Elemental Soul (Book 1 of 'A Fantasy in Time')

Chapter 3: Apothecaries Training

Chapter 3: Apothecaries Training

After hearing the good news that the date turned out well, I decided to take advantage of the full night in game time and really sleep on the cot instead of logging out.

Waking at the first light I was able to enjoy the scents and sounds of the city in the early morning.  Wood smoke hung on the air as fires for cooking and crafting were lit to start the day.  Parents who looked like they could have used a cup of coffee were shooing their children off to what I believed was their school.  They all had on similar grey smocks and grey pants so I assumed the kids were off to an institution of some sort.  Adults wore whatever they wanted but for the most part the men wore leather or heavy cloth vests over their shirts, and women wore aprons as they went about their morning duties.  This could have been due to the fact that it was the merchant district.

Seeing all of this through the window of the apothecary shop I decided that I might as well get started on my day.  Making my way into the kitchen area of Victoria’s house, I was surprised to see that she hadn’t woken up yet.  With a shrug I decided to start the stove fire for her.  Having worked closely with her every morning for the past week on drudgery work in the apothecary shop and her house, I had become quite familiar with her routine.  Going to her ice box, which I now knew that she kept cold with her magic after seeing her display of it last night, I pulled out some eggs, chicken, cheese, and potatoes.  After finding a good kitchen knife I set to work preparing them into an omelet.

Despite my living on microwaved frozen food for the past couple of days whenever I returned to the Real world, I really did have a decent grasp on cooking.  Too bad I wasn’t very familiar with the spices in this world yet.  Having learned a few recipes from my mother and a few from the internet, I had made various changes to them to improve the taste and texture of the food I made at home.  On the accidental occasion my end product would be so perfect that I had to force myself to stop eating it.  Usually though, they just turned out anywhere from pretty good to passable.

Finally as I had just finished the first omelet, I saw Victoria come out to the kitchen with her hair disheveled and a dreamy look on her face.  “Mmmmm . . . that smells good.”  She said.  “Maybe you should cook from now on.”

“I beg to differ, since your cooking is so much better than mine.”  I said, with a depreciating chuckle.  “But I would be interested in learning how to cook better in this world.”  As she sat down at the kitchen table I handed her the plate with the finished omelet before going back to check on mine making sure it didn’t burn.

“As of today,”  She said between mouthfuls, “you are officially my student, both as an apothecary and a cook.”  With a raised eyebrow, I looked over at her from my spot over the stove.  “I wasn’t your student before?”

With a shake of her head she took a few more bites before explaining.  “I was planning on just teaching you the work of a normal apothecary, but your creativity, and luck,” she said with a laugh, “convinced me otherwise.”  “My teacher had a very unique set of skills of which he passed onto me that gives me quite the edge over most apothecaries.”  Finishing up her last bite she turned to fully face me as I brought my now finished omelet over to the table.  “After you finish breakfast, your real training begins today.”

After cleaning up after breakfast, I met with Victoria in her shop.  As a greeting she pulled out two very large books and handed them both to me.   Opening the newer looking one first, all I saw were blank pages.  There had to be close to 1000 in total.  Then opening the other, I scanned through the first 10 or so pages seeing drawing after drawing of various plants with lines and arrows pointing to different parts describing what their alchemic properties were.  At the bottom of each page was a written description of where they are generally found and need to know facts about harvesting them.