The carriage rocked gently as the pair of alchemists made their way to the nearby city. The pair had chosen to go alone, as though there were a few creatures and bandits which roamed the land, there were few which could deal with the likes of Elder Yan. Though beasts could have proved some bother, Mika didn’t seem too bothered by them, and bandits could be reasoned with, especially since Elder Yan was an Elder Alchemist, too high profile to offend greatly.

Elder Yan had dared to comprehend Mika’s wealth. It had been a few years since they had made their deal, and Mika had taken ten percent of the profit and pills which had been sold. Considering how much the guild made, Mika’s personal wealth could match the likes of many of the merchants within the town.

Mika’s thoughts were focused on what use this auction would be. There was the matter of the tournament, which his sister would partake. Her abilities were decent, and with Mika assisting her cultivation, she would have no problem coming in the top three.

‘Top three is fine,’ he thought, but his heart stirred. ‘No, if she’s my sister, shouldn’t she come in first? No, that would bring too much attention. So what if it brings too much attention? Can’t I deal with it? Can I deal with it?’ He sighed, leaning back in the soft seat of the carriage.

“Don’t be afraid to spend your wealth, Elder Yan,” Mika said, yawning as he leaned further back against the plushness. “We might as well use this auction to make a statement.”

“The city’s Alchemist Guild will also partake,” Elder Yan warned. “My father’s influence doesn’t reach this far. I still have my name as a Starr, but it is far more awkward here.”

“You’re worrying too much. Your guild will soon be the most influential guild in the entire region. In the next decade you’ll match any city guild, and a short time after that, you’ll have them kneel before you.”

“Don’t be too hasty, young master. If one heats metal too quickly, it will melt before you temper it into shape.”

A wicked smile appeared on Mika’s face, as he stared up at the Elder. “That’s only if you aren’t quick enough to subdue it.” ‘How could you use that kind of analogy with me? Aren’t you an alchemist, Elder Yan?’

Elder Yan fiddled with his ring. It was a great ring, one which could store more than the warehouse of any business one could find in a town. Mika always spoke with such arrogance, yet the boy had shown him too many miracles for him to deny the boy’s words.

“Which herbs do you have in your ring, Elder Yan?” Mika asked, as politely as he could manage.

Elder Yan stared down at the boy, unsure if he should speak up. Yet, if the boy wanted to, he could have taken the ring from him without a word. He removed the ring and offered it to Mika, who scanned through the ring with the Elder’s permission.

“Hmmmm.”

Elder Yan understood that the boy had found that herb. A herb which he had kept secret for years, and had hidden within his personal ring, having disguised it as another ingredient, so only those who were at least an Elder Alchemist could understand what it truly was.

‘I didn’t expect to find something like this so easily,’ Mika admitted to himself, staring out the side of the carriage. ‘Does that mean I can do that?’ Mika placed the ring down to one side, before taking out a paper and a quill which had been enchanted so that it left marks without ink, and quickly scribbled down a recipe neatly.

Elder Yan’s eyes scanned the recipe on the paper, wondering who, and what, Mika was. The ranks of alchemist typically went Page, Alchemist, Senior, Expert, Master, Elder, Great, and then finally, Grand. The difference between each was vast, so when Mika changed recipes meant for anyone in the ranks of Page, Alchemist, Senior, and Expert, the Elder Alchemist was already thoroughly impressed.

However, Mika had skipped past Master, and went right to revealing an Elder rank recipe, one which would have reduced not only the cost of the pill to a third, but also the time it required to refine such a pill from an entire week to a single day, before he scratched out the way to refine the pill, reducing it further to six hours.

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Elder Yan began to sweat. It had been difficult for him to procure such a herb, it was the reason why he had become crippled, but the boy had dealt with that issue. The herb itself was something which would assist the Elder in the future to become a Great Alchemist, which was worth more than this recipe.

‘Why did he scratch out the time?’ Elder Yan thought, realising that Mika probably hadn’t made an accident. ‘Is he trying to tell me that he can reduce the time further?’

“We should take things one step at a time, Elder Yan,” Mika said, casually, reading the thoughts on the Elder Alchemist’s face. “Moving too quickly will give you indigestion.”

Elder Yan bowed his head, and burnt the piece of paper which formed the recipe. Mika waited for his answer, and the old man nodded. It was too dangerous to keep a recipe like that as evidence, and he had memorised the recipe already.

“You may keep it for now, Elder Yan,” Mika handed the ring back to the Elder, who would be able to defend the herb better than himself.

The Elder Alchemist made a mental note within his mind that Mika was far more dangerous than he had originally realised. ‘Should I ask?’ The old man sighed, feeling as though he had aged. ‘No, it’s best not to know something like that.’

Mika smiled innocently, before glancing outside. “I believe you have work to do, Elder Yan.”

Elder Yan raised his brow, but after a minute, he sat up straighter. He knocked on the carriage wall behind him before the driver stopped. The Elder Alchemist stepped out.

“Beasts,” Elder Yan said, before fixing his robes. He had judged the beasts to be easy to defeat, for they were blue wolves. They had white fur, with blue markings across their fur, and a small gem embedded within their foreheads.

The driver looked to the wolves in the distance as they darted towards them, hunger deep within their eyes. He took off his hat and bowed his head, slowly rubbing the horses’ hinds to make sure they felt safe. They flexed, ready to gallop away.

Elder Yan held out his hands, and slowly the blue alchemist fire spread across his fingers, before floating outwards to form a net around the carriage. He stepped outside the net, placing his hands together as he summoned a blade made of blue flames.

‘Shouldn’t I upgrade his alchemist fire?’ Mika thought. ‘No, blue fire is already too good for a town alchemist. Though, he did accept the deal.’

Elder Yan slashed the ground roughly fifty steps ahead of him. “I will show you all a small mercy. Those of you who wish to die, pass the line. Those of you who wish to live, get out of my sight.”

Yet the beasts leapt over the line, darting around the Elder, trying to attack the exposed driver who seemed to be less of a threat. One wolf’s maw opened wide to snatch the driver, only to find his head dropping beside the horses, and his body vaulting over the driver as the Elder Alchemist bisected his neck.

Another wolf dashed towards the Elder, who tilted his blade and expanded the blade’s size abruptly, skewering the wolf before he cut through it, slashing another immediately. His blade cut through them as though he were carving a cake, easily dispatching six of the numerous wolves within seconds.

The other wolves darted around towards the fire carriage, and one managed to reach close enough towards the net that it burst into flames, killing it instantly, though the net thinned, only able to deal with two more.

“You should have picked another victim,” Elder Yan said, casually killing the wolves, before he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. His eyes darted to the one wolf who had darted past him, one which he assumed the net would have dealt with. It was only at this distance that he realised the wolf was an evolved blue wolf. ‘Oh no.’

“Starry Fire, Flaming Palm,” the Elder Alchemist chanted as he extended out his hand in the shape of a palm, his ki gathering before shooting out in the shape of a giant flaming palm. The flame was blue, as the technique was made for those who used alchemist fire, and with a blue flame, his ability with the technique was second only to his father.

The flaming palm slammed against the blue wolf, which cried out in pain, but it leapt through the net of fire, which exploded around him, and though it would have killed two more wolves, it had managed to survive the blast, which shook the carriage.

Elder Yan felt a wolf bite into his thigh, but he remained focused on the evolved blue wolf, inhaling sharply due to the pain, and to concentrate on gathering his ki. “Starry Fire, Flaming Spear,” he chanted, shooting out a spear made of blue fire towards the beast.

The wolf jerked, spinning around the spear, like a winding river, before its jaws opened wide to snap at the driver, finally claiming its meal.

An explosion rocked the carriage as the wolf fell beside the driver, who had closed his eyes, ready to accept the sweet embrace of death. He opened an eye, staring down at the beast, before looking to the open window, where Mika had an eye closed, his tongue lulled out, while aiming to flick a small bead which could slay a wounded evolved wolf.

He flicked the bead killed another wolf, which left only its tiny core as the rest was burnt to a crisp. “Elder Yan, I only have one more explosive beads you’ve made,” Mika said, casually.

‘The what that who made?’ Elder Yan thought, slicing into the wolf which had bitten his thigh.

Mika smiled innocently, revealing the last bead in his hand, a bead the Elder had only seen for the first time.

‘I’m glad I accepted the deal…’