daybreakacademy | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Who: Alt, Open
What: Flyer posting, Library nonsense, etc.
Where: All over the campus
When: Post dance.

Aptitude Test

[Alt decided to pick up the slack on some things, and so he can be found hanging up flyers with large clipart of beakers and exploding bombs with text in a big impact font:

"DO YOU WANT TO LEARN HOW TO MANIPULATE THE WORLD? CREATING THINGS FROM NOTHING? COME TO THE ALCHEMY PRACTICE LAB AND TEST YOURSELF! NO MAGICAL APTITUDE OR ABILITY IS REQUIRED!"

Since 'do you want to make bombs' while he's certain would get more people to go get tested and wasn't a lie given what he does, that line was vetoed by the department head. One can either ask him for more detail while he's hanging up the flyers, or head to the labs as instructed to get tested.]

Lumiere Dorm

[Alt searches around as he exits his room, frowning slightly as he looks down at the phone, and then up, waving down the first person he sees]

Excuse me! but if you're heading down to Soliel, could you do me one little favor?

Library

[Alt frowns slightly, the ladders are all elsewhere and the usually helpful Librarian is nowhere to be found. So with a nod of determination and checking to see no one's around to stop him, he starts to climb up the shelves to grab a particular book - reaching up as he gets close - almost... there...]

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*'Manipulate the world' felt a little hyperbolic. However it didn't require magic, something Maya wasn't sure she had. So she was curious what sort of power might be found there. Plus, big upside, she was already looking for new ways to fight so she's not such a... liability in the world of monster fighting or- whatever she ended up doing after she got out of school.*

So what sort of test is this.

*Maya let herself in, she also didn't make any noise coming in. Neither did the door. So unless Alt was looking up when she approached surprise?*

Ah-!

[He visibly jerks, stepping away from the rows and rows of bins, with labels from Antimony to Zinc and far more exotic materials in between such as 'Puniballs' and 'Vegetable Lamb wool']

Ah, yes I see you're here to find out. It's a basic synthesis test, I'll instruct you on how to merge materials into a new item.

[Alt returns to the bins, bringing out a bundle of sage, several pieces of willow bark, and a quart of distilled water]

Don't worry about how well it would turn out, it's just to see if you can do it.

So it's just- cooking?

*Or maybe chemistry? The point is she's getting that this is just mixing things together to make something new. Doesn't seem very useful for what she wants, but she's already here.*

*She picks up a few of the pieces of willow bark. Curiously holding them up to her ear one at a time. Listening to a slight buzz of magic from each.*

It's a decent analogue, except you can't turn flour and baking soda into a cake without an oven or an ore into an ingot without needing a smelter. Alchemy basically creates a lot of shortcuts, and this form in particular lets you pass on "Essence" of the materials into a final product such as making a bomb that will freeze anything it hits.

[He pauses as she picks up the willow barks, watching with rapt attention. The first sounds brittle and soft in tone, the second was almost like a lullaby created from the winds in the trees, the third has a firm and rolling noise almost like a drumbeat]

What are you doing?

So knowing how these are different would influence the end result of whatever I'm making?

*She can sense some variation to the ingredients but she can't really place what they mean. Although she guessed the second one didn't want to explode. She could sense a bit of magic from most of the ingredients but the power was too soft for her to get without a bit of extra focus.*

I hear magic.

[He clasps his hands together, eyes widening as a smile flashes across his face]

Amazing! You're doing something that takes Alchemists years to learn. That will be quite useful if you have the aptitude and desire to learn. I know we're suppose to get a proper alchemy teacher soon... so I've been mainly 'tutoring' so to speak.

Wait, people other than me can hear magic?

*Yup that's her priority, not how cool it is she can do it, but people other than her can also do it. Maybe someone can help her with her powers more specifically, or at least she has an avenue of research to find out more about what she can do.*

Well in this case it's hearing the voice of materials. But there are likely those who can hear it in a more general way. If I were to hazard a guess, this may fall under the purview of Seer-like abilities, that would be where I would start looking for records of such powers...

[He raises a finger]

Even with my experience I have to close my eyes and focus to hear their voice.

What exactly am I looking for, er, listening for. What am I trying to make?

*She's looking over the other materials. There's not much she can do with the water, so she'll see what she can hear from the sage.*

Seers don't like me. These are- the magic isn't active so it's very quiet, but everything has a bit of noise to it. I have to listen carefully to hear the difference.

[He chuckles lightly at the comment about seers]

They never like anything that falls out of their narrow field of vision. As for what we're making, I'm sorry I had gotten a little distracted, but we'll be making a medicinal salve. Generally what specific items being used in the synthesis doesn't matter when you're starting out, but given what you can hear... I think it might be good practice for your skills to try.

I can't blame them, I don't trust things I can't hear.

*Those outside her senses could be anything, and that anything was probably dangerous. Maya picks the one with the calmest of the three noises, the lullaby. She figures, being calming will help be medicine.*

What's next?

So you picked out that bark, Hm....

[He trails off before he steps back.]

First, you'll pour in the distilled water into the cauldron, keeping in mind the desire product in mind, the healing salve, and what 'healing' means to you. [And he giving a rather thorough set of directions]

-And when it starts to thicken, you're done! But let me know if it starts to smoke at any time.

*Maya starts working through the instructions, there's not really any problem with the basics of mixing the ingredients, it is keeping the word 'healing' in mind that's- well.*

*Maya has no idea what healing means to her, her wounds haven't really 'healed' properly. Her heart and mind are both damaged beyond what she thinks can be 'healed.' And that spiral of thoughts has completely derailed her focus.*

[As she continues, he watches, and notices the wisp of black smoke]

Duck.

*The warning wakes her up to the sound of her 'project' and- oh, none of that sounds good at all. Yeah, dropping to the floor is a good idea huh?*

[He ducks down at the same time as the Cauldron rattles - just before a huge black plume explodes out of the container, the contents spraying out... weirdly, it doesn't feel hot despite it having been boiled? But it sure smells like someone burnt down a green house]

Well... far as accidents go, that's actually pretty mild.

...Don't ask me to make healing things.

*She's fairly unreactive to the 'covered in grunge' and 'botching the test' of it all. She's pretty aware of where she went wrong. She might have picked the wrong materials, but it seemed more likely to do with her and not her powers.*

[Alt is not going to touch that, because he got a suspicion that is a thing he is not equipped to deal with]

...

[He leans in, lowering his voice]

I thiiink I might have an alternative test, just don't let the stodgy Admins know about it.

*Maya doesn't really answer him, not out loud, she looks at him and nods. Ever so slightly. She's good with a test that isn't, strictly speaking, approved.*

[He nods, quickly returning with what looks like the spiky shells of chestnuts, something that smells suspiciously like gunpowder, some paper, and string]

Now you'll look for something that wants to make a bang.

*She goes through the shells pretty quickly, picking the one with the loudest sound to it. The easiest to register on her power. The paper and string are a little more- all the same. And the last item is probably gunpowder, all of it wants to explode.*

...I'm a lot more familiar with thoughts of destruction.

[Toki is just heading back to his room as Alt exits the one next door.]

Hello~! I wasn't, but I can~!

[If the favor is something he's actually interested in doing and not too much work.]

[He hms for a second, touching his finger to his chin]

Well, I wouldn't want someone to go out of their way, but I'm running the labs all Saturday and wouldn't be able head down until the stores are closed. So I was asking if someone could pick up the new issue of Weekly Bomb - it's a manga magazine. I can give you the money, you can keep the change...

[Hm, what would work?]

And candy if you do this favor for me!

[Toki deliberates for a minute on that. In the end, it's too far and too much effort for one magazine.]

Sorry, can't help you~!

[He opens the door to 203 and yells from the doorway.]

Yuya~! A very important request has been made and you're the only person worthy of entrusting with such a delicate matter~!

[He rolls his eyes]

You could've just said 'no'.

Huh? [Yuya swerves in his seat, raising his brows.] Uh, what is it?

No problem, though~! I have it covered~!

[He waves at Alt and disappears into his room. Toki addresses Yuya while pointing to the hallway; he's left the door open.]

Some kid needs your help~!

Kid? I'm older than you!

[That's just more questions than it is answers... but Yuya gets up from his seat and pokes his head out the doorway. To see who Toki's talking about.]

[There's a curious glance as Keith watches the guy putting up that poster. There's... a lot he's still getting used to. His introduction to magical society and magical everything was a rather abrupt one and part of him's still reeling from some degree of culture shock so to speak.]

This for real?

[Not that he seriously doubts it, but for most of his life alchemy's been a lot of claptrap about the philosopher's stone and the elixir of life and all that stuff you were supposed to just treat the same gravitas you treat the tooth fairy.]

[He turns around, looking over Keith with a concerning eye]

It is. I take it that you're new to all of this?

[Alt lightly gestures around them]

[There's a moment of hesitation, then a quick nod. He's not particularly fond of broadcasting the fact that he's so new to everything, but in the end it's pretty darn obvious -- with or without his verbal confirmation.]

Yeah, I uh... had no idea alchemy or anything else was legit.

[A sheepish kind of look turns into more overt curiosity.]

What can you do with alchemy? Turn lead to gold, that kind of thing?

It is, the issue is while it's more common than having the ability to use magic, it still requires some aptitude to make something of the discipline.

[He smiles slightly]

The students of those Alchemists who can't perform it themselves used the principles to discover Chemistry... Ah, I am getting a little sidetracked. Yes, it is possible to transmute one material into another, but turning things into gold is discouraged - well, beyond a bar or two, as it would draw too much attention and can wreck havoc on the economy.

[He's listening with pretty obvious interest at the explanation, half-smiling by the end of it.]

...heh. Always kinda liked chemistry.

[For all the wrong reasons, mind you, buuuut he'll keep that to himself.]

Can you transmute something? I want to see this.

Then you might make progress at a decent clip if you're capable. As for transmutation - Synthesis, my specialty isn't that exciting to see but...

[He unclips the book from his hip, opening up - there's an elaborate circle, like something one would see in an occultic work, tracing it with his fingers, a spot in the ground warps, and a shape grew out of it - first a stone sword, then it shines up, turning metallic, hovering in place]

This is a more modern technique and requires a transmutation circle.

...woah.

[Synthesis isn't all that exciting to see, this guy says. And then makes a fucking sword out of stone. Keith stares for a good few seconds before reaching out to grab said sword, looking it over.]

How is that not exciting-- [Hard stop mid sentence. BETTER QUESTION:] What's exciting by alchemic standards?

Edited 2019-03-01 03:37 (UTC)

I apologize, this isn't Synthesis, I should've clarified that. Synthesis is very traditional, it's transmutating disparate items in a cauldron or an Athanor. The results are amazing, but the process is mundane - unless there's a misfire.

What I just did is simply called 'Transmutation' - transforming one thing into a different element. Both have their benefits and drawbracks, and some people have a better affinity for one technique over the other.

Edited 2019-03-01 03:42 (UTC)

[...Huh. He's going to give the sword an experimental swing to see how it feels compared to a regularly forged sword. There's definitely a grin as he's talking.]

By misfire you mean explosion?

[Not that those are fun or anything....]

[He lets him swing, it feels more like a metal sword]

Among other things~

[After that swing at least, he seems satisfied and will hand the sword back.]

...lemme guess, if I wanna know more about this, I should just take the aptitude test and find out what these other things are for myself?

[Otoha sees one of the flyers, then immediately makes a beeline to the alchemy practice lab.]

Hi! I'm Otoha Kurata, here to learn how to conquer the world of alchemy!

[Well that's a bold entrance. He peers up from the cauldron he's rinsing out]

Hahah... let's see if you got the aptitude, just give me a moment.

Sure. How do you find out if you have aptitude?

[She'll wait, but impatiently.]

By a practical test, I'll have you make something according to my instruction.

I had suggested something more immediately practical for defense like a bomb, but the staff vetoed it.

What's the point of teaching alchemy at a battle hero school if you can't use it to make bombs?

Oh that can be taught, but they decided that the students have to prove themselves responsible before they're allowed to learn those recipes.

[Alt gives an annoyed little sound at that]

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