Chapter 178 Books

I watched on as the man, no, Sebastion he had introduced himself as such, ran through the restaurant. His legs coated in aether to allow for faster movement. He weaved around the intricately placed tables with grace and through the doors with no hesitation. I had half expected him to take a face plant into the door but surprising both Aoif and I he had a plan. The door was transmuted to be turned into a slab of wood. This had allowed him to cross the distance without stopping at all, the door being transmuted back as soon as his shadow passed through the door.

Whatever was so special about the crystal had given him enough motivation to run like his life depended on it. Using abilities that he most probably would not have used so flippantly. It got me curious.

Though those thoughts were half distracted as beside me Aoif directed the waiter to put down the food that Sebastion had ordered. A point of her hand and a couple of words and the food was placed down at the spot where Sebastion had sat earlier. Immediately after the waiter made herself scarce and I was left to my thoughts as Aoif closed her eyes to focus on her thoughts or on something else entirely. At the moment the curiosity of what was so important about the crystal taking precedence over finding out the thoughts of Aoif.

With a grab of my hands the crystal was in my hands. I felt around it, my hands touching all of the nooks and crannies but still I found nothing.

It wasn't until I spent a tiny amount of aether to reinforce my eyes to look for anything that I might have missed with standard eyes that I finally realized why the alchemist had been so excited about the crystal.

The aether that I had directed towards my eyes was only loosely held in control but that was enough for the crystal in my hand to take it and suck it into itself, storing it and amplifying it. I could feel my own aether in the crystal, except it was strangely amplified.

I observed further and saw that the aether was denser, it had a feel of heaviness to it that my own aether did not have unless I gathered a significant amount of it.

"Found why it's so special?" Aoif whispered into my ear which startled me from my thoughts.

"Yeah" I nodded, relaying to her what I had found about the crystal in my hands.

…

"I'm back" Sebastian panted, his hand holding a dozen tomes that he placed down on the table. "These here," He pointed to the first 9 of the books, "Are the basics, the other three are my own personal notes regarding the basics and how they could theoretically be improved."

"That's a lot" Aoif said, "Is there something else you want"

"Think of it as a gift and as a sign of our future business relationship" With that he silenced himself and sat down at the table. His hands reached towards the utensils and quickly ate the food that he had ordered before leaving the exact amount of gold for the food and leaving with the crystal in hand. His face was the exact representation of joy, the smile on his face couldn't have been taken away by anything. It was honestly nice to see someone so happy in their own profession and hobby. Not consumed by their own work.

Though soon after Sebastion had left, so too did we, the meal that we had thought we would have to pay for was forgotten as we left it uneaten. Our appetites were not as they once were as the mood of the day was constantly in flux. First the unknown man that had been so off putting that I had lost my appetite then the pleasant business with that Sebastion. It was a ride of emotions that ultimately led us back to the hotel, our pockets fuller than when we left.

…

I sat the bag of money that Aoif had had me carry on the counter. Delta, who was working on some project, glanced towards us before she went back to her work.

The soft sounds of Delta's work echoed throughout the room before she stopped, apparently whatever Delta had been working on was done. I saw Delta pocket it before she walked up to us and inspected the bag on the counter.

"I take it sales went well?"

I nodded, "we even met some sort of royal alchemist or something. Formed a business relationship with him."

Delta just nodded, her eye closed as she sat down at the chair near the counter.

"That's good, did he like the gems I made or the jewelry"

"You knew the gems were different?"

"Of course. I made them"

"Hah" I sighed, sitting down just as Delta did earlier in the conversation.

"Then you knew that those gems amplify aether."

"Of course" Delta nodded, "I made them, why wouldn't I know about that. I just didn't think anyone would notice. It's not like anyone here is particularly smart."

I reached into the bag that held the gold and took out the books, "He gave us these kn return. Knowledge on basic alchemy and his own personal notes."

Delta's eye practically sparkled at the books. Her mouth twisting into a small smile as she took the book into hand and started to read.

Aether flew from her body into a gem that was just created. A small flame generated heat as some sort of rune was inscribed on the gem.

A bright light flashed in the room, waking Aoif from where she had laid down and closed her eyes.

When my eyes recovered I looked over to Delta who seemed to be having the time of her life inspecting the rune.

I just sighed again at being ignored and went to go lay down with Aoif. The day was already gone.