Frost 7th, Year 119, Age of Steel
Kalzasi was a wonderful city, but spending all of her time in the walls of the city was sure to drive Alyssum slowly insane if she wasn't careful. It was loud and there were too many people, not healthy for someone of her nature and disposition. Even what could losely be described as the slums had too many people and too much noise. On top of the fact she'd gotten woken up on multiple occasions. She was luckily for her delicate hearing and her nature as a light sleeper. She probably would have been robbed by now otherwise. Not like she really had much to steal. Most of her money, except a small fund she left herself for living expenses, went into the bank and sat there in an investment fund so it could get bigger.
She still needed more money. It was going to be a while before she even got close to her ultimate goal... Opening a business and getting her skills in order for better jobs would be the first take in that regard. If she could manage to polish off all her magical abilities she could start pedaling her services as a mage, which would start making her real good money. Especially if she managed to get a business up and running. It didn't need to be something extravagant. She could buy herself a nice caravan cart with enough dedicate effort. Not only could she live out of it, but she could pedal her wares out of it if she had the proper labs and supplies. Maybe. Hopefully. Most of her crafts she could do on the fly, but she wasn't sure about Runeforging. That would require a dedicated labratory with an actual forge, unless she was willing to stop at a tower ever season to forge and resupply. She wouldn't be able to make custom orders as easily, but that wouldn't be the main focus of her work.
It was going to be difficult to work out the kinks.
Her other trade, teaching, was a bit easier to pass off traveling. It was just a matter of finding clientel, and it was one that she could potential make a lot of money off in the long term. Especially if she managed to get herself organized as a proper business.
It was going to be diffcult no matter what she did, but if she managed to push herself hard enough then there was the chance she might actually be able to reach her goal! If she put all her money into the bank it would take her a couple years at most! As long as she was willing to forget a couple parts of that wish... And take into account the costs for starting up a buisness. Not to mention she'd need to spend a while polishing her skills to a high enough level where this would be feasible. Okay, so maybe her dream was still a ways out of her reach. But she was going to try, damn it! She had the years to waste, she was a Rathari. This little goal of hers might not be her Purpose, but neither was her obsession with magic. Yet she gave it just as much attention as her Purpose which was still so vauge she had no clue what she was even supposed to be doing with it.
Which was part of why she was so carefully looking at the ground. Part of a goal as grandious as the one she'd designed was trying to scrounge up every cent she could. Even a singel df was valuable as it could be added to the lump sum that would grow and grow the more she pinched pennies and worked her jobs. Currently she could only make about as much as others were willing to pay her, and sure she'd found a couple jobs to support her for the time being, but in the long run it wouldn't be enough. How, might one ask, should she go about making some extra cash and progressing her skills? Through legally grey means, of course! Alyssum wasn't a goody two shoes, she knew some of the things she didn weren't the best things in the world and she wasn't going to try and pretend she was perfect or some angel. Mortals are messy, dirty, chaotic creatures, and that was why they were beautiful. That's what Naori preached anyhow, and Alyssum was very willing to listen.
She wasn't some Paragon of justice and she was more than willing to sell potions in a back alley for cheap prices as long as she was getting paid. She wasn't going to ask the prupose of these potions, she wasn't going to claim she'd made those potions, and she certainly wasn't going to act like these potions were perfect and completely without faults and 100% save to use on mortals.
She'd given them a disclaimer and if anything got poisoned because they bought her cheap back alley potions that were brewed in a rusty soup pot them it was their dumb ass fault for thinking it was a smart idea. Sure, Alyssum was a 'good girl' and would never intentionally hurt someone, but someone else's stupidity was entirely on them!
She was currently leaned forward into a bush, tail waving in the air while she pressed her face into the evergreen leaves and looked for anything useable or familiar. Or anything that she could play with and test to see if it had good alchemical properties. She could always work with new regents, expand her ever growing recipie book. The one she got from her adopted uncle was good and all, but it wasn't comprehensive by any means and it only really covered the plants in Atinaw. Things like worrelwood and rabbit fur bushes, and the various uses for them that had been drilled into her head as a pup.
The plants in Kalzasi were entirely new, and sure it was Frost so there wasn't much, but there were more evergreen plants in Kalzasi than there were in Atinaw because it tended to get and stay so cold. It wasn't just plants she looked for either. Animal parts, minerals, and various parts of a plant like sleeping bulbs and seeds could still be used in an alchemical process if you knew how to do it.
She drew herself out of the bush, triumpantly holding a fang from who the heck knew what. She'd have to test it later, and maybe see able getting it identified by someone who knew more than she did. She wondered if there were any other alchemists in town? She hadn't run into any yet except for the one shop she'd tried to get a job at and despite being the only alchemy shop in Kalzasi it was admittedly pretty basic. Or perhaps, the lack of competition was the reason it was so basic. Most of it was simple, he might as well have just marketed himself a pharmacy with fast acting drugs. Or poisons, if you wanted to look behind the counter and shill out a little extra cash. That was one of the things Alyssum didn't intentionally sell unless she knew what it was going to be used for.
Just as she was pushing the fang into one of her belt pouches her ears perked and swiveled as she picked up on an interesting noise. Foot steps? Who could be out in the Kalzasi wilds this time fo season? She'd have to be cautious.