He could barely repair Erik’s armor. Making a new set? That would be impossible for him now.
Rugrat put down the notepad and pen, pulling out a jug of alcohol and looked at the flames in the furnace as he tried to forget.
***
Domonos had spent what little gold he had remaining in order to go and see the Alchemist Association competition. He wanted to look for someone who might be able to help Qin.
He heard someone laughing. Looking over in annoyance, he saw a strange face. A large man with tattoos on his arm and a beard on his face, but his eyes and face—there was something familiar about him!
Domonos pulled out a piece of paper that he had long forgotten about. It was a picture of the two men who had escaped the sects in the First Realm and who his brother Wren had a fight with!
Domonos moved closer to the man. He was hesitant at first but it might be the only way he could get any news on what was happening in the First Realm.
He screwed up his courage and walked forward, seeing the man with two beers in hand and another drinking beside him.
“Rugrat?” Domonos asked, his voice tinged with uncertainty.
“Huh?” Rugrat looked at Domonos.
Feeling relieved that he had not gotten the wrong person, Domonos was filled with questions on how Rugrat was here in front of him in the Third Realm.
“Who are you?” Rugrat asked.
“Domonos Silaz, from Chonglu,” Domonos said.
“Oh, Qin, Yei, and Wren’s brother!” Rugrat said.
“Yui’s brother,” Domonos amended.
Rugrat’s smile became deeper. Clearly the words from before were a test.
“I thought you went off and joined a sect. What are you doing here?” Rugrat looked at the sect emblem on Domonos’s chest.
“I was able to find one that took me in. I was wondering if I could ask you something,” Domonos said.
It seemed that Rugrat held no hostility toward him, and he knew of both his brothers and his sister.
“I was wondering if you have any news on my sister Qin.” Domonos looked Rugrat in the eyes.
“Little Qin, huh?” Rugrat’s expression softened as he looked away, apparently remembering something. After a few moments, he returned from his thoughts. “She is fine—better than fine. You might even see her walking the streets of Chonglu today. Erik was able to help her and her issue.”
Domonos felt as if a tension that had been running through his body had been removed. He had started on this path to improve his Strength and to help his sister. Knowing that she was okay, knowing that she was healed, brought up emotions he had not touched since he had left home, scared that they might reveal his weaknesses.
“Thank you, thank you!” he said breathlessly, his eyes becoming moist.
“It is no problem.” Rugrat paused, seeing the emotion on the young man’s face. “If you want, I can take you to go and see her. Maybe not now, but in a bit, if you come with us.”
Domonos wanted to agree but his heart was torn as he knew the oath he had taken and the bond that Mistress Mercy had placed upon him.
Just as he was about to open his mouth, he got a message from Mistress Mercy. He listened to it. The emotions drained from his face as he once again had a blank expression.
“Thank you, Rugrat, for everything. Please let my family know that I love them dearly, but there are things that I must do.” He didn’t give Rugrat any time to say anything as he bowed, level with the ground, and then took off, weaving through the crowd to go and attend to Mistress Mercy.
Domonos was nearly out of eyesight when he got a message from Rugrat.
“If you change your mind, here is my contact information.”
Domonos smiled to himself, a sad smile. He continued running, feeling the bond between him and Mistress Mercy pulling on him.
Chapter: Enemies Walk on a Short Path
Erik felt as if his head was about to burst when he had fallen asleep, but as he opened his eyes, everything seemed to be crystal-clear to him, as if a fog that had been around his mind lifted. His senses had undergone a change, but there was something more than that.
“It’s easier to raise the dead!” Rugrat complained as he threw a bucket of water on Erik.
He got up, spluttering. He could tell it wasn’t the first bucket of water that had been dumped on him.
“Come on, the competition starts soon. You’ve been sleeping for two days!” Rugrat said.
Matt stood off to the side and put a bucket of water behind him.
Rugrat was unaffected by Erik’s glare, as always.
“Two days?” Erik’s mind kicked into gear as Rugrat helped him up. He used the Clean spell to get rid of the water and clean himself.
“Yeah, there’s just three hours until it kicks off. Come on, man.” Rugrat pulled Erik outside.
George was sleeping in a corner. He opened his eye as they passed, making a noise at Rugrat.
“Damn glutton.” Rugrat tossed him a monster core as George eagerly snatched it out of the air before settling back down to sleep.
Erik pulled out the pill bottle in his ring, checking that it was still there. He felt that his Agility had undergone a large change, as had his entire body through his increase in stats.
He put the pill bottle away, relieved that it wasn’t all just a dream. They ran toward the center of Khusai and the dozens of arenas that ringed around the mountain that Khusai was built into.
Erik frowned as they moved through the markets, smelling the different ingredients all around him.
It was like a series of flash cards in his mind: as he would concentrate on something, if it was related to anything that he had learned, worked with, or tested before, it snapped into his mind. Erik had used some technique books and information manuals to increase his knowledge on Alchemy ingredients, but still there were millions of permutations and mutations of the basic thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of ingredients.
With his Alchemy level, he was even able to understand one effect of the different ingredients around him. It was a wealth of knowledge and it should have left him in a state of shock but his mind had changed, filtering them away and saving them in the back of his mind. With just a thought, he could recall them, instead of relying on rote repetition to remember the ingredients. Even with the technique manuals, the information might be fresh in one’s mind at first, but over time it would weaken.
It looks like there is another reason that the Journeyman level is called the information level. If I can recall all of this information, it would be really useful. I’ll call this my Alchemy Book.
Although it was really useful, it did have its drawbacks. One needed to test ingredients or buy technique manuals to add more information to their mind, and it was also possible to retain the wrong knowledge.
It was like a cheat sheet: it could contain a lot of information, but if the person who wrote it put down the wrong information, it was potentially worse than useless.
One might think that with the Apprentice effect of knowing at least one of the ingredient’s effects, it helped, but with ingredients that had five or six different uses and effects depending on how they were grown, harvested, prepared, and combined, knowing just one effect was a starting point.
Even the information and deductions that I made with tasting different ingredients is listed here. A shiver went down Erik’s spine. So maybe using my reverse alchemist on unknown ingredients would allow me to build up at least some kind of record on them that I can use later to figure out what the ingredients are.
Matt led the way, with Rugrat and Erik following. As they moved through the streets, they had to dodge into side alleys and side streets to escape the press of the people, using the twisting roads that went up the inside of Khusai Mountain.
They reached a side door that led into one of the arenas. Erik presented the identification token he had received from the first trial.
“Very well. You are at arena seven,” the woman
said.
Matt once again led the way as they ran through the crowds.
People grumbled and complained as they pushed through before arriving at arena seven and Erik presented his token again.
He was given a new token, this one with a number on it. Erik accepted it and looked to the two others.
“I heard that the next trial happens at Resam Regional Headquarters. Sounds fancy,” Rugrat said. “Don’t fuck up!”
“Good luck,” Matt said.
“Thanks, guys.” Erik felt much more confident with the Alchemy Book in his head. He wanted to tell them about it and see whether they knew anything about it, but this wasn’t the place.
He turned and headed into the arena. He walked through an open area where people were sitting, reading and waiting. Some were talking, trying to get out their nervous energy.
Many were eyeing the others. After all, this was a competition and the others were vying to take the top spots away from them.
Erik found somewhere to sit and focused on the Iron Skin potion. His mind filled with the formula; information and thoughts that he had earlier were all organized, customizing the formula to what he had created. A formula was a set of rules and guidelines, but when making a cake, few actually followed the recipe completely. They guessed and added in things at different points of time. The result was the same, but they had added their own flair to it.
With the Alchemy Book in his mind, Erik was able to review the information in greater detail. His eyebrows pinched together as he looked at his own assumptions and changed them so that they would work better.
***
Jing Jonsain presented her token to the person at the gate. Unlike in Girus, this person wasn’t affected upon seeing them, looking at them as if they were just another group of alchemists trying to join the Alchemist Association.
She traded the token and waved her forward.
Luke scanned the crowd. He felt he saw something familiar in the crowd. He looked over to see the second place Erik West walking into the challengers’ waiting hall.
His entire body stiffened and his nose flared in anger. He gripped his token tight, causing it to bite into his hand.
“Next!” the person at the table said in an irritated tone.
Luke looked to them with fire in his eyes, wanting to drag them over the table and beat them in front of everyone for daring to order him around.
He slapped the token on the table, looking down on the person.
They took the token, rolling their eyes, and put another token on the table with a number. “Next!” they said, not sparing Luke a glance.
He stood there, about to lash out, when a guard moved up.
“Move it,” the guard said.
Luke shook from anger. How dare these little peasants talk to me in this way!
He was about to yell out when his butler pulled him to the side, cupping his fists to the guard. The guards here might be part of Khusai’s defense force, but while they were administering to the Alchemist Association’s application test, they were under the authority of the Alchemist Association, which gave them much more power. It was necessary when dealing with figures who might be the scions of a large city or kingdom to keep things fair.
Luke pulled his sleeve out from his butler’s hand. “Touch me again like that and I will have you flogged for three days straight!” Luke spat out before turning to his butler.
“Erik West is here. Go and find his friends. It seems he dares to appear. Then we will need to make an example of him and his fellows,” Luke said in a low whisper.
The butler’s eyes turned solemn as he looked through the crowd for the second-place winner of Girus.
“Don’t mess this up.” Luke turned and advanced toward the waiting hall.
He looked around the hall. Nearly two hundred people waited in the hall, each eyeing the others like wolves. Some from sects, others from big families, others nobodies who had been able to climb this high.
***
“Journeyman Di, it is good to see you.” Alchemist Journeyman Rakesh greeted his old friend with a smile. Both of them were from the Alchemist Association and had been sent out for the last couple of years to look over the competitions held in the Third Realm to recruit more alchemists. As two people in the same job, they had built up an understanding with each other and a friendship.
“Journeyman Rakesh, it is good to see you. I did not know that you would be here for this second selection.” Journeyman Di had done two more trials after Girus before heading straight for the city. With his flying beast, it wasn’t a long journey at all. Although he was pleased to see Journeyman Rakesh, he knew that the other man wouldn’t come to this event if he wasn’t here for something.
“I think that we’re here for the same things. I found someone who might have a few capabilities,” Rakesh admitted.
Di let out a laugh and nodded. “Two birds of a feather.”
There were a number of other alchemists from the Alchemist Association around, but most of them were only the Apprentice level, people who saw to the needs of the higher up alchemists, hoping to learn more from them.
The door to the room and the balcony beyond opened as an older man appeared.
“Journeyman Wu.” Di and Rakesh bowed their heads slightly to him as everyone else bowed deeply.
“There is no need for that,” Journeyman Wu said with a pleased smile. Although their emblems held two lines on it, he had three lines on his emblem. “It is lonely and boring work, being away from the Alchemist Association for so long. I hope that we can catch up later for a meal and drink!”
“Certainly!” Rakesh and Di replied with pleased smiles. The Alchemist Association was their home; their fellow alchemists might bicker with and over time get annoyed with one another, but like with any family, one would miss even those petty fights if they were away long enough. With their levels and skills, a few years spent looking over the new blood that would join the Alchemist Association would give them deeper feelings toward the association and a few years compared to the hundreds they had left to live was not a big sacrifice.
“I have also been able to get some testers of low-Expert-level concoctions. I have been saving them to examine with a few friends and share insights,” Journeyman Wu said, pleased with their expressions.
Both of them cupped their hands and bowed to Wu deeply.
“Journeyman Wu, it would be an honor,” Rakesh said.
“I also have a tester for an Expert-level concoction that I hope we will be able to study!” Di added.
“Good!” Wu clapped his hands together in an excited manner.
They lived for Alchemy. Testers were hard to break down and it took a massive amount of skill to gain insights, but it was an opportunity to gain inspiration, a new path forward.
“Bring us some fine wine! I hope that this contest can entertain us!” Wu said, a wide smile on his face as he invited the other two to sit with him at the balcony at the end of the room. They walked out, the sun beating down on them. The ever-present humidity of the Third Realm caused their robes to stick to them as they looked over the masses. The arena had also been carved out of Khusai. It was one of eight that ringed the city. Even with people just talking, the entire arena was filled with noise.
Supporters of those who were competing would travel for weeks or months to see the competition, those in the surrounding area of Khusai would pour in to see legends being born, and the people of Khusai would join in on the festivities as well. With the different arenas, there were close to two million people watching.
Although people could only go to one of the arenas, the booth that the Alchemist Association used had viewing stones that allowed them to look over the other arenas at the same time.
Di looked through the different stones, looking for Erik West.
***
Luke was watching Erik West, who was frowning, lost in thought. Luke scoffed at his expression.
Made it here but doesn’t even have the
confidence in himself, or else why would he looked so confused and annoyed? He should just give up. Father told me the amount of resources one would need if they wanted to create the Journeyman Iron Skin potion. It might be powerful, but he’s just a single person without any sort of backing. I don’t know how he was able to get through my intelligence network but I’ll send him into the depths of despair soon.
Luke had put out the word to look for a man of Erik’s description and that he was an alchemist. What self-respecting alchemist would travel through a swamp with just their friend and then become a caravan mercenary?
The biases of the people in the Third Realm had worked against them, making them overlook Erik at every turn.
Luke received a message from his butler.
“I have been able to find his companion. He is sitting in the audience. I have people watching him.”
“Good!” Luke said as he felt the trap close around Erik.
The doors from the waiting hall opened. Everyone stood and stowed away their items, becoming silent as they looked out onto the arena that had been divided up into squares with numbers on them, much like the setup in Girus.
“Contestants, take your places,” an usher from the Alchemist Association said, using a voice amplification spell.
The contestants moved forward through the massive doors and toward the squares.
Luke had a derisive look on his face as he walked through the doors, still looking at Erik as he pulled his sound talisman to his mouth. Over long distances, one had to know the symbol of the person they were contacting. In shorter ranges, people could send a message directionally, locking onto another sound transmission device close by.
He saw Erik sitting down at his station and placing his token in a depression in the square. It glowed, showing he was in the right square.
As he was collecting himself, Luke made his message, timing it to throw Erik off-balance.
“Erik West, seems that you did show up, but it’s no matter. Come to the Golden Ox inn after the competition or else I will kill your companion.”
The Third Realm Page 28
