The Best Alchemist II

Selina took a deep breath and reattached the outer frame of ignitorem back. She was so focused on what she is doing that she failed to realize her mother – Diana already standing behind her with a dark, gloomy aura like cloudy weather before a thunder rain surrounding her. Without her knowledge, Diana already opened her locked door using the spare key she had.

"Lina!" Diana shouted with a vigorous voice and an arm on each side of her waist. Her beautiful face turned terrible like hannya mask.

"Waaah! Mo… Mom…" Selina screamed in surprise then continued the conversation that sure will begin.

"Mom, can you not surprise me from behind like that?" Selina asked then pouted.

"No can do! And not even a chance, young lady. Are you already forget what I said last night? You can't inscribe runes into a magic device without a proper mana control. It can lead to an accident. What do I have to do for you to listen to me?" Diana scolded her only daughter with a stern voice.

"But… This time I succeeded, Mom!" Selina hesitated for a moment before responding to Diana's words.

*Sigh*

A sigh came from Diana, after which she took a deep breath to get ready to explain what she had told Selina for several times.

"You can't, Lina darling. You're only four years old, your mana is not stable yet. You haven't even had your Signum Ceremony yet," said Diana who tried to be patient with her child.

"What if you wait until you enter school, learn how to control mana, and use magic when you are six?" persuaded Diana.

Diana then knelt to match her height with Selina. Her hand gently stroked Selina's light brown hair. She then smiled softly at Selina. From her smile, Selina could feel a deep affection and love for herself. Although Selina felt guilty for making her mother in her current life worried, only in this matter could she not budge.

"But it's still too long, Mom. I have to wait two years to study at school and wait another year for the Signum Ceremony," said Selina.

Even though Selina's soul is in her teens, for some reason she cannot refuse to behave like a four-year-old child. Maybe because she wants to be spoiled by her parents in her current life. In her previous life, she was an orphan. She was left in front of the orphanage when she was a baby and did not know anything about the world.

"I want to become the best alchemist as soon as possible!" Selina said sulkily.

Selina as a child admires her Uncle who is an alchemist himself. The ignitorem that she made as a target of her experiment earlier was one of his creations. You can see there is an emblem of the head of a lion under the pommel. That head of a lion is her uncle's logo. She really admires the figure of her uncle who works seriously in his workshop. He was very focused on his work even when she shouted out his name.

"There is no instant way to become an alchemist, my darling Lina. First, you must have prior knowledge about magic devices before you aimed to become an alchemist. Second, you have to create a frame that matches the function of the magic device you want to create. Then you have to learn how to control your mana so you can inscribe runes onto the device's frame. What's more, you need very high control, otherwise, there will be an explosion. At last placing mana stone into a chamber that connected to the runes. Well... maybe that's the only thing you can do now," said Diana who sighed for who knows how many times.

"You don't even know about magic devices. You have to know the proper combination of runes, then what type of metal, wood, glass, and other materials that can work together without clashing with runes that you used. Also choosing the right type and size of mana stone that can power the device is a must or else the device will explode or even doesn't work at all."

Selina keeps her head and sights downward to her toes. Diana knows Selina's personality well and this one is her stubbornness that she inherited from her. Both of them refused to give up their opinion of what is best. 'The fruit does not fall far from the tree,' this proverb can describe this pair of mother and daughter perfectly.

Seeing her persuasion did not work, Diana could only postpone their argument. The more important thing right now is to get Selina to come down and have lunch.

"Go down now. Let's have lunch together. Your father has been waiting in the dining room and keeps asking where his favorite daughter is," said Diana while smiling.

"I also made your favorite chocolate pudding as dessert."

"Pudding? Chocolate pudding? Yay! I love you, Mom."

Selina smiled as she ran towards the stairs after kissing both of her mother's cheeks.

"But our argument is still not finished!" Selina shouted from downstairs.

Diana could only smile resignedly because of her daughter's behavior. She then followed Selina into the dining room.