Chapter 11 11
Nicolas gently laid Lea on the bed covered with a white sheet. She was still unconscious, but that had not taken anything away from her beauty. Her chest moving with her breathing and her smooth skin made the heart of Nicolas, who had carried her all the way, feel like it was about to jump out of its place. Only 30 minutes had passed since they met, and it couldn't even be said that they had truly met yet, but Nicolas had begun to feel a bond between himself and Lea.
It was not just because of her beauty; he was also impressed by her determination. She was very similar to him; she too could not accept the life she was living and had challenged life. She had decided to write her own destiny and had paid a heavy price for it. She had not accepted her position as a slave and had fought for her freedom and her body. Just like Nicolas, she was challenging her destiny to get rid of her shackles.
Even if her beauty was unique, beauty was temporary; the important thing was personality, and although it was her beauty that made Nicolas's heart tremble, it was her character that made him drawn to her. He could no longer leave her; even though it had only been 30 minutes, he had become attached once.
When Lea lay on the soft bed, an expression of discomfort appeared on her face. It was impossible for Nicolas not to notice this while watching her carefully. As her eyelids fluttered slightly, she turned in the bed and raised her hand and placed it on the pillow. Nicolas smiled; he had realized that Lea was no longer unconscious, but had fallen into sleep.
After Nicolas sighed, he slowly turned his back and left the room. Albert was waiting for him at the door, with his head bowed and his back to the door. When the door opened, he realized that Nicolas had come out and bowed slightly forward.
'Young Master...' he said, respectfully handing over the small package he was holding.
Nicolas took the small package and spoke to Albert without checking its contents. 'Tell the cook to prepare light meals. Let them send a few plates and a pitcher of sherbet to my room,' he said. Albert bowed and 'As you command, Young Master,' he said. After Albert left, Nicolas entered the room again. He cast a glance at Lea and sat in the empty space next to the closet. He pulled out two large packages from under the work desk. Inside the packages were items he had bought today from the pharmacy and the Alchemist's Union.
They had been left in his room by the guards before him. Nicolas quickly opened the packages, careful not to make a sound, and placed the plants, liquids, and the black cauldron the size of two fists in front of him.
''In my past life, I did not practice what I had learned, I had only created some potions and pills while in the army, but now I have the full support of the Fei Clan. I can now develop my Alchemy,' Nicolas said to himself. For 4 whole years, he had learned Alchemy from the Great Alchemist Iter. Great Alchemist Iter was an important person who had hidden himself from society; only high-level people knew of his existence, and even they treated this old man with extreme respect. Nicolas had not learned martial arts from him, but what he had learned was far more valuable than martial arts.
Alchemists had more prestige even than Magic Explorers, but it was not easy to become an Alchemist. Just being able to hold this title meant having the same status as a Count, and someone who was a Master Alchemist was easily considered equal in status to a Duke. Great Master Alchemists were equal to a Grand Duke or a king.
Great Master Alchemists like Iter, on the other hand, had a status equal to the Pope of the Holy Church, the Pope of the Dark Wizard Church, or the Emperor of the Forgotten Empire. Nicolas, of course, did not know this in his youth, but during the 19 years he spent in the army, he actually learned what kind of status Iter had.
His relationship with his aunt was still a complete mystery; in fact, he knew very little about the origins of his Mother and aunts. The three sisters were extremely talented, so much so that Akira, that is, his Mother, was a Great Master Level Water Mage. His eldest aunt, Leila, despite being around 35 years old, was a Fire Mage who had approached the peak of the Master Level, and his younger aunt, Marisa, was even more shockingly a genius who, at 25 years old, was at the peak of the Great Aziz level and had received the title of Aziz of the Spear at 22 years old.
Then there was undoubtedly Mia. Although there was no blood bond between Mia and Nicolas, Mia had joined the clan along with his mother and aunts. Like his eldest aunt Leila, she was 35 years old and a knight at the peak of the Master Level. She was an unbelievable genius who had changed the Intelligence division of the Fei Clan from top to bottom. She had developed her own techniques and taught these techniques to the members of the Intelligence division. She managed the Fei Clan's secret assassination army and at the same time managed activities such as espionage and gathering information. She was the secret power of the Fei Clan, but her biggest job was not these. Her biggest job was the twin brothers she discovered herself, the commanders-in-chief of the Knight Armies, Adriana and Alex.
These two commanders had reorganized the Fei Clan's army from top to bottom and made it perfect. The reason the Fei Clan is experiencing its golden age is undoubtedly Akira and those she brought with her, but the fact that Hanry was a smart and talented administrator was like the glue that brought everything together. Because of the people he used at critical points, being a just person, and being a brave commander, he had corrected everything that existed, taken it further, and made it perfect.
Therefore, if Nicolas is to lead the clan in the future and rule these lands, he will not succeed in this by just leaving his old behaviors. He also needed great support and unlimited effort. He had to work hard, and for that, what the Alchemist Iter taught him was like coal that came on a winter day. In his previous life, he had benefited very little from this information, but now he would use it to the end and even try to surpass Alchemist Iter.
After Nicolas took a deep breath, he rolled up his shirt sleeves, reached out his hands, and picked up the red-colored stone on the ground. Although there were black spots on the stone, it was generally red in color, and there was a trembling flame in its center. The name of this stone was the Flame Stone, and it could only be used by alchemists. It had no harm to the environment or the person; when activated, it did nothing but heat the Alchemy cauldron. An alchemist could refine pills or potions by controlling the temperature of the Flame Stone.
Nicolas had to heat the cauldron before using the thirty or so different plants and liquids standing in front of him. After focusing all his attention on the cauldron, he transferred his Aziz Energy to the flame stone and quickly placed the flame stone under the alchemy cauldron. As soon as the Flame Cauldron was activated, the alchemy cauldron began to heat up. The process was extremely fast; the cauldron was made of thick metal and had magic arrays under it. Thanks to these magic arrays, it would draw the heat of the flame stone and heat up quickly. A fire lit with wood and coal would take an hour to heat this small cauldron.
In just 10 seconds, the cauldron had turned visibly red. Nicolas took the bottle with blue-colored liquid standing next to him, opened its stopper, and poured all of it into the cauldron. After waiting for 4 seconds, he took another plant, sent his Aziz Energy to the plant, and dripped the essence of the plant into the alchemy cauldron.
