2.Alchemy (1/3)

Alexander was speechless, a solid ruby turned to red liquid with just a touch? That's ridiculous! But then he remembered that it is said that alchemist can change one metal into another and even craft the Elixir of Life, so this was not very farfetched. 

"Alchemy or matter-manipulation is not simple Alex. To learn alchemy, you must first learn about the object that you want to cast alchemy on. Take the ruby, for example, I changed its state from solid to liquid. But in order to do that, I had to first figure out its structure, the composition of the ruby, what atoms it consists of, how densely they are packed even the gravity that is being exerted on it. Keeping all those in mind I was able to turn the solid ruby into liquid." Explained Bertha picking up a reddish-brown rock and tossing it towards Alexander which he caught easily.

"Rock Salt?" he asked examining the solid in his hand.

"Yes, rock salt and I want you to turn that rock salt into salt powder." she said.

"Well that's easy I just need to crush-" he was unable to complete the sentence as Bertha stopped him midway.

"No. You are not allowed to crush it. The only way allowed is to change its structure." Bertha said picking up a similar rock salt of her own and turning it into power with just a single touch of her index finger.

"How do I do it?" Alexander asked.

"Well, it is not very difficult. Since this is your first try and you have never practiced alchemy before, place the rock on top of your palm and send some mana inside it. Then focus on the flow of mana as it goes inside the rock, this should help you picture the structural design of the rock and the way the particles are packed. After that slowly force the mana inside the rock and try to push the particles away from each other and break their bond which in turn will change or break its state." Explained Bertha changing the powdered salt into solid again. 

Nodding at her explanation, Alexander took the solid rock salt in his palm and started applying mana on it. He mana went inside it and Alexander focused on the structure of the salt. The particles despite being very closely packed had small gaps in between them. Noticing the gaps, Alexander pushed the mana inside the gaps and started applying pressure on the particles through them. After a couple of seconds, the solid rock salt burst into powder and flew everywhere.

*Cough* *Cough* *Sneeze* *Cough* "Maybe I applied *Cough* a little more pressure than required" *Sneeze* Alexander said with a snot covered face. Seeing his miserable condition, Bertha burst out laughing.

"*Pfft* Bwahahaha Alex that was not a little more that was too much *pfft*" she said unable to stop laughing.

"Hey, that's not funny! Grand- *Sneeze*" said Alexander sneezing nonstop.

"Ha-ha, alright, but seriously you did apply a bit too much pressure. That's why I told you that alchemy is not very simple. This was one of the simplest alchemy tasks, but you realize how difficult it is not to mess up right?" she said trying to explain the complexity of alchemy. But in reality, her thoughts were totally different, 'This kid, it took me days to turn a rock salt into powder when I first started, but he did it in the first try! This little child has a monstrous talent for alchemy! I found a raw gemstone to pass on my alchemic legacy. I must teach him everything I know before this body gives in!'

"Alright, try again. Unless you can turn it into finer particles without bursting it, I am not going to teach you anything else." Said Bertha said in a stern voice.

"Okay!" Replied Alexander before picking up another solid rock salt and repeating the earlier process. But despite applying less pressure than before, the solid still busted like earlier. After that, he tried applying as little pressure as possible, but this time it cracked and broke down into smaller parts meaning that the pressure applied was less than required. Frustrated by his failures he kept on trying and trying, but after an hour he was finally able to turn the rock salt into finer particles without the powder flying everywhere. Happy with his success he tried it another time and succeeded yet again. Finally, being able to figure out the required pressure needed to change the state of the salt, he rushed towards his grandmother. 

"Grandma! Grandma! I succeeded!" He said jumping around Bertha, who in return smiled at his antics. 

"You did great, little Alexander. Now can you reverse the process?" Bertha asked Alexander with the same gentle face.

"Huh? You mean like turning the powder back to solid?" He asked to confirm.

"Yes, Alexander. I want you to turn it back into solid." said Bertha. Alexander looked towards the powdered salt in his hand and then said.

"But I don't know how to do that. Turning it into powder was simple because gravity was acting against the solid nature of the salt. The gravity was applying pressure over it, so it was easy to turn into powder. But now that it is in a powdered state, it will be far more difficult than before." he said shocking Bertha. Bertha was shocked because the 8-year-old in front of her was able to figure this out on his own, which was surprising. Concealing her surprise, she explained.

"It is true that gravity will try to prevent you from turning it back to solid. But do you think it is impossible to oppose gravity? Difficult? Yes, but impossible? No! What you need to do is, make an anti-gravity field around the powder by changing the air around it. Make an air-chamber around the powder and then try changing the state. The air chamber will take the pressure of gravity on itself preventing the powder from being affected. But you can also force your mana to change the shape, but I won't recommend that method as it might cause an explosion and harm you in return." 

Looking at the powdered salt in his hand he nodded and ran off to do what she told him.

[3 hours later]

"Grandma! Grandma! I did it!" He said showing her the solid salt in his hand.

'This little fellow is a genius, what did I even expect?' she thought but after a while, she asked, "Good work Alexander but which method did you use?" A little curious about his success in a short time.

"Oh, it was not anything special. You told me to use an air-chamber and work on it slowly, but also said that forcing mana will make the process faster but a bit risky. So, I applied both of those ideas at once, I made an air-chamber strong enough to withstand an explosion and forced mana inside of it without keeping my hand in contact with the powder. The mana forced the powder to take a solid shape. Although I did fail a few times but ultimately I succeeded." He said trying to explain what he did as simply as possible.

"How did you apply mana without touching the powder?" She asked him even though she already knew how he did it.

"It wasn't very difficult, all I had to do was place my hand below the air-chamber while keeping the powder inside it and apply mana to the powder indirectly through the chamber." He answered like it was the first thing one would do.

Sighing at that she thought, 'I won't be surprised even if he makes a philosopher's stone by accident. This kid is a natural alchemist.'

"Good job! Now go and clean yourself, we are going to have dinner in a while. I will start teaching you about changing elemental structure tomorrow and we will move on to the more difficult subjects from there." Bertha said dusting the powdered salt away from his messy jet-black hair.

"Okay! I am hungry… what's for dinner tonight?" He asked rubbing his stomach. Bertha laughed and went inside the mansion without replying.

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