After several minutes Jocelyn managed to calm down enough to ask Alice to explain in detail everything that had happened. Alice told everything as best she could, but what she knew really wasn’t much at all.

“I don’t see how you could possibly happen across something like this.” Jocelyn muttered to herself. She tapped on her desk as she thought.

“So you think he's lying?” Alice asked. “That he stole it from somewhere?”

Jocelyn shook her head slowly. “That doesn’t make much sense either. This isn’t something you just come across by luck, but it also isn’t something you can just steal either. The person who owned this would’ve had it very secure. The kind of thief who had the skills to take this wouldn’t just come here and wait all day in order to get this identified.”

“So you think he’s telling the truth?”

“I didn’t say that. Something’s not right about his story, that’s for sure. But I am pretty certain that he truly has no idea what he has. If he did there would be no way he would just hand it over like this.”

“I want it.” Alice said suddenly. “If I study it there’s so much I’ll be able to learn. About the Sense, about so many things.”

“I feel the same.” Jocelyn said with a small sigh. “This is almost irresistible to any alchemist. But we can’t let those impulses control us. We need to know what we’re getting ourselves into. If it is stolen we would just be inviting trouble if we take it.”

She paused and thought for a moment. “First things first, we should find out what kind of potion this is. And we should have a talk with this man to see what he knows. You said he’s still in the shop?”

Alice nodded. “Yes. I told him to wait as I didn’t think a simple identification would take very long.”

“Well, you were wrong about that.” Jocelyn said. “Even I’m not sure I can work out what this is. And even if I can it’s going to take some time. Several hours at the very least.” Jocelyn moved her tapping finger from the desk to her chin. Her other hand still toyed with the now closed potion. She was trying her best to keep her desires in check, but she felt the desire to study this even more so than her apprentice did. Luckily she also had much more experience in controlling herself.

“You go and see him. Invite him into one of our guest rooms to wait. Tell him that it’s unfortunately going to take a while longer than you first thought, and see how he reacts.”

“Yes master. Jocelyn.” Alice said. She stood and quickly walked back out towards the front. She hoped the man would be there. She thought he would be, her instincts told her that, but she still all but ran through the hallway. Once she opened the door and found him sitting on the bench she heaved a small sigh of relief. He looked up as she walked in and met her eyes. She wasn’t sure, but she thought he saw a glint of hope in them. And a lot of nervousness.

“Miss.” he said, rising quickly. He fiddled with his hands, probably unconsciously, and wiped them on his pants as he spoke. “It’s finished already?”

His tone made her sure he was hopeful. That was good. That meant there was a lower chance he was lying somehow.

“Not yet, I’m afraid.” she said. She made her tone much more polite and cordial than it had been before.

“Oh.” The man deflated slightly, but was trying not to show it. “So did you need something, then?”

“No.” Alice said. “I just came to tell you it’s going to take a bit longer than I first thought. You’re welcome to come wait in one of our guest rooms if you want.” She studied his face, and found only shock. After a while he clenched his hands and tried to restrain a smile that kept trying to creep it’s way onto his face. Another good sign. The man took a deep breath and spoke.

“Thank you, miss. I’d be honored.”

“Good, then follow me.” Alice said. She lifted a portion of the counter up to allow the man access, then she led him through the hallway into one of their two guest waiting rooms. The rooms were spacious and comfortable, with a large fireplace and a comfortable armchair as well as a stocked drinks table.

“Please make yourself at home.” she said. She noticed the man staring, and now it was her turn to smile. He truly did seem innocent, and completely out of place. Exactly like a man who had the good luck of finding a potion and had no idea whatsoever what to do with it. She found herself believing in the man’s story more and more, even with how outrageous it was. That in turn led to thoughts of obtaining the potion. He would probably sell it to them for a price she could afford, she was growing more and more certain of that. The thought of deliberately deceiving the man made her uncomfortable, but she needed that potion.

“Feel free to peruse any of the books on the shelves; they are there for guests. I will come let you know once we’re finished.”

“Thank you.” The man still seemed dazed. She could understand why, considering how sharply their treatment of him had shifted. Just that would probably make the man think the potion was worth a lot. Alice smiled bitterly to herself as she exited and closed the door behind her. But no matter how much she wanted that potion there were some things she wouldn’t stoop to doing. She might undersell the value slightly, but that was as far as she was willing to go.

Her master had cleaned the workbench of all of their papers when she entered, and had set up several vials and instruments to be ready for use. Some of them Alice didn’t even recognize.

“How was he?” she asked without looking up.

“I don’t think he’s here maliciously. And I’m all but certain he has no idea what it is he has.”

Jocelyn nodded. “Then let us find out.” she said. “Come help me. Hand me a drop of distilled Dark Water from the smallest dropper. And a dried greyleaf, and a…”

Alice did as she was told. She let her master lead, of course, and she knew better than to interrupt. This test was way beyond her level and even a slight distraction might lead to failure. The most she could do was find ingredients and prepare them properly.

An hour went by, and several dozen different ingredients. Some of those were rare and ones Alice hadn’t even known that they had. Ones that were truly valuable, worth dozens of gold coins. Jocelyn didn’t even bat an eyelash. She used them all. Test after test was completed, with no real results at all. In fact, the only thing they managed to learn was that it was alchemical, which they already knew. Alice was getting more and more nervous, but Jocelyn was as calm and steady as ever.

“And a set of silver pincers, the smallest we have.” Alice memorized the list of materials in her head. This was the most complicated test they’d done yet. After repeating the list twice to make sure she remembered all of it, Alice went to their store room.

“...one gold dropper with alchemically altered metalls.” she spoke aloud to herself as she found the ingredients one by one. “One point three grams of crushed blackstone, two redwing eyeballs…”

It took her a few minutes to gather everything and double check her findings twice. Once done she made her way back to the study and handed the materials over.

“Good.” Jocelyn said. “You may wait outside.” Alice froze. She opened her mouth to protest but Jocelyn held up a gloved finger. “Don’t argue. You’re not allowed to see this procedure yet. Wait outside.”

Alice’s spirit sank dejectedly. Jocelyn didn’t put her foot down often, in fact she was so different from her previous master that Alice often had trouble adjusting. But once she did decide on something, no amount of arguing would change it and no amount of asking would get an explanation she didn’t want to give. The only thing she could do was accept it and be patient. She did trust her master. And knew that she would explain everything to her eventually. She just wished eventually was right now. With a deep sigh she closed the door behind her, but still found herself standing right outside of it, waiting. She wasn’t exactly sure what for, perhaps if some hint of what was going on could somehow wriggle its way through the cracks in the door. That wouldn’t happen of course. After a few minutes, she gave up and turned to walk away. The man might want something while he waited, so she might as well make herself useful. Perhaps she could even learn something new about where the potion had come from.

She hadn’t even made it five steps before the door flung open behind her and Jocelyn appeared with an intense look of incredulity on her face.

“Go fetch some Silver-dusted Ironbark. Not any older than five years.”

Alice blinked twice in confusion, still halfway turned between walking away from the door and facing the incredulous Jocelyn.

“Hurry.” Jocelyn said. Alice finally reacted and ran off. Silver-dusted Ironbark wasn’t very rare or precious, but the age was a problem. Most concoctions used bark that was at least ten years old or more. But she still managed after some effort to find some that were appropriately aged in their storage. She ran back as fast as she could. When she returned her master was once again stooped over the bench. She looked at a black blot of ink on a piece of parchment, and the look on her face was one Alice had never seen before.

“You know the Ironskin potion?” Jocelyn said as she closed the door.

“Of course. It’s the most commonly bought potion by soldiers in the world. Sometimes even ordinary workers like to have one on hand for emergencies.”

“Right.” Jocelyn said. She nodded to herself as if confirming something. “That’s what an Ironskin potion is. They’re as common as potions go.” She held up the vial and glared at it as if it had made her angry.

“So what the hell is this doing being an Ironskin potion?” she said.

It took Alice a few seconds to realize what Jocelyn had said. Once she did her eyes widened into saucers.

“How could that be?” She exclaimed. “I felt it. That potion is extraordinary.”

“I have no idea. But the very first test I did identified it as Ironskin. Using the bark should make it easy enough to confirm.”

She took the bark from Alice’s hands and placed it on the table. Then she took the gold dropper and very carefully dropped a single drop from the potion on top of the bark. The old and dried bark instantly began to regain its luster. Soon it shone with a silvery glow in the dimly lit room. Jocelyn tsked, and took out a hammer. She raised it high above her head and slammed it down with all the strength she could muster. Alice flinched as a metallic clang verborated throughout the room and sparks flew off of the bark. She looked back an instant later. The bark was fine. Not damaged in the least.

“It’s an Ironskin alright.” Jocelyn said. She shook her head with a sigh. “I had hoped it wouldn’t be.”

“I don’t believe it.” Alice said. She sank down into a chair and shook her head. “That can’t be something as ordinary as an Ironskin. No way.”

“Ordinary?” Jocelyn scoffed. “This potion is many things. Scary... Unknown... Maybe even ground breaking. But ‘ordinary’ it definitely isn’t.”

“But….”

Jocelyn held up a finger to signal for silence, and Alice quilted down. But Jocelyn didn’t speak. Instead she hesitated and drew several deep breaths. Her fingers were trembling and her voice shaky when she finally spoke.

“I couldn’t find any dregs.” she finally managed to say. She closed her eyes. “I can’t believe I’m saying this. But there wasn’t a single iota of bad material in that entire potion. None. Zilch. Nothing. Someone taking this potion wouldn’t suffer any after effects at all. I know what you’re going to say: ‘That is impossible!’ And I agree. It should be impossible. But it’s really here...” She stared at the bottle. Then shook her head. “I don’t know anymore.”

Alice opened her mouth, then closed it again. She had never seen her master lose control of herself like this. But she couldn’t blame her. Potions leaving dregs behind was a fundamental truth of alchemy. It was always so that a potion had after effects, some called them side effects. They used properties that were not natural, which takes a toll on the person using it. An experienced alchemist could minimize those effects of course, and the more diluted the potion was the less of it there would be. But nothing known could remove it entirely. An effect had to have an after effect accompanying it. The stronger the effect the stronger the after effect, in most cases. Ironskin had a pretty mid level after effect. As the name suggests, it could strengthen the skin and organs and make one's body as hard as iron. But in return, once the effect wore off, the person would be extremely weak and vulnerable. They would go from strong as steel to frail as glass. That was the natural order of things. That's the way it’s always worked. If it was actually true…

Alice felt as if this potion was a brick someone had thrown into the air, that never fell back down. It just hung there. Bricks didn’t just float in the air. It was unnatural.

“Are you sure?” she asked in a whisper. She felt uncomfortable speaking loudly for some reason.

“No.” Jocelyn said with a small shake of her head. “There’s no way to be sure of something like this. At least not for me. But I am as sure as I can be. I had hoped it wouldn’t be an Ironskin. Then perhaps whatever it was needed a specific way to find the dregs. But Ironskin dregs are obvious. There’s no way I wouldn’t have found them. The only other option is that the potion is somehow interfering in the tests, making the results faulty. I don’t know if that’s better or worse.”

Alice didn’t know what to say for a long time. She felt she needed to say something though. She didn’t like her master this uncomfortable. Jocelyn had been steady as a rock ever since she came into her tutelage, and now that rock felt like it was wobbling under her feet. She thought furiously for something that could help.

“Do we hand this over to the Grandmasters?” she said after a while. It was the best she could come up with. Even as she said it she wasn’t sure what she thought herself.

“Yes.” Jocelyn said after several moments of contemplation. “They have to be made aware of this.” She didn’t sound eager about it, more so resigned if anything. It seemed she could foresee that this would bring trouble or at least a mess down on their heads. Still she felt it was something that had to be done.

“What I don’t know is what to do about the man in the waiting room. You’ve met him, albeit briefly. What do you think?

Alice thought for a moment. “I believe he is earnest in his request. I don’t think he knows what this is.”

“Do you think he stole it?”

“No, I don’t.” Alice shook her head. “I don’t have much of a basis for that thought, just instinct.”

“Don’t underestimate the instincts of an alchemist. It is one of the most precise instruments in the world.” Jocelyn said. “While you were there did he mention what he was planning to do with it once he got it identified?”“No, he didn’t say anything.” Alice said. She thought for a moment. “My gut tells me that he’s planning on selling it. He looked like someone who’s getting desperate for something. Money’s the most likely thing to be desperate for. Plus some of his clothes looked pretty worn out.”

“You think he’s in some kind of trouble?” Jocelyn asked with a frown. “If he stole it somehow, then we would be in big trouble just by buying it. Whoever owns this should be extremely connected.”

“I have no idea.” Alice said with a shake of her head.

“So we’ll have to take a chance…” Jocelyn said. She thought for a moment. “I think it’s better if I meet him too, before we make a decision. I want to see if my gut tells me the same thing as yours.”

Alice suddenly felt extremely nervous. She’d been sure about her opinion just a few seconds ago, but now she suddenly wasn’t confident at all. Had she been mistaken? Would there be trouble? If there was it was out of her hands now. All she could do was follow her master out and hope that her instincts hadn’t been wrong.