stipend they were given, but he could start planning for what he would do. He would stay in Tavran. There was nothing for him in Erstan, anyway, and he could be of more assistance to his sister being close by. He would use his year staying in the library, studying as much as he could, and taking advantage of the resources of the Academy. There had to be a job market for somebody who had spent a year within the Academy. Even if they never came out as a master of the Arcane Arts, there had to be something for him. Perhaps Havash’s assignment could give him a greater value than he had never considered before.

  “What are the two of you doing here?”

  Sam looked over to see a tall, broad-shouldered young man approaching, wearing deep navy robes. There was a crest on his left lapel, likely signifying some rank, Sam assumed.

  “We’re late arrivals to the Academy,” Sam quickly explained. “My sister and I were both—”

  “Which tower?” the man asked, sounding board.

  “I’m in tolath, and she is in sharan.”

  His gaze darkened when Sam mentioned that he was in the tolath tower, but it brightened just a little bit when he mentioned Mia’s.

  “Sharan. Well. Why don’t you come with me? Only the best make the most challenging tower.” He looked over to Sam. “Not like in tolath.”

  He escorted Mia down the hall, and she looked back at Sam uncertainly.

  At least Sam knew which color was sharan.

  Now he had to figure out which one represented tolath.

  He started down the hallway, making his way after his sister and the older student. She was looking up at him, and some of the fear had started to fade away, a smile brightening her face.

  Perhaps that was for the best.

  He neared the end of the hall, for the door where he had seen Havash examining it when a door nearest to him popped open. It was Havash. He had a loaf of bread in one hand, a knife in another, and he paused as soon as he saw Sam.

  “What are you doing down here already?”

  “I’m trying to figure out which tower I need to go to.” He looked around him. “My sister was assigned to sharan—”

  “I suppose that is for the best. She would be suited for it. Typically students are tested for towers at the time of their testing, but seeing as how your testing was a little unconventional, we did not have the opportunity. Sharan would be a good fit for someone with her obvious ability.”

  “And what obvious ability is that?”

  Havash said nothing.

  Sam snorted. “At least you could tell me how I find the tolath tower.”

  “Tolath?”

  Sam shrugged. “Why?”

  “It is an interesting choice. How were you assigned?”

  “You left us with Ben, so he made the decision.”

  “And on what grounds did he make the decision?”

  His voice was a deep growl, but it was low as if he were trying to keep a secret between the two of them.

  “I don’t know. I mentioned that I was interested in alchemy—”

  Havash took a step toward him, and Sam immediately jerked back. “You must be careful with expressing your interest in alchemy here,” Havash whispered furiously.

  “I’ve had an interest in alchemy even before,” Sam said. “I was trying to study with our alchemist in Erstan before coming with you. I thought that maybe I could become a minor alchemist.”

  “And I have told you that minor alchemy is little more than of minor usefulness.”

  In a place like Erstan, minor alchemy had quite a bit of usefulness. It was stable. And it was steady work. And not only that, but it also paid well.

  “Can you at least point out where to find the tower?” Sam asked.

  “Come along,” Havash snapped.

  Sam had other questions for him, but he felt as if he were to ask, he would only draw more of Havash’s irritation. At this point, he needed to keep him from getting too angry with him.

  He stopped in the middle of the hall. With a loaf of bread, he pointed in one direction. “Pay attention, Samran. If you have as quick mind as you claim, you should only need one instruction.”

  Sam resisted the urge to snap back at him, knowing it was pointless.

  “In that direction, you will find olwand.” He turned, motioning in the opposite direction. “Grisenack. Sharan,” he said, motioning down the direction that they had just come, which Sam had already known, especially since he had seen Mia heading down there with the older student. “And tolath,” he said, motioning the fourth direction along the hall. “Four towe
rs.”

  “But there are five towers,” Sam said.

  Havash turned back to him, glowering at him. “There were five towers. Now there are four.”

  Havash started off as if he had said all that he needed to, but Sam hurried up to him. “This is the one-hundredth class?”

  Havash slowed, frowning at Sam. “Perhaps.”

  “That’s what Bethel said, so it must be. Did you disturb her numbers in some way?”

  “Did she tell you that?”

  “She didn’t say it, but I saw the way that she was looking around the room, and she seemed more than a little irritated.”

  “Then you should know that it is not with you. She’s more irritated with me.”

  “Then I need to be careful with her.”

  Havash frowned. “Do you think that she will associate you with me? I was merely the one who tested you. There was no other connection between the two of us.” The way that Havash said it suggested that he would not help Sam if it came down to it. “Much like other students were tested by other instructors. Don’t think that it is anything else.”

  “I just didn’t want to get off on the wrong foot.”

  “Then stop following me.”

  Sam frowned. “I’m not following. I’m just trying to get some answers.”

  “You’re following me.”

  “Fine. Maybe I am, but if I’m to be successful with what you’ve asked of me,” Sam said, trying to pick his words carefully, “that I’m going to need to know just what is expected of me. You didn’t give me anything else.”

  “You think other students were given more information than you?”

  “Probably. They knew what they were getting into when they came to the Academy.”

  “Yes. They did. But you are the one who claimed to be all so clever. Now it’s your turn to prove it. You will keep your ears open and report to me. You know the rest.”

  Havash strode off.

  Trying to decide how he felt about Havash.

  Scared, mostly. He needed to succeed. He needed the years’ worth of stipend in order for him to succeed. He needed that years’ worth of time so that he could study and prepare for the inevitability of when he left the Academy.

  He turned, following the direction that Havash had indicated, heading toward the tolath tower. Other students had started out, making their way up.

  Tolath was the green robes.

  Interesting.

  Sam waited until everybody was up, and then he started after them.

  He picked his way carefully, and the stairs wound steadily upward until he reached a small landing. From here, the hall ran off. He found someone dressed in a green robe heading in the opposite direction down the hall.

  “Excuse me?”

  The girl—probably not much older than Mia—turned back and looked at him. Was she one of the new students, as well?

  “Are you in the wrong tower?” she asked.

  “I was assigned to tolath. I was told this is—”

  She spun, marching toward him. “A new student.” She nodded. “We don’t get as many as some of the other towers. We have a bit more of a complexity to the kind of Arcane Arts we favor, so it is not as common.”

  Sam realized that he hadn’t seen that many with the green robes in the great hall with Bethel.

  “I was told I needed to come and get my room assignment?”

  She nodded. “I’ll show you. High-ranking students are in the lower levels, and lower-ranking students on the upper levels. You’re lucky. We get our own room. Most of the other towers have to share, at least until you get to the higher ranks, anyway. At that point, there usually is some drop-off, and most get a room of their own.”

  Drop-off.

  Sam knew this meant a cut of students who didn’t survive beyond the first year. He would be a drop-off, especially when things took the inevitable turn that they would. He was determined that his sister, on the other hand, would not be.

  “I didn’t catch your name,” Sam said.

  She regarded him for a long moment, a hint of irritation flashing in her eyes before she shook her head. “Diana Oberon. Now, follow me.” She took a narrow set of stairs that twisted up, passing another landing and then another, until she finally stopped. She waved her hand. “Go pick a room. We can get you situated with your robes and any necessary books after you are established here. Until then, you should get situated. What do you have for belongings?”

  Sam looked down at himself. “You’re looking at it.”

  “Nothing?”

  “Not a thing. We came quickly. I’m from—”

  Diana had already turned away, heading back down the stairs.

  It was enough to make him smile, even though there was an insult in how she dismissed them so quickly. At this point, Sam just didn’t care.

  He paused in the hallway. He had only caught a fleeting glance along the other halls, but they were narrow, with doors lining them. The lowered levels in the tower had a plush carpet running the length of the hall, and orbs set into the walls glowing with a pale-yellow light. On this level, there was no carpet. There were no orbs. Just old-fashioned appearing lanterns, though they put off a poor light, one that was almost dingy. He stopped in front of one of them and considered it for a few moments. It was alchemy and skillfully done. He wasn’t surprised by that. It reminded him somewhat of the kind Arne had done, though not completely. Arne lacked this level of skill.

  He looked along the hallway. There were five doors on either side. He paused at the first one before knocking.

  When no one answered, he pushed it open, but he saw a trunk with clothing set on the ground. Sam hurriedly pulled the door closed. He didn’t want anybody getting upset that he was venturing into someplace that he wasn’t supposed to be. He tried the room across the hall, knocking, getting no answer, before checking inside. Much like the last one, there was no answer, but there was a stack of clothes on the end of the bed, a pile of books near the door, and a tray with fruit half-eaten on it. The next two doors had belongings in them as well.

  By the time he reached the third door on the right-hand side, he found the room empty.

  There was an unmade bed, a stack of sheets with the blanket piled on top of it. There was a pillow, looking far more comfortable than anything that he had ever seen in his life. A washbasin was empty, but it offered the promise of cleanliness. A small wardrobe fit up against the wall, and a narrow desk were the only other items within the room.

  He and Mia had referred to the broken-down building as their broken palace, but this was a palace. At least, it was to him.

  He might not belong, but he would find a way to fit in. He would find a way to make the most of his time. Sam refused end up back on the street. Never again.

  As he stood in the doorway, tears streamed down his face.

  Chapter Nine

  The dining hall was enormous.

  Sam had thought that having a room of his own was more than he deserved, but coming to the dining hall, and having an opportunity to eat without having to scavenge for food, was another level altogether. He stood in the doorway, unable to fully comprehend the various smells and aromas igniting his senses. Rows of tables stretched from one end of the hall to another, four in total, with enough space that he could easily imagine a fifth table had once fit there, though it was no longer in place. One row of tables for each tower.

  He was dressed in his own green robes. They were softer than Sam thought that he deserved, and he found himself running his hands across them every so often. The clothing that he had worn to the Academy had been tattered and frayed, dingy on top of it. He had stood out because of that, and had known that he had stood out, and had worried that it would make it difficult for him to do what Havash wanted from him.

  Now…

  After bathing and putting on his robes, he felt as if he fit in.

  Though truth be told, Sam didn’t think he really fit in. How could he? He couldn’t do what anybody else h
ere in the Academy can do.

  “Are you going inside?” An attractive young woman with raven black hair stood behind him. She had pale skin and green eyes. She had on a deep green robe, just like his.

  “I’m sorry. It’s my first day here.”

  She arched a brow at him. “You don’t say?”

  “Which table?”

  Though he suspected that each of the tables was for each of the towers, Sam had gotten here early, wanting to eat, and not having anything else to do or anywhere else to go.

  She motioned to one of the tables along the left wall. “Our tower generally eats there.”

  “Do you… Do you have to eat with your tower?”

  She frowned at him as if he were stupid. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to here. Most people want to eat with people they live and study with, but if you don’t, then be my guest. Just be ready for the consequences.”

  “What sort of consequences?”

  She laughed and then spun on her heel, heading toward the table where she stood for a moment.

  Sam wasn’t going to wait any longer. She was right. He needed to fit in. And if he did something that looked out of place, he would have a harder time here. He moved into the dining hall, glancing at a few other students who were already there, though most were at the far end of the room where they were gathering trays filled with food.

  He smiled to himself as he made his way back there and grabbed one of the trays, keeping food on it and hurrying to the table. The woman had taken a seat at one end, and while she was attractive enough, she had a certain irritated tilt to her jaw that made him question whether he should sit near her.

  If something happened, and he was kicked out of the Academy, Sam wasn’t going to let the opportunity to eat as much as he could pass him by. It was why he had been willing to grab as much as he could. He had stacked pieces of bread, cheeses, sliced meats, even a steaming pile of broccoli hall onto his tray. He had topped it all off with two apples. As others took a seat at the table, he realized they had taken far more reasonable portions.