Anaiya U. answered • 05/23/19
English Learning Assistant
Louis McIntyre was the only alchemist in his country to study under the wise mind of Barron the Great. As the son of a shoemaker, he could have only hoped to stitch his last court shoe before his back bent with age and his fingers knotted with pain. Nothing could have surprised him more than the hand of Barron the Great knocking at his door telling him that he of all people was to help the boffin regenerate his childhood experiments. He had to admit, he had a knack for the sciences. He snuck to generic lessons taught by the town's most accomplished scholar. Between meals he'd listen to discourses on gravity and energy and chemical bonds. Before long, he found that men twice his age and class understood less about the properties of hydrogen. Before long, he'd found he could clean water in half the time his elders could, he had even mastered two of the four elements with enough expertise that his mother's gardens were envied by other townsmen.
"Why me?" asked young Louis when the man asked for his help.
"Young lad," answered Barron "Our society is at a Genesis of mortal knowledge. With the help of one as intelligent as you."
"Well, what makes you think I want to do anything more than work here. I make shoes, my father made shoes, his father made shoes, it's what we do. It is in our genetic code. I'm certain my progenitors would not appreciate years of traditio--"
"You, young man could be a progeny of Aristotle himself for all you know! People have talked about you, you know. They say you've outwitted half the seniors in the hamlet. They say you've read in every genre the library offers, even in languages that are not your own! You must come with me. Together, we will find medicines, build empires, roam the skies, and still oceans. Won't you come with me?"
"And what of my father? My mother?" asked Louis.
"I assure you, their sacrifice will be returned twofold with the work you and I can bring into this world together."
"So, then it is done."
"Let us begin."
