Stellar Echo: Heart of the Myst-Chapter 137: VOL 2 - 82: What alchemy is?

"Because you seek loyalty, boss?"

"You got quite close." Erik commented with a kind smile on his face as he looked at Clara, who lowered her gaze a little embarrassed, which amused him slightly, but he quickly continued speaking in a calm tone.

"Though Clara is partly right, let me be honest with you: the reason I hired you was pure coincidence—or you could see it as a whim. I found Sofía interesting, willing to pay any price for her brother's life, which is quite rare, if I may say so. So, after thinking it through a bit, I decided to hire you as a good opportunity to improve myself."

Upon hearing the reason, the siblings looked at their boss even more confused than before, but the star-haired boy simply smiled and continued speaking.

"The point is that, due to my goals, I need to address one of my biggest weaknesses, which is finding collaborators. So, when I saw someone like Sofía—determined, eloquent, hardworking, and above all, loyal to her family—it occurred to me that maybe you were a good opportunity to try to nurture loyal and capable collaborators from scratch, so I could learn from that experience."

The unexpected praise caused Sofía to blush deeply and lower her head shyly, feeling her heart pounding at full speed. After all, the person who had praised her was not only incredibly handsome and basically, her savior, but also someone of high status and extensive knowledge, making his compliment far more significant. Still, the young man kept speaking in that calm, magnetic tone that seemed to captivate her.

"Therefore, from now on, I'll focus on nurturing you, my first collaborators. All I want from you is loyalty and diligence. I don't expect you to be the best, nor do I expect you to be particularly good at anything. As long as you're not far below average in your tasks, everything is fine. I only hope you'll be loyal and hardworking."

Upon hearing the last part, the trio of siblings looked in surprise at their new boss. Even Sofía momentarily forgot her shyness, which allowed them to see that he was giving them a somewhat comforting smile, full of confidence, making them feel warm and safe inside.

Though it might be true that he had only hired them on a whim, an undeniable fact was that he was giving them a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, one they might never have had under normal circumstances. Thus, in their hearts, their boss's image began to grow at a dizzying pace, while they were filled with an overwhelming desire to better themselves and exceed their boss's expectations, so they could repay all that he was giving them.

That feeling was especially strong in Sofa, since she was the one who had "risked it all" with the mentality of selling her soul to the devil for a mere spark of hope. Only to be rewarded with everything she had dreamed of and more. Inevitably, it led her to stand up and speak in a firm tone, full of conviction.

"Boss, I speak for myself and at the same time on behalf of my siblings to tell you that we, the López siblings, will work tirelessly to meet your expectations, and we will be your most faithful servants forever. The gratitude we feel for what you have done for us and for this opportunity you are giving us is something we will never forget, and from this moment, I dare swear that we could die a thousand times before betraying you."

At Sofía's words, Clara and Martin nodded determinedly, while Eleonora, Sigrún, and Seraphina looked at Erik in surprise, as he always ended up astonishing them with his great skill with words. After all, at the top of the list of his strange traits was the fact that he hardly ever socialized with anyone, and yet, in some odd way, he was quite good at it.

With his little "speech", Erik had practically delivered a masterclass in "leadership", if one wanted to make it sound nice, or, to be realistic, plain and simple emotional manipulation typical of leaders. First, he revealed his background and therefore his ability and position, and then he "opened up" about his weakness while erasing any notion of self-importance the siblings might have by mentioning that he had hired them by chance.

Then he praised Sofía, creating in the others the desire to be praised as well. Furthermore, although he seemingly relieved their pressure by saying there was no need to be the best, by placing all the emphasis on loyalty and diligence, he led them to the only possible logical conclusion—and the one Erik wanted.

As long as they remained loyal and worked hard, they would have the support of someone who was a disciple of two Master-level figures in a mutually beneficial arrangement that fostered closeness and trust. Thus, although they might not become the best, they would be far from average, especially Clara with her wood affinity. All while attributing their achievements to their boss and his support, further strengthening their closeness and loyalty, with Sofa's statement being clear proof of how effective the speech had been.

But the most impressive thing was that from start to finish, Erik hadn't told a single lie. Everything was truthful and verifiable; it was just the way he presented the facts that not only motivated the young people, eliminated their doubts, and inspired trust and familiarity toward him, but also built for himself an honest and sincere image. Moreover, there was still key information that Erik had deliberately withheld, which he would very likely use as the "final blow" to secure his image in the minds of the young ones.

"Hehe, that's good to hear, and I expect a lot from you." Erik commented with a slight smile, to which Sofía responded with renewed confidence.

"Don't worry, Boss. We'll do our best."

"Well then, with our overall objective outlined, let's now talk about our specific goals. For now, since I'm not entirely sure what your individual skills and strengths are, we'll be studying the basics and a bit of everything to develop a solid foundation on which to let your talents flourish.

"And while I'd love to take my time with that task, the reality is that it's not possible right now because I have a deadline to present my assistants for Artificery and Alchemy. So for the moment, we'll focus a bit more on those areas.

"But don't worry, you won't be my only assistants for that. However, I want at least two of you to reach the minimum necessary level so that you can be part of the two respective groups of assistants and act as a kind of undercover supervisors, able to directly inform me of any problems that arise."

"Artificery and Alchemy?!" The three siblings exclaimed, shocked by their boss's words, prompting Erik to explain with a small smile and a calm tone.

"Yes, I'm a certified alchemist and artificer, though only first rank in both professions."

The siblings, who thought they could no longer be surprised, once again found themselves dumbfounded upon hearing Erik's words because both Alchemy and Artificery were highly respected and absurdly profitable professions. Moreover, on their planet Aranta, they were almost like unicorns—so rare that the trio of siblings had never actually seen an alchemist or artificer with their own eyes, giving them a status comparable to nobility.

But despite their rarity, the siblings knew exactly what they were, and those professions were practically anyone's dream. Becoming an alchemist or an artificer guaranteed a life of luxury forever—let alone both at the same time. Thus, finding out they were now working for such a legendary figure, who would even teach them the craft, was utterly shocking, especially since their boss honestly didn't seem like an alchemist or an artificer. After all, the image they had of such professionals was that of wise old men with white hair, not a handsome young man full of energy.

"Boss... Are you really an alchemist and an artificer?" Sofía asked, astonishment written all over her face, to which Erik replied calmly.

"Yes, I'm both, but I think by introducing one of my masters' many titles, you'll understand it more easily. Master Silverwood is also known as one of the most important artificers in the galaxy, at the top of her field in the Arcane Order, while Master Eldurdóttir is no less impressive as an alchemist."

Erik's casual words made the siblings heads spin and left them feeling almost suffocated, receiving news after news that seemed more and more beyond what they thought was common sense. Even causing fear to invade them at the thought of being in the presence of such distinguished individuals.

Noticing the siblings' almost comical expressions, Erik decided to change the subject to lighten the atmosphere a bit. He pulled a beautiful black wooden desk out of his storage ring and began to draw on it, with the help of a special chalk that appeared in his hand, two beautiful magic circles surrounded by different runes.

Erik's actions ultimately caught the siblings' attention, and they began to watch what their boss was doing with curiosity. His calm and methodical movements helped soothe their overwhelmed minds a bit, all under the proud gazes of Eleonora, Sigrún, and Seraphina, who couldn't help but nod in satisfaction at their beloved's display of social skill.

After finishing drawing the runic-geometric circles on the desk, Erik placed in the center of the first one a lead ingot he had taken from his storage ring. He then turned to look at the siblings, who already had better expressions and whose paleness had receded quite a bit.

"Can any of you tell me what alchemy is?" Erik asked in a calm tone, letting his gaze wander over the siblings, at which point Clara timidly raised her hand.

"Go ahead, Clara."

Receiving Erik's permission, Clara took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself and then began to speak.

"Alchemy is a complex magical art through which powerful magic potions are made, capable of creating miracles."

Hearing her answer, Erik couldn't help being a bit surprised, but after a small laugh, he remarked,

"You're not entirely wrong, but you're embellishing alchemy a bit too much. Rather than a 'complex magical art', it's more like cooking: you use different ingredients and process them through various methods to achieve a specific result. Moreover, alchemy involves more than just making potions; you also refine materials and even do things like this."

After saying that, Erik placed his hand on the desk and channeled mana into the magic circle, causing it to glow softly. The siblings watched speechlessly as the silvery ingot their boss had put on the desk slowly began to change color until it became completely golden.

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"This is known as transmutation. It's not the most useful thing in the world, but isn't it super cool? Hehe."

Erik commented in a cheerful tone, while Eleonora, Seraphina, and especially Sigrún looked at him with amused and affectionate smiles, particularly at his mischievous laugh. The siblings stared, stunned, at the now-golden ingot on the desk, and then he added.

"But you can also do other kinds of things with transmutation." Erik picked up the gold ingot and placed it on the second circle before adding.

"Such as this..."

With Erik's words hanging in the air, the magic circle beneath the ingot began to glow softly. It suddenly started to change shape, shifting erratically as if it had come to life, until it took the form of two beautiful golden wolves. This prompted Kaiser and Tiberius, sitting in front, to bark excitedly and jump over to sniff them.

While the wolves sniffed the gold figures and occasionally rubbed against their legs, Erik took out another lead ingot, along with a few mana crystals. He then made a few adjustments to the first magic circle to connect it to the mana crystals. Once everything was ready, Erik turned to look at the siblings with a slight smile on his face.

"Who wants to try it?"

***

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