Elias, a lanky apprentice with ink-stained fingers and a mop of unruly hair, hunches over his workbench. His eyes dart between a battered tome and the brass cauldron sputtering in front of him. With a trembling hand, he tips a vial of shimmering azure liquid into the mix, murmuring the incantation he only half-remembers.
"By silver moon and morning dew, reveal what’s hidden, make it true..."
A sudden burst of emerald smoke engulfs him. The world spins, and as the haze clears, Elias glances down—only to find his hands have vanished.
Panic floods Elias’s mind as he stumbles away from the bench, knocking over a stack of books that scatter across the floor. He reaches out, touching his own cheek, but feels only emptiness. Heart pounding, he catches his reflection in a polished brass plate—there is nothing but the room behind him.
"What have I done? How do I reverse this?"
He whispers, voice trembling, but there’s no one to answer. The only sound is the soft clink of glass as he fumbles blindly through his notes, searching for the antidote.
Knowing he is unseen, Elias slips silently into the corridor. He clings to the wall, heart in his throat, as Master Corvin, the stern and secretive alchemist, strides past. Master Corvin mutters to himself, clutching a weathered satchel as he disappears into the forbidden library.
Master Corvin: "If the council ever learns of the philosopher’s stone fragment hidden beneath the floor, everything will crumble..."
Elias freezes. The legendary stone? He creeps after Master Corvin, curiosity overpowering his fear.
Master Corvin kneels, pulling back the rug and lifting the trapdoor with a groan. He descends into darkness, leaving the entrance ajar. Elias tiptoes after him, breath held, and peers down into a cramped cellar where alchemical sigils glow on the stone walls.
"Soon, I’ll have enough fragments to complete the stone. No apprentice, no matter how clever, will ever suspect..."
Elias’s heart races. He realizes the accidental invisibility has given him the key to unraveling Master Corvin’s greatest secret.
Elias pores over his master’s journals, piecing together clues about the philosopher’s stone and the formula to restore his own form. Torn between fear and resolve, he weighs the risk of exposing Master Corvin’s secret to the council. His hand trembles as he prepares the reversal potion, every sense heightened by the danger swirling around him.
"Once I’m visible, there’s no turning back. But some secrets are too dangerous to remain hidden," he whispers into the twilight.
He drinks, feeling warmth flood his body as his form shimmers back into being. The council members gasp as he bursts in, voice ringing with newfound courage.
"I have discovered a secret—one that threatens us all. Please, you must listen,"
As the council leans in, Elias knows that nothing in the tower will ever be the same again.
