Santiago learn a lot of things from this merchant; one of those crucial things he learned was that it does not matter if he was making good money with him, what matters is to go out and reach for your dreams and goals in life. Santiago decided to cash in all of his salary and continued pursuing his dream to find the fortune at the pyramids. .
On his way there, Santiago met an Englishman who was studying to become an alchemist, in which learned a lot from this man. For one, Santiago learned that the secret of alchemy is written on a rock named the Emerald Tablet. He also learned that the final invention of alchemy was the Master Work, in which consists of a solid named the Philosopher Stone that can turn any metal to gold, and a liquid named the Elixir of Life that can cure any disease. The Englishman revealed to Santiago that his purpose was to go to Egypt to find a powerful 200-year-old alchemist and absorb some knowledge from him. .
Santiago's caravan unfortunately needed to make a prolonged stop in Al-Fayoum in order to prevent progressively forceful tribal wars taking place in the desert. In this desert Santiago falls in love with a woman named Fatima. Santiago then witnessed a sign that a tribe was going to attack on the archaeologically neutral sanctuary. As a result of this they were able to defend themselves before the attack was made. The alchemist realizes Santiago's vision and encourages him to not give up on his Personal Legend and to put aside Fatima at that moment and focus only on his journey. They kept walking through the desert and when they were only days away from the pyramids, a tribe of Arab soldiers captured them. In interchange of their lives Santiago gave them all of his money and the alchemist warned them that Santiago was a mighty alchemist who will turn into wind within three days. Santiago felt worried because he had no idea how to turn into the wind but all of the sudden on the third day he started communicating with the wind and the sun and persuades them to help him create an incredible sandstorm.