The familiar sensation of working at a cold infusion basin was nostalgic. She was in a dwarven forge where she managed to get hired at the only cold infusion basin in the entire settlement. It was a rare but valuable craft as not many alchemists had the mana reserves to handle the process. After her shifts with Ironbrow at the brewery she would be found.
Magmastone was the infusionist master and the only one in the town. The infusion basin in a room with artificially stabilized ambient mana. Specialized tools she had only ever read about sat on shelves and hung on walls. The space was optimized for cold infusion.
She had only ever worked as an infusionist when they were in Birchgrove back in Yuhia. The blacksmiths at the Jackrabbits camp were two dwarves named Ironjaw and Underrock and they were excited to find out she was an alchemist. She had used cold infusion on blue steel ingots and in exchange they made her armor.
Alchemy was still Tanisha's passion though she felt as though she had barely scratched the surface of what she could do with the craft. So far she had flunked out of her academy when the Salstars kicked her out of the family. Everything she had done since skewed her closer to crafting vital elixirs. Which was important but only a very small branch of alchemy.
She learned what she could from her old text books but for the most part she had been self taught over the past few years. Chemistry, the ancient practice of the human civilization she learned from Laxy and Ivoi, helped fill many of the gaps that she had in alchemy. She had so much more knowledge about the physical world but no real outlet for it.
Alchemy was divided into seven specialized disciplines. Elementalists, which created concoctions with elemental effects. Infusionists embedded magical or chemical properties into objects. Elixirists made vital elixirs. Catalyst crafters created materials which would be used in magical tools. Materia alchemists worked with metals and alloys in the cross field of metallurgy. Essenciers extract and refine magical essences. Finally, theorists studied the fundamental properties of alchemy.
Tanisha classified herself as an elixirist and practical theorist. She was gifted in infusion but was nowhere near at a level of study she could call herself anything but an enthusiast. Still she learned a lot from Magmastone, the master dwarven infusionist was harsh at times but fair. While she could feel her way through cold infusion because of her unique control over ambient mana, it was not a substitute for real skill and knowledge in the field.
Tanisha leaned over the vintmoor ice silver basin, eyes glowed gold as she guided the ambient mana in a slow orbit. The now well practised movement of her arms directing the mana kept the flow smooth. The basin itself was much larger than the one she used to own. The rune etched sides glowed almost imperceptibly as the mana coursed through the various channels.
A dozen blue steel ingots were submerged in a bed of monster crystals. As the infusion progressed the ingots shifted from normal metal to almost a cloudy glass. Because they were infusing multiple ingots it took far more micromanagement to keep the process stable.
Magmastone supervised from a stool on the opposite side of the basin. The dwarf had his arms folded across his chest which pressed the two thick beard braids against the tool laden leather apron he wore. His eyes were sharply watching the ingots.
"Hold it." Magmastone gravelly voice said.
Tanisha nearly froze mid-motion. The mana orbit faltered slightly but did not collapse thankfully. Magmastone leaned closer to the barrier around the basin, eyes narrowed as he examined the ingots.
"See that?" he said, pointing with a thick finger.
Tanisha followed his gaze to several ingots that shimmered unevenly. She had been working here long enough to know what that meant. Two weeks of constant infusion with a master told her center was taking the infusion perfectly but the edges lagged behind.
Tanisha exhaled sharply. "Damn."
He grabbed a long ice silver rod with measuring marks etched into it and dipped the tip into the basin's field without breaking the mana barrier. The rod vibrated faintly.
"Your core rotation is fine," Magmastone said. "Better than most apprentices I've had. But your distribution is questionable."
"My what?" Tanisha pressed her lips in frustration.
"You're feeding the basin evenly. That's good. That's the easy part. But the metal isn't the basin." Magmastone said.
"I don't understand." Tanisha said.
"What did I tell you about blue steel when we first started?" Magmastone said.
"It pulls in mana quickly?" Tanisha offered.
Magmastone straightened and tapped the ingot with the rod again.
"Blue steel drinks mana like a damn drunk dwarf after shift," he said. "But it doesn't drink evenly. Grain runs through it. Internal structure. Mana follows resistance. Always. Your rotation feeds the outside first. The center takes longer. How your feedin' it the inside holds the infusion but the outside infusion escapes back into the flow."
Tanisha slowly adjusted her orbiting pattern. Magmastone immediately forced the ambient mana to resist the change. Something that Tanisha didn't know the dwarf could do.
"Don't fix it yet ya idiot," Magmastone said. "First rule of consistent infusion. Ya diagnose before ya meddle. It is impressive that ya are self taught. But just because you can brute force some principles doesn't mean ya should. Brute force ain't precision."
He grabbed a metal ring from the bench and slid it over the basin's outer rim. The ring was etched with small directional runes.
"Watch." He said.
Tanisha had to watch carefully as Magmastone gently took control of the ambient mana flow around the rim of the infusion basin. Instead of a full circular flow like a whirlpool into the infusion he directed the innermost mana to tilt downward, reflecting it in spirals inside the basin. Instead of overflowing and destabilizing it pressurized the inside beneath the barrier.
Tanisha's eyes widened. "Oh. That's wow."
Magmastone nodded.
"This utilizes the reflective surfaces of the basin walls as well as the barrier that holds the mana inside. It adds pressure which forces the mana you were losing on the edges of the ingots to remain inside the ingot instead of escapin'."
The edges of the ingots began changing at the same rate as the center. Tanisha leaned forward watching the change in real time.
"That's… that's so much cleaner." Tanisha said
Magmastone grunted approvingly. "Now your tolerance might stop wandering all over the damn place. Shame ya are leaving today. Would make a fine addition to the forge."
"Are you going soft on me now, Magmastone. I will be back in, uh, we'll say thirty years or so. By then I will be infusing circles around you." Tanisha said.
"Unless you fix this problem, thirty years might not be enough time," Magmastone said. "Now come on, focus up, we have to finish this batch."
***
Tanisha yawned and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye as she crouched under the doorframe of her room. A traveler's pack stuffed with supplies and fresh clothing rested against her back.
The brewery dorms were definitely not designed for someone her height. The bed had felt like something meant for a child, but with her constitution she could have slept comfortably on bare stone. The nap after work had helped, especially since they would be leaving Drakvik in only a few hours.
Bjorn had spent his days selling his special Plague Fire to the various forges around town. The smiths would pay him to ignite their furnaces, and by the end of the day the magical effect would fade, forcing them to purchase it again the next morning.
Tanisha facepalmed when she had a sudden realization.
"Wait… I could have done that too," she muttered.
She could also produce hydra fire and hers was actually a different type of toxin then Bjorn's flames. She grumbled to herself at the missed opportunity. It was too late to worry about that now, and she made enough as an infusionist to get whatever she needed anyway.
Aurelius had taken a different approach. With his speed he had become a courier between nearby forge towns. When someone could move as fast as he did, delivering urgent messages and small cargo became an obvious job.
Together they all earned well over two hundred gold. More than Tanisha had ever made on her own and it seemed to come so quickly. It turned out that making money was easy when you were as powerful and capable as they were.
Aurelius had explained it to her during the first week. People at their level naturally attract opportunity. They would never truly be poor because they themselves were resources more valuable than most villages. When he explained it he wasn't being hyperbolic. Between them they possessed more raw power than some cities, years of experience in valuable fields, and the wisdom to know when and how to use that leverage.
Tanisha still was not used to being the most powerful woman in the room. Two years ago she had been a novice. Now she was stronger than Thyra had ever been as a Noble Hand. Sometimes the thought still surprised her.
Yes, they had killed Thyra when Tanisha herself had been much weaker, but that had only happened because the blood mage had grown arrogant in her regeneration. If Thyra had dodged Bjorn's initial Plague Fire instead of using her body to shield the gatehouse, the battle might have gone very differently.
Tanisha was a far better fighter now. She had greater magical control and far deadlier abilities than Thyra had ever demonstrated. In fact she had to make sure that her aura was contained around normal people. If she let it slip even a little she could cause serious damage accidentally by just being around people too low level.
"Tani, you're ready to go?" Aurelius said as he walked towards.
He had his own pack slung over his shoulders. He was carrying a significantly smaller pack than Tanisha. After the rift closed he got one of his storage rings with some of his old supplies but it couldn't hold much.
"Yeah, let's go pick up Bjorn and Ana." Tanisha said.
"Wait, are you going in that?" Aurelius asked.
She was wearing an outfit very similar to the one she had gotten the first day in Drakvik. The new one was altered slightly to fit her chest and the shorts weren't as short. Her midriff and much of her legs were uncovered, and the tattoo-like Marks of Seiðr spread across her skin in intricate patterns.
In contrast, Aurelius was dressed like a proper traveler. Browns, greens, and blacks made up most of his clothing, and a long shoulder cape helped conceal the sword at his side. The weapon had been repaired and now sported a new handle, crossguard, and sheath.
"I like it," Tanisha said with a shrug. "It's comfortable, and I can move freely."
"Well, the next stop will be Highhall," Aurelius replied as they started down the hallway. "It should take us about a day to get there. Most of the journey will be underground."
"Ah… yeah, about that," Tanisha said. "I bought us a wagon."
Aurelius stopped walking. "You did what?"
"Bjorn can't exactly walk through the tunnels," Tanisha said quickly, already defending the purchase. "If a drake sees him it'll panic and start a stampede. The wagon has enough room in the back to conceal him, and we won't have to worry about setting off half the caravan routes."
Aurelius rubbed his chin thoughtfully as they left the brewery and joined the bustle of the streetway.
"Yeah… that actually makes perfect sense," he admitted. "I hadn't thought about it like that. So you bought horses too?"
"Not quite horses," Tanisha said, carefully avoiding his eyes.
Aurelius slowly turned his head toward her.
"What did you get that is not quite a horse?"Aurelius asked.
"I mean…" Tanisha cleared her throat and glanced down the street. "We should probably hurry. I'll meet you at the stables."
Before Aurelius could say another word, space twisted around her. Tanisha activated Rift Forged Teleportation, blinking several yards down the road before immediately breaking into a run toward the stables.
Aurelius stood there for a moment, staring after her. He then shook his head and chased after her.