Sunrise Alchemist, Ch 5: Settling In (Patreon)

A couple of hours later, Verse found himself talking to an irate innkeeper, one who was holding an empty plate of food that was supposed to go to a separate table. The culprit that had caused the trouble was Leaf, but given his natural abilities, he was invisible around Verse’s neck.

The innkeeper didn’t know how the food had disappeared. He just knew it had something to do with Verse, since it had disappeared as it was passing his table. All Verse could do was pay for the extra meal and try not to laugh as he walked back outside.

“Next time, tell me you want to eat it and I’ll buy you some,” he said as he scratched at Leaf’s head. “Otherwise, we’re going to get a bad reputation in inns.”

He thought it was funny, but he didn’t want to tell Leaf that. The little elemental already thought all the food nearby was its own.

“Glutton,” the shrine grumbled. “He should be old enough to know better.”

“He might be old enough that he doesn’t care,” Verse said. “Perhaps he thinks it’s owed to him from his juniors. Besides, it did look like the innkeeper was bringing it to our table. He was just a little impatient.”

He looked down the street as he considered where to head next. Either way, he was going to stop at one of the food stalls on the way and find something else to eat. Their food hadn’t even arrived yet before they got kicked out.

“Alright,” he said. “Maybe an inn isn’t the best idea. Let’s find a courtyard house to rent. There will be more room for alchemy and I can set up some privacy formations.”

He’d been planning to do the same thing in the inn, but if he had a whole courtyard to work with, he could make them better. He didn’t know how much energy his draconic alchemy would release, but he didn’t plan on letting anyone else see it.

“You mean I’ll set up privacy formations,” the shrine laughed. “Those formation plates you have aren’t worth the material they’re made from. Just looking at them is a travesty. If you want to protect an area, leave it to me! If that elemental wanted to, I’m sure he could help too.”

“Perhaps,” Verse said with a shrug. “He should be able to balance the natural energy in an area and hide ripples, but it’s up to him.”

He glanced at the city map and then headed toward the entrance of the Alchemist Quarter. There were some real estate brokers not too far from the auction house who catered to alchemists. They should have an idea of places to rent or buy. Although his spirit stones weren’t endless, he could probably find something.

It took him an hour to find a good shop, but before long, he was talking to a broker. As soon as he described what he wanted, the man gave him a bright and professional smile. It had more to do with his titles as knight and baron than his cultivation, which wasn’t anything impressive in the city.

“We have several options for someone of your refined status, sir,” he replied as he gestured at the wall behind him. “Please, take a look.”

The wall was carved from white stone with an illusion formation set into it. At the broker’s gesture, half a dozen images appeared. Each of them was a small building. Without delay, the broker reached out and enlarged the first one.

“This is a mansion that was recently renovated,” he said cheerfully as he explained the features involved. “Like all the options here, it’s in the Residential Quarter, but in the best location possible, next to the rest of the nobility.”

He was trying to sell it hard, which made Verse shake his head. It was clearly going to be the most expensive option. Still, he didn’t say anything. He just studied the image as he got a better understanding of the price.

The mansion was much too large for him, easily enough to house forty or fifty people, and it came with a large estate inside the city. Boreas was a large city that sprawled for miles on miles inside the walls, but this estate had to be one of the most frivolous uses of space here.

It was no wonder it was for sale.

“How much?” he asked finally, interrupting the broker’s spiel.

“Only 1,500,000 spirit stones, noble sir!” the broker said cheerfully, flashing his teeth. “I know it’s just barely appropriate for someone of your status. I can look for an even more expensive one if you prefer.”

Verse kept his expression indifferent when he heard the price, but he was hiding a grimace. There was no way he could afford that. Even if he combined all of his spirit stones together, including the high-grade ones, it was still only close to a million. Besides that, it was a massive waste.

“Unfortunately, it’s too large for me,” he said calmly as he shook his head. “I’m not planning on moving an entire household here, nor do I need to compete with the other nobles. I just want something small and comfortable where I can work on alchemy. A small courtyard house in a quiet area would be fine.”

“Of course, sir,” the broker said with another flash of his shiny teeth. “Take a look at this one.”

With a touch of his hand, the image changed, this time to a mansion that was only a third smaller than the last one.

“I see,” Verse said as his tone turned cold. “It looks like I’ll need to find another broker. I don’t think you have what I’m looking for.” With that, he turned and headed for the door.

In reality, he had to hold himself back from grabbing the man and shaking him. He had no patience with salespeople who tried to oversell things, nor those who refused to listen to what he wanted.

“Wait, wait, gentle sir!” the broker shouted desperately as he looked at Verse’s back. “I have other options that will be perfect for you!”

Verse paused in the doorway, and then he turned his head back only halfway toward the broker. “I’ll look at one more house,” he said, “but it needs to be what I asked for.”

He didn’t want to find another broker if he didn’t have to, but his patience was running out. Perhaps some people wouldn’t have minded looking through a couple of dozen houses, but he had more important things to do.

“Of course, of course,” the broker replied too cheerfully. “Please, take a look at the more modest options!”

The wall behind him changed again as he touched it, moving to a completely different set of houses. Verse ignored the man’s complaint as he turned back to look at the wall. This time, they were more what he was after.

Boreas followed the same basic construction plans as the rest of the empire. A courtyard house was a building with four halls that surrounded an open courtyard at the center. They were the most common style of building in the residential quarter.

He listened to the man’s description of the various options, and then he pointed at one of them that was more or less what he wanted.

“This one,” he said as he tapped his finger on the image. “How much is it?”

The house had half a dozen rooms and all the basic amenities. The interior courtyard was well appointed with a pleasant arrangement of herbs and a small energy gathering formation to help with cultivation. It was a very standard home, something that a modest merchant might have owned, one who didn’t want to spend too much money on frivolities.

“That home is one of the best kept secrets of our brokerage,” the man said cheerfully. “It’s located on the western side of the Residential Quarter, where many smaller crafters and merchants keep their homes. It is a safe and secure area that...”

Verse tuned out the rest of the description as he closed his eyes and tried to cultivate patience. Eventually, the man got to the price.

“Just 30,000 spirit stones!” the broker said cheerfully. “A true steal for a noble such as yourself. I’m sure you spend more than that on a good meal.”

Verse had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. He glanced into his spatial ring as he checked the number of spirit stones he had left. Three of the high grade spirit stones might be enough to cover the cost, but he’d rather use the others.

“What’s your exchange rate for medium spirit stones?” he asked. “If it’s not good enough, I’ll go to the auction house to trade them instead.”

“40 to 1, good sir,” the broker replied immediately as a smile returned to his face at the prospect of a sale. “The best rate in the city for them! It would be 750 medium-grade stones for this wonderfully modest home.”

Verse raised his eyebrow, since the rate was better than he’d expected. It looked like medium-grade stones were more in demand in the city than he’d thought. He had about 1100 medium spirit stones, so it was a large chunk of his resources.

“And with this?” he asked as he pulled out the honored guest medallion.

“It is no surprise that someone with your illustrious background is honored by the city, sir,” the broker said quickly as he stared at the medallion. “I meant to say, 46 to 1, and I won’t take any sort of cut from the deal. I’ll round it down to 650 spirit stones!”

Verse had to stop himself from shaking his head at the quick change. It seemed some things with salesmen were universal, no matter the city. The man was looking expectantly at him, ignoring the medallion that had made him change his mind.

It was probably close enough to what he could get at the auction house for the spirit stones, so it would have to do. He silently handed over the spirit stones. A few minutes later, he was gone.

As he walked through the city, there was a new formation plate in his hand keyed to the wards and door of the house he’d just bought. It was the property deed, one in a form that he hadn’t seen before. Whitestone didn’t have anything this advanced for its houses.

The deed was about the size of his palm and made of a durable green jade, similar to the stones of the city walls. He cut his finger and let a drop of blood fall on it to bind it to himself. As soon as he did, information on the home sprang into his mind, along with a map on how to get there.

The contents of the deed traced back the history of the house to when it was built 416 years before, including every change in owner and all the construction projects that had happened to it. It had been owned by a crafting family for a while, and then by a merchant, and it had only recently been sold when that merchant retired and left the town.

At the end, the information ended with a spiritual inscription that stated, “Deed verified by the Boreas City Council.” When he flipped the deed over, there was a seal from the city stamped onto the back, along with a trace of energy that felt like the city wards.

“Interesting,” he said as he flipped it over and studied the design again. “It looks like the city validates all of the deeds here. No wonder that real estate broker changed his price.”

It meant that the city administration was much more involved in the trade here than he was familiar with. So far, that was a good thing.

It only took him a few minutes to leave the Alchemist Quarter and find the entrance to the Residential Quarter, but it was another two hours to reach the far side where the courtyard was located. This quarter was the largest one in the city.

The house he’d bought was near the far western wall, and now he understood why it was cheaper than the others he’d seen. It was inconvenient to merchants who wanted to be in the thick of things all the time. But for him, it was perfect.

The house was separated from those around it by rows of small, decorative fruit trees that held a pleasant citrus scent, and the front wall was made of a dusky blue stone that reminded him of the sky at twilight.

There were no windows in the front wall. It was a traditional arched gateway with closed double doors. It had a smaller access door and viewing panel set into the right side for deliveries or in case he didn’t want to open the full gate.

He stopped outside and raised the plate into the air, and a moment later, he felt a link with the house’s formation spring to life in his mind. A tickle of spiritual energy from the wards informed him that they were low on energy and barely able to maintain themselves, which meant that the brokerage hadn’t put much effort into the upkeep.

The tax for a house like this was different than he was used to. The house’s formation was linked into the city-wide formation, including the defensive wards, and it only required him to keep this one active. It was a handful of spirit stones a year.

Despite that, it was gratifying to see that the house itself was in good repair. The walls were solid and free of damage, the stones were well polished, and the gate was made of a dense, warm-toned wood with a silver grain.

With a flick of his will, the gate swung wide and he walked through the entrance into his new home. The first thing that greeted him was the smell of herbs and recent rain in the courtyard. Trees and plants in dozens of different varieties grew in a welcoming tangle across the open earth at the center of the house, about a hundred feet across.

It was far more than he’d expected to see here.

Tall bamboo grew along the edges of the courtyard and rustled in the breeze, lending the area a pleasant background, and decorative trees merged with it at almost random intervals, surrounding the courtyard with the feeling of a pleasant forest. A small stream burbled past on the left side, flowing away into the roots of the bamboo.

A wide-branching orange tree marked the center of the courtyard, surrounded by a pathway of spiraling stones and a field of grass and low herbs. Space for a meditation mat rested on the roots of the tree, but there was no sign of one. Somehow, the area seemed incomplete without it.

His eyebrows rose as the aura of the place washed over him, making him feel relaxed. The broker had mentioned a courtyard, but he hadn’t said anything about how intricate it was. It was an unexpected bonus.

He could sense the flow of Water from a formation that created the stream, but just as he turned to look for the source, Leaf chirped on his shoulder and disappeared. His green-scaled body flashed as he appeared on one tree branch and then another before he faded into the garden, blending seamlessly with the world.

“Your courtyard is going to have a new resident,” the shrine chuckled. “At least now, he’ll be useful.”

“Why’s that?” Verse asked as he looked around for the elemental. “It seems like he likes it.”

“Wood elementals are good for the plants where they live,” the shrine explained. “If he’s decided to take up residence, then you won’t have to worry much about taking care of things here. His presence will infuse this place with the Dao of Wood. The plants will naturally adjust themselves to their healthiest state and grow in an orderly manner. Their quality will also increase and some of them should take on a spiritual nature.

“Wood elementals are one of the best natural gardeners you can find. Another way of thinking about it is that they create their favorite food wherever they’re staying. It shouldn’t take long, maybe a few weeks, and then we’ll see what happens to this place. It looks like someone infused this place with Wood once before, or it wouldn’t feel so relaxing to you.”

“This was definitely the right house to buy,” Verse said with a grin as he studied the plants. Most of them were decorative, designed to give a pleasant atmosphere and to calm the mind. It would be a great place to meditate. “This courtyard is worth the price just by itself.”

The purchase had been practical more than anything, but now he was looking forward to living here. Plans drifted through his mind as he studied the area.

If Leaf’s presence was going to have that sort of effect on the courtyard, he should plant a few new herbs here and see what happened. He needed some living ones for his soul space too. Then he could compare the difference between how they improved. Perhaps it would help with studying the Dao of Wood.

It would only be a few herbs here, in the spots where they might fit. He wasn’t going to change the place. It was designed as an area for peaceful reflection. If he turned it into a working garden, it would disturb the harmony.

And Leaf would probably eat all the herbs.

“Let’s check out the rest of the house,” he said as he turned away from the garden. He wasn’t worried about Leaf. The elemental could take care of himself and would find him when he wanted to.

He was standing in a small stone-tiled welcoming area just inside the gate. To his left and right, there were closed doors that led into the rest of the building, and on the far side of the courtyard, just visible past the trees, there was another smaller gateway that led into the rear of the house.

Some time spent exploring gave him a complete idea of what he’d just bought, and by the time he was done, he decided it was a good purchase.

Besides half a dozen bedrooms, there was a kitchen, a private cultivation chamber, and a room that would work for alchemy or other crafts if he wanted to practice behind closed doors. He’d planned on that originally, but after seeing the courtyard, he had the feeling that most of his practice would be out there.

The rooms had no furnishings, but they still held a feeling of warmth and harmony. Whoever lived here before had done right by this place.

It didn’t take him long to find the core formation that supported the house. It was at the rear of the building next to the private cultivation chamber, in a small side room of its own. It was marked by a circular inscription on the flagstones and lines of spiritual energy flowed toward it from key nodes that were set up throughout the rest of the house.

The style matched the deed plate in his hand, which suggested that the city’s formation guild had been the one to set it up.

“This won’t do at all,” the shrine complained as soon as it saw it. “You’re changing all of that.”

“What do you mean I’m changing it?” Verse asked with a chuckle. “I thought you were the one who wanted to set up the formations here?”

“I don’t have hands, hatchling,” the shrine refuted. “Recarving it myself would waste a ton of energy. So you get to do the honors. It’ll be good practice. Now walk around it in a circle, and then follow the traces out to the formation nodes. I want to see the whole thing.”

Verse did as the shrine asked, and before too long he’d retraced his steps around the house three times over. Eventually, he had a clear picture of the formation in his mind.

“If we’re using the local ranking system, this is what you’d called a Rank 2 formation,” the shrine said eventually. “It’ll maintain the basic structural integrity of the house, protect it from intruders at the middle rank of Essence Condensation, and link into the support structure of the city’s larger wards. That last part is pretty good for a Rank 2. I assume all the local houses are the same.

“It’s a style we call a Myriad Scale Formation. It gives the city a huge number of formation nodes to support it if it’s ever attacked, one for every house here. They’ll work together to create a layered shield and to diffuse energy from attacks. It would be a real pain to break down the whole thing. You’d need absolute and overwhelming force to do it quickly. One blow and bang! With that many nodes, you can’t do much else. It’ll just keep standing until you drain the energy out of the entire structure.”

“That sounds pretty good,” Verse said as he looked over the formation lines. His impression of the city’s formation guild had just gone up a notch. It looked like alchemy might not be the only thing they were decent at.

“It would be, but there’s two major problems with it,” the shrine said. “One, this node can be controlled by the guild who set it up. They definitely have a key that is like your deed. It’s probably the master copy, the one that was used to create yours. That type of access isn’t something you want to allow in your house. They could use it to spy on you. Maybe most of the citizens here are used to it, but I doubt the noble houses allow it.”

“Is there a way to fix it?” he asked with a grimace. There was no way he wanted the city looking into his house. “If they complain, I’ll just tell them an Imperial Knight needs privacy. I imagine they’ll look past it. I can’t be the only one who wants to block it.”

“Easy enough,” the shrine replied. “We’ll just have to carve a larger formation around it and alter a few things. It’ll take a few days. You’re lucky it’s not very big and that we don’t need to change all of it. We can use that time to make some improvements for the privacy wards too.”

“Alright,” Verse agreed. A few days wouldn’t matter too much and it would get him some more experience with formations. “What’s the other problem?”

“Second, the formation is not aligned with the natural daos,” the shrine grumbled. “It makes it a lot weaker than it could be. It’s set in stone, but it was clearly built by someone with a Water affinity. They didn't bother balancing all those energies. You could do better by dragging your tail around in the dirt....if you knew anything about formations anyway. It’s inefficient. A formation aligned to the natural daos would take a tenth of the energy to support itself. That’s one of the main reasons it eats through so many spirit stones. Other than that, I suppose it’s usable.”

“I’m sorry the local formation is beneath your dignity,” Verse said as he held back a laugh. “Maybe we can improve it so that it suits your majestic presence.”

“That’s asking a lot of your current skill, as well as your funds,” the shrine replied, accepting the flattery without batting an eye, “but we can work on the efficiency and strengthen the protections, maybe up to the Aligned realm. The new additions to the formation will be Rank 3 anyway.”

A list of materials and other requirements poured into Verse’s mind from the shrine. When he read it, he couldn’t help but frown. It looked like he would have to carve some of the formation lines with dust made from crushing spirit stones, and it was going to take a lot of them. He also needed a handful of metals and elemental materials.

Altogether, it would cost almost as much as the house.

He could afford it, but it would wipe out a good chunk of his remaining funds, and he still needed to get some furnishings, like a bed. At least that should be cheaper.

He was still going to do it. He’d bought this place and he wanted to use it. The inn hadn’t been that cheap at a hundred spirit stones a week. At that rate, the house would pay for itself in six years. Twice that once he added the formation.

He wasn’t necessarily planning to stay that long, but maybe he would keep it as a place to return to while he was traveling. It might be nice to have a house when he wanted to pick up alchemy supplies.

There was nothing stopping him if he did want to stay either. He was expecting his friends to be stuck in their families for at least a decade before they began to really show their strength. The infusion of dragon aura from Memory had recreated their bodies and they needed time to grow into it.

From their elders’ perspective, it would look like they were late coming into their potential, but they would soon be seen as cultivation geniuses. A decade should be enough for them to ascend two or three realms. By then, they should be at the Primal Spirit or even the Inspired Realm.

For just a moment, a river of stars flickered through his memory, one filled with endless, passing time as it stretched from horizon to horizon. It filled everything in existence, and it had left its mark on his soul. He shook his head as he pulled his attention back to the present.

The thought of passing years had dredged up the memory. That was the path through the stars he’d been sent on as a child, where he had collided with two other souls, gaining their memories and perhaps some of their true essence.

Right now, it was a reminder that time wasn’t that important, especially to a cultivator who measured their lifespan in centuries or millennia. Every breakthrough brought increased vitality and more years to advance to the next rank. Plenty of cultivators at higher realms spent decades in seclusion as they worked toward their goals.

That was a long way off for him, but it was a reminder that it would be a while before his group could get back together. It took decades even for a genius to ascend through the realms and his friends were all from mid to high-ranking families in the middle provinces. They’d probably have to reach the Primal Spirit realm before they could get free.

As for him, he had his own path.

“Alright,” he said as he headed to his courtyard. “Let’s visit the Azurewind Guard to see when their next induction is. I want to get an idea of how they’re set up and how difficult it will be to do missions with them. I’ll collect the formation materials on the way back, as well as some living herbs for my soul space and to plant here.”

With the way his expenses were going, he hoped the Azurewind Guard paid well. Otherwise, he’d have to go adventuring to look for resources. The Adventurer’s Guild probably had missions he could take if he needed more options.

With that, he stepped back into the streets of the city and closed the gate to his new house behind him. The jade deed flashed and then reappeared inside his soul space, where it floated among the herbs.

The street was quiet, since most of those who lived nearby had long gone to work, but it was markedly louder than inside his courtyard. The sound of children playing a few houses down and the voices of two neighbors returning from their shopping pulled at his attention.

The difference made him appreciate how much care had gone into the house over the years. It really had been built into a private retreat. The dusky blue wall that faced the street hid its secrets well, like a wall of mist that opened onto a peaceful valley.

A rustle in his hair told him that Leaf had taken up his usual post on his neck. He scratched the elemental’s ears in recognition. The fellow’s company already felt natural to him, so he was glad that he was coming along. Leaf stretched, rubbing his scaled back along Verse’s neck. Then he let out a rumbling burble of approval.

“I guess that means ‘welcome home,’” Verse said with a chuckle. “I’m glad you like the courtyard. Let’s go see what we can find to make it even better.”