Chapter 162: You Want To Create

Elias nearly stopped and entered the blacksmith workshop, not just to learn and engage his mind, but to plan for the future.

If the Commander could not source the armor he needed for the Art of Stone, then it would be a good idea for him to begin looking for alternative paths. However, the day would soon be ending, and Elias still had to finish the task that he had set out for himself, ensuring he kept his job under the palace walls, which was important because it gave him easy access to the upper districts of the city.

In the distance were four massive buildings that was equal to any of the grand buildings in the upper districts, and this should be the central location of the various Guilds, Elias should find the Supervisor there, however, he remembered that the man had told him that he owned a small workshop along the worker’s alley so he could stay away from the politics of the guilds, and Elias thought to look for him there first.

Elias almost spent two hours walking through the Guild Districts, passing thousands of workshops that were busy from sunrise to sunset. They produced goods that would be sent to other parts of the continent, and in that way, they accumulated great wealth. It was unknown why the manufacturing parts of the city were so vibrant, and Elias noted that this question needed to be answered.

It was at the end of a long alley, tucked behind a forge that blazed with unnatural heat, that he found Supervisor Chen’s workshop. The door of this workshop was old wood, reinforced with iron bands, and it bore a small sign:

Chen’s Alchemical Supplies – By Appointment Only – Disturbances Will Be Met With Prejudice.

Elias arched his brows at this message, and he could help but allow a smile to touch his lips; he had not seen this side of the Supervisor. The man had never seemed cold, but he had always seemed a bit distant, and he should have a connection with the Asylum due to the ease with which Elias had been made to work for him.

Elias could hear movement inside the closed workshop door, so he knew someone was inside. Not knowing what to expect, he knocked, and the movements inside paused before it moved towards the door, which opened a crack, and a single eye peered out, sharp and assessing, before finally turning to knowing.

“Elias?” The voice was incredulous. “By the fallen gods, boy, what happened to you?”

Elias pushed his hat back, revealing his green eyes, no longer glowing with prismatic light, his too-perfect face, and glimpses of his folded red hair.

“Hello, Supervisor, I have successfully integrated Lumina into my body, and I am here before the week runs out.”

The door swung open. Chen stood there, his face a mask of shock and wonder. He was always a smallish man, and now that Elias was taller and bigger, he dwarfed the Supervisor; however, the man’s presence had only grown. Elias chuckled internally that he once thought this man was a Fury Forge; how could he have been so wrong?

“Well, shit, already a Fury Forge in four days, and they say nothing spectacular happens in this city.” Supervisor Chen said, looking at Elias, then at the alley. “You’d better come in, given your present status, we have much to discuss.”

Elias entered the workshop, his eyes taking in the space with curiosity. It was far bigger than the outside of the shop would suggest, and the interior was chaos organized by a mind that saw order where others saw madness.

Shelves lined every wall, packed with glass vials of every color, dried herbs hanging from the ceiling, and racks of tools whose purposes Elias could only guess at.

The air was thick with the smell of reagents, sweet, acrid, metallic, all layered together in a symphony that made Elias’s enhanced senses sing. It was not irritating, since there was a sort of subtle harmony in the various scents that suggested intent and not chaos.

What this meant was fascinating to think about, because it would mean that the Supervisor must be a very powerful Alchemist.

Chen gestured to a stool near a workbench cluttered with half-finished projects. Elias sat, feeling the familiar comfort of being in a space where things were made.

“So.” Chen settled onto his own stool, his eyes never leaving Elias’s face. “You’re a Siphon now. Obviously. And not just any Siphon, I’ve seen Fury Forges before, and they don’t look like that.” He gestured at Elias’s body. “What the hell happened to you, boy? Four days ago, you were mortal. Now you’re… whatever this is.”

Elias considered how much to reveal. Chen was his supervisor, his connection to the Guild, but not part of the Order. He decided on a partial truth because he did not think it would be hidden for long, especially from someone as powerful as the man in front of him, whose depths Elias could not yet perceive.

“I became an Ascendant Candidate.”

Chen’s face went through several expressions in rapid succession: disbelief, shock, awe, then a kind of weary resignation.

“An Ascendant Candidate,” he repeated flatly. “Of course, how else would you have reached Fury Forge in four days? You must have spent a lot of time in the time-dilated space of the Fragment. It is a good thing you survived. I have seen too many perish upon taking this road.” He rubbed his face with both hands. “The Commander’s work, I assume?”

“Yes.”

“Figures.” Chen sighed. “That woman doesn’t do anything small, and she did play me. If I knew I had a potential Ascendant Candidate under me, why would I have kept you working stone in the dark? So what does this mean for your job? You here to quit?”

“No.” Elias leaned forward. “The tunnels have been a part of my life for so long, and I don’t look down upon the work, and I need to join the Guild.”

Chen’s eyebrows rose. “The Guild? As what? You’re an Ascendant Candidate now, boy. You could walk into any Great House, and they’d trip over themselves to recruit you. Why the Guild? Don’t get me wrong, I want you in the Guild, but not if I have to go against the Commander… I still like my head on my body.”

“Because I’m a craftsman first,” Elias said simply as he squinted his eyes at the last words from the Supervisor’s mouth, “Before I was an Ascendant Candidate, I was someone who made things with his hands. That hasn’t changed. I have worked in the tunnels for a long time, and in all that time, I have used tools to accomplish miracles, yet I do not understand how they worked. I was just a bystander to the act, and I wish to change all of that.”

Chen was quiet for a long moment. Then a slow smile spread across his face.

“Well, well. The boy has priorities.” He stood and walked to a shelf, pulling down a dusty tome. “You know, most Siphons your age, or any age, would be chasing power, glory, status. But you? You want to make things.” He set the book on the workbench between them. “That’s rare. And valuable.”

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