The moment the grand elder's footsteps faded down the corridor, Jason crossed the alchemy room and shut the heavy door with a soft click. A small, satisfied smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"Now the leftovers are mine."
He chose a clean stretch of floor near the largest furnace, settled into a cross-legged posture, and began circulating Heaven's Law. The dense spiritual energy that saturated the chamber responded at once. It poured toward him in visible streams, thick and almost syrupy, flooding through his pores and meridians. His body drank it greedily. Within minutes the rich residual energy left by the day's refinements had been completely absorbed, leaving the air noticeably thinner. Jason opened his eyes, feeling the quiet settling of another incremental gain, and rose to his feet.
He finished the last of the cleaning, wiped the furnace interior, and was reaching for the door when the bracelet's voice cut in.
*Aren't you going to take the pills the old man gave you?*
Jason's hand paused on the latch. *I'm giving them to my mother. She needs them more than I do.*
*Those pills aren't strong enough to cure her illness,* the bracelet said flatly. *At best they will ease the pain for a while. Using them on her is a waste of middle-grade medicine.*
*I don't care if all they do is take away some of the pain,* Jason answered. *She's still getting them.*
He left the alchemy pavilion without further argument and made his way back through the outer camps. When the familiar patched tent came into view he found Hannah sitting on the low stool outside, chin tilted up, staring at the late-afternoon sun as though it had personally offended her.
Jason stopped a few paces away and chuckled. "What are you looking at so hard?"
Hannah did not turn. She kept her eyes fixed on the bright disk, completely absorbed. Jason tilted his head, puzzled.
*Where's the usual flying hug?* he wondered. *This girl is acting strange.*
He cleared his throat deliberately. The sound finally broke her trance. Hannah blinked, turned, and the moment her eyes landed on him a wide smile split her face. She launched herself off the stool and wrapped both arms around his waist.
"What took you so long to get back?" she demanded once she pulled away.
"I was busy helping the grand elder with a refinement," Jason said, returning the smile. "That's why I'm late."
Hannah's expression turned serious. "He didn't treat you badly, did he?"
"Not at all. He was surprisingly decent. Even taught me a few things I didn't know, and he gave me these as a personal reward for the tournament." Jason opened his palm and revealed the two sky-blue pills.
Hannah's eyes went round. "They're beautiful."
"I thought the same when I first saw them."
"When are you going to take them, big brother?"
Jason closed his fingers gently around the pills. "I'm not. Mother's condition has been getting worse. These will at least make her feel better for a while. I'm giving them to her."
Hannah looked at him for a long second, something soft and sincere moving behind her eyes. "That's really thoughtful of you. I was half-afraid you'd keep them both for yourself. I was wrong."
Jason's mouth curved into a teasing grin. "I'm not the greedy one here. That title belongs to a certain little sister who would have swallowed both without blinking."
Hannah's face flushed. "I'm going to make you regret saying that!" She spun on her heel and bolted into the tent, the sound of dramatic sniffles trailing behind her.
Jason stared after her, genuinely confused. "How did she start crying? I didn't even touch her."
A beat later the realization hit.
*Oh no. She's faking it so Mother will scold me.*
Sure enough, Clara emerged a moment later with Hannah at her side. Hannah's eyes were suspiciously dry and a small, triumphant smile sat on her lips. Clara fixed Jason with a familiar look of maternal disapproval.
"How many times must I tell you not to bully your younger sister?"
"I didn't, Mother. She ran inside crying for no reason."
Clara turned to Hannah. "Is that true?"
Hannah put on her most wounded expression. "Don't listen to him, Mother. He's lying. Just look at how guilty he looks right now."
Clara sighed, clearly seeing through the performance, yet she still delivered the expected warning. "I'll let it go this time. But if I catch you genuinely bullying her again, you'll answer for it."
"Yes, Mother," Jason said obediently. Out of the corner of his eye he caught Hannah sticking her tongue out at him. He muttered under his breath, just loud enough for himself, "You little she-devil."
Clara's tone softened as she changed the subject. "How was your first day at the alchemy room?"
Jason's expression brightened. "It went well. And I brought you something." He opened his hand again and held the two sky-blue pills out to her. "The grand elder refined these today—middle-grade pills for healing internal injuries. He gave them to me as a personal reward. I want you to have them."
Clara took one of the pills carefully between her fingers, turning it so the fading sunlight caught its smooth surface. Her voice was quiet when she spoke.
"I don't know whether something like this can touch the root of my illness. I'll keep one. You keep the other. You may need it more than I do in the days ahead."
She closed her hand around the single pill, offered Jason a warm, tired smile, and stepped back into the tent, leaving him standing in the doorway with the remaining sky-blue pill resting in his palm and the quiet weight of her decision settling over him.