The Peculiar Alchemist

4 || Precious White Powder

Agnes was grumbling before she threw aside everything that was on her table in a frustrated manner. There was no rage in her sudden action, just pessimism at how pointless continuing her potion is.

It was not salvageable.

There was no care or worry spared at the broken glass that resulted from her recent outburst, and no attention paid to the liquid that was ruining her wooden floor. The destruction and mess she leaves behind will always be dealt with later, whenever she has time for it. Whenever her thoughts aren't occupied by something more important and interesting.

Making this potion successfully would make her the greatest alchemist to ever live, but she also considered moving on to stones in order to try her luck there.

Many people attempted to create this potion she's working on, and so far none of them even managed to come close to succeeding.

Not even her.

And that reminder enraged her.

There was nothing in alchemy that was impossible to Agnes. If there's anything she couldn't do, then it meant that it really is one of the few things that were impossible in life and alchemy. After all, she is the best of the best, and nobody can come close.

If they did, they'd be used as fertilizer for her garden, but that detail wasn't important.

Gathering all the necessary ingredients once more, Agnes propped up her book – the one she wrote herself while researching this particular potion – and decided to try once again. However, she did let out a displeased sound when she noticed that one of her most important ingredients was running scarce.

She had to be really careful if she wanted to have two tries, and she poured the valuable white powder in a small plate making sure to part it evenly to make use of the two portions.

Being meticulous was a vital part in the success of any potion, and she had to be extremely meticulous with this one. Anything could go wrong.

After all, this potion was supposed to grant immortality.

If anyone was going to achieve this, it was her.

Agnes slowly opened one of the bottles that had a disgusting brown liquid with disgusting worm-like things swirling inside of it, and she slowly brought it to her empty cauldron making sure to be extremely precise as she attempted to pour its content. A single drop can make all the difference.

But many excessive drops were poured due to her being startled by whoever decided to be annoying to her at that moment. Did they have to be so noisy when they walked in?

"You're proving to be more of an annoyance than actual help!" She turned around furiously but was surprised when she saw Toby greeting her with a startled face, and he held up his hands in a defensive manner, apologizing without knowing what he's apologizing for. He didn't mean to annoy her. "Oh, it's you. I thought you were that useless-"

Just before she completed her sentence as she relaxed, the person in question walked in with a smug look on his face before a flower glided in the air and hit the side of Agnes' face. "I am back, and I came with gifts."

Agnes' eye fell on the flower he brought and she glared at it. To her, it was not that special. "You've always been good for nothing. What is this?"

"I'll pretend to be hurt." Her useless helper did not react much to her insults, and he still waved the flower in her face despite her not being impressed by it. Toby wondered just how used to the abuse 'Kevin' was, and why he never really had a problem with it. In fact, he seemed to be provoking Agnes intentionally. "Just so you know, this flower was found in an interesting place."