(A/N.: I’m honestly trying not to do long chapters, but every time I sit down I finish up with almost 5000 words, and at the end has to cut it up to smaller, better digestible parts. This arc will have 1 more chapter, but believe me when I say I tried to cut it down to only 2 parts…)

—

While the trio was chatting while patiently waiting for the water to get ready, Number 3, was paying close attention to their actions, while scribbling down the details of what was happening.

“It seems like they are making a new potion this time. Judging by the ingredients they gathered, it is probably some type of energy booster. Still… that boy could easily pick up and bring that huge barrel… Something is definitely not normal about him.” She mumbled to herself.

Another thing she noticed was that she couldn’t follow the girl when he went to the back of the house. Once she entered the back room, her vision and even her stronger sensing abilities failed to penetrate the invisible barrier that surrounded the room. She noted this tidbit down as well. She also noticed the strange way of how the Granny started the fire, which was definitely not some simple, low-level spell.

Noting everything down to her journal, she continued paying attention to the happenings of the family…

—

Meanwhile, the trio was enjoying some fresh tea, while waiting for the water to heat up to the required temperature.

Aiden had a ridiculously hard time keeping his happiness in check as he saw the notification in the system when it analyzed the symbol, Granny had cast another one of her Rune Magic spells. This one was probably the word for “Fire” or “Ignite” or something similar Aiden thought.

[Rune Magic discovered! Analyzing information… 18%]

With this, his knowledge of the Runic Symbols was steadily growing, and with that, also his insight into the way these strange ancient symbols are used. While his progress and knowledge were still low, he could already tell, this method was aimed more for everyday life, and for defensive purposes than towards combat potential.

Closing down the notifications, his gaze shifted towards the distance, towards the ‘little birdie’ outside on the tree branch. Some time has already passed with their guest doing anything noteworthy. He was still on the fence on what would be the best course of action. While it is relatively harmless to have her watching them, he wasn’t sure if the uneasy feeling he was having since leaving the city was related to her, or it was something else.

Granny noticing Aiden’s gaze asked with a concerned voice.

“Are there any problems Aiden? Did you see or hear something?”

She didn’t feel any threats at all. While she could also sense the spy outside, but as she wasn’t doing anything harmful, and from what she noticed she wasn’t paying attention to Lily, she didn’t want to cause any issues and just let her be.

“Alright! It should be ready soon, Lily, Aiden each one of you pick up one of the vials containing the wolf’s blood. I will handle the herbs as that needs to be precise, and it needs some extra attention, unlike the blood that I have already prepared for both of you. We need to be extra careful, and make sure that we add all the contents at the same time. The slightest delays can create unforeseen results!” She reminded them.

They both picked up their vials and stood next to the still closed up cauldron, that was on top of the crackling orange colored fire. Granny also picked up a handful of the already prepared and grounded herbs and walked next to Aiden.

“Let’s see if it’s ready. Be ready, as soon as I give the signal, pour it in immediately, okay?” She asked once more just to be safe.

Both of them nodded their heads, and while Aiden remained silent and focused, Lily cheerfully replied:

“Yes Granny, we are both ready!”

Opening the lid slightly, Granny peeked inside, before smiling contentedly and then finishing the motion, picking it off and putting the lid on the table. Closing her eyes and exhaling slightly while murmuring something that both kids couldn’t understand. In the next moment, the water that just started boiling inside the cauldron turned from the default transparent, colorless version to be tinted by a light hue of yellow. The slight coloration that singed the liquid made Aiden’s eye widen with surprise. Lily, on the other hand, wasn’t surprised at all, as she knew that this was a technique that Granny often used to check the temperature of liquids.

Seeing the color, Granny nodded with a satisfied smile on her face, and as she prepared the herbs in her hands, she gave the sign in a clear voice to both children.

“Okay, add the blood…. NOW!”

As both kids poured the blood, Granny threw the grounded herb into the mixture, and then using the already prepared long timber handle, he stirred the contents a few times.

“Good job children! With this, we should be fine leaving it as it is for the next 3 hours. You can go have some free time, but don’t leave the house, it’s already late!”

Putting the lid back on the cauldron and closing it, she then made her way to the kitchen, to start preparing for dinner. They still have a lot of time so a bit of dessert can’t hurt anybody, right?

They both nodded their heads, and while Lily scampered back to her room, Aiden sat down to the floor next to the crackling fire. He wasn’t really paying attention as he was super excited inside. His ‘hard’ work, continuing his training session with Granny bore fruit, and the previous hurdle, that stopped his progress at 5%, finally moved forward. He noticed the beeping sounds previously but as he wanted to maximize his gains, he didn’t check them.

Now looking through them, he was so happy he had a really hard time containing it inside.

[Analyzing Alchemy. Progress 6%]

[Analyzing Alchemy. Progress 7%]

.

.

.

[Analyzing Alchemy. Progress 10%. Threshold reached. To continue gathering information for analysis, please proceed with monitoring a new session.]

‘It is much slower than the Rune Magic, but it’s okay, I’m not in a hurry. Hopefully, I can gain progress when we will be brewing the same healing potions and I do not need to analyze new recipes every time…’

Enya broke Aiden’s inner monologue and immediately shattered his hopes in gaining easy progress.

[Unfortunately, Aiden, if the system analyzed a recipe already, it will not provide you with continued benefits, and your progress will not increase anymore. To gain continued progress, you will also need to watch new recipes.

Also, just to make sure you do not forget, there’s another notification in your news feed Aiden. Please make sure you read it, as it is related to your current problem.]

Reminded by her, Aiden clicked the last notification and opened it up, only to see a new Side Quest being assigned to him. And this time, it was related to alchemy!

[Side Quest: The eager Alchemist!

Difficulty: E

Objective: Finish the last steps of the brewing alone, without any assistance. Make sure to follow the instructions of Granny during the dilution process.

Reward: +5% progress in Alchemy, +50 System XP

Failure Condition: Receiving direct assistance

Penalty: -5% progress towards Alchemy, Alchemy Analysis Progress cannot be made in the next 30 days]

‘Hmm… It is not a difficult one, and the penalty isn’t that bad either. Though I would hate being locked for a full month, it’s not like with my previous personal quest, where the system would straight up kill me.’

While Enya did not reply to him this time, he could almost feel her presence inside his soul space, and he was sure that she was smiling at him.

‘Anyway, let’s rest up a bit, and during dinner, I will let them know that I would want to do this step alone. Hopefully Granny will let me. If not then…’ as the thought came to his mind, he called for the system. “Enya, what happens if I cannot complete this quest, but it is not related to my inability, but to some outside factor? Is there a way to cancel quests?’

[No Aiden, once a quest is assigned to you, there is no way to ease your way out of it. Later on, however, when you grow and you unlock some of the currently unavailable features, you will be able to freely select Quests for yourself and well… you’ll see.]

While the last part of her reply was vague, it didn’t bother Aiden too much. Since he can’t cancel the quest, he just has to make sure he can complete it. He was confident that Granny will be happy that he shows enthusiasm for the craft and will do her absolute best to guide him. What’s the worst that could happen anyways? It’s just about adding cold water to the finished product…

He stood up and with a happy smile on his face, he made his way towards his shared room with Lily. Since they had a few hours to spare he figured he will spend some time getting to know the little girl more. It hasn’t been that long, but he already has grown quite fond of this little bag of happiness. While he knew there was some dark past involved with her, from his short observation she seemed to be fine and moved on already. Regardless, Aiden felt that he needed to make sure she will be happy from now on. After all, back when that fat young master said those hurtful comments about Lily, he just lost reasoning, and anger overwhelmed him.

While not to this extent, but something similar could be said for Granny, she is also someone that Aiden already considers family. If anybody would try to cause harm to any of them, Aiden wasn’t sure what he would do…