Ismai, snuggled deeper into the blankets, they were warm, welcoming, cosy, and she was loving it. The arms wrapped around her were reminders of safety. They comforted her small form.

“Mmm~” She bathed in the warmth she was given and the calming yet rhythmic sounds of Armi’s heartbeat, there also a small something that Armi held which was extremely warm-

“TODAY’S THE DAY!” Ark slammed open the door as he yelled, making the thief scream in fright while his sister groaned in annoyance and tried to use the blankets as cover to shield herself.

“Congratulations… Now go…” Armi mumbled from her bed, still hugging the demi-human like a pillow. A furry, warm pillow.

“Sister, while I understand you have had a roller-coaster of a week,” The female didn’t understand the weird word her brother used, “I absolutely must bring you to the tournament today!”

“Tournament starts at one, bring me out of bed at that time,” She ignored him, trying to get back that dreamy feel she had before.

The alchemist at the doorway pouted, his sister was so much like him when her energy and determination were sapped. Lazy, uncaring and rude to everyone, but could he blame her? The past few days were pretty rocky and unstable, it was wonder why she wasn’t sick… Actually now that he thought about it…

He went up to his sister and placed a hand on her forehead, noticing how it was heating up with a light sweat while she groaned in annoyance at the cold hand, though it did slightly assure her too.

“Well, developing a fever, are we?” He asked, seeing Armi open an eye with a frown on her face. She must feel like shit right now, no wonder she was so moody and bothered. Maybe he could go by himself this time, Rekiel would probably be there and so would Atra.

He gave her a semi-formed hug, left a few cups of water by her bed and after making sure everything was going to be fine, exited the shop to go on his way, remembering to use the security barrier to make sure nobody tried to break into the shop.

A few minutes passed and while the thief was slowly gaining her sleep back, the blankets of Armi’s bed were chucked up while she yelped in surprise. The human grinned cheekily, all traces of her fever gone.

“Ark, you may know about alchemy,” Armi held a vial of warm water in her hand, the one Ismai had felt, “But you don’t know the difference between fever sweat and warm water,”

The female shop owner stretched and then laid back down into the bed, enjoying the peace and quiet before she hopped out of her blankets and got ready for a day of simple relaxation and study, this was going to be the perfect day and nothing could ruin it.

Sir Cluckens agreed to keep silence, his annoyance at how he had to follow a mortal was used against him when she said they’d be fooling him. June… Well… She was obsessed with Ark and when Armi said that she would be alone with him, it caused a very enthusiastic agreement…

As she brewed a cup of coffee and lifted out her book of magic, she flipped back to the page she had been on a few days ago and sat in a chair. Sighing in content while Ismai walked in, wrapped in the bed’s blankets and settled in next to the chair, purring as she fell asleep.

It was the perfect atmosphere for relaxation, and Armi was going to savour every. Last. Bit.

…

…

The city was abuzz, more than usual with many walking to the castle’s general direction, all in pursuit of the alchemy tournament. Ark was no exception as he hummed a merry tune, wearing his usual white shirt with a satchel slung over his shoulder plus some blue pants.

He had been in many of the tournaments and was a regular competitor, though he was often beaten by others with superior alchemy skills, and you may think ‘Oh, he’s the main character with Expert LVL 99 in alchemy, he shouldn’t be beaten by anyone!’.

And if you did think that, you’re wrong.

Unitos was a capital city, the main trading hub, a world power, it had many, many, many workers of various trades in it. But one disadvantage of being a commoner and even despised person like Ark was resources, if you couldn’t get enough resources to experiment with then you naturally would have a lower skill level.

Though resources weren’t a problem for the nobility who could throw money at everything and solve it, some even had traits which allowed them to supercharge other traits.

And this was the source of Ark’s defeat, every year he had been defeated by Quart. An alchemist in the ranks of the nobles who had his alchemy levels boosted by a skill-improving trait which had been supercharged by another trait.

Was this cheating? In many opinions, yes. Could anyone do anything about it? No.

Unless you had a trait which could downgrade skills then nobody could do anything to even harm Quart, his noble rank made him untouchable and his fighting skills could break a few bones.

This wouldn’t be a problem with our alchemist if not for a certain emotion that Quart felt towards Atra.

That emotion was the famous emotion of Love.

Yes, Ark and Quart were love rivals, though Quart managed to spend more time with the royal alchemist due to his lineage of a noble. The only reason there hadn’t been any male royal alchemists for so long was due to the fact that the bar was so goddamn fucking high!

Yet Ark was strangely thankful for that because for this chaotic year, he had a plan to try and stop Spite while sending himself to the position of royal alchemist.

As for what that plan was, it all relied on a prediction of activity, on the event that The Song of Order was what he thought it was. If he could stop them, then it would be the simple process of him being sent to the position of royal alchemist as a reward.

Though it would be a horrible idea to try and do something for an event that wouldn’t exist, and it wasn’t guaranteed that Spite would even attack this tournament, actually, it would more sense to not attack the tournament due to the high amount of security that would be implemented…

Wait… But the treasure hall had high security… The barrier of Unitos as well.

Those shred marks, those marks that went upwards... What did it mean?

“You know what, just forget it, this is a tournament and you need to focus on being an alchemist!” He said to himself, accidentally bumping into a brick wall and hurting his nose.

Immediately, June jumped out of nowhere to defend him, fire emitting from her hands.

“WHERE IS THE FUCKER THAT DARES HURT MY HUSBAND?!” She screeched; her goddess looks somehow even complimenting her death threats.

“I’m okay, I just ran into a wall,” He sighed, rubbing his nose and feeling the familiar flooding of blood, “Sheesh, it’s even bleeding,”

“Are you okay?” Someone asked, giving Ark a handkerchief.

“Yeah, thanks,” The alchemist turned to see an enthusiastic young girl around the same age as Resia, her green eyes shining brightly with her black summer dress. At least that’s what the clothing looked like.

[Ilmit]

[Health: 500/500]

[Race: Human]

[Trait: Elder-King]

[This trait manifests as a visible and tangible entity that can even speak and fight using a primary ability of controlling the shadows]

“No problem!” Ilmit cheered, taking back the bloody handkerchief, “My name’s Ilmit, spelled i–l–m–i-t, you have no idea how weird it looks on paper, with I and L being virtually the same in spelling!”

“I… See,” Ark was sceptical, just who was this girl? Why did she help him? That trait description didn’t seem very friendly either if it could have a mind of its own.

“Anyway, I kinda need, uh, your help as well,” Ilmat poked her fingers together nervously, “I’m scared to go to the alchemy tournament alone for the first time… And you’re the only person I recognized in the crowd since you’re pretty famous… I also kind of idolize you…”

Ark didn’t know how to handle this girl who just suddenly ran up into his face, he didn’t think backing away was a good idea since her trait might flare up and he wasn’t sure on how to approach her either…

“Really? Your trait should be able to help you since it can talk,” The alchemist said, still suspicious and slightly awkward of the teen, something didn’t add up... Could she be another attacker?

“Heh, um… That’s a bit… Specific but… I don’t have a trait…” The other alchemist said, pretty nervous and slightly downtrodden, rubbing her left arm while slightly laughing it off.

This instantly sent a temporary red flag up in the expert alchemist’s mind.

‘She doesn’t know she has a trait? Wait... If her trait manifests as an entity that can talk, then why wouldn’t it be able to simply hide itself? But what reason would it need to hide itself? Hm, maybe its best not to think too hard on it… June can protect me if needed…”

“Um, are you going to help me or-“

“Yes, let’s go,” Not wanting to idle any further, Ark went on his way with Ilmit in tow, the girl didn’t seem to want to ask any questions about June who was hovering over Ark with lustful gazes. Giving the teen a stink eye.

A few minutes of walking later and the two had gotten to know each other reasonably well, Ark learned Ilmit was like a fan of his, apparently his ‘misplacements’ on the kingdom’s order and security had netted him the nickname of Ark the Armageddon outside of its walls.

In any other land, he would be extremely revered and even worshipped at a point, or so Illmit had told him as she nibbled on some bread.

“So you’re an Intermediate alchemist then?” Ilmit nodded at this question, chewing the loaf.

“Yes, I’ve done alchemy for a few and I’m proud to say I am one level from becoming an expert!” She enthusiastically pumped her hands up and down, her white hair waving a small bit in a slight gust of wind.

Said white hair was long too, it was free-flowing with upper pointed ends and the girl acted like a little kid, staring at almost everything in awe and wonder, she was the type to be manipulated or have some sort of dark and evil secret about her past…

She gasped and ran through a flock of seagulls, innocently watching them fly away with a flash of inspiration in her eyes, he swore he could see stars in them.

Yep, definitely had something to hide about her past…

The feeling of being watched was not a nice one, especially since his trait was setting off massive warning signals when it delved deeper into her Elder King trait.

[Elder King]

[A powerful entity that can bend A-Steel and move at breakneck speeds, Ilmit has no control over what this trait does or how it reacts as it is self-activated, she will fall into a state of unconsciousness when it emerges from her body]

‘She has no control over her trait… It's completely self-operating and self-sufficient, goddamit why me? Why of all people did she have to walk up to me?! Why am I so damn famous?!’

Ilmit suddenly grabbed Ark’s hand and for split second, within a shop veranda’s shade, he saw a hunched figure in a deep purple coloured cloak. Possessing a smooth quartz-like face underneath its hood, no facial features in sight. It rose a finger in silence.

“The stall!” She cried out, pulling Ark with surprising strength.

Then as quick as he saw it, the figure disappeared and the alchemist was dragged to the frontal registration stall, a receptionist sitting in a chair to run the stall.

The alchemy tournament was to be held in the colosseum, practically a few hundred meters away from the castle for the royals’ convenience, this stall was one of many located outside of said colosseum.

“Name?” The receptionist looked at Ark, his tone was a very dead-inside one.

“Ark,”

“Purpose?”

“Entering the alchemy tournament,”

“Alright, we’ll have to do a mana scan to make sure you’re not hyped on any enhancements or potions,”

The older alchemist opened his arms and a blue light shone over him, standing perfectly still before he put his hand into his satchel and pulled out his alchemy license. The receptionist took it, looked at it and then handed it back, now it was the girl’s turn.

“Name?”

“I-Ilmit,”

“Purpose?”

“E-entering t-the alchemy t-tournament,”

“Alright, we’ll have to do a mana scan to make sure you’re not hyped on any enhancements or potions,”

Ilmit stood still and shakily, clenching her fists nervously as her body was scanned, she closed her eyes in fear that something bad would happen.

Nothing bad did happen and she gave over her licence, nothing bad happened there either.

“Both of you are free to enter, next!”

The duo left the stall and went in through a tent labelled ‘alchemists only’ on it, Ilmit sighing in relief that nothing bad happened.

“Y’know, I always went to the alchemy tournaments with my grandparents to watch the alchemists make amazing things,” She said, looking around with awe, “I never actually thought I’d one day be in this place, brewing with my fellow classmen,”

“Well congrats, you-“ Ark accidentally bumped into another woman wearing a trench coat, her fedora fell partly off but she quickly adjusted it, though a quick red glint in her eye made the alchemist raise a brow.

“Emthrall?” He asked, suddenly shifting around her to get a better look at her coat covered figure, he had rarely seen anyone else with red in their eyes…

The woman quickly turned to face away from him, but that proved to be ineffective as his red and green stared into her crimson, making him grin.

“Emthrall! It is you! I haven’t seen you for practically weeks!” The vampire flinched at this and tried to nervously back away until she saw the girl Ark was with, she looked at the older female with stars in her eyes.

“You know Ark?!” She cried out in awe, “How?! Are you his girlfriend? His cousin? His-“

“She’s a woman who saved my life,” The male alchemist answered, leaning on the vampiric woman’s shoulder, looking at the back of his hand smugly, “Anyway, how’s it been?”

Emthrall sighed, underneath her fedora she had curled the ends of her hair, she also held a rueful expression when he tilted his head to wait for an answer.

“Horrible… Thanks to you I had to go into…” She chose her words carefully, “Selective medical studies with my superiors… They weren’t very happy, especially with that mixture you made… The one that cured you of that condition…”

“Oh, you mean my erectile disfunction curing brew?” He asked innocently, making the vampire pull a sour expression.

“Y-yes… T-“

“You had an erectile dysfunction?!” Ilmit shouted loud enough for everyone to hear, many giving the alchemist odd looks, attention which he soaked up.

“Yep, though it was caused by a bout of depression I had,”

The girl seemed to mutter to herself, suddenly bringing out a journal of random entries.

“Uh…” Ark looked over her shoulder to see various drawings and paragraphs, many of which were of him… “Just how much do you idolize me…?”

The teen blushed, seeing the alchemist had peeked into her records.

“I-Uh… Um… Well… A little…” She put the notepad onto her dress and it seemingly sunk into the fabric… Was it enchanted…? That didn’t matter because what she pulled out next made Ark almost recoil in utter horror.

It was a body pillow… A human-sized body pillow of him laying on a bed face up with a suggestive look, his shirt was half lifted to his chest, and his pants were slightly down to reveal his black underwear…

It looked horrifyingly realistic… Even Emthrall opened her eyes in surprise, she even raised her hands to her mouth…

“I bought only one item of your merchandise and I’m surprised you even posed for this…” The young alchemist said, turning to the back of the pillow which depicted Ark, but he was butt naked.

“I…. I never even knew I had merchandise….” He was blown away, who in existence even had the dedication to make a body pillow of him...? Wait…

“June….” The witch was summoned with a cheeky but also nervous smile, and the look he gave her made it all the harder to keep in…

“Y-yes dear…”

“Did you by chance make this…” He pointed to the body pillow, immediately the witch looked away with a smug blush, said pillow being put away for public decency purposes as she prodded two fingers together.

“M-maybe… You do look rather… Delicious on that… Pillow…”

He was about to yell at the ancient entity in rage about how he wasn’t going to be made into a body pillow, but a gleam of white caught his eye, a familiar purple cloak accompanying it as its owner walked without receiving so much as a glimpse from the other people around it.

Ark looked over June’s shoulder and moved her out of the way, the cloaked figure disappearing into the crowd within moments of being seen…

“Ark…?” Ilmit asked, shuffling in beside him, “What’s wrong?”

The alchemist lowered his eyebrows in concern.

“Do you feel faint or lightheaded?” He asked the girl; she shook her head in response to his question.

“No, I’m quite clear-headed, I think from all the adrenaline of being nervous!” She replied enthusiastically, getting an even more concerned look.

“What’s wrong?” Emthrall asked, seeing the alchemist was tense.

“I feel like I’m gonna get backstabbed for some reason,” He replied, half-truthing, “I guess I’m just nervous for this competition, with Spite and all,”

“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine!” Ilmit punched his shoulder playfully, not helping the male’s fear.

Ark gave one last glance around in the crowd and eventually decided to ignore it.

After all, Ilmit was still conscious, June was a verified powerhouse and Emthrall was here, what could possibly go wrong?

‘Actually, don’t answer that’ He mentally chalked off, not wanting to see what cards fate would deal to kick him in his worker nuts.

Though before the main event at 1 PM, there were a lot of stalls scattered about underneath the bigger tent that branched into the colosseum, some selling foods and drinks while others sold souvenirs and trinkets.

Looking about, the alchemist scanned over some items, he was cheap no doubt about it, but he found some odd enjoyment in seeing and browsing the items.

He was about to just order some water from a foods stall but a stall that sold clothing caught his eye, particularly a stall that had a white turtleneck sweater on its bench with a white scarf…

He rushed up to the stall and immediately used his trait on the two clothing items.

[White Turtleneck Sweater]

[Durability: 500/500]

[Ability: This sweater adds +10 resistance to cold temperatures and a +5 resistance to hot temperatures]

[Desc: A white sweater made from soft silk with a temperature-based enchantment on it, this was made by Hellis Vondem]

[White Scarf]

[Durability: 50/50]

[Desc: A simple white silk-spun scarf that can be tied into a knot, this scarf was made by Hellis Vondem]

“I see you’ve got your eyes on two of my fine pieces of clothing,” A woman said, remarking on her newest customer’s attention, “And I see you’re quite a fan of white if that shirt is anything to go by,”

“Well the sweater is out of my budget but that scarf costs ten copper so I’ll buy it,” Ark handed the woman 10 copper coins and she handed him the scarf, though the writing on his neck was exposed as he wrapped the scarf around it.

“My, that’s quite the scar you have there, no wonder you bought the scarf,” She commented, eyeing the imprinted writing before it was covered up by the silk, “Need to cover up the evidence you stole a body eh?”

“What? I’m no ghoul, I didn’t behead a guy and steal his body,” Ark revolted her claim, waving his hand in a dismissal manner, “I just got a weird woman bonded to me. This scar is actually writing,”

“Sure sure, those eyes of yours aren’t fooling anyone either, a red eye is a sign of a vampire and that woman beside you reeks of blood” The woman in the stall laughed, “But I won’t tatter, us monster types need to stick together, especially that little girl beside you,”

“Monster types?” It was Emthrall who spoke up, “You’re not human?”

“Dearie,” The stall owner leaned in and eight spidery legs came out from her back, “Arachi are the best tailors, why do you think all these clothes have a silky feel?”

Ark looked at the woman, her skin was a chocolate brown, her eyes a gentle brown as well, her hair was a sweet black and she wore a robe with an open space in the back to provide room for her spider legs.

“Wait, you’re Hellis Vondem?” He asked, making the demi-human nod.

“Yes, that scarf right there was made from my silk, quite a profit since I can just endlessly make clothing and turn it for coin,” She explained, “Anyway, you might want to take care on hiding your ghoul better Miss Vampire, I know many who would gladly put him back to rest should they get the chance,”

Emthrall frowned but didn’t say any more, instead preferring to simply just slink back into the crowd of passing people, much to Ark’s dismay while he watched her go.

He then shrugged.

“Eh, I’m sure we’ll meet again,” He hummed, rolling his shoulders before he looked for something to occupy his time with.

As he wandered off with Ilmit following him, Emthrall waded through the crowd, weaving through the humans of various tastes and flavours. It was like walking through a bakery.

She exited the colosseum and walked through the still bustling city, always keeping an eye out behind her for stalkers and trailers, there didn’t seem to be any.

She walked into an alleyway, at its end was a brick wall with one of the brick’s pieces being chipped in its middle, revealing its greyish insides.

The vampire went up to the wall and pressed her gloved thumb against it, instantly the wall reacted.

It shuddered and cracked to reveal a small hole leading into a corridor behind it, she then entered the hole and the wall reassembled itself behind her.

The corridor she walked through was in fine condition as it went downwards, the floor slowly turning into steps and the halls becoming illuminated with dimly lit candles.

She was unfazed though, and she kept walking down the corridor until the shouts of a party could be heard, wine and good food could be smelt, the halls became more illuminated with the light’s from the next room.

Though what would make anyone reconsider opening the door at the end of the corridor into this room was the strong scent of fresh metallic smelling blood…

Though the vampire opened the door and entered.

Immediately she was greeted with a horrifying sight for any mortal creature.

Vampires, tens if not hundreds of them, were all sitting around tables and on stools in a bar-like setting, though the various banners around the place spoke otherwise.

This is where they had resided for hundreds of years, underneath Unitos itself while they secretly feasted on blood and the corpses of humankind.

And at the end of the room was a figure sitting on his throne, unlike the other vampires he was not deathly pale and gorging himself on food, his eyes gleamed a mean crimson in the darkness obscuring his face, he held a glass of blood, as he sipped it he signalled Emthrall to approach him.

“Emthrall, I trust that you’ve got the alchemist’s trust?” He asked with a deep seductive voice, nothing other than his clothes were visible from where he sat, “We can’t have you if you don’t pull your weight,”

“My lord,” She kneeled, “I have gained his trust as you commanded,”

“Good, eventually you will lure him down here and we will gain a new follower,” He spoke, taking another sip, “If what you speak is true then we could use his alchemical skills, maybe we could even have another vampire king…”

“I understand why you want me to take him, but why are you all awake at this hour…?” She asked, gazing at her brethren all partying, “Shouldn’t you be asleep in your coffins? What if someone hears you?”

“Trust me Emthrall, the Thieves guild has everything under control with our security, though their recent loss of Ismai has left them a little more than aggressive to anyone who is not affiliated with us or them…” He spoke, twirling the blood in the wine glass, “But that is of no concern to me, what I want to know is if your so-called ultimate vampirism is coming along well. I cannot have that alchemist touching any of our brethren and making them mortal again,”

“And what happens when you catch him?” She questioned, flinching when she saw him suddenly stand, his magnificent top half now obscured by shadow as well.

“What do you think? I will make him like us, I will show him what immortality truly is!” He announced, raising his hands out as if he were remembering something grand, “I will give him the honour of rebuilding the kingdom which we once lost! The empire of the vampires! The infallible race of ours which has stood the test of time over and over!”

“But what about that rumoured vampire hunter?” A gluttonous and overweight vampire asked, tearing off a piece of human leg with no regard for cleanliness.

The entire hall went silent at those words and the vampire king narrowed his eyes, an angry snarl escaping his mouth as he sat back onto his throne, quietly thinking.

“That damn vampire hunter…” He crushed the glass of blood and threw it to the cobbled ground, “That damn vampire hunter!”

“Well, he doesn’t seem to have been able to hurt Emthrall THAT badly, at most he’s mediocre… We can all just rush him and then tear his body limb from limb!” Another vampire suggested, he was cleaner and looked fitter.

“No, he was able to successfully escape Relziem’s pursuit… He’s no mediocre or newbie… He’s an expert with plenty of kills underneath his belt… I expect that he knows I’m- no, that we’re all here…”

“You’re giving him too much credit, so what if he’s a guy who escaped the Berserker hero, doesn’t change the fact that he doesn’t have the proper vampire hunting weapons,” The vampire scoffed, “As long as he doesn’t have those we’re safe,”

“And what if he does? He approached Emthrall at church knowing full well she was there with no weapons… He doesn’t need them; he’s learned to kill without them…” The vampire king crossed his arms and gave out an order.

“Hear me subjects! If you see a man that looks like our vampire hunter, do not attack or defend yourself, send a message to me and I will confront him personally,”

“Okay okay, geez just don’t shout, you're dampening the mood,” A female vampire whined, the celebratory atmosphere returning within moments.

Emthrall stood up and was about to make her leave, but a few words from her king made her look back.

“I suggest that you lay low,” The vampire king spoke, “This vampire hunter is more than you can handle… And try to keep him away from our little alchemist, I don’t want any harm to come to a possible future,”

“Yes, my lord,” She replied, closing the door to the hall of vampires and disappearing back into the sunlight.

..

“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!” An announcer’s voice boomed across the colosseum, its owner standing on a large wooden stage with judges behind him, “WEEEEELLLLCOOOOMMMEEE TO THE ALCHEMY TOURNAMENT!”

At this, a large array of decorative spells were fired into the sky, acting like fireworks as the crowds cheered and the competitors clapped, roars erupted all over the stadium.

Many rows of alchemists were lined up, each with a cauldron and a table beside them holding ingredients, there were 20 rows with 50 alchemists in each row, our main character was in the 5th row, limbering up by doing stretches.

The potions would be scored based on effectivity in various situations and would be written down with letters on the final score.

0-20 was an E

20-40 was a D

40-60 was a C

60-80 was a B

And 80-100 was an A

One needed to get at least a C to make it to the second round, and Ark hoped he would get at least a B.

“Eh? You’re a physical alchemist?” Another alchemist asked, seeing him doing squats to warm up his body.

“Yes, I can’t use reach or telekinetic spells very well, particularly because my mana is still pretty weak,” He replied, seeing this alchemist was wearing a wizard hat and a rather flashy gold chain around his neck.

In this world, there were alchemists who brewed two ways:

One was with physical reach, using hands, fingers and touch to reach ingredients and natural causes to adjust the temperature. Like how Ark had to manually measure and mix ingredients with his body and manually adjust the fire’s heat.

The other way was with magic, using spells and magical enhancements to brew potions. Like fire spells to adjust flames, telekinetic spells to mix and swirl the concoction and finally… Enchanted equipment that boosted the alchemy skill…

And physical alchemy was a dying breed, many more were putting their focus into using magic as it was quicker and more efficient. It also produced more potent results with less negative effects on the cauldron.

Well, except for magical radiation… That stuff just became more chaotic…

Ark looked down at the cauldron he was given, it was the most basic and bland cauldron he had seen, but it was a model he was familiar with for the past few years.

He looked up to the royal stall in the crowds and unsurprisingly he saw the royal family and the Regimont siblings, the Queen and King were sitting patiently while Wilford, the hulking unit of power, sat peacefully behind the two sipping some tea.

Atra was standing respectfully with her hands behind her back while Rekiel was watering a pot plant, it looked like a tiny tree, maybe a Pixie Oak or a close relative of that species?

Resia was at the very front, all her attention fixated on him, and he sighed in disappointment.

“Ark!” Resia cried out as she slammed on the shop door at 4 in the morning, a day after she had been released of her possession, “Wake up! I still have yet to reward you!”

A few minutes of pounding was rewarded by the alchemist himself coming to the door, bags under his eyes, in nothing but his track pants.

“What the ever-loving fuck do you want at four twenty in the morning?” He asked, the early morning wind chilling his body.

“I want to reward you for saving me!” She announced, pointing at him, “Again!”

“Nah,” The alchemist slammed the door, only to be met with more frantic knocking that forced him to open it again.

“It goes against my code as a royal to let a fair knight go unrewarded!” She said in a proud tone, “So, let me reward you Sir Ark! Name one thing and if it is within my power, I shall do it!”

“Good, I demand you to screw off then,” He then slammed the door… On the princess’s foot…

She screamed in pain and jumped back, clutching her foot as she hopped. Tears at the edge of her eyes.

“Y-you villain!” She cried in pain, falling back on the floor, “You dare assault a princess?!”

“If it’ll get you off my two meters of land that stretches from my shop then yes,” He blandly said, closing the door.

“W-wait! Please!” The princess rushed up to the door, jamming her body in the small space, “Let me reward you!”

“No! I don’t care if you get off on rewarding people! Let me sleep!”

The alchemist opened the door a little and then slammed it, repeating it as the princess let out little yelps with each attempt to get her out.

“Why are you so bent on rewarding me?! I didn’t even save you!” He kept slamming the door on the royal’s body.

“Be-ow-cause I-ow want to-ow be a good-ow wife-ow!”

Immediately June erupted from Ark’s divine writing around his neck, pushing him away from the door and letting the princess go 1 second without being in pain.

“Ark, this girl could solve your financial situation,” She said, looking at the alchemist laying on the floor.

“No! I refuse to be a slave to the monetary system of corruption!” He said, turning to the royal, “Anyway on a different note, WHY DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF MY SPOUSE?!”

Resia flicked her hair as if it were obvious.

“Why? Because you are the only person worthy of my IQ, everyone knows that my education grants me knowledge of almost everything, yet despite this you have-“

“Skip to the point,” Ark interrupted, making the princess go red in anger.

“Fine... I consider you my other half because you have saved me on countless occasions!” She rose a hand to her head in an almost fainting manner, leaning back to exaggerate her point, “Such a sign is one of love! Of a true passion that will be seen in your kiss when we marry!”

“Pfft, the only time I’ll ever kiss you is if I fail the alchemy tournament,” He shrugged off, making the royal suddenly perk up.

“Wait... If you fail the tournament...” Her eyes lit up…

“No…”

“If you fail the tournament…”

“No!”

“Then you’ll kiss me!”

“GODFUCKING DAMMIT!”

He glanced over at Resia who didn’t shift her gaze off him, he now had two females after him, and not one of them was Atra. The royal alchemist wasn’t even looking at him for goodness sakes!

“Great… I fucking hate this…” He swore, making the other alchemist beside him reel in surprise, her face of utter betrayal.

“I can’t believe you said that! You should be ashamed to call yourself an alchemist!” She poked him in the shoulder.

“And you can trip over and fall into a bush,” He retorted, making the female almost faint at such vulgar language.

“I’M SURE ALL OF YOU ARE TIRED OF WAITING! AND I’M SURE OUR WONDERFUL COMPETITORS ARE READY TO MIX US A CONCOCTION OF ENTERTAINMENT! I KNOW I AM, SO WITHOUT FURTHER HESITATION! LET THE TOURNAMENT BEGIN!”

Immediately all the alchemists sprung into action, bubbles and colours all being made in the cauldrons. All cauldron’s except Ark’s…

He was looking through his ingredients, if he boiled the base water too hot then he would ruin everything, not only that but he needed to account for what ingredients he could use. No point making a planned potion if he ran out of ingredients halfway.

Thus, he needed to account for what he had and see what could be made with it.

“Dry Root, Flame Weed, Sand Shell… A common household Dimshade… What the hell?!” He yelled, “These ingredients aren’t part of the test! I can’t win with this!”

“Sheesh, you sure got unlucky…” The male alchemist on his right jeered, dropping some Mint leaves into his cauldron, making a small plume of smoke erupt from the liquid.

‘Gee, thanks Resia… You successfully made me unable to win this tournament,’ He saw the smug grin of the royal, ‘But… You forgot one key detail about a possible combination of these ingredients!’

He grabbed his cauldron and spun it, making sure it was spinning the proper way as he ignited the flame.

‘Just as a flower flourishes in a forest and falls in a swamp, so does the environment of a cauldron affect the final result!’ He crushed the Dry Root and picked the petals off the Dimshade, chucking two in while he left the rest.

‘By spinning the cauldron! I can infuse the ingredients better and get a purer result!’ He snapped the Flame Weed’s stalk in half, the small amount of spicy juice making the air a little hard to breathe in as he put a few drops into the mix.

‘An entire Dry Root for the base effect of hardening! A few leaves of Dimshade for the boost towards defence! A hit of Flame Weed juice for the removal of breathing!’ Ark spun the cauldron faster, letting the flame below the container do its thing as it heated the fluids.

‘Do you add the icing as you make the batter?! No! You let it bake and soften into the sponge! And that is what this is! A cake is little without its icing! Such as this potion will be little without the final touch!’

He stopped the cauldron’s rotation and added the snapped Flame Weed stalk, rapidly toning down the fire and letting the concoction sit for twenty seconds before adding the remaining petals. Following up with a prayer.

‘Please, let this work!’ He prayed, the final colour being a blank white.

He took a scoop of the potion, the white and luminescent fluids being exactly like water as he finished his concoction.

A few minutes later, the majority of the alchemists had finished their brews and our hero sat on the sandy floor, still staring at his result.

“This better work, or else I’m going to have to kiss a girl nine years younger than me… Oh this HAS to work!” He hoped, seeing the announcer getting up to the wooden stage.

The colosseum itself was about two hundred meters by four hundred meters, it had 14 rows for the crowds to sit in and well… It was packed full…

“NOW! OUR ALCHEMISTS HAVE FINISHED THEIR POTIONS AND IT’S THE EVENT WE’VE ALL BEEN WAITING TO WATCH!” He went silent as he flipped a cue card and read off the back, “LET’S SEE WHAT OUR ALCHEMISTS HAVE BREWED FOR US!”

Ark cringed internally as the first row, going from left to right, showcased their potions.

…

[1st competitor: Jekel Ghendis]

“I introduce to you, my potion of disarming!” Jekel cried out, drinking the potion.

Immediately he had a rush of power surge through him and he reached out to a guard’s weapon, the sword being pulled from its sheath with ease.

Though it flew straight towards him, he caught it with no struggle and chucked it to the sand.

“See?! Disarming crooks and criminals is going to be a bree-“

He put his arms to his side and suddenly, the cauldron to his right was pulled towards him and slammed into his body.

“Ow!”

He put his hands up to shield himself from the ground and suddenly, all the iron and copper in the sands came up at him, the small pellets all attracted to his hands.

“What?! No! Stop!” He screamed, metal of all kinds flying towards his two hands while his potion was judged.

[Disarm potion: Rated D]

[Score: 32, FAILED]

….

[7th competitor: Yumen Leme]

“Behold! My anti-poison potion! One swig will render you immune to the toxic substance! No matter how volatile!” Yumen proclaimed, drinking a vial of potent poison.

The crowd watched as he then drank his potion.

Ten seconds passed.

“See! I am unharm-“ The alchemist fell forwards into the sand, stiff and ridged with a stunned expression on his face

A guard walked up to his body, put a finger to his neck and signalled for the medic team to carry him off.

[Anti-Poison potion: rated E]

[Score: 13, FAILED]

…

12th competitor: Query Yusolver

Query smirked as she lifted her potion to the sky.

“My potion, a Warp potion, can instantly transfer matter across large distances with a single drop!” She took the cork off the top and revealed the cyan glow inside, pouring a single drop onto a Day Flower.

“And now! Witness perfection!” She let another drop out right beside her and the flower instantly went up in a glitchy cyan zap, instantly appearing to where the last drop was.

A few judges applauded and she smiled in victory, raising her hands while crowds cheered.

[Query Yusolver]

[Warp potion: Rated A]

[Score: 96, PASSED]

…

26th competitor: Kelbon Sque]

“I have brewed a potion which renders me invincible!” He boasted, drinking the potion and signalling for a guard to punch him.

The guard wound up a punch and went for a mean uppercut, the result was a throbbing and swelling hand that felt like it had punched iron.

“Go on! Hit me harder! Give it a real shot!” He opened his body with a cheeky grin, “I am invincible!”

He was hit, crushed, pummelled, scratched, burned, frozen. No matter how you looked at it he was completely invincible to all forms of damage, eventually everyone had given up, everyone except for one random guard.

“Your shoes look dumb,” The random guard said, seeing how the alchemist’s shoes were irregular in colour.

Kelbon immediately kneeled and sweated, panting heavily as his eyes went bloodshot and he felt his body get torn in two within him.

“No... Stop…”

“And your socks under that look horrid,”

The alchemist vomited painfully before he passed out, laying in the sand with blank eyes.

“Immune to physical wounds but not emotion wounds… Sheesh,” The alchemist beside Kelbon muttered, seeing how he was slightly twitching.

[Invincibility potion: Rated C]

[Score: 41, PASSED]

…

200th competitor: Rak Flagstaff

“I have created the world’s first damage rebound potion!” Rek boasted, raising a potion filled with silvery liquids, “I can reflect all Physical wounds onto things around me!”

“So it's like the invincibility potion?” The alchemist who went before him wondered.

“Wrong! It's BETTER than the Invincibility potion because there’s no weakness!” He popped the cork off and chugged the concoction, throwing the empty bottle away once he was done, “I should know, I self-tested it! Now try and hurt me!”

“Okay,” The alchemist shrugged, taking a scoop of his potion and shaking it to fizz it up.

The blend suddenly became unstable and the cork exploded right off, swiftly sailing through the air at unseeable speeds till it hit the other alchemist right in the balls.

This made said alchemist kneel to the floor as he clutched his family jewels, emitting a high-pitched scream of agony and pain.

Every male in a 3-mile radius all cringed as they witnessed a possible execution of future generations.

Even the king who had long ago lost his ability to create children winced in pain upon seeing the sight of his subject suffering.

“Well looks like your potion was a fail-“ The alchemist who fired the cork suddenly had his right ankle twisted a full 180 degrees, making him fall forwards onto the sand.

Now there were two suffering alchemists, both screaming in pain with tears coming out of their eyes until they were put on stretchers and carried out of the colosseum.

[Damage Rebound potion: B]

[Score: 65, PASSED]

….

Fifth row’s test and Ark exhaled once it was his turn, the previous alchemist to his left had made herself immune to pain at the cost of being depressed … Now everyone would see what his potion would do. For better or for worse.

He lifted it to his lips, Wilford watched, the two adult royals watched, Atra tilted her head in interest, Rekiel gave him a thumbs up and Resia watched intently…

The liquid flowed down his throat and imbued his body with… Something that felt cold and metallic…

Suddenly, the entirely of Ark’s body was covered in a metallic sheen that climbed up his feet as he shivered, his skin becoming harder than steel as the familiar silver coated his body, his mouth closed as well, the skin stitching itself over and removing the feature from his face.

Even Ark’s eyes became silver, his two pupils now a shaded silvery green and silvery red, his hair became metallic with the same silvery sheen all over his skin.

The alchemist’s weight drastically increased, his defence stat skyrocketed with ridged skin and he looked like a moving statue with actual clothes on.

Some of the judges rose their brows but shrugged nonetheless, they rated off the potions appearance and possible side effects while some brought out a weapon.

[I would like a cannonball to fire at me] Ark signed with his hands, those that understood what he was saying flinched for a second

“Are you sure?” A judge asked, “We will not be held responsible for any injuries you will take from this,”

The alchemist nodded and within 10 seconds, a cannon was hauled into the colosseum with a cannonball loaded into it. The steelified alchemist watched with confidence in his gut, standing away from the other alchemists.

He braced his body and watched as the weapon aimed at him and the small wick was lit.

This had better work…

A loud boom echoed through the arena and the cannonball rocketed straight towards Ark, leaving a smoke trail behind it.

It rocketed straight towards him and the alchemist found his consciousness yelling at itself.

‘What if it doesn’t work?! We’re practically sitting ducks!’ The Ark with blue eyes screamed in horror.

‘Chill, we’re fine! The potion’s gonna work!’ The Ark with red eyes assured, their green-eyed counterpart pacing around nervously.

‘Guys I think we forgot something-“

‘But what if it doesn’t?! We’re going to die!’ Blue Ark screamed in fear, ignoring Green Ark, “We’re going to die and its all your fault!’

‘Just breathe we’ll be fine-‘

‘GIVE ME THE CONTROLS!’

Blue Ark charged at Red Ark who screamed in surprise, chucking the controller away before he was tackled to the ground.

The now even more panicked Blue Ark tried to reach for the controller, but his legs were grabbed by his red alternate who held him back.

‘Let me go Red! We need to move!’ Blue Ark tried to negotiate with his other side, but the controller was grabbed by Green Ark who suddenly remembered what he had forgotten.

‘OH RIGHT WE FORGOT TO-‘

The entirety of the alchemist was hit with the cannonball and the explosive runes place onto said sphere of iron reacted, this was furthered by the ball’s stuffing of gunpowder.

You can imagine how powerful and large the blast was without needing description.

Or can you?

A thunderous and powerful boom rocked the colosseum, sand was whipped up and a large fuming crater remained where Ark once stood…

The guards who brought in the cannon and its ammunition seemed to drop their glasses of drink in terrifying realization while their supervisor seemed to freeze up entirely…

Though each one of the royals looked on in horror in their own ways: Resia immediately burst into tears, Atra’s eyes were widened with no words coming out of her open mouth, Rekiel said a bad word, the King almost fainted and the Queen quickly used her trait.

“DID YOU CHECK WHICH CANNONBALL TYPE YOU LOADED INTO THE CANNON?!” The guard supervisor asked, shaking one of his juniors back and forth by the collar.

“SIR I CAN EXPLAIN!” The guard was then grabbed the shoulders.

“YOU! USELESS! IDIOT!” The supervisor slapped him in the face for each word and the guard fell back into the sand, two red hand marks on his cheeks.

The second guard looked at his companion then at the supervisor.

“Sir I would like to say-“ He was sucker-punched in the gut, no manner of armour could save him from the wrath his senior held.

“ARK!” Resia sobbed and blubbered, crying fountains of tears into her oversized brother’s chest, “WHY?!”

Atra composed herself while the princess cried, if experience told her anything, it was that Ark usually had a trick or two up his sleeve for even the most unpredictable situations.

“C’mon… Prove to me that you’re not like the other alchemists here…” She silently hoped for her lesser ranked counterpart.

Her hopes were rewarded when the smoke cleared and Ark was revealed, kneeling with his arms covering his chest in a shielding manner. Not harmed in the slightest, he didn’t even look fazed.

His clothes had obviously not survived and so he stood in a kneeling fashion, naked and pretty calm about the whole situation, or was he...?

‘Thanks for absorbing the impact June!’ He mentally thanked, the witch within his body smirking to herself.

‘Of course! You may be tens of times more durable than before, but your body could never withstand such a powerful blast, naturally, I could only protect you, my dear~” She soaked up the praise, ‘Had that lowly mana scan detected me then you would’ve been obliterated in an instant,’

‘Yeah…’ The alchemist was quickly covered with a blanket from the two guards who almost killed him and escorted off the field.

Resia immediately ran down from the stall and pursued him, intercepting him before he went off the colosseum.

She pointed at him with puffy red eyes and tear marks on her face.

“Y-You…. Don’t do that again! Okay?! Or I’ll throw you into the dungeons!” Her voice was shaky and croaky, Ark would’ve laughed if he had a mouth.

“A-anyway! Y-you probably failed! S-so-“

Ark’s results were announced.

[Steelification potion: A]

[Score: 93, PASSED]

The princess’s slightly demanding demeanour dropped, and she turned to the older human who gave his best attempt at a smirk, he failed obviously but she got the message.

[You tried to sabotage me by giving me seemingly useless ingredients, but a true alchemist makes sure that no ingredient is useless] He signed as he was lead off, the guards going off to find him some new clothes.

Resia’s response was about as much as he expected, unable to respond with words or actions, reduced to just mere half-formed sentences while storming away.

While he waited in one of the halls within the colosseum for clothes, the alchemist internally sighed.

The original plan was to create the Clone Potion he made many months back, the one Atra had despised because the clone was often mentally skewed, not the one that split his traits into various alternate versions of himself.

But of course, that plan died along with his chances of winning the tournament.

Or had it…?

June and the explosive cannonball were unconsidered factors, the plan was to show his potion could help make soldiers more durable with common ingredients, complaining about said ingredients would just get him booted out.

Who wanted an alchemist who couldn’t use common ingredients to make potions? Not Unitos.

Anyway, it would’ve received a B rating or lower if not for the slip-up, and to top it all off: he could win the tournament thanks to this slip-up.

It did feel wrong to use June to cheat anything but death, but that was the only way he could’ve survived that considering his consciousness was in a mess while the iron sphere flew at him.

The guards re-appeared holding a set of white clothes.

“For you, Mr Andrason,” One said, holding his gut in pain.

[Er- thank you…] He watched him leave, pitying him slightly… Only slightly though…

Turning his attention to his clothes, he quickly shed the large blanket he was wearing and donned the pieces of clothing provided to him.

White button-up shirt? Check.

Black pants that somehow got obscured by the other clothing? Check.

Black socks? Check.

Shoes? Check

White overcoat that split at the waist…. What...?

He looked at the final item provided to him, it was an overcoat, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to wear it or not.

Coats, in general, were associated with status and power, if went around wearing one then he might get in trouble for falsifying his status….

…Fuck it! He wore what he wanted!

He got himself into the white overcoat, not forgetting how his scarf which he paid some money for had been incinerated with the rest of his attire in the explosion.

But this overcoat, it felt kinda… Familiar…

It wasn’t button up but still…

Eh, thoughts for another day, time to go see Atra!

He skipped through the various hallways and tunnels within the colosseum, going upstairs and daydreaming as more results were readout.

'La la la~' He thoughtfully sang, he could talk.. Er.. Sign talk to Atra, help Rekiel with his plant, maybe have a restraining order put onto Resia… Oh, what a wonderful day-

[Elemental Mastery Potion: A]

[Score: 100]

'Excuse me?' His mind asked nobody, 'Elemental Mastery?'

He quickly made a few quick turns and ended up on the main stairway leading to the seats in the colosseum, standing at the top of the descending stairs.

There, sitting with various elemental magics swirling around him in perfect harmony, was Quart. They weren’t some pitiful magic spells either, they were full-on magics that required years of practice to even reach this level of affinity for a single spell

Lighting, Fire, Earth, Air, Water, Ice, Light, all the magics, both listed and many more not listed were working in perfect harmony as their user hovered several feet off the ground, hands behind his back with a smug grin on his face.

‘Did… Did he master the Gravity element or is that his natural telekinesis...?’

“Why thank you, I put a lot of effort into it,” Quart smiled to the crowd.

He was a real shocker as well, a sexy face, green grassy eyes and a set of blue hair styled into a short ponytail, this was the man had been dealing with for god knows how long…

Ark looked over to Atra and to his despair, he saw she was pretty enamoured by it, she was thinking deeply, and he hoped it wasn’t in Quart’s favour.

Now depressed, the alchemist sat down in a seat right next to him, melancholic and unhappy.

“I- Um… I’m not sure how to introduce my potion but…” The familiar sound of Ilmit’s voice made him look up, seeing the young girl holding a strange glowing orange potion, “I-I made a potion and it’s called… A... H-Hard Counter potion,”

“Hard Counter you say?” One of the judges asked, intrigued, “You do know what a Hard-Counter potion means, right young lady?”

“Y-yes, I-I made it knowing full well what it does…” She took a swig of the potion and wiped her mouth, “I-I’m ready to face anything you throw at me!”

“So much invincibility-based potions in this tournament,” Quart hummed, hovering over to the girl, “Alright, I’ll test your potion young one,”

“Wait is that lega-“ A lightning bolt lashed out at Ilmit and for a second, it seemed she would die.

But an orange glow encompassed her and the lighting bolt met a spherical dome built around the girl.

“Oh? How quaint,” He formed a fireball in one hand and threw it directly at the young alchemist.

A burst of orange water erupted from her body and extinguished the fire, making a few judges nod in approval.

Quart then formed three fireballs on his left and several ice spears on his right, each filled with power.

A single motion of his finger and each spell was thrown at the teenage potion-maker.

But an orange tendril escaped her body and caught each spell within itself, throwing them back at their caster.

The spells were countered by more spells, and those spells were followed by MORE spells.

“Illmit…” Ark watched as the younger alchemist stood form with determination shining in her eyes, the wind pressure was rapidly changing as hundreds of spells suddenly rained down onto her.

He watched as the potion she made countered every single one of them without fail, sending them back or erasing them. She was the meaning of invincible right now.

Fireballs, icicles, stalactites, lightning bolts… It didn’t matter which spell it was, each one was completely hard countered by the orange potion.

“That’s enough,” One of the judges said, finished with his writing, “We’ve seen enough,”

But Quart didn’t stop, he kept firing and firing off spells as if he was actually trying to kill her!

Suddenly two slabs of stone appeared beside Ilmit and attempted to crush her, the potion blasting both pieces of slab into rubble.

“Quart knock it off,” The judge said, looking displeased at the noble.

“She said it could hard counter everything!” He yelled, “So I’m gonna DO everything!”

“Quart no-“

What followed was a beam of pure concentrated magic, similar to the hyper railgun’s, though the power level was way stronger than the weapon’s.

It rocketed straight towards Ilmit who stood firmly in her spot, not moving or showing nervousness in any way.

“Quart!” The judge stood up, but it was too late.

The beam hit Ilmit and she was pushed back, her Hard-Counter potion protecting her from any harm.

Then it met the beam with a counter…

The beam Quart was firing was immediately reduced to nothing, and he fell to the floor, unable to continue firing the beam any longer.

“Huh? What happened?”

“The mana was cut from the area,” The judge explained, “Now, unless you want me to disqualify you for disobeying orders, you will either go off stage or watch without any interference, do I make that clear?”

“Yes,” Quart smiled to himself, “I will do as you say,”

The alchemist walked out of the colosseum and Ilmi’s potion was judged

[Hard Counter potion: A]

[Score: 100]

The girl fell to her knees and bawled tears of joy, it was like a dream, she felt so overwhelmed, she felt so fatigued all of a sudden…

She felt kinda… Tired…

Standing up, she stumbled a little bit, everything was getting hazy and distorted…

'Ilmit?' Ark mentally asked, seeing her getting unstable and drunk-like, 'Ilmit?!'

He saw the girl look in his direction before she fell backwards into the sand, guards rushing onto the floor to help her.

Immediately he felt a cold sensation run down his spine, as did everyone else.

The sky suddenly grew dark and a cloaked figure walked out one of the tunnels, its face a familiar white…

He saw how it was dressed as a mix of a servant and an executioner underneath the cloak, but he could tell how it had no intentions of even listening to anyone’s orders.

He could tell how it had a collar of an unknown material around its neck and armoured shoulders, the collar wrapped around its neck and that was where the hood came from…

From underneath its coat, he saw a segmented abdomen but that was all he managed to view before the entity proceeded with its next actions

It suddenly teleported to where the announcer had stood, clearing its throat.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” It spoke, catching everyone’s attention.

“My name is Elder, and you are all going to die,”

The entity turned towards the alchemist standing on the stairs and pointed at him.

“Especially you, Ark,”