April 11th, 1845

Ralph sure had a huge library. Though this might be normal for a scholar, Edward reasoned. Still, seeing three walls covered in book cases like this felt odd to him. Ralph had told him to find a book that drew his interest and read it. Most likely because Ralph didn't wanna be disturbed and he had a lot of letter writing to get done in his attic.

Edward's uncle had prepared a small stack of books on the table to start him off with. He walked over to the desk in the center of the room. On it, he found the small tower of books in various shapes and sizes, with the top one being "The fundamentals of the classical sciences Part one: An introduction". He picked it up and walked over to the heavy recliner in the corner of the room. It looked specifically designed for reading, with a wall mounted lamp over it's right shoulder to shed light on the paper being read, To it's left a place to place several books in the process of being read, and on the right hand side, a table perfectly sized for a tray with tea and crumpets to be placed. It looked like this corner had seen a lot of use over the years.

Edward flopped down into the seat, and he sank down with a satisfying hiss. He perched his right ankle on his left knee and placed the book in his lap and started reading. He skipped the intro and table of contents and then he arrived at Chapter one: Newton's laws. What he read in that chapter amazed him. It brought to light the very mechanics that operated the universe! It baffled him such complex movements could be explained by such simple rules. By the end of the first chapter, he caught himself bent over forwards, carefully studying each word. And this was only the first chapter! The chapters 'basic math', 'more physics' and 'chemistry' got the same treatment, and it wasn't until halfway through 'alchemy' that Edward was disturbed.

Manfred had come into the room. "Am I interrupting, young master?" he asked. "Oh, uhm, No." Edward said, disturbed non-the-less. Manfred walked in, tray in hand "I've prepared some cucumber sandwiches". It wasn't until that moment that Edward realized just how hungry he was. "Why, thank you" he smiled at Manfred. He took a quick glace at the clock and nearly dropped a sandwich right out of his mouth! "Two PM already"" he exclaimed. "Why yes, young master. You've been quite consumed with that book all day", Manfred remarked. "If I may be so frank, I don't get it. I don't see any practical application for any of this. A fools errant, if you ask me". An awkward pause 
permeated the room while Edward finished his sandwich. "If you'll excuse me, I think I'll go see Ralph, do you know where he is?" he asked. Manfred pondered for a short while "He's probably in the attic, I'd guess."

"Hey, Uncle Ralph, are you here?" Edward called across the large but clustered attic. "Yes, over here" he could hear coming across a bend. He navigated across the junk, and in view came a desk under a bright window, with the portly man behind it, half turned around, smiling at Edward. He gestured to come over, asking "So, how are your studies going?" Edward started explaining with great excitement what he had learned today, about the various studies, and how they all related to each other, and also about alchemy. "Is there such a thing as the perfect catalyst" he inquired. "Well" Ralph began "There has never been proof for it, but I do thi-" and then he stopped mid-track. His face turned from jolly to serious and he said "Follow me".