Rob looked to the front of the class, at the empty blackboard, with a bored gaze and a daze mind. His mind was at another place entirely, as he cannot help but urge for the time to move faster and for tomorrow to arrive.
“Hey, hey, Rob.” Anna poked at his shoulder with a face that just screamed I wanna spill some tea to Rob.
Rob inwardly sighed and leaned back on his chair, stared at Anna, and asked with a bored gaze, “What is it?”
“Have you heard about the fire that occurred last night? I heard there were two victims, and a poor girl was left all alone without her parents. Luckily, the fire didn’t spread and no one else was harmed,” Anna said with a sigh. “It’s unfortunate, right? I hope they can set up a donation fund for the girl, or that she gets adopted.”
“Unfortunate…” Rob almost laughed. “Indeed, that girl was clouded in misfortune.”
Rob remembered just how grateful that girl was when she saw the raging flames of her house. It was as if her joy almost turned physical. Of course, Rob was also happy when it happened, since he managed to acquire two human souls with relative ease.
He was about to head out to pee when the school bells rang loudly.
Nice! Rob stood up in a hurry and grabbed his bag.
Anna also grabbed her bag with excited eyes, a simple action that lead to many deductions from Rob, after all, the events a day ago were still fresh in his mind, and it was easy to understand what she was so excited for.
I wonder what your Opportunity was, Viscountess. Those spirits, hmm… Rob shook his head and dismissed his thoughts. He can worry about her cheat later once he acquires Alchemy Magic.
He walked out of the Royal Academy at a brisk pace and went toward the Alchemist Guild, bought some common, and some rare, alchemical materials to prepare for tomorrow.
This should last me for Saturday and Sunday. Next… the gym!
Rob walked through the familiar streets and easily found the gym, a gym that was surprisingly near to his house, and the place where his father usually went to when working out. Of course, Rob could work with calisthenics, but since the gym is relatively close, he might as well go there.
He checked his remaining money and calculated inside his mind. Sigh, this month’s expenses are a bit rough, but once I can sell my potions, I’ll finally have my own personal source of income.
Rob entered the gym and bought a month-long membership card. It was for a hefty price of 50 silver coins, which Rob already started to regret, but it didn’t matter. As long as his life was safe, money could be earned, and money could be spent.
With all of his business done, he returned back home to drop all of his stuff inside his bedroom and went inside the bakery to help his parents deal with the customers and baking.
After all that, the family of three went to eat dinner, and Rob laid down on his bed to take a rest.
Tomorrow… Tomorrow is gonna be a big day.
…
The next day, Rob woke up strangely early and swiftly took a shower. He put on a decent set of clothes - a wide white linen shirt, and baggy black pants. He also packed his bag with alchemical materials and pocketed the portable Alchemy Circles inscribed on paper for quick use. He also brought along a bottle of water, some snacks, and an extra set of clothes in case he puked blood. And just in case, he hung a knife inside the sheath on his hip.
Rob walked down the stairs, hiding the sheathed knife with his oversized shirt and walked toward the shoe rack to put on his shoes.
Vivia eyed him, curious, and asked, “You heading out?”
“Yep,” Rob hummed absentmindedly.
“What for?” Herve mumbled, his eyes fixated on the fierce sword fight showing on the television.
“Secluded cultivation. I think I’m about to form my Mana Heart soon so I plan to do it in a less mana-dense environment…,” Rob said and paused. “For a little experiment.”
“M-Mana Heart?!” Herve, who was munching on grapes, almost choked when he head what his son had just said so casually.
“Are you saying you’ll be a mage soon?!” Vivia asked incredulously, unable to believe what she had heard.
“Mmm.” Rob nodded his head and slowly stood up. “I’ll be heading out now!”
“Oh, uh… sure? Just make sure to keep yourself safe wherever you plan to do your secluded cultivation!” Herve shouted.
“And don’t go home too late!” Vivia added.
“Yes, yes!” Rob chuckled, and opened the door, leaving behind his parents who were still unable to process the whole thing.
“This kid…” Herve watched as Rob walked out of the door, and sighed. “He’s all grown up before you knew it.”
“Don’t tell me Anna actually whipped him up to shape, but it doesn’t look that way whenever I talk to her about it.” Vivia scratched her head in confusion.
“Sigh, let’s just be grateful for his change. Who knows, maybe the next time I go to the gym, I’ll see him there working out!” Herve gave a hearty laugh and continued to eat his bowl of grapes.
“Let’s hope so…” Vivia chuckled.
“Oh yeah.” Vivia seemed to have remembered something and stared at her husband with a hint of pity in her eyes. “Have you heard about the fire that happened on Thursday? The news said that a girl had both of her parents die in the fire.”
“Oh, that? Yeah, I’ve heard about it,” Herve sighed, losing his appetite and putting the bowl of grapes to the side. “I hope we could help her, since we have the money and all, but there’s no way to donate to her and we don’t even know any details regarding her. She probably asked to keep her information private.”
…
Rob soon arrived at a strange stone structure similar to a stone pillar, but etched with glowing blue lines that formed a complex magic matrix. Around the stone pillar and stone platform, a group of guards stood in a circle, with the aura of Knights emitting from their bodies.
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Papa also used to work here back then when he was still setting up the bakery with Mama. Rob glanced at his pocket and grabbed the handful of coins inside. After this trip, he’ll only be left with a pitiful amount of his savings, but it would all be worth it in his pursuit of acquiring the true extent of his opportunity.
He preemptively grabbed 50 silver coins and approached the guards with a smile, and before they can ask, he said, “I’d like to go to the Peaceful High Woods.”
“The Peaceful High Woods?” The frontmost guard scratched his chin before he can finally remember the price. “50 silver coins.”
“Here you go,” Rob said with the same amicable smile and stretched out his hands to give him the money.
“Thank you. Now, can you please grab onto the Teleportation Obelisk, and make sure to grab onto it really tight if you don’t want any accidents to happen,” the guard warned and led Rob to the obelisk.
Following the instructions of the guard, Rob stretched out his hand, planted his palm onto the cold stone, and felt the surge of mana flowing through the magical structure.
In the next moment, a flash of bright blue light erupted in his vision, but it wasn’t bright to the point that it was blinding, so he was able to witness the fabrics of space and time around him bend and shift.
As the light receded, he found himself in another area altogether, with majestically tall trees and soft rays of light piercing through the thick roof of colorful leaves. The guards around the second obelisk greeted him, and Rob proceeded to walk far from them toward the depths of the forest at a brisk pace.
Rob stared at the golden arrow in front of him and watched it rotate on the spot. He’s here, at the luckiest place inside the forest that would push his odds to the highest.
He has finished all of his preparations. S Rank Luck, two human souls, a kilogram of mana crystals, a secluded place without humans or monsters to distract him, and lastly…
Rob pulled out a strange bottle from his bag, and a mixture of moving colorful lights swirled within, shifting and twisting like a living mass of formless fairies. He carefully placed the spherical glass vial on the grassy ground and proceeded to take out more of the materials he needed.
First, the mana crystal. Rob grabbed a random stick nearby and stood up from the ground. Then, on the grassy dirt beneath him, he started to draw a relatively big alchemy circle that spanned five meters in diameter. Intricate and complex details were written onto the circle, forming a mystical circle that held strange power if it were to be inlaid with mana-infused materials.
And what material is better than crystallized mana? He grabbed a piece of paper from his pocket and laid it on the side of the giant circle on the ground. He then placed the giant chunk of mana crystals into the middle of the paper, and from the tip of his finger, magical energy surged and caused the ink on the paper to resonate and activate its innate ability.
The mana crystal shattered into numerous bits, forming a cloud of crystalline dust. Rob skillfully controlled the cloud of crystals and used the already drawn circle on the ground as a guide, and slowly created a functioning alchemy circle created from a kilogram of mana crystals.
Rob wiped the sweat on his forehead as he finally finished creating the alchemy circle and stored the piece of paper in his bag for later use - if he even had the need for alchemy circles once this is all done.
Next, it’s time to attain an Alchemist’s Soul! Rob walked into the middle of the circle with two vials in hand. One had colorful shining lights swirling inside, while the other had a lump of milky white soul that lets out ghastly wails from time to time.
A human soul, a hundred spirits, and lastly, another human soul that would become the Alchemist’s Soul. With the soul, one would acquire the inherent abilities of spirits to modify the physical world as if it were an extension of their limbs!
Rob took a deep breath and sat in the middle of the circle in a lotus position. He crossed his legs and stretched both of his arms, placing them on top of the two valuable vials that would allow him to reach the pinnacle of alchemy.
Slime Lake had a ton of spirits, and with the findings written on the notebook, I managed to easily capture a hundred spirits by using some of Oscar’s easier methods before Anna even woke up. Now, it’s time to reap the fruits of my labor!
A bright colorful light flashed from the alchemy circle beneath him as Rob raised both of his arms into the air. The glass vials broke down into shattered fragments, while the human soul and the hundred spirits rose and neared one another.
They resisted furiously against the mystical force that wrapped around their bodies, but can they match the undying will of a reborn Supreme Existence?
A hundred spirits spun around the human soul as they slowly fused into one. Ghastly wails shrieked in pain while the forest around him shook and the leaves rustled in anger. The spirits of the forest noticed his actions and wanted to deal with Rob, but he already foresaw this and ignored them.
The alchemy circle beneath him burst out with colorful light, which then transformed into a barrier of white light. Sharp winds howled and spiky wood shot out with malice and bloodlust, but the white barrier around the alchemy circle protected him with ease. A kilogram of mana crystals was a fortune after all.
Soon, the human soul and the hundred spirits fused into one and formed a strange lump of ethereal rainbow light, hovering and unmoving in the air in front of Rob. He then stretched out his hand and grabbed the lump of light, and dragged it toward his chest with clenched teeth.
A sharp burst of pain erupted from deep within his soul as Rob widened his eyes from the sudden shock. He gritted his teeth and dug his hands into his thigh to resist the pain, but compared to the otherworldly torture he felt back in his previous lives, this was a breeze.
The spirits of the forest continued their relentless assault, launching a barrage of attacks at the cloudy white barrier protecting Rob’s body. The surrounding trees waved their branches as if they were whips, the falling leaves turned sharper than knives and collided against the barrier, while the winds transformed into numerous blades.
But, it was all for naught.
Soon, the spirits of the forest roared in anger but stopped their attacks, because Rob had succeeded. He pulled back his hands from his thigh and frowned at the blood that bled out, but he ignored it and closed his eyes to inspect his soul.
It has changed a lot. From its originally milky white appearance, it had gained a colorful luster with twisting colors. Rob also felt that he was more in tune with the world around him as if he could taste the air and smell the light. This indicated that can indeed sense the world around him in a similar way to spirits, which meant his Alchemist’s Soul was successfully created.
There was only one thing left, his Alchemist’s Heart. With the heart, he can modify both his body and soul to become similar to a spirit, acquiring the godlike ability to control physical matter in a way magic would have a hard time replicating.
Fuck, let’s hope my clothes won’t be dyed in too much blood.
He took another deep breath, tensed up his body, and closed his eyes. The mana around him surged to a whole new level as his complete Mana Heart started to resonate with the alchemy circle beneath him.
Fragments of mana crystals rose up into the air as the alchemy circle beneath him shrunk down into a small, fist-sized sphere that hovered right in front of his chest. Beads of sweat rolled down his face as blood trickled down his lips.
His heart was breaking down with each second, and his Mana Heart which acted as the foundation of all his magical abilities started to release a dangerous amount of mana that coursed through his veins and flesh.
The circle made out of pure mana crystals then pierced through his chest and right into his unstable Mana Heart, leaving behind multiple bloody wounds in the middle of his chest.
A terrifying amount of mana surged from his body as his Alchemist’s Soul started to resonate with his Mana Heart. With his spirit-like Soul, he intuitively controlled the mana and the mana crystal to break down into pure mana and infused it into his fleshy heart.
With his heart as the epicenter, a burst of colorful light appeared as Rob puked out blood. He resisted the urge to cough as he stabilized the situation inside his body. The colorful light slowly receded to reveal a strange heart that is seemingly both physical and ethereal and was slightly transparent that one can see the vessels within it if one looked carefully enough.
Phew… Rob shifted his senses and followed a random vein inside his body. He watched as his strange transparent blood flowed along his body and influenced the rest of his cells, transforming a portion of them into a semi-transparent state.
Soon, my body would become an Alchemist’s Body with the Alchemist’s Heart as the foundation, along with my Alchemist’s Soul, I’ll partially become a half-spirit that can control all of forms of matter within the physical plane of existence.
Finally… It’s done.
Rob closed his eyes, and as extreme exhaustion pervaded his body, he fell down to the ground with a loud thud. It was time to take a well-deserved nap, and if he dies because a random monster decided to attack him, then he was just too unlucky.