[Confidence written across his smile, a natural gaze in his eyes that gleam downward, relaxation in his breath] Ashton noticed as he shook Sir Galen's hand. [He is accustomed to a life of the strong]
Sir Galen's head bowed only slightly and only for a moment, as if it was a nod. "Thank you for meeting with me on such short notice!"
His excited voice and elevated tone, unmatching of his outward collectedness, he continues "I assume, you know what I want to discuss after reading my letter..."
Taking their seats, Ashton waves the servants from the room.
Sitting across from each other, a table full of tea and scones all that's separating them, Ashton erupts his mana violently.
The pressure of it, the dense roughness of it, the way it was teemed only against his body and left the rest of the room in order. It was what Sir Galen had wanted to see.
But Ashton didn't stop, what Edward Galen thought was a display, he soon realized was a test.
The alchemist summoned his own mana, not in spell, incantation, or alchemic sequence, but in counter pressure against Ashton's.
Sir Galen's mana was pushing upward, but it was futile. As if trying to bench press a mountain, he couldn't even budge Ashton's pressure.
Despite his superior circle, Sir Galen fell short. They both expected it. However, they were both were still left disappointed.
As Ashton's mana calmed and with his body was free from suppression, Sir Galen caught his breath and looked up. "Was that necessary?" [We both know I cannot match you in application, or theory...] Sir Galen was left unable to guess Ashton's intention.
Ashtons silence only made his mind wander more, [His mana was like a heartbeat, it moved with purpose even without being told to.]
He wasn't wrong, Ashton had only let his mana run from his body, and it did the rest.
The two sat, studying each other in the silence demanded by Ashton.
"Edward Galen
Age: 24
Stamina: 21
Mana: 4
Intelligence: 79
Strength: 19"
[As I thought, the addition of stats varies as there are things the system cannot adjust for. He has higher mana and the same strength as me, yet my stamina is greater... Aether System close]
The illumination of the Aether System dying out, reveals the red hair and worried look of Sir Galen.
Despite his confidence, he was anxious.
Ashton did shatter it after all, then left him to sit in the defeat.
"Remind me, why are you here again?"
[Finally], "It's... as I said in my letter. I heard how you manipulated the wind during your Invocation, congratulations by the way." Taking a pause to feel Ashton out, but he couldn't decern the look in his eyes. "The tower master described it when announcing your membership, how you took the air around him and transitioned it through the three states."
"What about it?" Ashton asked, almost as soon as Sir gale finished talking. A second sooner and he would have interrupted him.
It wasn't accident, he was still testing him.
Ashton was putting as much pressure on Sir Gale as possible.
Studying and judging how he responds. Seeing if he is any useful.
"I came to speak with you about it, to ask you about it."
"Why?"
"Well," Scratching his head, not in hesitance from Ashton's pressure but personal embarrassment.
[Pathetic.] Ashton thought, all he saw was a shriveling man. He couldn't see Sir Gale's depth - yet.
"Because such magic is my dream." Sir Gale confessed, just as Ashton was about stand for the exit.
"Continue, Sir Gale." Trimming the authoritativeness from his tone, Ashton was now speaking friendly.
"To most people alchemist are just potion brewers, or reclusive madmen chasing longevity. Hell, even most alchemist think that that Philosopher's Stone is the peak of science. But it is not-"
Having got a better sense of the kind of man and kind of alchemist Sir Galen is, Ashton interrupts him, "What do you think the peak of it is then..."
'I don't believe there is a limit to science. Unlike magic with a clear upper limit of Aether, science does not have one. Magic can only grow horizontally, its pinnacle is the starting point of something else - something humans will never reach. But science has no ceiling, it's only limit is people choosing to study magic over it."
[How fascinating... I have never thought in such a way] "Sir Galen, what you say intrigues me. Please continue."
"Mr. Whey, do you know how plumbing, sewage, baths, even brushing your teeth became common in society?"
Shaking his head "Tell me."
"Science. Alchemist of the past had studied the plagues and health disasters of their time. They found the cause and dealt with it scientifically over magically, now all their methods are used every day by the entire world. And most people don't even know what hygiene is or why it is important."
"So, you want to accomplish a feat of such magnitude? You want to become some scientific hero?"
Fidgeting his thumbs, Ashton describing his desire so bluntly was embarrassing to Sir Galen. "An Alchemy hero, but yeah" he said quietly.
"And you want do this, similarly to my wind manipulation last night?"
"Manipulation of the three states of has been possible with scientific instruments for a long time. Many people have tried to incorporate the science into magic, this is how ice magic was created."
"That doesn't sound too impressive, water freezes in nature all of the time. Magic is supposed to step slightly beyond..."
"By today's standards it's not too impressive, but at the time it was a huge leap in magical theory. Afterall, it was the creation of a new class of magic, mages of all sorts were practicing it back then."
"What about magic like "Mud slide" or "Lava"?"
"They both are also technically augmentations, but they are just spells. Not an entire practice, so they are relatively minor. Not to knock their creators but compared to my vision or the visionary behind ice magic, they are small."
"This is a topic I find alluring Sir Galen, so it saddens me that I cannot help you."
Ashtons words were a like sword which dismembered Sir Galen's attitude.
His face which was lit in anticipation and righteousness, fell into a somber frown.
"My mending of the air was only my imagination, there were no calculations or preparations required." Ashton's explanation only continued to drown Sir Galen.
But Ashton was still in high spirit, "However, the fact the mana, washed the air in such a way means that it is possible."
Sir Galen finally looked up to Ashton's hand, outstretched in alliance. "I would be honored, if we could recreate such magic."