Accomodations

"Thank you, Little Alchemist. I have not had such a wonderful meal in a very long time," Marcus smiled gently at Aiden, his usually cold visage softening briefly.

 Aiden was slightly stunned by the smile, before reaching out for Marcus's wrist to examine his condition. He carefully probed along Marcus's veins with strands of mental power, taking great care not to bump into anything and injure the already fragile body. The results were gratifying. The organs and internal tissue had begun to repair, although not completely healed this progress was immense considering the state of them before the meal. A few more days of this sort of gentle healing and they should return to their peak condition. That would be the time to begin the conditioning process and build a strong foundation so that Marcus could attempt to cultivate. 

" Your condition is improving! The pain should be much less than before, and after a few days should be gone altogether. Then we can use a few of my tempering recipes to strengthen your body, since it is still very fragile. You must not attempt to cultivate before then or else everything will be for naught and we will have to start all over again. And that is in the best case scenario, the worst case you could permanently damage your meridians or organs and be rendered unable to cultivate." Aiden stared at Marcus, unprecedentedly serious, as he went over his condition. They were tied together, for better or for worse, so each other's success or failure would have a huge impact on the other.

"Understood, I will strive to heal in peace," Marcus nodded with an air of relaxation, weight seemingly lifted off of his shoulders. "On the other hand Little Alchemist, I notice that you didn't use any of the prepared ingredients for yourself. Everything in that room is for you, so don't feel restrained. I made you a promise and I intend to keep it. We are partners, you are not my servant." Marcus stated seriously, while green eyes stared steadfastly into Aiden's amber ones. 

A faint flush spread across Aiden's face in embarrassment, he had avoided using the myriad of supplies in the room. This was because he was not used to being immersed in such luxury, before his wonderful forest adventure he had never even seen a magic herb or magical beast meat. They were simply the subject of rumors among the servants of the manor, spread about in whispers that he overheard while walking. Using those herbs that were akin to pieces of solid gold, hurt almost physically. When making Marcus's meal he could ignore their value, because in his mind Marcus is the one who bought them and no expense should be spared for his recovery. 

For himself though, he felt that he should be more reserved. He wanted to prove to Marcus that he was a worthy investment, and it just seemed that using those materials on himself would seem like he was ignorant of their value. 

Marcus sighed, he seemed to see right through Aiden's concerns " Little Alchemist, even if you burned all of those herbs to ashes it wouldn't affect me. I can afford it. Just experiment and find your rhythm, don't be constrained by outside concerns." 

Aiden was blinded by the golden aura that seemed to emit from Marcus as he declared how rich he was, but it still seemed to break the ice a bit. Although Aiden wasn't sure that he would ever be able to be comfortable burning precious materials to ash, he would try to be more relieved to use the opportunities in that room to grow himself. Even if it was just to try to heal Marcus as fast as possible and fulfill the first stage of their agreement.

 " You are right, I should definitely believe that the famous young master of the Sommerset family can afford me as a little alchemist. Thank you Young Master for guiding me," Aiden joked, mirth flitting across his face. 

After the meal, Marcus led Aiden to his sleeping quarters. It was a large and well appointed room located in the heart of the manor. There was a wide and luxurious bed, with four carved posts reaching up to the ceiling, curtains stretched between them for privacy. An armoire stood tall against one wal,l next to it was also a desk and chair for studying. On the opposite wall was a door which led to a bathroom, with a pool of water inset into the floor. It was far larger than the one he had at the Moore Family, this one was also decorated with colorful tiles and had a heat inscription so that he could take a warm bath. There was also a large mirror on one wall for grooming, which was something he had never had before. 

After he had finished exploring and taking in the room, Marcus pointed next door and indicated that those were his chambers and to find him every morning for a checkup. Then with his typical slow paced stroll, Marcus left the room, leaving Aiden to his own devices.

 Looking around his new room, Aiden felt excitement bubble up in his heart, this was his new home. He gently opened up the armoire and chose one of the new sets of clothes that had been prepared for him and headed into the bathroom. It was time for him to bathe, although the forest adventure had been freeing in so many ways, its largest downside had been his inability to wash safely.

 After entering the bathroom he placed the clean clothes on the shelf, and started the heat inscriptions along the pool before disrobing and placing his old worn robes in the small bin meant for outgoing laundry. Aiden then turned and carefully dipped his toes into the water to test the temperature, it was already quite warm. So, he gingerly descended into the pool, before leaning back and relaxing. 

For a few moments he just lay there enveloped by the warm water enjoying the peace, which almost seemed foreign to him after these several days of excitement. Soon he came back to himself and began to plan his next steps.

 For Marcus' condition the next several days would be focused on healing the torn meridians and bruised and battered organs. Then, he would need to begin a tempering process to build a solid foundation for his future cultivation. Aiden began running through the recipes and elixirs in his mind sifting through to find the most suitable ones. He would discuss them with Marcus tomorrow to finalize his treatment plan.

 As for himself, he needed to focus on tempering his ligaments and tendons so that he could continue his cultivation in this level solidly. He also needed to branch out in his alchemy practice, thus far he had mostly concocted cuisines which was far too limiting. He wanted to craft more Sparkfire pills to keep as emergency defense weapons for himself, but even those he had done before. 

Aiden rapidly searched for a recipe that was both useful for his current state but also could maybe show his value to Marcus. Even though they had had a heart to heart earlier, Aiden still lacked security and wanted to make sure his place in this partnership always had a position of strength. 

After going through numerous recipes, he locked in on one in particular, Swift Pills. When taken these pills infused the person with a burst of wind energy allowing them to move with explosive speed for a short period of time. When used in an emergency they could be the difference between escaping certain death or succumbing to it. 

After making his decision, Aiden finished his bath in relaxation before dressing in his brand new robes. He used his mental energy to dry and carefully comb his hair as he had learned. After carefully arranging himself he appraised his appearance in the mirror. Compared to what he had looked like a week ago, it seemed as if there was a completely different person looking back at him.

 His cheeks were slightly plump now where once they had clung to his cheekbones. His skin seemed to glow with vitality, a faint pink flush clear against his fair skin. His long maroon hair was smooth as satin, where once it was dry and dull. Aiden could even swear that he had grown a bit. He smiled widely, joy clearly visible in his vibrant amber eyes. 

Practically skipping, Aiden left the bathroom to start meditation. He was focusing on his mental power this time. He surveyed the thin threads that filled his mental space and continued to try and consolidate them. Perhaps due to his excellent mood, he felt as though it went much smoother this time. He brought two threads together and forcibly wound them together forming a slightly thicker thread, but there seemed to be much less resistance than before.

 After two hours of meditation he had bound another three threads for a total of six, but he felt refreshed rather than exhausted. Aiden made a mental note of the importance of mood on cultivation. He then readied himself for a good night's rest. He hadn't slept in a bed in quite a while.