Sir Cluckens watched with amusement as more Arks surrounded him, each in a different spot and each with various temperaments about them, they all possessed identical looks and were identical in height.

“Interesting isn’t it?” An Ark leaning against a brick wall said, crossing his arms in a bad boy fashion.

“Sure is, I mean, who knew that the cloning potion would actually work!” An Ark on a rooftop said, swinging his legs enthusiastically, “It is after all, like two years old,”

“Yeah, but the fact we all have different traits…” The Ark, who was previously on the windowsill, laughed almost maniacally, “This ten vs one situation plus the fact that the original Ark’s knowledge is all in our heads means this chicken is going to suck it!”

“Ark cloned himself… How?!” Atra demanded, almost refusing to believe the multiple Arks before her eyes, “Alchemy and…. Just techniques like this in general were lost to time! Ignoring the different traits the fact alone he cloned himself is enough for even continental empires to wage wars over the recipe he used!”

“Oh Atra, sweet little Atra~” Another Ark said, looking at her with a high-up tone, “We just mixed and matched until it worked, it took years of randomizing, but it worked! It’s called RNG, though we sure are lucky we got it before coming here!”

“Enough talking! Let us fight and choose who is superior!” The chicken boomed, his tiny size not adding up to his powerful voice of godhood.

“Aight,” All Arks’ said in unison as they stretched and got ready to fight.

“So how you wanna do th-“ An Ark suddenly teleported out of the way of the abyssal form’s punch, the wooden beam behind him being blown apart instantly.

“Free for all!” An Ark shouted, charging in with his body becoming a purple liquid.

Another Ark had the shadows arm themselves onto his body and the Ark against the brick wall ran in, body forwards with his arms back.

“The gravity of this situation sure is interesting!” He shouted while pulling his arms forwards, the gravity on everyone in a ten-meter excluding the other Arks increased by tenfold, immobilizing the chicken and seemingly gluing him to that spot.

“Ark two!” An Ark shouted to an Ark who was sticking back warily, “Get projectiles then freeze then resume!”

The Ark nodded and ran off to get items while another Ark was caught in the abyssal form’s grasp, his face showing no sign of fear or concern.

“I wonder, what happens if I kill one of you?!”

“We go poof!” The Ark shouted, his skin lighting up as he swelled.

The shadowy figure quickly ditched the detonating Ark into the sky, making him explode into a large cloud of smoke as another Ark fell to his knees and cried out to the heavens above.

“No! Ark five! Me and him were lovers!” This Ark, who increased the gravity yelled, tears streaming from his eyes, “I’m pregnant with his child!”

“Oh gods…” Atra pinched the bridge of her nose, “He’s not taking this seriously… He thinks he can just bluff his way out of this… Like everything…”

“I mean, I could help you raise the child,” The Ark who teleported around suggested, immediately getting rejected by the gravity Ark.

“Pfft, you wish,”

“Ark! Take this seriously!” Armi shouted from her restraints, still unable to use her magic or even move for that matter.

“Whyyyyy…” The Ark with shadows on him whined as an Ark behind him was grabbed and literally torn in half, that Ark shouting in surprise before turning into a gooey grey mess.

“BECAUSE HE’S KILLING ALL OF YOU!” She yelled; a different Ark being grabbed by the throat immediately after she finished her sentence.

“We don’t feel pain sis, plus we only have ten health- Wait which Ark is that he’s choking?!” An Ark responded, suddenly becoming frantic.

“Ark seven! Shit! Don’t move any further!”

All the Arks froze, sweating and panicked as the chicken maliciously giggled.

“So… This Ark I suppose is the core of the group, if he dies then you all die, including the original,” The abyssal god asked with snide in his voice, looking at all the clones’ reactions.

“Well… Er… U-um…” An Ark nervously tapped his fingers together while all the others displayed tones of clear worry or agitation, “W-Uh…”

This was enough confirmation for the barn animal.

“I see, goodbye then pathetic mortal, you offered me little amusement for the rumours about you,” He tightened the grip on Ark seven’s throat, said clone began to drool as his airflow was constricted.

“Wait no don’t! We’re all reflections of Ark and Ark seven has a fetish for-“

“Harder daddy~!” Ark seven moaned very loudly, making everyone go silent and get that uncomfortable feeling in their gut.

“What?” The chicken asked, now reluctant to squish the clone in his grasp, making sure he didn’t hear what he just heard in a tone that he clearly just didn’t hear in a battle for life and death.

“What?” The clone replied, ignoring what he previously said, staring the animal in the eyes as if he was oblivious to everything around him.

“Ark has a fetish for being choked?” Rekiel asked, slightly surprised, “I didn’t expect him to be THAT perverted. But eh, not my job to kink shame people,”

“Well actually he has a slight fetish for pain, we developed it after going to he-“ Ark seven was slammed into the ground and reduced to the weird grey liquid mess.

It all went to hell from there.

Various Arks charged in, all armed with their traits, one was wielding a large amount of magic in his hands but was instantly killed with a single punch, just like all his companions who had left themselves wide open with their slow attacks.

Soon it was just the gravity Ark remaining, the teleporting Ark had been done in after he tried to teleport behind the chicken and say something while the liquid Ark had been frozen then melted, killing him.

“Well, seeing as your stuck to that spot and I’m over here, let's call it a stalemate,” He offered out a hand, looking at the many grey puddles.

Sir Cluckens laughed and defying all expectations, he got up from his sitting position, making the Ark’s eyes widen in surprise and mild horror as his mouth went from a smug grin to a terrified grin.

“I only weigh a few kilos, adding tenfold onto that isn’t going to work with how strong I am!” He started walking towards the Ark who stood frozen in his spot.

“Gravity was a very passionate subject of mine, so I’m glad I at least got a trait that was fitting of that passio-“ He was killed by a quick fist through the stomach, giving two middle fingers to the chicken before he got liquified as well.

“Hey guys I’m bac-“ The Ark who was sent off to grab things stopped once he saw a pool of muddy liquids everywhere, blinking several times, “Wow that was fast, I expected it to last longer,”

“Hm, and what do you have to offer?” The abyssal god asked in confidence, “Or are you just disposable?”

“Well, how does time function for gods?” The Ark asked, bringing out a set of small bombs from his bags, his tone of voice being more polite than the others.

“Time for gods? We are beyond such trivial things!” The chicken yelled, his abyssal form screeching in agreement.

“Well, alright then, so you’re not affected by this?” A massive burst of energy erupted from the Ark, freezing everyone’s movements around him, everything was frozen, every last drop of water, every inch of air, down to the last dust particle everything was frozen in place.

Sir Cluckens was no exception.

This Ark went up to the chicken and dropped the bombs which stopped falling a few milliseconds after leaving his hands, taking out a magic lighter.

[Trait: Time Stop]

[Desc: Halt the gears of time for as long as you need, each second in frozen time costs 100 stamina]

He lit the bombs close to the end of their wick which sparked for a bit before they halted in the stopped time. He then placed them right next to the chicken before he jumped back, sweating and panting.

The whole process, if measured with time flowing, took 4 seconds.

Time resumed and the chicken squawked in surprise as lit bombs suddenly appeared beside him, exploding a moment later and engulfing the small area in flames and smoke.

“So, I’m guessing you gods are still bound by the laws of time’s flow huh?” The Ark hummed, seeing the chicken unhurt from taking several bombs to the face, not surprising him in the slightest, a drop of sweat trickled down his forehead.

“So, you pause time then? A powerful trait indeed,” The chicken commented, now adopting a more serious tone, he hadn’t the faintest idea that a mortal could be this powerful.

“Gravity multiplication, self-destruction, liquefication, time manipulation, magic affinity, out of all these ten traits we got Analysis and to be honest, that’s better than self-destruction,” The Ark said, stopping time for the fraction of a second to avoid a lightspeed punch.

“But you can’t stop time consecutively, can you?”

“I have five hundred stamina and each second costs one hundred stamina, I’m pretty much out of gas,” He replied with a gentle laugh, making sure to wait a few seconds before he made his next move.

“I served my purpose, take it from here original me,” The clone then snapped his own neck, killing him and reducing him to the grey liquid as another Ark stood behind him, this one carrying a bag of something.

“Man, that clone potion worked wonders. Sad I can only make one every few years since the ingredients are hella rare,” He said, ignoring the fact his clones were all dead, “Anyway, I’m the original and the most unkillable, and I am here to fully neutralize you!” He pointed dramatically towards the chicken.

“So, all those clones were merely to buy time? Not to kill me but for you to find an item?” The god was surprised at the alchemist’s use for the powerful potion.

“Yep! And I came to make a deal with that item, join us and I’ll give you this bag!”

“Really? You think that I, a god of the abyss itself, will join your pitiful group of mortals? And for what? A bag of common goods?” The abyssal god sneered from his unintimidating form, his feathers ruffling.

“Really you’d call this, delicious and scrumptious bag of premium chicken feed a common good,” The alchemist portrayed the bag with an arm sweeping over it, showing the premium symbol for the feed.

Sir Cluckens stepped back in what? Shock? horror? Fear? All of those? Nobody knew what caused such a reaction, was it that a mere commoner alchemist made a god almost bend to his will? That he had the balls to offer to a god a bag of chicken feed?

Well, it was certainly effective…

The chicken eyed the bag and then Ark, then the bag again, having an internal crisis in his unassuming form of a chicken.

“You want it, little buddy?” The alchemist offered a bit of the feed, the god of the abyss obviously finding it extremely tempting.

“You… Mortal…. You… Insignificant ant…” He strained through his beak, seeing the feed be laid down by the alchemist’s hand, that delicious… Nutritious and heavenly chicken feed…. He didn’t need it.

He didn’t need it…

He didn’t need it……..

HE NEEDED IT!

“Fine! You win! I’ll join you!” The chicken retracted his abyssal form, “But just you wait, in your sleep I’ll claim all of your souls!”

“Well, ignoring that last part, since your entire army of Reapers have been destroyed by Relziem who’s actually proved himself useful for once, it’d be better to join us, which you’ve done,” Ark chucked the bag to the barn animal which quickly tore open the bag and dug in, “Now eat up,”

Everyone in the group watched in disbelief, the alchemist before them had just done the impossible…

“Did… Did Ark just defeat a god…?” Rekiel asked, disbelieving his eyes, “Because if I’m not mistaken, that chicken reflected my trait back onto me and could’ve killed us all in seconds,”

“Brother, I’ve known Ark for a while and I’m still baffled by the things he does…” Atra said, slightly amazed at how the lesser rank alchemist handled things, “Though I’m still not convinced that he brewed that potion by chance,”

“Ark has a… Lot of secrets he doesn’t reveal to anyone, especially when it comes to alchemy. I’ve known him to stay in there for days at a time trying to perfect this one potion, he was especially reluctant to stop this one time when he made this potion which allowed one to have their body run solely off mana for a couple of days,”

“Yo sis! Don’t tell them about my secrets or I’ll tell them about what happened that one night when you tried that glass of whiskey!” Ark called out from the street, slightly angered.

“You agreed that was between us!” She replied, now angry as well.

“Well if you’re gonna spout my secrets I might as well tell them your secrets!”

“What happened with a bottle of whiskey?” The Paladin asked, prying himself from the ground, his thick armour dented but serving its purpose in keeping him safe.

“Nothing,” Ark and Armi said in unison before the former turned to the group and walked closer, now stretching his arms in a tired fashion.

“Anyway, I’m about to head to bed, I need my rest,” He stretched, “Plus, Relziem’s gonna kick my ass if he sees me again, so adios…” He waved and walked down the street to where the shop was.

Ignoring the weird last word, Atra agreed with him, though she was still suspicious of the chicken, “Yeah, it’s getting late, we should go back to the castle to check on the royal family, come on Rekiel… Rekiel?”

The royal alchemist turned her head to see her brother walking down the street with Ark, trailing behind him with stride.

“Where are you going?”

“Shop’s closer, besides you and Armi can take the castle if you want, me and alchemy here are going to take the beds,”

“You and Ark alone is a bad idea so no, you’re coming with me,” Atra said, her brother turning to face her.

[Situational Nightmare has been planted on you]

In this world, a trait put onto you by someone who shared your blood would give you a notification, it was said that this was made after one of the gods was assassinated by his sister, Myridia, out of jealousy.

“You… You wouldn’t…” The female alchemist froze up, waiting for anything to suddenly jump out at her, holding a hand over her heart to reform it instantly if she had a heart attack, anything could kill her now.

“Either you come with or you go…”

The royal alchemist looked at Armi, then at Ark, then at her brother and sighed in defeat…

…

…

…

…

“Can you not take all the blanket?” Ark said, feeling a cold breeze on his body.

“Get a bigger blanket,” Armi said, trying to nuzzle herself into the pillow to fall asleep.

The group had decided to go with siblings sharing rooms. Atra was going to kill or completely reform Ark if the two were put in the same bed, Rekiel was too unstable and unpredictable to share a bed with Armi and if the two boys slept together it was certain that a sleepless night would follow.

So thus, the best option was for each respective sibling to take their respective sibling and sleep.

“No, that means more washing,”

“Why do you even have this massively sized bed if you aren’t going to get a bigger blanket then?”

“So that Atra doesn’t fall off the bed…”

Silence followed the two, Ark was in his self-tailored boxers while Armi was in a nightgown, the other siblings were in her room and well, they were pretty quiet too…

“How long has it been since we slept in the same bed?” Ark asked, trying to make small talk in a hope it would make him fall asleep faster.

“Since we were ten, it was a few years before that age we also stopped telling other people that we were going to marry each other when we grew up,”

The male alchemist internally cringed at that, hi sister smiled upon hearing her brother internally suffer.

“Why did we even do that? When mother and father kissed, we would always almost vomit, yet we were fine with telling random strangers we were going to become spouses,”

“The innocence of childhood? Nobody at that age truly understood what love was,” Armi said, chuckling at a memory of Ark showing ‘chivalry’ to her and falling over in a puddle to allow her to cross the puddle when she could’ve just as easily stepped past it.

“Eh, I guess, though I’m surprised that I actually did that,” Ark remembered that moment as a defining moment in his manliness.

“Just proves you have a bit of goodness in you,” His sister chuckled, remembering the scolding he got when he came in muddy and dirty.

“Remember how I broke your crush’s back, look at that moment and tell me I’m good,” He laughed.

“Well I-“

“Oh yeah~ Touch me there~” A female voice, sounding very much like Atra’s but a few chords off, was heard on the other side of the wall, in Armi’s room and the two went silent.

“Mmm~ I will~” This moan was male, and Ark made an uncomfortable expression, slightly…. Very agitated.

“Rekiel stop, I’m trying to sleep and so are they,” Atra, with a more genuine sounding voice, scolded from the other side of the wall.

“I’m just trying to have some fun~” Armi heard Rekiel say in a tone imitating his sister’s, “Beats trying to fall asleep boringly,”

“And don’t imitate my voice like that, I’m not slutty or horny,”

“But you DO mastur-“

“Shut. Up.”

“Well I’m just saying that every few months, particularly when you-“

“SILENCE MORTALS I AM TRYING TO SLEEP!” Sir Cluckens roared from the corridor, happy to nestle himself into the spare storage creates filled with smaller blankets peacefully.

After that, a bit of silence followed and soon, everyone was snoozing peacefully.

…

Atra woke up at the crack of dawn, slipping the blankets off herself, exposing her rather muscular brother’s back, making him groan in annoyance as she got ready for the day.

She washed herself with a water spell, took a few minutes in the hot spring and then got into her overcoat, ready and refreshed better than most mornings, that spring really did have magical properties. She felt in her prime!

“Morning,” She was greeted by Ark who was in his regular outfit, reading a newspaper woven from magic tree fibre, its titles sprawled across the top with pictures underneath.

[Naked Bleeding Man Deflects Unitos’s Mana Pulse While Saving A Damsel in Distress]

[Massive Swarms of Silence Reapers appear above Unitos, the start of an attack?]

The picture was blurred in an obvious spot around the figure’s groin, but the face was easily Ark’s, though Atra didn’t recognize the woman’s face, however, the face Armi was making told a different story.

“So, did you get enough sleep last night? Rekiel was making inappropriate noises so I hope it didn’t disturb you too much,”

“I mean, I learned you DO mastur-“

“Shut it, what about you Armi?”

“Surprisingly I went to sleep easier than most nights,”

“Yeah, because discussing your childhood is easier to fall asleep to than just lying in silence,” Ark said, sipping some coffee.

Rekiel suddenly came in and read the mood instantly, noticing how Armi was giving her brother subtle and vicious glares, just like what his sister was doing to him right now.

“Did you two do the naughty naughty?”

Ark spat pout his coffee while Armi stood up and accidentally slammed her elbow onto the table, sending her nervous system into funky town.

“What is it with you asking if I’m smashing my sister?!” Ark yelled, ignoring how he spat the coffee into Atra’s face, “Actually, WHAT’S WITH THE MIDDLE AGES AND INCEST?!”

“Well, you two know each other very well and you shared a bed last night, you also agreed to marry each other when you grew up,” Rekiel said smugly, ignoring the alchemist’s last sentence.

“You heard that?!” Armi shouted, trying to calm her spazzing body.

“Every word, just as you heard that my sister DOES mastur-“

“Alright stop it Rekiel, this is why you’re not called in for many cases,” Atra sighed, now feeling a headache come on.

“Because he’s an ass?” Ark asked, pointing at the florist.

“Yes. Just like you my brother is… Special…” The royal alchemist said, looking at the regular alchemist.

“Oh yeah, how is that vampire case coming along, isn’t that why he came here?”

“Yes, and I discovered how the boy was turned in broad daylight,” Rekiel said, adopting an entirely different attitude, “The water was laced with something that turned him into a vampire,”

Ark internally froze and looked at the florist who looked at back Ark with a knowing glance.

“Almost like… A potion was spilled…”

‘You wouldn’t, not like this,’

‘Oh, I would Ark, you see, I’m a man who doesn’t hold attachments to anyone but my family, and you, my friend, have only provided one use: brewing unusual potions,’

‘Le fuck you, let's see you find evidence then!’

“Why are you two just staring at each other?” Armi asked, making both men blink before they groaned.

“We were having a staring competition,” Rekiel explained, “And I just won,”

“You wish,” Ark protested.

“Ok, ok, Rekiel, come with me, we still need to find out where this laced water came from, we checked the main water source a few days ago but now we need to check the alternative sources,”

As the male was being led out, he gave Ark one last glance.

‘It’s only a matter of time, Ark Andrason,’

‘I look forwards to your challenge, Revile,’

As they left and walked down the street, Armi turned to her brother, stone cold.

“You spilled the potion?” She said in pure, cold, hatred.

“No,” Ark denied, “The kid kicked me and spilled the potion, it was karmic justice that was done to himself,”

“I don’t believe you for a second, you killed an innocent child!” His sister accused, holding a finger towards him.

“He kicked me while I was carrying a buttload of potions! Then he drank from that public water stream! If you ask me that’s natural selection at work!”

“Ark, this whole time I’ve stuck with you, I’ve stood up for you, I’ve helped you. But this is where I put down my foot,”

“Armi wait wh-“

“I’m going to the authorities,” She stood up and he stood up with her, staring her in the eyes.

“Sister-“

“Don’t. Call. Me. That.” Her voice made him back off warily.

Ark was stopped in his tracks as his sister walked out the door, glaring at him as he heard the sound of the door and shop ice over, trapping him inside the building as he felt a magic array activate, the very same magic array used to prevent burglars from escaping was now being used to hold him inside the building.

His mind instantly went into panic mode.

“Shit! I’m fucked! And all because a fucking kid kicked me in the fucking shins!”

He slammed his hands down on the table and calmed himself, steeling his anger and rage, his internal fury and instinct to destroy needed to be released…

“No, it’s no good resorting to ‘that’ option, I swore not to go back to that,” He breathed in and out, slowing his anger and resentment, as well as his heart.

“The best option is to just wait for the guards to appear and go with them… Hiding would only make me a fugitive and-“

“Open up!” A guard demanded, breaking down the door if Ark answered it or not.

“Well shit,”

A fireball blasted down the frozen doorway to create a sizable hole and he saw Atra standing there, disappointment on her face.

“I should have known better than to trust you,”

“Wha- Atra wait-“

“Take him away, make him never see the light of day again,” The guards rushed up and restrained the alchemist by his arms.

‘Wait… No, this isn’t right… The guards would usually hit me with some sort of stun spell, not restrain me like this…’

He looked to Atra and noticed an odd detail on her, the pupils in her eyes were purple, not blue.

‘No, Armi wouldn’t just turn like that either…. Wait a minute… The chicken…”

Ark looked up at the roof and began to remember his words, his eyes dilatating in horror.

‘When you sleep, I’ll claim your souls,’

“THIS ISN’T REALITY! THE CHICKEN’S TRAPPED US IN A DREAM!” Ark screamed, being dragged out of the alchemy shop.

In reality, his closed eyes twitched as the barn animal stood on his chest, watching with amusement.

“You thought you were safe, but no, you were just being waited on, now I’ll claim your souls for the abyss!” The chicken laughed; the others trapped in similar dreams.

“Sorry Armi, but you’ll only serve well as a slave pleasing your master in this new world, maybe in another life you’ll be something else,” Armi watched as the world burned and her brother laughed, his skin charred and blackened while demons stood around him with lustful gazes turned to her.

“Atra, you have failed your parents and now you’ve failed me…” Atra’s heart sank as she saw the queen look at her with disappointment, “You really are a mistake of a child…”

“Rekiel, you-“

“Fuck you chicken!” Rekiel shouted at the sky, ignoring the souls all around him, disfigured and corrupted from his various sins, “I’m not falling for this! Especially when these souls look like that one girl I punched in the face!”

“Seems Ark and Rekiel are the only ones aware that they’re trapped,” Sir Cluckens chuckled, “But no matter, once they give up or die, their souls will be mine,”

Within his dream, the male alchemist had successfully and surprisingly escaped the guard’s physical locks and was frantically running in the streets, spells flying past him as he fled.

“This dream world… It's pretty accurate except for a few details, but those details are minuscule…” He huffed, “Not only that, but my potions are useless, I can’t even make a wall or anything, traits are a no go as well,”

He avoided the gaze of some guards and looked up at the castle, a large ominous beam flowing out from it to the rest of the dream world.

“I need to find where the source of this place is!”

“Ark...” He noticed a small tattooed face of Armi on the back of his hand, “You were the worst brother ever… Even as we’re dying you just want to save yourself!”

“No thanks dream Armi,” Ark shoved the face into his pants, the result was the face screaming in utter horror, “I need to get to the castle and break the dream crystal holding us prisoner, also stop screaming, you see it every morning,”

He dashed from street to street, steadily making his way towards the castle, being seen various times but not pursued by the dream citizens who seemed just about as confused as he was… Maybe they were actual people? He didn’t know.

He killed a few of the citizens who tried to attack him…

Eventually, he scaled up a castle wall and made his way into a random room, seeing the princess of Unitos looking at him with a confused expression as he fell onto the floor on the other side of the window.

“Ark, why are you in my dream? Are you here to claim me as your bride in this wonderful world?”

“What?!” Ark stepped back in disgust, “No, I never would want you,”

“Hmpf,” The princess pouted, crossing her arms, “You just want to play hard to get,”

‘You enslaved the princess huh? All the details on her are spot on so she’s either another really good illusion or she’s actually been taken as a hostage… Wait…Who’s to say he didn’t take all of Unitos hostage…”

“Good Ark, learning quite fast I see, nobody has died yet but it's only a matter of time…” The chicken maliciously smiled on its abyssal form, ‘Not only that but even if the princess survives, she’ll be possessed, hopefully June can carry her through the dream world,’

“Hm? You look pale dream Ar-“

“Sorry Princess but I gotta bounce away from here!” The alchemist ran into the hallway and saw Atra kneeling down, crying while the Queen yelled at her, scolding her for being incompetent and reckless.

“So multiple people can be in a single dream… Interesting,” He ran up, tackled the queen and then punched her in the jaw, causing her skin to liquefy into a puddle of weird flesh and clothes which splattered all over the walls and floor.

“ARK WHAT DID YOU DO?! YOU JUST KILLED THE QUEE-“

“Shut up it’s a dream now come with me!” He grabbed Atra by the hand and pulled her into a bridal position, running down the hallway, turning to the princess’s room, making sure enough room was still available.

“Ark, are you hav-“

“Shut up get on!” He scooped her up into the bridal hold with Atra and kept running, the hallway twisting and turning around them while he ran.

“Come on! Come on!” He noticed it getting longer and longer, the door getting further and further away from them.

“Whaaaa? This dream is bizarre!”

“Yeah! It is! Now-“

“Halt! By the order of the Queen!” A group of guards yelled, charging towards them at rather slow speeds.

“The door!” Atra pointed to the end of the hallway, showing a very distorted and small door.

“It’s not getting any clo-“ Ark suddenly slammed into the door, somehow injuring himself but leaving the two girls fine and unharmed as he fell back, the corridor’s walls somehow touching both of his feet.

“Dreams…” He groaned, looking back up with a now dazed expression.

“Ark… Whatever you do, don’t close your legs…” The royal alchemist said, making him look down with internal screams.

The floor of the castle had warped downwards, meaning that his feet were now holding them up on the fancy decorated walls, like a very high-class tube, the door had somehow disappeared as well, leaving Ark the only supporter between falling down a hallway and slamming into a door.

“Ah! No! I hate heights!” Resia screamed, clutching Atra harder than before.

“This way!” The guards yelled, running down the floor towards the trio, not affected by the change in the castle’s shape or gravity.

The alchemist looked up at the guards, then looked down at the bottom of the corridor which was now in a deep dark abyss, he could hear screams echo out from it.

“Fuck it! Brace yourselves guys,” He was prepared to close his legs.

“Ark I can just create a way down for us,” The royal alchemist said, reaching out to put a hand on a wall.

“This is a dream darling, you can’t use trait-“

The wall gave way and they were soon sliding down it, everyone now on a chunk of the wall that was moving downwards attached to either sides of the hallway, like an elevator…

As they moved downwards and the guards seemingly disappeared, the alchemist explained their situation to the two girls.

“So, we’re trapped in a dream?” The princess asked, looking at Ark who was currently chalking up arrays on a piece of paper from his satchel, it was odd since potions and magic were partially useless in a dream.

“Yes, though the dream either appears as a nightmare or as a regular dream or maybe even a disguise as reality, do you have any memories of dozing off or going to bed?”

“No, I was just thinking of the royal alchemy tournament that’s coming up, and of the alchemy party that’s happening tomorrow night,”

The alchemist slapped himself in the face, as if he forgot a key item or subject.

“Right! That’s coming up! I haven’t even made a good enough potion for it!”

“Well you made a clones potion, I’d say that’s enough for the kingdom to hire you,” Atra said, “Besides, you may be an idiot but it’d be nice to work with someone who knows something about alchemy…”

“Yeah…” Ark backed away from the royal alchemist, suspicious of any movements she made, “Say, Atra, what DO you know of me?”

“Well, one: you have a crush on me, two: you have a reputation for causing disasters against our kingdom, three: you’re always somehow getting into trouble-“

“I mean personally, what is something about me only YOU would know?” He asked, reaching into one of his pockets.

“Well, You-“

Atra was immediately blasted to pieces by a weak explosion spell scroll, her remains liquifying while the princess screamed in horror.

“Knew it, this version of Atra began its last few sentences with ‘well’, plus it said that it was looking forward to working with me, AND it only used public knowledge of me,” The alchemist chucked the scroll away, “Princess, tell me something only I would know,”

The princess sweated nervously.

“I- uh, um… I DON’T KNOW! WE ONLY EVER TALKED ONCE AND THAT WAS INSIDE YOUR SHOP AND YOU WANTED TO DO SOMETHING ELSE AND I ATTEMPTED TO COURT YOU AND-“

The alchemist laughed, seeing the royal’s sniffling face, tears streaming out of her eyes, her crown was also misplaced from her small crying fit.

“what...?” She sniffed, looking at the laughing adult.

“Yeah, it’s you, mainly because I killed you on the way here, or well, your dream counterpart who tried to sic the guards on me, but it’s you, only the princess would know that she tried to court me, and what did I say as an opposition to your attempts?”

The structure dream Atra made suddenly fell apart and the duo looked down into the bottomless abyss.

“Oh right, death….”

The two fell, the princess screaming and grabbing the alchemist who groaned in displeasure.

“I have a princess clutching to me, a female vampire I once trapped in my basement, a receptionist who wants my D, a gender-bend potion which makes Relziem look pretty nice and I still can’t get over my crush on Atra!” Ark pinched his nose in frustration, “I even met God and I still can’t anything from her!”

He pointed to the top of the corridor as they fell, the princess still screaming.

“You wanted me to find redemption?! I can’t do that if I’m dead! You’re the worst god eve-“

The alchemist suddenly took the brunt of the blow as the door smashed under their combined weight and gave in, the two sliding into a mysterious room with a large pink gem in it.

The gravity was apparently restored in this room, the floor was now properly the floor.

“Ow, my back,” Ark looked up at the roof and gave a thumbs up, “Okay, I take that back, you’re the best,”

“Whoa, what part of the dream is this?” Resia asked, ignoring the battered alchemist on the floor and looking at the crystal reaching out to it.

“Don’t touch it, that’s the thing holding this dream together,” He warned, getting up with pain in his bones, “I’ll need to clear the dust around it to fully destroy it, otherwise the residue can make more crystals,”

“That… Makes no sense,” Resia said, looking at the crystal longingly, “Why would a crystal be making more crystals from dust?”

“Hey, my dad was an explorer and he proved that dream crystals did this, by trapping me in a dream and forcing me to get out,”

“Your father sounds brutal,”

“He made me become one of the most unkillable beings in this kingdom, name someone else that gets into as much trouble as me and is still alive,” He went up to the crystal and began clearing the dust away around it.

“Relziem,”

“Really? Name one thing he’s done that’s equal to what I’ve done,”

“Throw a literal mountain at a dragon,”

“Turned him into a girl and forced him to go onto a date with me, if you ask him about it, he’ll get angry. Hell, he probably enjoyed it, kinky Berserker…”

The princess’s eyes widened as Ark finished cleaning up the dust around the crystal, did he actually turn the moody Berserker into a girl and force him onto a date?

“Alright, these things are as fragile as my relationship with Atra, so kick to the jewels it is,”

He kicked the crystal and it quickly shattered into multiple pieces, the world around them distorting and changing as the chicken on Ark’s chest appeared within a viewing portal, it’s face one of disbelief…. Well, as much as a chicken’s face could pull disbelief…

“Impossible!” The chicken cried out, his abyssal form fading dramatically, “How did you break my dreamscape!”

“Easy! Pain, death and lots of trauma!” Ark said, pointing a finger at the god who secretly smiled.

“Oh, woe is me,” The abyssal god dramatically made himself appear weak and brittle.

“A-Ark…” Resia stepped towards him, clutching a hand, “The subjects are coming towards us…”

“What?”

Ark looked around, they were still on the room’s floor with the cleared dust around it, but the walls and roof were gone, instead there were thousands of zombie-like citizens walking towards them. They had somehow been teleported to the town centre.

The chicken then laughed, removing his shocked and weakened demeanour.

“You idiot! Did you really think that I would have a crystal for the dream world just laying there?! No! I, a god of the abyss, have no weakness or flaws! This dream will enslave your entire kingdom and I will have all of your souls! For lord Divak commands it!”

“L-lord Divak…?” The princess began to cry, “No… He… He’s dead! The gods long ago killed him!”

“You poor naïve mortal, Divak is unkillable! He’s the beginning and the end! He is the true ruler of this pathetic world!” Sir Cluckens laughed, eyeing the duo with victory.

The alchemist fell to his knees, apparently defeated and destroyed, the princess grabbing him by his collar. Still having faith in him.

“Come on! You said you’re unkillable right?! Pull something out of your pockets!” She shook him back and forth, “You can… Right...? Just as mother says you can…”

“Resia… Ark Andrason is nothing but a bluffer, a guy who uses underhanded tricks to win, and before true power all tricks are useless,” The abyssal god sneered, “He’s no more useful right now than you are!”

“No… He… He’s…” She looked at the slumped figure, seeing no glimpse of hope in his eyes, “He’s meant to be a summoned hero! An ace of our kingdom… He’s meant to be…” She trailed off seeing his hidden gaze, it didn’t flinch or move…

This made the animal laugh even harder, these two mortals were so stupid!

“A hero cannot defeat a god no matter how strong they are,” The chicken mocked with evil in his eyes, “This alchemist no more than a bastard who underestimated a god’s power, a weasel who ran out of tricks!”

The princess looked at Ark and then hugged him, crying as the numerous citizens closed in on them, her tears staining his shirt as she held onto him desperately.

“Please Ark…” She pleaded, looking at him with her tear-filled eyes, “Please…”

“Goodbye, Ark and Resia,” The god was about to turn his back on them and leave the shop, but he heard a voice speak up.

“You said you have no flaws or weaknesses?” Ark said, the crowd gathering closer with murderous intent all flooding their eyes,

“Yes, you may have gotten me with that chicken feed but you-“

“That underhanded tricks are useless?”

“They are-“

“You’re the idiot in this situation,”

“You what?!” The god looked back into the seeing portal, fuming with rage, “What makes you think that I, a god, am below you in intelligence?!”

“A god would’ve noticed the dust wasn’t actually cleared from the crystal,”

“What does dust-“

A massive magic array erupted from the dust gathered around the portal, shooting into the sky and sealing them to the outside world, preventing the crowd from attacking them with beams of blue light.

If one looked closely, they would’ve noticed that Ark’s fingers had just finished tracing an array out of the dust. He hadn’t fallen to his knees out of defeat, he just needed to finish making the large array’s core.

“WHAT?!” The chicken roared, “HOW DID YOU-“

The next moment the portal enlarged, and Ark reached through it, his left hand was now around the chicken’s throat, murderous intent leaking from his glares.

“Sup bitch,”

The god had fear instantly pierce right through every fibre of his being, sweat pouring down his feathered back, this commoner of an alchemist had just escaped his dream world…. This mortal had just broken through his dreamscape skill…

“W-“ The hand around this throat tightened, how was the alchemist so strong?! What kind of array was he using that even allowed him to do this?! None of this was making any sense!

“Dad taught me the crystal only revealed who was trapping you, that you would need to make a magic array around the crystal to reach between worlds, and that’s what I just did, only it also weakened you and strengthened me, it was the fact you were waiting to mock me that sold your fate to my hands…”

“Wait, I-“ Sir Cluckens felt himself be dragged through the portal, this was not good!

“I wonder, if Divak hired you from the abyss, then that means you were offered our souls as payment,”

“You…” The chicken suddenly found himself in the dream world he created, his abyssal form utterly helpless against the array, though then he noticed Ark’s body that was in the real world had been taken with him, horrifying him even more, “YOU’VE KILLED US ALL!”

“I know, if someone’s sleeping body gets pulled from the real world into the dream world, the paradox will cause it all to collapse,” Ark observed his real body, its sleeping form napping peacefully, “That’s why I did it,”

“You idiotic mortal!” Sir Cluckens looked around him as the sky cracked and the streets liquified, the citizens crying in pain.

“Well how about this proposal,” The chicken saw another array be activated within the walls of the larger array, had he made a second array?

[Ark Andrason has offered you a binding contract]

“You think you can just corner and bind me?!” The abyssal god hissed, “I will never bow to a mortal!”

“Suit yourself, if I head into the real world this way then this will become my mortal body and my sleeping form will become a hollow vessel,” The alchemist snapped his fingers and Resia’s real body woke up, making her disappear, the dream world now no longer in the god’s control as it collapsed.

The mana making it up was spazzing out from the array surrounding the portal, and that array was made by Ark, meaning he had control over who could exit the dreamworld

“Interesting isn’t it,” Ark snapped his fingers again and all those trapped in dreams woke up, “With a simple array I can restrain even a god, I am, after all, using your mana to fuel this, and it appears it’s weakening you considerably, and not only that but I woke up everyone else in this dream as soon as the first array activated. It’s just you and me now buddy,”

“Filthy… Mortal…” The chicken looked at the alchemist about to fall back through the portal and gritted his beak and his abyssal form’s teeth.

“You weren’t observant enough and you were too arrogant, now can either die in vain or accept my proposal,”

The abyssal god had an internal conflict, the dreamworld was collapsing, time was running out. He looked at the alchemist and then back at the contract before him, gnashing his internal mind with fury and fear.

[Sir Cluckens has accepted your binding contract]

[Sir Cluckens is now your familiar]

“Now keep your end of the bargain!” The god screeched as the dream world started to fully break and shatter, the sky falling towards them in pieces and fragments, destroying the buildings while the streets became a red and volatile liquid.

“Aight, now let’s wake up!” He snapped his fingers, and everything turned white…

…

…

…

..

.

The chicken woke up, sunlight was streaming through windows and something delicious was being cooked on a nice woodfire stove, was that bacon and eggs?

He noticed Ark was looking at him the moment he came through the door of the hallway, casually sipping coffee in the small kitchen of the shop.

“That was an absolute nightmare,” He heard Atra say, though the events of last night were more than forgettable, and the chain around his soul was even more horrifying.

[Sir Cluckens (Lesser Abyss God) (Familiar of Ark Andrason)]

“Whelp, sounds like everyone had nightmares, what about you?” The alchemist in question looked at the chicken.

“I’ve had worse…”

The group at the table chuckled slightly, everyone but the two ignorant of the true events of last night.

‘Ark Andrason… You successfully cornered a god and made them into your familiar… I have not felt fear in a long time, but the energy of your soul… Those rumours of who you truly are…’ Sir Cluckens felt the energy pouring from his new master’s soul, the raw unbridled power making him sweat.

He looked at the smiling face of the alchemist as he tried to flirt with Atra. The rumours he heard were outrageous but the fact he had been enslaved, the fact he had become a familiar for him…

“Ark, in the abyss we had several rumours about you,” The chicken used its abyssal form to hop up to the table, “One of which was concerning your identity, some of us wondered if you were a god in disguise,”

The alchemist sipped his coffee and shrugged.

“I’m no god of light or darkness, I can’t use basic elemental magic and I just brew potions, speaking of which our stock is growing dangerously low,” Ark changed the subject to the shop, “We really need to get a new cauldron,”

The chicken frowned, he wanted to know the true identity of this alchemist, if what happened last night was truly a fluke then he would overlook it, this was only a temporary contract after all when Ark died he would be free.

But something told him this wasn’t a fluke, something in the deep recesses of his mind was telling him that this alchemist’s past went deeper than just delinquency and randomness. That from the moment the alchemist saw him there was no other fate…

“So you’re gonna go into the alchemy competition to get a new cauldron, why not loan some money and pay it back after you get back onto your feet?” Atra asked upon hearing their financial situation, “I’ll even give you guys some of mine, it’s more than I’ll ever use anyway,”

The suggestion was shot down immediately.

“Ark hates taking loans from anyone that he considers a filthy capitalist, and he hates taking money from his friends or family, ironic how he asked me to ask you for money a while ago,”

“Armi we all know I’m a massive hypocrite and that I counter my own words often,” Her brother crossed his arms, spilling his coffee onto his shirt with a surprised groan.

“I see, well, we’re kinda in a similar tight spot with our vampire case,” Rekiel said, “We know the water was laced but we checked all water sources and well, turns out someone’s been skulking around them, spiking the water with an unknown substance,”

The alchemist suddenly put up a suggestion, using the table cloth to clean his shirt.

“Can I help?”

“No,”

“Yes,”

Atra looked at her brother and her brother looked at her, both wearing slightly irritated glances.

“Someone laced the water?” Armi was surprised, “What with?”

“Not potions, we detected no alchemy magic in the water,” Ark breathed with relief, “But we are suspecting vampire blood,”

“Vampire blood wouldn’t survive that long in daylight with water reflecting off the water,” Sir Cluckens abruptly put in, “But what your looking for is most likely a new breed of vampire king if that helps,”

“Vampire king? Might as well start believing that Ark’s got a vampire in his basement,” Rekiel laughed.

The alchemist laughed, his sister laughed, Atra laughed, the hole in the floor was still covered up, everyone was having a splendid time with what the chicken said, though Ark laughed a little harder than everyone else.

“Also I wondered, Atra, every few months your brother said you mast-“

“Ark. Do you want to have kids?” Atra’s voice was cold and malicious, “Because I will turn your balls into bronze,”

“That would require you to touch them my dear upper rank, and frankly you may not want to do that… Or would y-“

The other siblings instantly left, and it was just him, his sister and the chicken, said sister turning to him with insanity in her eyes.

“You are a horrifyingly painful person to cover for! Emthrall’s probably killing people as we speak!”

“Well I understand that in your nightmare I ruled the world with my nightmarish creations but as long as it was just a dream! And besides, the vampire probably died with a quick shot by the tower,”

“You sold me off to become a concubine for a demon, I’d say that’s pretty ominous, not to mention EVERYONE woke up at the same time,” She pointed out, straining her sanity, “And after that, the god seemed pretty docile and even helped out with a suggestion, and my trait is telling me you did something in your dream, don’t even try to deny it,”

“Fine… I trapped the chicken in a dream he previously trapped us in and forced him to become my familiar after he tried to kill us in said trapped dreams,” Ark groaned, “Happy now?”

His sister sighed and pulled him into a hug, putting her head into her older brother’s chest before gently speaking.

“Just don’t destroy anything and we’re good,”

The alchemist smiled and hugged his sister back, replying with his own terms.

“Alright, just agree not to sell me out,”

“I won’t…”

Soon they were back to running the shop, Ark now helping stack the shelves with what little stock they had left as he couldn’t brew potions without a suitable vessel.

Though as they worked, so did the darker powers…

…

…

“So… This Ark Andrason ended Sir Cluckens...?” The voice spoke to his servant who bowed before him in respect and humility.

“Yes… He somehow stopped the god, but we still managed to get the item we needed, they shouldn’t be able to tell it was stolen from the false copy we left,”

“Good Umbridge, amass the fragments of my tools and use them to wreak havoc among the mortal realm, enough for the gods to take notice of,”

“I will, my lord, but what if this alchemist appears again? He has ended a god, after all, I fear that he may appear again,”

“Then I will take care of him personally, I cannot access the physical realm from my tomb, but I can still invade his dreams, if he is a great threat then I’ll copy his soul and corrupt it, surely you know what happens then,”

“I see, my lord,” The man replied, “I cannot thank you enough for this honour,”

“Save it, Umbridge, I do not appreciate suck-ups but genuine thankfulness. Though I have a feeling we may truly run into him later, in this void realm of mine there is a rumour that perhaps relates to this mortal,”

“Lord, tell us what these rumours are,”

“Long ago, when I first began my wave of destruction against both mortals and immortals, there was a prophesy that my downfall would be caused by a mortal bound not by chains of guilt but his chains of redemption, a mortal said to be from a different world with the soul of a killer,”

“This prophecy is impossible my lord… Your reign was over ten million years ago… Nobody is that old… Not even the ancient gods are as old as you, you are the complete overlord of the darkness and abyss,” The man refuted, refusing to believe the god’s words, “You are the oldest god that still lives… No prophesy can last that long,”

“Yet this mortal’s soul is tainted heavily with sin… I cannot take chances, I want him dead Umbridge, by any means necessary, before I can make my return to this physical plane and reassume my physical form,”

“Yes, lord Divak, and if you don’t mind me asking, what is the purpose of us amassing these fragments if it is to attract the gods,”

“The purpose is for you to decide, but the function of them when all gathered together will play a role in my return and in the destruction of those who oppose me,” Divak spoke, “Though which way my return will appear shall be decided by whatever fragment you use as a base,”

“I see my lord, is there anything else you wish for us to do?”

“Your form Umbridge, your old and withering body is not suited for physical work, remove your cloak for me,”

A collective gasp echoed through the ruins the cult was in, many whispering and muttering as the man named Umbridge took off his cloak, revealing the old man who had given Ark a flyer. His mechanical arm was still as dusty as it had been when he met the alchemist for the first time.

They all looked on with interest, the removing of one’s cloak was a powerful sign of trust, for them and for the god entrapped within his own grave.

“When I met you Rustafelt, you were a child, a young child who had been abandoned and left by his parents… I raised you as if you were my own, I cultivated you so you could gather and sow the seeds of this cult… I watched as you grew from infancy to an elderly age…”

“My lord… My body can still work… I can still serve you!” The old man protested, bowing to the throne and the alter behind it, “I am still useful to you my lord!”

“No, your body is no longer in it’s prime, it has no use to me as it wastes away,” The voice spoke, “But your soul remains strong and potent… Your body will not rot nor shall it age as it binds to mine…”

The large gatherings below watched as Rustafelt’s old and grey hairs slowly grew back in and down to his back, their blue-crimson colour being restored to full effect, his mangy and saggy skin tightening itself around his body while he de-aged. His mortal body being linked to Divak’s immortal one.

“Immortality, my child, is a gift I have waiting to give to you. With this link you will become more powerful than ever before,”

The young adult looked up, his body now filled with muscle and brimming with power, his eyes possessing an experienced shine to them, a shine only seen in old war veterans and knowledgeable fighters.

He flexed his hands for a second and looked back to the alter, his youthful fire reigniting within him.

“Your old form… It will act as a disguise, but this younger form will be your true body from now on… I hope you don’t fail me… Guide these blinded mortals with your trait,”

[{Your race has been evolved from Human to Demi-God}]

Rustafelt closed his eyes, kneeled and rose a closed hand up to the throne, blood and black essence starting to drip from his eyes while crimson mana sparked and arced around his body and limbs.

“I shall,”

…

…

…

“And we’re fucked,” Ark hummed, seeing no stock of potions left in the evening, “We finally ran out… I guess it’s time I bust out the ol’ reliable…”

“You are not using your child made potions to sell to our customers, some of those are over a decade old and would kill anything instantly,” His sister protested, stopping her brother’s idea before it could push them even further into debt.

“Well what your idea then? I’m horrible at every trade except alchemy,” Ark sat down in a chair, crossing his legs and laying back, “Unless we find something I’m good at, well congrats,”

“Adventuring?” She suggested, “You’re certainly very adventurous, plus with Sir Cluckens as your familiar, you should be able to handle monsters well,”

“You make a good point, but I have little magic capability remember? Plus, a chicken as a familiar isn’t actually considered a familiar, just a pet,” The alchemist groaned, slumping further down into the chair, now laying down with his back on its seat, “They’ll reject me…”

“Well, the alchemy tournament is in a week so hopefully you can make something then,” His sister sighed, stumped in this situation as well.

A knock on the door made the two stop their conversation, in fact, Ark stood up and raised two fists in wariness, anything could be behind that door and considering the past few events, he wasn’t willing to risk it.

He approached the door and suddenly it swung open, making him jump back to see… Resia…? At this time of the evening? At this time of night? Alone? What was going down?

“Ark, I was worried you weren’t alive!” She cried out in joy, running up and hugging his body with her smaller frame.

“Heh… Um… I am…” He nervously laughed, looking to his sister who had her arms crossed with a brow raised.

“You met the princess in that dream world?”

“Yes… Yes, I did…”

“He did more than meet me! He saved me!” Resia exclaimed, “So I decided to use my power as a princess and you two are now formally invited to the alchemy ball!”

“What!” Armi screamed, “Wh- You…” She stepped back and calmed herself while Ark’s face went into a plotting smile, putting gears in place.

Balls were a royal party, and parties meant free food, AND it was alchemy so he could probably see Atra twice in the same day! Win-win situation here! He was going!

“We’ll be there in twenty minutes!” He said, the princess laughing in a rich manner, raising her silk gloved hand to her mouth.

“I’m a princess, you already have your formal wear sorted out, and don’t think you can run away from this, I insisted that you would come….”

The siblings and the royal found themselves in the royal carriage parked a few meters away from the shop, though this carriage was a magic one, meaning that it literally flew, and that’s what it did.

They flew across the sky of Unitos, Ark and Armi sorting into their new clothes while they flew to the party, luckily the clothes were tailored just right so they took no more than 2 minutes, meaning that they landed as Ark fitted his belt in.

The various nobles were all dressed richly, they were all either fat or built like bodybuilders, and as Armi and the princess stepped out, the loud-mouthed alchemist jumped out of the other door, making sure his coattails weren’t too long.

He circled around the carriage and looked around, thinking to himself and observing the huge castle that he had last visited by being dragged in by Relziem… Speaking of who, he didn’t see the hero anywhere.

The castle looked magnificent even in the night sky, the magical barrier around it could be faintly seen, a rainbow hue with a slight hint of white. Looked like a small dome of icing.

“I say that man looks like a commoner, he doesn’t have a noble aura, nor does he seem to behave in any sort of noble manner, is he a special guest of the princess?”

“Perhaps he is of the adventuring breed dear, those powerful heroes and such,”

“Ah, I see now, thank you, Belinda,”

“Anytime Calcius,”

The princess led the two into the main throne room, which held bountiful amounts of food, wine, desserts and drinks, everyone chatting and the friendly atmosphere combined with the king and queen sitting on their respective thrones was indeed the aura of a noble’s ball.

“Mother! Father! I brought Ark and his sister!”

“Aha, my daughter…” The king weakly said, barely managing to get up to hug his daughter, in fact, he looked quite ill and sleepy.

“Dear, do not push yourself,” The Queen said, hugging her husband and her daughter, she looked at her husband with worry.

“Nonsense, I can handle it...” The King chuckled, sitting back down on his throne and heaving through a breath.

Ark wandered around while his sister internally froze, unable to do anything.

Armi looked stunning, a silk white noble’s dress once worn by the Queen with white silk woven wedding gloves that went up to her elbows, her hair was done up in a bun with a small red rose in it, she looked nervous, confused and beautiful… Not a good combination if you didn’t want to attract attention…

Her brother had just wandered off. She couldn’t find him, she could feel eyes on her, her heart started to pump faster, she felt someone grab her arm and whisper in her ear.

“Well… For a commoner you sure are beautiful, I shall make you one of my concubines,” She was about to scream until a greasy hand covered her mouth, she was too panicked to think of magic and she was feeling him reach down to a very private area.

She couldn’t do anything; she didn’t know what noble balls were like! Was this common?! Should she be doing something?! This was like her nightmare! Sold off to be a concubine of a lustful creature.

Suddenly the noble assaulting her received a blow to the face and was sent stumbling backwards, a broken nose now decorating his fat and pudgy body. Not only that but blood started to flow down from his broken nose, ruining his face even further.

“Just as the rats live in the sewers below man, so shall you be below me, though unlike a rat, you can’t do anything to hurt me,” Rekiel said, his blue eyes reflecting violence and bloodthirst in them, “Now leave unless you want a heart attack,”

“Y-you…” The noble held his nose and scurried off, the florist turning to Armi, adopting a kinder aura towards her.

“Ark told me to keep an eye out for you, saying something about his beautiful sister having nobody to talk to,” He lied.

“Y-yes, thank you,” She nodded her head, “I don’t know anybody here and frankly, I’m petrified about anyone trying that again,”

“Well then, will you accept my hand of friendship?” Rekiel was wearing his usual attire, though his overcoat had frills coming out of his sleeves, they covered his gloves a bit.

“This time I will,” She took his hand and the two walked through the crowd, chatting and talking.

Atra watched this while sipping some wine, happy that her brother had warmed up to a female and hadn’t psychologically damaged them or made them fall head over heels for him to the point of obsession. Was it because he respected Ark or because he found a genuine interest in her?

“So, how’s it going?” The alchemist asked, appearing beside her, his formal attire being a clean white while hers was the usual blue.

“Of course, you would ask that, what do you want?” She groaned, putting her head into her hand in annoyance and pain, having to put up with him for more than 1 time in a day would give HER psychological damage.

“To spend time with you,” He responded, sipping some wine before looking at it and then at a barrel of water on a table with fruit.

“Ark, you just want to get into my pants, most boys do-“ Atra looked to her left and saw the alchemist wasn’t there, in fact she saw him a good ten meters away, chucking the glass of wine into a nearby plant pot before he took another glass and filled it, this time with water.

“At least he’s not an alcoholic, you’ve gotta give him that,”

“Shut up mind voice,” She scolded herself, seeing him chug the water and use it to wash out his mouth, was he really that opposed to alcohol?

Soon an announcer in pantaloons came up onto the thrones, treading each step expertly before he turned around and unfurled a scroll, he was wearing what you would call an announcer wearing a jester’s outfit.

“I would like to have your attention!” He called out, somehow everyone heard him, and they listened, the crowd quietening in seconds.

“I would like to have… Oh, gods… Ahem… I would like to have Ark Andrason up here in an honour…”

Atra froze, Armi froze, Ark froze, everyone looked at the alchemist who was filling his cup for a second time, those near him edging away so it was now just him on that one empty spot in the room.

Ark’s reputation among the nobles was… Of low favourability….

Adventurers would say that it’s not much of a deal, since their income was based off the various guilds everywhere, and so would farmworkers, those of low status wouldn’t pay much heed to the alchemist’s endeavours…

But to those who had higher status and relied on the city’s taxes such as nobles, to them Ark was a plague, a filthy stain, a danger, a liability to their lives of luxury and wealth.

“Er…” The alchemist said, a light suddenly shining on him as everywhere else darkened, literally putting him in the spotlight of the party.

“Come on, come up,” The announcer encouraged, “It’s not that bad of an honour… I hope…”

The potion brewer steadily made his way up to the thrones, all glares on him as he slowly approached the King and Queen, stopping a few meters away from them and bowing, the spotlight coming off him and the room lighting up once more.

From there on it was awkward.

“Hey… So…” He trailed off, unsure on how to talk to the royal couple who were just as confused as she was.

“Ahem…” He heard Resia cough behind him, “You’ll need to stand…”

Ark did as he was told, standing up, the princess moved to his side, took his left arm in her right and then said one of the most horrifying things to ever grace the face of Unitos and its peoples.

“I have decided that Ark will be my husband!” She announced, sticking her left arm out with a royal decree.