Whatever it was that she had Leo doing took a fair amount of time, and when Leo finally finished he was sweating a little and looking rather drained, which was odd considering he hadn't been moving all that much...
But hey, I had no idea what sort of magic went into making these seeds do whatever it was that was making the Alchemist go from just watching Leo because he was cute to watching him with a bit of actual appreciation as she focused on his hands.
The occasional nod and how she shifted to having her hands clasped behind her back as she watched was somewhat... reassuring, sort of anyways, and the entire time she just kept quiet and watched with the patience of a predator stalking its prey, which was not that reassuring to my current 'beliefs' about her.
By the time Leo was done she stepped forwards and stood right behind him as she looked down at the pot, appraising his work and most definitely taking some liberties already as she inched just a little bit closer.
Part of me wanted to growl, but when Leo just looked up at her and asked "H-How did I do, esteemed Alchemist..?" I swallowed that down and just waited, my heart thumping harder as I prayed that he would pass this test and take a long stride forwards on this path that would take him to a better life.
Humming softly and continuing to stare at the pot, she drew the moment out quite a bit before smirking as she said "It's Master Vi to you, not 'esteemed Alchemist'. How would it make me look in front of the others if my own apprentice just called me 'esteemed Alchemist'?", causing Leo to blink a few times in confusion.
I did as well before a grin split my features as I turned to Giovanni, who was also smiling as he stared at our little brother with pride in his eyes, something that swelled further when Leo nodded repeatedly and said "Thank you, Master Vi! Thank you!"
"Of course, of course... Your father is Mister Luca, correct? I've heard a little about him from Madame Po, but I always thought she was exaggerating about there being a talented family in this backwater town. Guess she wasn't wrong."
I didn't miss how she glanced at me when she said that, but I was far more focused on Leo than I was in deciphering whatever hidden message might lay in those shining azure eyes; I strode forwards and pulled Leo into a tight hug, swaying side to side as I happily said "You did it, Leo~!"
Giovanni patted Leo's head and said "Congratulations, Leo. Work hard for Alchemist Vi, understand?", causing our brother to smile at us both as he nodded, and when this black and blue haired Alchemist stepped back up to us, we all looked at her and bowed.
"Enough with the formalities... Gods above that gets stuffy fast, y'know? Anyways, here, you need to take this back to Mister Luca and go over it with him. I know you are an adult yourself, but you're still clearly wet behind the ears, so..."
Waving a hand to the side, Alchemist Vi produced a scroll from seemingly nowhere, a flash of light shrouding that hand before it had appeared, causing me to take a step back in shock since I had no idea what had just happened.
Leo did as well - mainly because he was still in my arms - but he looked up at me and said "Sis, it's a storage artifact of some kind. Why're you so surprised? Old man Xue has one, don't you remember?", while Giovanni just looked at me with a smirk.
Coughing to try and hide my embarrassment, I turned away and muttered "Yeah, I knew that, just... wasn't expecting no flash is all...", though that wasn't believable whatsoever... and it made the Alchemist chuckle as she stared at me with those impossibly beautiful azure eyes.
"This scroll is a contract then? Something to act as a reassurance for both parties?"
Giving Giovanni an approving look, Alchemist Vi nodded and replied "It's exactly that. Inside the terms of apprenticeship are laid out clearly. Leo here will be an apprentice to me for the next five years. Salary, labor expectations, various other agreements that touch on the relationship of Master and apprentice... all in writing.", earning a nod from Giovanni that reassured me a little more.
"Ah, and the moment you sign this, Leo, you will no longer be some small town boy, you understand? This changes everything; even if you don't become an Alchemist after your initial tenure with me, the likelihood of remaining as my apprentice is high, and the chances of becoming someone else's apprentice is there too.
If you want a quiet life, you can return to this town and become a rudimentary healer. I believe you have one here, someone that is well respected and taken care of even in a place like this. So long as you take even just a year of your time with me seriously, you're life will never be the same."
"Hear that, Leo~! No longer just a small town boy~!"
Rubbing his head and gently pushing him forwards, I watched him with pride as he stepped up to Alchemist Vi to take the scroll, and in doing so I had a clear view of both Leo and Giovanni standing together, both so close to me yet currently standing so far away...
Leo would become an Alchemist, of that I was certain, and then there was Giovanni who was almost guaranteed to become an official up in the city, which had many different ways to move up in the world so long as he played his cards right.
That just left me with only a single path up out of this town, and it was one that I had failed to step on twice already... if I failed this third time, I would be the only one of us three to not carve out a place for myself in the city above...
Just thinking that made my heart pang with jealousy and concern, but I brushed it aside and just grinned at Leo when he waved the scroll at me, deciding to not think about it and instead just enjoy the moment with my brothers.