At the precise moment the boy alchemist decided to defy him, Aergar Wald had two thoughts. The first was that wherever this boy came from people must not pay any heed to their gods, or, his second thought, this boy was cleverer than he looked and had seen through Aergar's ruse. Still he wasn't quite finished yet. In fact, he allowed himself to be surprised by the little fire trick, for he [i]was[/i] surprised by that sudden flare of light. Sparrot was extremely unhappy to have been made the target of this display but the imp temporarily forgot his facade and laughed delightedly. "That's wonderful!" he exclaimed, "You're not such a pitiful creature after all. Bravo." He applauded. 

"Knew there was more to you than meets the eye. Fortunately for you, since you aren't much to look at. And clever, at least a little bit." He giggled childishly. "You don't think I'm a real god, and I don't think you're a real alchemist, so we're square." He clapped his hand on the boy's shoulder, "Fritz, is it?" He'd taken note of the name written on the inside cover of the chemistry book. "Well you can run along now, I have other business to attend to. Sparrot!"

As he turned away, the roots entrapping Fritz's legs retreated back beneath the earth. "So long Fritz! Perhaps someday you may be a mediocre alchemist!" With that, he stepped behind the nearest tree. Not a large tree, but wide enough to hide him from both Fritz and Sparrot's line of sight. From here he teleported a short distance away. He whistled once so the raven could find him. In the distance he heard the jingle of a harness and hoofbeats. It was Ada, he recognized it by the sound. No doubt she would find the boy. Ah, if he went with Ada then the likelihood of their paths crossing would be greatly increased. How interesting, he looked forward to seeing how it all played out. 

"Now," he said once the raven had rejoined him, "Take me to Phrenesis."