Will stared up at the man, barely able to think. Finally, he answered, “All right.” Then he flopped onto his side and closed his eyes. He was asleep within seconds.
Almost immediately, someone shook his shoulder. Will blinked, staring fuzzily at his antagonist. It was the professor again. “You told me to sleep,” he complained.
The other man smiled. “That was four hours ago. You need to activate the ingredients for the second stage.”
“Oh.” Will sat up, feeling muzzy and almost drunk, then he tried to stand and nearly fell. His right thigh was swollen and sore to the point that he was completely unable to move it. It took him a prolonged period of maneuvering with Karlovic’s assistance to get back to a standing position while keeping his right leg straight.
Finally, at the workbench, Will began drawing in turyn and tuning it to the specific types that the ingredients would need to be infused with. Externally, there was nothing to see, but he could feel Professor Karlovic watching him intently. “Are you hoping to discover my secret?” asked Will.
“Well, it’s clear that you haven’t suffered from all the potions you made last year, so I would dearly love to know how you do it without killing yourself,” said the older man honestly.
Will felt a similar urge to honesty. The Alchemy teacher had been good to him from the beginning, and while the man also made a small profit sourcing buyers for Will’s potions, he seemed to have an honest heart. “I wish I could teach it to you,” he admitted. “My original master said it’s something that has to be done when you’re young, and it’s best done before you learn to use magic.”
“So you did learn this through some special training,” muttered Karlovic. “Master Courtney has been speculating about that.”
“I haven’t been very forthcoming,” said Will. “I’m not sure who I can trust.”
“Afraid they’ll put you on a rack and torture it out of you?”
He nodded. “Or tie me to a table and dissect me.”
“Courtney wouldn’t do that,” insisted Karlovic. “He’s a good man, even if he’s a little odd. Are you worried I’ll tell him what you told me?”
Will shrugged. “I had to trust someone sooner or later.”
“And you chose me? I feel touched.”
He grinned. “We’ll see how it goes. One of us may regret it before too much time has passed.” Will finished the activations, then started organizing the materials for the next stage. Karlovic came over and shuffled him aside.
“Sleep some more. I’ll let you know when the potions are ready to be finalized.”
“Shouldn’t you be going home?”
“My wife is used to me keeping odd hours,” said the professor. “She’ll probably forgive me for coming home late again.”
Will didn’t argue. It took him longer to fall asleep this time, but after a few minutes he drifted away, grateful for the rest. The next time he awoke it wasn’t because someone was shaking him, but rather because his nose had detected something.
It was the smell of fresh bread, and something else. Tea? Will’s eyes popped open and he scanned the room. He spotted his teacher decanting the final product into small vials that would then wait for a final infusion of turyn to activate them. Off to one side, on a small table, was the object of Will’s desire, a plate filled with sweet buns. A small teapot sat beside it along with two empty cups.
Will moaned, then began struggling to get upright once more. Professor Karlovic turned and looked over one shoulder at him, smiling. “Oh, I see the food woke you.”
“Where did you get that?” Will asked, adoration in his voice.
“I sent one of the early-rising students over to the Residents’ Hall cafeteria. The tea should still be warm.”
“I could marry you.”
The professor laughed. “My wife might be grateful to have me out of her hair, but you’re still a newlywed. I doubt your wife would approve.”
Ignoring the intense pain his movements required, Will managed to get up and onto his good leg without assistance. His stomach was insistent, and he could only comply with its demands. The buns were simple and sweet, a confection made of little more than ordinary dough supplemented with honey and extra butter, but just then, they were heaven on earth. He had devoured one and was struggling to swallow before he poured his first cup of black tea.
The tea was strong and bitter. Too much had been used, and it had been steeped far too long and at too high a temperature, but it complemented the sticky sweetness of the bread, and Will welcomed the extra energy it would hopefully give him. He fell to eating with a vengeance, and a few minutes later the plate and teapot were both empty. Belatedly, he looked over at the professor, feeling guilty, for he hadn’t left any for his savior.
Karlovic glanced at him and laughed, then patted his slightly rounded paunch. “I didn’t need it anyway, while you obviously did.” He stepped back from the worktable and gestured at the vials. “Care to see your product?” There were five vials lined up on the table.
Will frowned. “I only planned on four. How did you manage five?”
“You had more set out than you realized, so I redid the math and worked out the other ingredients to make five. It was just small enough that it wouldn’t require larger vessels so I knew it wouldn’t cost you any time.” The older man paused. “Will you be able to activate that many at one time?”
“Sure,” said Will. “I’m not using my turyn. I absorb it from the environment, so I can replace it without too much trouble.” He hobbled over to the bench and proceeded to begin doing just that. Each potion took fifteen to twenty minutes, as he had to draw in turyn, convert it, infuse the potion, then repeat the process until it had been saturated with energy.
After a little over an hour and a half, the five regeneration potions were done. Will gazed at them thoughtfully. He needed three—two for his friends, one for himself, and another for emergencies. Then he looked at Professor Karlovic. With one hand he offered the man one of the potions.
His teacher wanted to take the vial. Will could see the hesitation in the man’s movements, as his hand started to reach out before he pulled it back again. “You keep them,” said Karlovic.
“I couldn’t have done this without you.”
“That potion is worth nearly a thousand gold marks.”
Will shrugged. “I don’t need the money.”
The professor’s hand started to move again, but then he tucked it behind his back and turned away. “I don’t know what sort of things you’re up to, William, but I think you’re far more likely to need that extra potion than I am to need a thousand marks. If you still feel grateful, offer me one later, when things are back to normal. Right now, I won’t take it.”