A Visitor From Afar

The Saber Tail Viper was a wood element magical beast, the wood element was the element with the most vitality and the highest regenerative properties. Aiden sat down to ponder some of the Alchemical Cuisine recipes, he had used up a lot of energy just now and needed something to recover.

After spending some time sifting through the recipes in his inheritance, he eventually settled on one called Soft Boned Snake Stew. This recipe would not only refill his energy but its main purpose was to strengthen the flexibility of his muscles and tendons.

The two focal points of the recipe were the wood element for vitality and growth, and the water element for malleability. He had the Saber Tailed Viper that would take care of the wood element and for the water element he had plenty of Stripers. However, this recipe also needed earth and metal elements to supplement for stability and strength.Too much softness can be a bad thing, so they were there to make sure that the bones stayed hard.

He had Eidle Root for the earth element, but he hadn't found anything that had the metal element yet. A frown formed between his brows, what to do?

Aiden closed his eyes and reached out with his senses, searching for any sign of metallic aura strands. Aura was directly influenced by the environment, a volcano might have large amounts of fire energy but a swamp might be full of poison aura. Then aura will directly influence the attributes of the creatures and plantlife there.

Metallic aura which is derived from the earth element, is usually very sharp and unmoving. Surprisingly, he found some metallic aura right outside the cave, on the cliff wall. Pulling himself to his feet Aiden hurried out, scanning the wall. To his disappointment, it looked like a normal rock wall; a few vines snaking their way up the stone face.

He pursed his lips, whatever it was, likely lay within the rock wall. Feeling a little silly, Aiden wasn't sure if he wanted to continue trying to get whatever it was. Metallic based herbs were extremely rare as wood and metal were antagonistic towards each other. Therefore, it was likely that whatever was in the rock was actually an ore of some kind.

Although still exciting and valuable, not much help for his recipe. After giving it some consideration, Aiden decided to switch to a different milder recipe. The one he chose was Braised Snake Ribs.

This recipe was mainly focused on warming and slowly strengthening the body, good for long term foundation building and also suitable for him. And it only required materials of the Primary Elements. The Primary Elements were Fire, Water, Wood, Earth, and Wind. These were the most commonly found elements in the world, and the rarer Secondary Elements were mutated or derived from them. The Secondary Elements were Lightning, Ice, Poison, Metal, and Illusion.

Aiden rushed into the cave to start the meal, after the initial fusion it would take at least an hour for it to simmer. For the wood element, he obviously had the Saber Tailed Viper, the fire element he grabbed his go-to Coal Peppers, Stripers for the water element, Eidle Root for the wood element, and Swaddlegrass for the wind element.

The key to this recipe was to carefully maintain a perfect balance between all of the elemental properties of the ingredients used. The final product would be a perfectly stable concoction that would gently build up all aspects of the body.

Aiden started by tossing in finely chopped Stripers into the bottom of the cauldron, they sizzled with the heat. Next, he squeezed out several Swaddlegrass bulbs into the mix, and steam rose up steadily. Stripers were water based and Swaddlegrass was wind based so the two seemed to ignore each other within the cauldron.

He kept his mental power ever vigilant though in case the situation changed. After letting the Stripers cook down and release enough water into the cauldron, Aiden readied the snake meat. First, he seared it on the flat stone he used as a pan, allowing the meat to gain a bit of color and caramelize the fat. Then he tossed it into the cauldron, at the same time his hands began to weave through the air mobilizing the aura within the cauldron, although wood and wind did not dislike each other, wood could absorb the energy of water if he didn't pay attention.

Finding a precarious balance between the three elements, he used his mental strength to begin adding slices of Eidle Root. As it was of the earth element, and earth was in an antagonistic relationship with wind but a supportive relationship with wood he also tossed in the Coal Peppers in to suppress the wood energy and prevent it from depleting the water energy.

The relationship between different elements can be complicated at times, which was why finding the appropriate amount and maintaining balance could be difficult. After about twenty minutes of intense focus, Aiden was able to let go of the aura and relax. Now, he just needed to wait for it to simmer for about an hour and it would be ready.

Standing up with a smile on his face, Aiden stretched out his limbs before heading out of the cave and away from the tempting fragrance of the cauldron. His goal was that pocket of metallic energy he had sensed. Although he wasn't a Blacksmith, he could still use ore in some Alchemical concoctions, an example being the use of the Black Spark Rock in the Snapfire Pills.

Aiden focused on the wall in front of him, he felt as though that pocket of aura should be relatively close to the surface, he just needed to get it out. Having already achieved Muscles like Steel, Aiden's strength far surpassed even an adult male mortal. So despite his small frame, he wasn't concerned about trying to break open the rock at all.

Finding what looked like a sturdy rock, Aiden got ready to strike the wall. Gathering all the strength of his body he took a mighty swing smashing the stone against the rock face. Crack! Aiden's face lit up with elation, a small break had appeared in the rock wall.

Before he could get too excited, another sound met his ears. His face changed in an instant, his head whipping up to look above him. Amber eyes widened as they caught sight of a figure hurtling towards him. He instinctively reached out his hands in an attempt to catch the person falling off the cliff.

With a bang, Aiden and the mysterious person crashed to the ground. Aiden's eyes watered in pain as he tried to regain his breath, the impact had knocked the wind out of him. After he struggled to sit up, Aiden took a glance at the person who had crushed him.

It was a boy who looked maybe a year or two older than him, long white hair that framed a thin delicate face that seemed to be a bit sickly. His robes seemed to be made out of high quality silk, Aiden suddenly froze as his eyes locked on the jade pendant that the boy wore around his neck. It was an image of a sun hidden behind an oak leaf.

If memory served him, that was the symbol of the Sommerset clan, one of the four great families of the capital city. Aiden began to feel nervous, he didn't want to be involved in any noble family intrigue and this whole situation seemed a little dangerous. After all, this young boy just fell off a cliff.

Aiden gave the boy a once over again, this time realizing something different. This guy was a mortal! He sighed with relief, at his age to be mortal meant his status was probably low and shouldn't be too much trouble. So, he bent over and carried the other boy into the cave.