It All Begins With a Morbid Curiosity

Most everything seems like magic when you’re young.

The way the sun always comes back up, snow falling overnight, the way adults seem to know everything there is to know- It’s all a great big mystery at that age. These mysteries are, unfortunately, solved over time for the most part and tend to lose their shine. But for Haoyu, his magic being solved simply furthered their interest.

His particular magic was medicine.

In reality what he saw that day was nothing special. An everyday experience, by all accounts. But it sparked a life long intrigue in the young lumendra.

Yes, what started it all was a simple ointment for pain relief.

Haoyu had watched as a teacher presented it and applied it to another luma in the class. He had never seen it before, not being very prone to injuries themself. It looked like nothing special, back then.

“What is that?” He asked. Simple curiosity from a child.

“It’s a healing cream,” His teacher replied simply. Then, a caveat with the statement. “It’s for injuries only, okay? This is only for children who are hurt, so we don’t waste any.”

This made logical sense, but to a child it seemed quite unfair. Why couldn’t Haoyu partake in the magic healing cream as well? No child worth their salt takes a roadblock like this sitting down. So Haoyu, simply to satiate his curiosity, did the only sensible thing to a child such as himself. In retrospect it was perhaps a bit morbid, some might say. Haoyu would be embarrassed to ever share such a story, but there was an incident where they purposefully allowed their tail to be heavily scratched by a low hanging bush branch in order to receive the magic ointment himself. He got quite the scolding from his parents after the fact, but it was well worth it to get to answer some curiosities. 

What was it made of? What did it feel like? How did it work? How fast did it work?

Answered over time, in order: This particular cream was made from tea leaves, it felt cold, it applied a numbing effect to the wound as well as sped up tissue regeneration, and it started its effects immediately.

More answers would be learned over time, to questions Haoyu had not even thought to ask. The creams could be made from different things, with different effects, for different purposes. Different ingredients and mixtures felt different, could take longer or shorter amounts of time to take effect. Sometimes a longer time to start meant greater healing, confusingly enough. In the wider world outside Haoyu’s home town, discoveries were being made in what could be used, advancements made in how to use them. 

And then, for Haoyu, came the discovery of healing potions.

This, of course, is what bridged the gap between interests. Haoyu nowadays specializes in potions of all kinds, but medical potions started it all and have a special place in their heart. If asked, he would say it is a speciality of his to create particularly strong potions in this area. Perhaps his favourite to make, even.

Does everyone have such a story? Haoyu considers themself quite lucky to have gained such a strong interest so easily and simply. Not everyone can claim simply seeing an ointment in use led to a lifelong interest and career in alchemy.

Therefore it is quite unfortunate that they choose not to share such a story with others. He has an image to uphold, one that does not correlate with a simple childhood story about ointment. Such is life.