An Alchemist's Journal, Pg 3

19 Oct 10

At last, a breakthrough, something to lift my spirits. In some of the notes that Hoenheim left behind he mentioned that alchemy is like cooking, the combination of ingredients to create an all new product. My father used to tell me the same thing about metalworking when I was apprenticing under him. We baked more cakes than we smithed swords on some days just so that I would understand the concept; at least those experiences prepared me to cook for myself.

Now, thanks to these words of wisdom from Hoenheim, I have made a correlation between alchemy and my profession. I have incorporated a transmutation circle into the anvil that I use in my smithing. I painstakingly checked to be sure that the circle was perfect in every way before I made it a permanent fixture, so as to ensure that it would work as intended.

Thus far, the circle has not done anything noticeable to my work. I had intended for it to work in conjunction with the techniques that I have developed so that my work will be further enhanced. Though it has reacted to my attempts to activate it, the circle has not done anything but remove some minor imperfections. This experiment can be considered a work in progress, but one that has given me a glimmer of hope.