***
“Journeyman Wu, we have the name of the finalists and the collected concoctions for your testing,” a low-grade Journeyman said, presenting a storage ring to Journeyman Wu.
He nodded and took the ring. “Shall we?” He looked to Journeyman Di and Rakesh.
“Certainly!” Rakesh said.
The three of them moved to the back of the room where there was a large testing area set aside for them. They pulled out the different concoctions, checking them over with a few quick and simple tests.
With each of the concoctions, there was a note on the person: their perceived level and their background. This was not to try to move their thoughts, but instead tell them the true ability of the alchemist and not the ability of their family.
The Alchemist Association was built on finding the best alchemists, not the person with the best backing who had half of a kingdom spent on them to pass the Alchemist Association’s test.
Even Apprentice-level powders were allowed into this stage if they showed that the creator had truly applied themselves.
Even though they might have their eyes on two people, Di and Rakesh took their time to work through the rows of concoctions, giving their thoughts on them.
With their background and knowledge, it wasn’t long until they came to their conclusions.
“Good, well, it seems that you both have good eyes,” Wu said. The other two could only smile, accepting his praise.
Wu wrote out a list of concoctions that had made the grade and they exited the room.
He passed the list over to one of his aides and they returned to their seats.
As they had been studying the concoctions, the people from the other arenas had been gathered into the arena that Journeyman Wu was presiding over.
***
Erik looked up at the booth. He saw the familiar Journeyman Di from Girus city sitting next to two other men.
A woman held up a list. “As you know, there are only forty people who are allowed to go from this contest to participate in the Path of Alchemy trial. Once one completes the trial, they will be able to become an applicant to the Alchemist Association. If your name is called, step forward!
“In no order, the people who have passed the second trial are the following! Shen Ziu! Molly Choi!” With each name, a new person would show relief, excitement, or nod as if it were only natural.
Erik stood there, watching, as the woman said the names.
“Jing Jonsain, Erik West...”
Erik let out a sigh before stepping forward.
==========
Quest: Alchemist Association Trial
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Congratulations! You have passed the second stage of the Alchemist Association.
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Requirements:
Complete Path of Alchemy trial
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Rewards: Become alchemist candidate
150,000 EXP
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657,539/1,055,000 EXP till you reach Level 31
==========
As the fortieth name was called, Luke looked at the announcer, his anger rising up.
Not only had he not made the list, that upstart who dared to take second place from him in Girus had made it onto the list.
What is this? Are they letting him through just to snub me?
He turned and left the arena as the winners were guided away to meet with the Alchemist Association members who were overseeing the entire contest.
As he reached the waiting hall once again, he used his sound transmission device. “Capture his companions. He might have made it into the third round but we will make sure he never reaches the Resam Regional Headquarters contest!” he said viciously.
***
Rugrat laughed and took a big drink from his beer. He slapped Matt on the back, nearly sending the man into the spectators in front.
George, who was on his shoulders, made an annoyed noise at the movement, digging his claws into Rugrat’s shirt.
“I told you he could do it!” Rugrat laughed again and took another big gulp from his drink.
He got a message from Domonos. He opened it, sure that the other man was sending his congratulations.
“I don’t know who else to send this to. I’m badly wounded and I’m being taken down to the bottom of Khusai. I got kicked out of my sect. I don’t know if I’ll be able to hold on much longer. Please tell my family I did everything I could.”
Rugrat’s expression turned in an instant as he grabbed healing powder and stuffed it in his mouth, recovering from the alcohol.
“We need to go.” Rugrat turned; Matt did the same and followed him, filled with questions.
“What’s up?”
“Get your armor on. You know that kid Domonos? He’s in trouble and we need to go and get him.” Rugrat pulled on his armor as he walked.
“Shit,” Matt said. Rugrat had made him a chest plate as well as leg and arm bracers. He hadn’t finished the upper leg or arm parts, or made the helmet; still, it was better than nothing. “How do we find him?”
“George?” Rugrat scratched under the firewolf’s chin.
He made yapping and yowling noises; Rugrat could piece together through their bond what he meant.
“We need to go back to where we saw him and trace him from there.” Rugrat took off at a jog.
Matt picked up his pace, following after him.
***
Erik walked with the other people who had qualified. He looked at the woman from Girus with interest before his eyes landed on a young-looking girl. She wasn’t wearing fancy clothes and she had a hard look to her, someone who had to fight for the entirety of her life.
Though with his newfound sensitivity to Mana, he could feel a heavy Earth-attribute Mana coming from her body.
They were led into a large hall with food and drink. The people from the Alchemist Association who had watched over the trial were there with smiles on their faces.
At the front of the room, there were three men wearing the same emblem but with the man in the center having three stripes on it, instead of two like the others.
Erik looked at Journeyman Di, who had been watching over the trial in Girus.
“It is good to see you all. My name is Journeyman Wu. I am the one in charge of presiding over this second trial. You have all beat the second trial. Your next trial will be held on the Path of Alchemy. Unlike these first trials which were elimination-based, the Path of Alchemy trial is purely based on skill in all aspects of Alchemy, from memorization of different ingredients, growing, harvesting, preparation, and formation. It will be up to you to pass along this path. If you gain satisfactory results, you will join the Alchemist Association. If your results are good, then you might be able to enter into the higher rankings of the Alchemist Association.
“You will also be awarded your skill badge.” Journeyman Wu tapped the medallion on his chest. “Most of you will get a mid- to high-Apprentice-level medallion. The medallions are not given out purely based on your skill level as evaluated by the Ten Realms. One can use various means in order to trick the Ten Realms system—this is why the Alchemist Association makes their own trials to show that one is not only able to form a concoction, they must be able to follow through with all parts of Alchemy.”
If someone has to work on making one concoction for multiple years just to pass this examination, without raising or harvesting the ingredients, then they might be very strong in the formation stage of Alchemy, but in all others they could be weak. Their skill level would be high due to the Experience gain one gets from making a high-level concoction, but their background and foundation is lacking. Erik’s respect toward the Alchemist Association grew, as the association had been made to create true, well-rounded alchemists, not just people looking to attain levels.
They might have high prestige but at their core they were alchemists and they would not pollute their association with uselessness.
“Now, please, eat and drink! We will be organizing your transport to the Resam Regional Headquarters.” Journeyman Wu smiled.
Now that they weren’t competing with one another, the tension in the air fell away as people started talking to one another. Now that they might be entering the Alchemist Association together, it was wise to make a few friends along the way.
Erik was about to open the messages on his sound transmission device when he saw Journeyman Di walking over to him.
He bowed in greeting to him.
“Erik West, I saw your performance at Girus, and I was impressed, enough to make me want to see you again. You didn’t fail these old eyes.” Journeyman Di smiled.
Erik could see the excitement in his eyes as he cupped his hands, embarrassed by the praise. “I simply put forward the knowledge that I knew. I still have a long way to go in Alchemy.”
“Good. It is rare to find someone of the younger generations who is able to act humbly upon winning something of this scale,” Journeyman Di said.
Erik coughed. Back on Earth he would be called close to middle age, but here in the Ten Realms he was a person of the younger generation.
He thought about asking Journeyman Di how old he was but held back from doing so.
“I was trying to catch up with you in Girus so that we might get to know each other more but I was unable to find you. I didn’t expect you would be so excited to run to Khusai.” Journeyman Di laughed.
“I wish I was leaving of my own accord,” Erik muttered. Di’s eyes narrowed as Erik cleared his throat. “Journeyman Di, I hope that I am not overstepping my boundaries, but I was wondering if you might know a man called Old Hei? He’s the reason I applied to join the Alchemist Association as he helped me immensely in learning Alchemy. I have his medallion as well.”
Erik pulled out the medallion that Old Man Hei had left with him.
***
Journeyman Di’s expression had turned stony when he heard Erik’s mutterings, but as he was about to ask more, Erik continued on.
Di was just about to ask more about the incident. If someone had messed with the applicants in the cities that he watched over, it was a black mark on his record and might lead to less apt alchemists entering his Alchemist Association.
Those thoughts ground to a halt as he looked at the medallion in Erik’s hands. His body shook as he looked at the Expert-level medallion.
Di took a moment, clearing his throat. He heard footsteps approaching. Before he could say anything, Journeyman Wu spoke out.
“That medallion—do you know who it belongs to?” he asked in a grave voice, covering for the temporarily speechless Di.
“Well, he told me to call him Old Hei, but his real name is Zen Hei—carved it into the back here.” Erik flipped the medallion around.
“May I?” Wu asked.
Erik handed it over.
Wu pressed the medallion to his own. It created a resonance, showing that it was a true Alchemist Association medallion and the information on it was true.
“When did you meet Expert Zen Hei?”
“Well, it was in the Second Realm, couple of months back? Old bastard left me a note, said that he was going to return to the Third Realm and that I might be able to find him here. So I want to join the Alchemist Association to see if I can find him.”
Journeyman Di nearly coughed blood at the familiar way that Erik talked about Expert Zen Hei.
He had been a large figure in the past but he had disappeared on some retreat. Some thought he died; others thought he was ashamed of his skills.
Those rumors had been put to rest as he had come back out of the blue and challenged alchemist trial after trial until he had reached the level of mid-Expert, becoming one of the three pill heads in the Third Realm. With his rapid rise and talks of him closing in on becoming a peak Expert alchemist, there were talks of him going to the Fifth and Sixth Realms to grow and tutor others there.
He had also put out that he was looking for someone, that he would be waiting until they arrived.
So this is the person he was looking for? Di’s body shook as he looked at Erik. Journeyman was a vast sea where many alchemists got stuck. Many had the skills to advance, but their knowledge was lacking. The Journeyman level of any profession was where one looked at the multiple paths that they might go through and they had to pick one to specialize in as they reached for Expert, Master, and higher.
Novice and Apprentice skill level, by comparison, was fumbling around in the dark and understanding the basics. Journeyman was where alchemists were created. Experts were figures who had stepped down their own path, challenging Alchemy and bending it to their will.
Eighty percent of the Alchemist Association were at the Journeyman level or lower.
Birthing an Expert-level alchemist from the lower realms was nearly impossible and were sure to do well if they reached the higher realms.
Di’s mind turned back to his original thoughts. “You said that you were chased out of Girus?” His voice was cold and serious now; Wu’s expression seemed to chill.
“I was chased out of the city by the third place Luke Jonsain. Looks like he wasn’t too pleased with me taking the second place spot from him,” Erik said.
“We will need to investigate this matter.” Wu looked to Di, who nodded gravely. Not only was this a flagrant disregard for the Alchemist Association’s rules, with Erik’s connections it reached much higher.
Erik checked his messages and cleared his throat. “This might be good evidence.” Erik sent the message to Wu and Di.
They listened to Luke’s threatening message and their faces turned to anger.
“Where are your companions right now? I fear that they might be in trouble,” Wu asked. “Once we know their location, we can dispatch guards to assist them.”
Erik went into his messages again. Seeing that Rugrat had left him one not long ago, he sent a message to Rugrat. “Where are you?”
“I’m heading into the lower reaches of Khusai. We found Qin’s brother Domonos, but he just sent me a message. Seems he’s in trouble, so going to go and help him,” Rugrat said.
“Give me your position and where you’re going. Apparently, that whiney bitch Luke might have sent people after you. The Alchemist Association wants to send people to protect you,” Erik said.
“Sending you my location,” Rugrat said. “George is tracking right now. We traced him to a residence that was held by the Willful Institute but it looks like he was sent out of it again. Don’t know where he’s going.”
Erik already passed the information to Di, who quickly started talking into his sound transmission device.
“Watch your backs,” Erik said.
“Will do,” Rugrat said.
Chapter: Alchemist Association Affairs
Blaze looked out of the dungeon headquarters. With his eagle eyes, he could see the group of traders and Special Team Three on the teleportation pad.
The traders were some of the first who had left Alva Dungeon. A number of them were also spies who had been set up by Jasper to gather information. The special teams were good at gathering information on the combat capabilities of the different groups, but they didn’t gather information on the local populace. Were they pleased with their leaders? Did they have problems that weren’t being seen to? What were their main exports and imports?
This kind of information was not only useful to the traders to make more gold, it had military benefits as they could see what the other territories were doing.
Though it wasn’t as important for them to know everything that was happening in the Second Realm compared to the First, it would serve as a good lesson to everyone.
The teleportation formation flashed as Special Team Three and the traders disappeared. Just a few hours before, Special Team Two had also disappeared from the teleportation pad, headed into the battlefield dungeon. There was another party from the Alva military that had also gone to challenge the dungeon to increase their Strength
and gain rewards.
“Well, there goes Jasper.” Taran watched the teleport pad.
Elise made a noncommittal noise as she turned and headed for the council’s table. Egbert sat there; he could see everything in the dungeon at all times anyway.
The others moved to follow her.
“If we can open trade routes into the Second Realm, then we can sell more of our items there, without fear of people turning suspicious. We’ve already reached a point that the goods we’re selling aren’t comparable to what can be found in the First Realm. If we choose to sell them here, we might change the balance of a battle or diplomacy. Lord Aditya has hinted that he can’t move some of the items due to the attention it will bring on his trading outpost. I don’t need to tell you of the other benefits we might get from trading in the Second Realm,” Elise said.
The others all nodded. The resources that they could get, the information that they might learn—these were things that they relied on the special teams going to the Second Realm or the battlefield dungeon to do.
“Now, there are other ramifications. First, allowing parties other than the special teams to head to the Second Realm. Much as we have set up a bounty board for people who go out into the First Realm, we set one up for the Second Realm. Based off the information we have, Blaze, Glosil, I want you to make missions for the parties that will be going to the Second Realm. These will be missions set up by us, their aims to gain information and items that will help us in the future, or to protect our people, crafters, traders and the like who head up to the Second Realm. The crafters and traders will need to pay a fee to Alva in order to have the parties’ protection.” Elise turned to Taran.
He nodded and Elise sat back in her chair.
“Soon we will be able to apply for the tier-three upgrade to the cookhouse. We have the coin and the materials, but still I want to build up more Mana stones in our Mana Gathering formation. Egbert, do you want to explain the new value of Mana stones?”
The Third Realm Page 30