In my country, there's an old saying about how alchemists are supposed to serve the people. It doesn't always end up that way, but the idea behind it is that every person contributes to the flow of the world, so it's important to have a positive impact.

The more someone understands the big picture and the way things are connected, the better suited they're going to be to become an alchemist. When I was being taught, my teacher included a lot of fighting training to show how the principles of alchemy could be applied to all kinds of things you'd never expect.

[Out of context it all sounds a little too philosophical for his taste, and he gives a short laugh.]

But like I said, I'm not an expert. I've gotten it wrong plenty of times.