The Runic Alchemist

The white door disappeared and they were finally away from that miserable place. Damian let Lucian’s waist go, the other two also pulled back their hands. Lucian paid no mind to them though and simply walked forward—touching the cold, stone wall of the castle they had arrived at.

She looked far and wide. The army of armored strange creatures looked like they were at ease. Trebuchets and whatnot were built outside the giant gate of the castle. It looked like a siege.

Damian too stepped forward—he noticed a scroll fitted between the angular design of the viewing side. Lucian noticed his gaze and took the scroll, unfurling it—

‘Strike not in wrath, but purpose pure,

For only truth can blades endure.

The steel that sings for selfish fame,

Shall shatter thrice and end in shame.

Should you still breathe when dawn does rise,

Then bend the knee—but not in plight.

You’ll rise as one: the Arch-Knight.’

“What does it mean?” Maelor asked. Sam and Damian shared a glance and then eyed Maelor together. He understood and pulled away from Lucian and her scroll with a, “Nevermind..”

The second Lucian finished reading it, a loud sound of stones moving and falling came from behind them—they all turned and saw the highest tower in the distant castle slowly turning into an enormous digital clock.

364:24:59

A year.

“We are stuck here for a whole year?” Sam muttered.

Lucian too looked uncertain about another extended stay in a foreign world. Maelor was about to say something but stopped himself, realizing it wouldn’t help much.

“Maybe there is a way I can fail..” Lucian started saying, but Damian cut her off mid-sentence.

“No. You do what you have to do. A year here is nothing.”

Maelor and Sam immediately nodded and also gave her their support to continue her trial. It wouldn’t be fair to make her fail her trial, no matter how much they missed their home. A transcendent trial took decades to become available again if failed once.

Damian tried using a waygate, but it didn’t work. This place was not real either; he had already tried that when he was stuck in a second-ranker trial for years. But thankfully, mana was in abundance here. They all were in different clothes, with pieces of armor on their arms and legs. Only Lucian was in full shiny steel armor with a sword on her waist. Damian, Sam and Maelor had simple civilian clothes with some pieces of steel armor on them.

Damian immediately activated his Dust to Steel skill on the stone wall; it was small but still a visible trail—the powder form of the stone wall breaking and converting into raw iron near his hand was visible to everyone’s eyes. His skills worked. And Damian could feel the strength in his transcendent body—all their runic tools were gone, but their powers had remained.

Damian deactivated the skill—he just wanted to see if he could use it. Stone was not very efficient for conversion; dirt was better. There was a whole city before them, he didn’t need to get iron and steel this way.

Before they could make sense of the situation, suddenly a clanking of armor resounded from the side. A dozen human soldiers were heading toward them in a tight formation; at the center, however, was a woman—bright red eyes—dressed like a mage with a white tiara on her head. The metal was a weird one—Damian felt an instinct to use his Essence Sight; that had never happened before. He obliged and activated the skill. Sensing the conversion possibilities of the metal made him widen his eyes in awe. That thing had basically no fixed structure; he could practically change it into anything he desired. To be more accurate—any metal he desired, even Sacrium itself.

The lady and her followers stopped near them, and the lady spoke up,

“Lady Frost, I didn’t know you were out here. Not a very promising view, is it?”

Maelor and Sam looked at each other and then towards Damian—he knew she had to be addressing Lucian, so he didn’t even listen much. His focus was still the white tiara. It was a fascinating thing.

When Lucian took a second to answer, the lady continued talking, “Who are these impressive-looking companions of yours? The palace was in chaos sensing not one but two transcendents suddenly appearing near our walls.”

Damian had expected the trial to completely ignore their existence. Could they be part of it now? Damian extended his mana sense, and in the hundred-thousand-strong army resting outside the castle, there was not a single individual at the transcendent level—there were several emperor-ranked creatures, though. Some of them were much more dense with mana than others.

“Travellers,” Damian replied. All eyes focused on him, so he continued, “We heard a possibility of a battle. We are here to see how it unfolds. We do not favor any sides. Lady Frost is a friend, so we came to meet her.”

The temperament of the robed mage suddenly changed hearing his reason. Even the knights surrounding her seemed to come alive suddenly—it had to be because of a sudden opportunity to befriend a third-ranker when they were in a very tense situation.

The mage lady bowed, looking towards him and Sam.

“Of course. Any friend of Lady Frost is our friend too. I am Diana Valemont, Princess of Evanthar. I welcome you to Evanthar and invite all of you to let us be your hosts on this visit of yours.”

Damian nodded, giving a slight bow to show minimum respect.

“Thank you for the invite, but we have other matters to attend to. My disciple here, however, will gracefully accept your invitation,” Damian said, looking at Maelor.

Maelor was confused as hell, but before he could say anything, Sam, standing beside him, put his hand on his shoulder with a very forced smile on his face. “Yes, Francis. It will be a good experience for you. You should stay.”

Maelor was weirded out but nodded anyway with hesitation. To others, it might look like Maelor did not want to stay away from the two of them, making it a wholesome scene. His face was anything but wholesome though.

Damian leaned near Lucian and whispered in her ear, “Do your trial. I will go take a look around.” She nodded.

Damian looked at Sam and signaled him before ascending in the air—Sam flew up with him too, and they took a direction at random and continued flying. It was the opposite direction from the army. The city they were flying above was a massive one. The most impressive part, however, was still the giant castle at the center, surrounded by another wall. Behind the city were only high stone mountains covered in snow, giving the city natural defenses on one side.

Damian took Sam beyond these mountains and landed on one of the high mountain tops, overlooking the city and the army outside it.

“Do we really have to wait a year?” Sam asked.

“Not necessarily, if she finishes the trial fast,” Damian replied while observing the city.

“We could help her.”

“It wouldn’t be her trial then.”

“So we just wait?”

“Better than dying.”

“Or getting stuck in a memory forever..” Sam agreed with a sigh.

Damian saw many iron and steel tools being used in the crowded city. The people—humans—looked like they were on edge. The siege had lasted for a long time. People must be frustrated with the lack of food and other life-necessary items. The language was the same—they looked a bit odd, though. Damian didn’t know how to put it into words—they were like normal white people, but their eyes were either bright blue or orange. And they were shaped weird. Even that princess had the same slanted, upward-looking eyes—it made their whole face look weird.

Damian and Sam landed in a hidden alley and entered the busy street—they already had the clothes belonging to this country. Their faces were slightly different, but with a hood on, none paid much attention to it.

First, Damian observed the place. There wasn’t much difference in their civilization compared to the one he was from. Damian purchased some steel, asked a few simple questions. Good thing gold was a universal thing.

Damian and Sam entered the tavern after that, drinking and eating. They both could easily do without, but it was a good thing to taste—and information was flowing here.

The tribe alliance attacking was hated indiscriminately. The siege had been going on for a whole year now. People were getting more frustrated with each passing day, but they had full belief in their king and princess—that they would find some way to stop the war. None dared say they would win. The capital city of Evanthar only had some 30,000 soldiers—not all second-rankers at that. Only their king was a third-ranker. Lady Frost was not mentioned much at all, but Damian did hear someone say she was one of the most powerful knights in the king’s guard.

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