Unspeakable Secrets The Alchemist Series (A Dark Medieval Progression Fantasy)

Chapter 11 Vadik

A headache greeted Connor bright and early the next day.

He groaned, rubbed his throbbing skull and forced himself to leave the comfort of his bed.

He blinked the sleep out of his eyes and looked around. Had the world always been so... dull?

"Back to normal," he said with a sigh.

How would he go back to his old senses now? They were sharp and keenly trained, but that was by human standards. It just didn't compare.

"Too bad it doesn't last forever," he muttered. At least he still had four vials of the stuff left, and he could always make more.

He headed downstairs and into the training room. He had to keep his promise to Victor and maintain his training and other responsibilities, but more than that... he had something he wanted to try.

He went through his exercises. He'd done them for so long, he barely even thought about them anymore, but he made sure to do each one perfectly and more vigorously than he had in a long time.

He finally had what he'd been missing.

He was more than a thief and a spy now, he was an alchemist, and that thought sparked a fire in his soul that fueled his every action.

He'd find what happened to his parents, and hunt down whoever or whatever took them from him, but to do that he needed to be stronger... much stronger.

He would become the most powerful alchemist the world had ever seen if that's what it took.

Sweat dripped from his body as he did pull-ups.

He strained his lean muscles until they were too weak to continue, and then switched to a new exercise without stopping.

As he went through his many exercises, everything Victor had told him swirled in his mind.

The secret he would have to keep, the meticulousness that alchemy required, how Victor had searched for Connor's parents but found nothing... everything.

For the first time, he could understand what his uncle had been doing all these years. All the constant training. The insistence that everything be mastered and perfected.

He'd resented Victor for it at times, but now... now he was grateful.

How incredible would the skills he had honed over a decade and a half of Victor's tutelage be with the power of alchemy behind them?

He lifted weights in smooth, controlled motions until his arms felt like lead, and still, he pushed himself to surpass his limits.

He kept at it for hours, training his body harder than ever before. Sweat flowed from him like a river.

He finished with the weights and took a long drink of water. He picked up a longsword off the weapons rack.

He usually used a rapier, but he wanted to improve his skill with the longsword and test one of his thoughts from earlier at the same time.

He took out a vial of sense-heightening potion from his bottomless bag and pulled the cork.

He took a long look at the vial, readying himself for what was to come, put the vial to his lips and threw his head back.

The sweet potion poured down his throat, and he took deep breaths as the warmth spread through his body.

The world exploded with color, sound, and sensation once more, but he took it in stride this time.

His mind seemed to catch up to his enhanced senses faster as well. But, maybe that was just because he hadn't panicked this time.

The salty stench of his own sweat filled his nostrils, and the hairs on the back of his neck prickled.