In the end, the threat about the logs never came to fruition. Liam and the Alchemy Elder sat side by side for hours, way past the private lesson's usual time, doing nothing but learning to read complicated words.
Needless to say, after that strange experience, Liam felt more lost than ever, at least emotionally, leading to an absent-minded walk back to the Outer Hall, his mind trapped in thoughts he didn't know how to explain or sort out.
The core of that troubled mind was that the Alchemy Elder's boasts didn't match his actions at all, and Liam had no idea what to make of that.
On the one hand, there were the incessant glares, scoldings, shouts, and cane. In a way, the Alchemy Elder was even worse and stricter than the Divine Cult's jailer.
Yet, the cane never really hurt, not even close to what the jailer did. Also, despite all that grumpiness, the Elder always solved Liam's doubts, explaining himself in great detail, even adding countless warnings.
