Dagger

The Monarch Walls bordered the Rising Sea"s southern sh.o.r.es, while the Monarch Forest to the giant wall"s south and the Monarch Pa.s.s to the west.

There were two entrances, which were on the east and west sides. The two mentioned towns guarded the two said entries; with the Town of Alk safeguarding the west, while the Austere Town securing the east.

In the west entrance, carts, carriages, and people were waiting in line to be inspected prior to entering the walls.

***

"Stop right there. We"ll have to inspect those sacks of yours." A soldier clad within a full-body armor halted a horse-pulled cart loaded with burlaps that cut through the lines.

"What?! Can"t you just let me go through? I"ve been travelling for several days already through the Monarch Pa.s.s, I need to sell them immediately!" The merchant riding on the horse complained.

Although there were bandits in the Monarch Pa.s.s before Allen and Edwin took care of them, some people could travel out of the pa.s.s if they were lucky enough.

"Inspect or get out of here." The soldier didn"t care about the complaint and warned the man.

"Just let me pa.s.s you doll! Here"s the tarriff." The merchant got off from his mount and approached the soldier and threw a pouch of gold coins right in front of the his face.

The quant.i.ty of money inside the pouch was too much compared to the real amount of the trade tax. The man was obviously bribing the soldier.

As he just turned around to walk back to his horse, he felt that his shoulder was tapped.

"What is-" As soon as the merchant turned back around, an armored hand punched his face, making him stumble to the ground.

"What was that for?!" The merchant a burning sensation all over his face. Blood flowed out of his nose and mouth due to the strength of the punch.

The soldier was actually holding back the force of his attack; if he wasn"t suppressing his strength, he could have already killed the merchant in one strike.

"Check those sacks.", the soldier signalled his fellows.

A few soldiers checked the contents of the sacks, it didn"t take long and one of them reported for the group, "Sir, these bags are full of high quality weapons. But there are no enchanted ones in here."

"Well, well, well, where are your papers of allowing you on trading weapons?", the first soldier looked sternly at the merchant.

"Erm...", the merchant wasn"t able to answer.

"Take him to away men, and confiscate these contrabands.", the soldier commanded.

The merchant... or smuggler did get to enter through the walls, it"s just that he would be spending a lot of time of his life inside it.

Allen and Edwin witnessed everything from afar. The latter commented, "That was a bit too harsh, don"t you think?"

"That man just tried to bribe these soldiers. It"s akin to challenging their dignity. Don"t be weirded out he got punched right on his face.", Allen said.

The both of them were also waiting in line to enter the walls. When it was their turn, the soldier inspecting individuals entering the walls noticed their satchels.

"Aren"t those bags of yours are spatial treasures?" The same soldier who punched the smuggler pointed at their satchels.

"Mhm." Allen nodded.

"The law allows to carry those kinds of items to any cities in the kingdom. But they are restricted here,, unless you have a special pa.s.s." The soldier explained straightaway and with an upright manner.

"Let me search for something.", Allen sunk his hand inside his satchel. A moment later, he took out a wax seal with the symbol of the Alchem Town.

The soldier saw the seal and was surprised, "So you"re an alchemist. Forgive me for stalling you, the both of you may enter."

Edwin was surprised with the fast change on the soldier"s att.i.tude. As soon as the both of them entered through the walls, he asked why did that soldier became friendlier.

"Alchemists in this location enjoy a high rank in the hierarchy." Allen replied.

The both of them followed the only road until they reached the Town of Alk. The first thing they noticed was the intoxicating smell of herbs and medicines in the air.

Rows and rows of huts and buildings were selling herbs, even magical ones could be spotted.

The two of them immediately went inside the nearest inn to take a rest. Inside his own room, Allen lied down on the bed even though it wasn"t night yet.

"I need a medium-sized Internal Energy Orb to increase the amount of internal energy I can store in my body. There"s probably somebody selling one in East Gate City.", Allen muttered to himself.

Obtaining an Internal Energy Orb was the reason why he was willing to travel to the far east of the kingdom.

An Internal Energy Orb was a type of treasure that could strengthen one"s power. It has a counterpart for magicians which was called Mana Orb.

The effect of an orb would depend on how much of an energy does it store and the strength of the person who wanted to absorb it.

A knock came over the door. Allen got out of the bed and opened it, spotting a little boy wearing a cute alchemist dress, which comprised of two layers of coats and pants.

"Ermm...", the boy searched something inside the pockets of his clothes until he found a piece of paper and read it with a constant childish tone:

"A contest of alchemy will take place in Ryon City. Anyone who have skills in alchemy can join and win prizes. The entrance test will start next week in the same city."

"What are the prizes?", Allen asked.

"I don"t know, mister. My master only told me to advertise it in this town.", the little kid shrugged and walked to the next door.

Suddenly, the kid said, "Wait I forgot! Do you have any questions sir?"

"No." Allen said.

"Oh, okay." The boy let out a smile and knocked on the next door.

Allen closed his door and sank into contemplation. After a while, he sat down on his bed and thought, "One of the contest"s prizes could be an Internal Energy Orb, I should probably sign up."

"But it"s been a long time since I"ve entered in a compet.i.tion like this, and it was when that thing happened."

Back in the Alchem Town, there were tournaments such as this which were separated into beginner, intermediate, and expert.

The beginner category was for apprentices of the alchemists. The intermediate category was for the new and approved alchemists; while the expert was for the talented ones, either old or young.

He won the first place in both the first two categories, but didn"t win in the last one because he left the town when it was already the final round.

"Maybe I should join. Even if they are there, they won"t be able to do a thing to me anymore."

The next day, Allen woke Edwin up early in the morning and started their journey towards the Ryon City.

On the road outside the town...

"Why do we have to start travelling so early in the morning?", Edwin asked with a faintly annoyed tone.

"So we can arrive in the city by afternoon.", Allen said.

"Can"t we just take a carriage?", Edwin requested. Although he was already as powerful as an adept, just like what Allen told him a few days ago that even magicians at the level of Wizard still need to take a rest.

"No, it"s just a few hours walk.", Allen shook his head.

"Telling me that even people at the level of Wizard still need to sleep, but you woke me up from my good nap. Where"s the justice in this world?", Edwin complained within his mind, but didn"t dare voice it out.

***

Meanwhile, in a villa somewhere in the Ryon City...

The door of the bas.e.m.e.nt opened up and large amount of smoke went out of it.

A man wearing a complete set of alchemist"s clothes ran out of the door while coughing. He removed the mask on his face, revealing a handsome face riddled with noticeable eyebugs.

"Mr. Howard, please get that defective cauldron back to where it belongs." The young man shouted out the window.

"Coming, coming!" A deep old voice replied from outside.

"Selling me a defective cauldron, that trader is going to get it!" The young man gnashed his teeth in anger and walked upstairs to his bedroom.

He hastily cleaned himself and replaced his smoked alchemist clothes with spotless everyday attire; afterwards, he sat in front of a worktable and wrote on a piece of paper.
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"...take back your defective equipment that you sold to me... give me back the money I paid to you... sincerely yours, Gavin." Dictating some of the words he wrote.

After finishing writing, he placed the letter in an envelop and sealed it with wax; then, he called out to Mr. Howard again to deliver the letter.

However, he didn"t wait for his a.s.sistant to get the letter and only left it on the floor outside his room.

"One week left until the alchemist compet.i.tion. I hope the prizes are as good as I heard in the gossips. I can easily win first place with my expertise.", Gavin yawned, stretched his joints, and looked outside the window.

"The prizes I will get from the compet.i.tion is only secondary. If I win, that group will invite me over, then I can finally finish the plan."

"But why do I suddenly feel itchy about this contest these past few days..."

"...this sensation seems familiar."