Solarin Slums.
Bang!
Following a heavy kick, Pen was thrown across the ground.
He rolled, his skin scraping stone and slag. Following a loud clatter, he landed in a pile of trash. He went limp, his body badly hurt and his mind waning.
Above him stood a group of five boys, four of which were noble children from Solarin.
As for the last boy, he was a tall and handsome man, his disdainful expression strongly standing out among his peers. He wore noble clothes, but unlike the other boys, he seemed to be from an even higher class.
The leader, the noblest youth, had a cruel yet indifferent face.
His boot still dripped with blood as he lowered his foot. "Look at him! I can't believe that people like him actually live in the city! What's your Castle Lord doing, allowing this kind of thing!!" He spat.
The surrounding boys all laughed.
It was clear to anyone that these boys were trying to curry favour with this outsider.
"Lord Crossal, the City Lord has corralled the lowborn trash to the slums, so this brat should be from there! He must have gotten lost, hahaha!"
The noble boy named Crossal sneered.
"So, it's just a piece of trash who doesn't know his place, figures!" Crossal kicked the collapsed Pen again, sending him flying into a nearby tree. Each of Crossal's kicks held the power of a second-order cultivator, so the damage he dealt was severe.
"Let's go, you said that the commoners here were the most beautiful? Well, I'll be the judge of that!"
The group of noble youths left unhurriedly, leaving Pen on the ground.
-
An hour later.
Pen returned home, bruised and bloody. His left arm had been broken and his knee was badly hurt.
He walked with a limp and came home early.
When Pot learned what had happened, tears welled up in her eyes. She hugged her brother, hoping that this wouldn't cause any long-term issues.
She hated herself.
She knew that she was too weak.
Every day, she could only stay home and watch her brother work hard to make ends meet. They had very little money, but she knew that she couldn't go out for too long, because if she was discovered by the wrong person, then they would be doomed. This also meant that she couldn't get a job, so she could only stay home and worry about her brother all day.
Although her looks weren't anything special, she was still a young girl.
One wrong step and they could lose everything overnight.
* * *
The moon hung high, and the sky was dark.
Rain began to slowly spit from the sky, signalling the start of a short storm.
That night, Pen tossed and turned, cold sweat running down his forehead.
He wrapped himself in a crude cover, doing his best to stay warm.
Tonight, his body was cold, abnormally cold.
He felt like pins and needles were running through his veins, preventing him from falling asleep. At some point, he had thrown off the blanket and curled up.
He released a suppressed groan, clearly in great pain.
He tossed and turned, unable to quell his silent suffering. With each minute that passed, the abnormal sensation within his body became more and more intense, turning from its initial discomfort into a sharp pain.
He was stuck in an inescapable limbo, both asleep and awake at the same time.
His silent screams had unknowingly awoken Pot.
She lay to his side, not moving. As she listened to her brother's painful groans, she felt like something had broken in her heart.
She hugged her blanket tighter, tears welling up in her eyes.
Hours passed.
When she finally couldn't help but turn to look, she found that her brother's eyes were bloodshot. She didn't see the purple veins that ran down her brother's neck, but she knew that he wasn't ok. Pot cried, reaching out towards Pen, but her hand was swatted away.
"I'll be fine." He growled through gritted teeth, turning away.
Tears streamed from Pots' eyes, and she couldn't take it anymore.
She got up and ran out.
She needed to quickly clear her head and calm down.
The night had come, and rain fell in sheets.
She ran through the heavy rain, her white dress splashed black by the wet dirt. She didn't know where she was going, she didn't care if she was kidnapped, she just needed to vent, to get away.
She ran until she tripped, staining her recently washed hair with mud.
She used her hands to get up, then continued to run through the rain.
Her soft feet sank into the mud with each step, and her tangled emotions began to unwind.
As she ran, she cut her legs and ripped her dress.
An unknown amount of time passed like this.
When she finally calmed down, she looked around only to realize that she was lost.
The rain fell heavily, dulling the surrounding noise. The long nights were dark, so Pot had a hard time finding her way. Mist rose in waves, and shadows swayed in flickering windows. The chill seemed to intensify with Pots growing emotions, and she quickened her pace. After such a long time, she realised too late that she was overwhelmed with a strong sense of embarrassment. Her skin was exposed, and her clothes were torn.
She didn't know where she was, so she could only continue to walk around aimlessly.
She hugged herself, vigilant of the surroundings.
It wasn't until after ten minutes of wandering, when she finally found a light.
She approached, only to realise that she didn't recognise this place.
Pot paused for a moment, before pushing open the door.
-
That night, Petra was eating curry in the corner of the room with the owl maid, when she suddenly heard the door open.
It was only the two of them downstairs, so the shop was relatively quiet.
The heavy downpour drowned out the noise from outside, so the damp footsteps that emerged from the rain were very distinct.
When Petra looked over, her nose twitched.
There was a certain smell that she didn't recognise, but her body seemed to like a lot.
Her little eyes flashed with interest as she examined the new guest.
Pot walked in with caution, her tear-filled black eyes still red from before. She looked around in confusion. "When did a place like this open in the slums?" She whispered to herself.
Petra tilted her head. "This isn't the slums, it's the border of the commoners' district."
"Ah?"
For a moment, Pot couldn't believe that she had run that far.
She stumbled, almost tripping.
After adjusting herself, she wiped her eyes with a dirty sleeve and inspected this green haired girl.
Her brows furrowed as she looked around. This store seemed to sell medical supplies, but she didn't have any money. She wanted to take this opportunity to dry off, so she pretended to look around.
She walked around for a bit, before getting ready to leave.
Just as she was about to walk out the door, Petra stopped her. "This big sister, you're not looking very good. Why don't you sit for a while and tell me what happened?" Petra trotted over, took her hand, and pulled her back.
Pot paused, then agreed and sat down.
She was already exhausted, so she barely maintained her guard.
To the current her, this green haired child was strangely calming. She had no idea that this was a pheromone, something that Petra had recently discovered that she could store within her physique.
Pot told Petra about herself, her brother, and her life. She explained how her brother worked harder and harder each day, only to fall further and further. He suffered injuries and illnesses just to protect her. She complained, her tears were disguised by her wet hair.
After an hour had passed, she was finally done.
Petra passed her a small bottle of medicine to help her brother heal his injuries.
Pot believed that this was just normal medicine, but it was still a deeply appreciated gift.
After she left, Petra was asked by one of the bunnies why she helped her for free.
Petra just smiled mysteriously, watching the young girl disappear back into the rain.
-
The next morning, Pen woke up to Pot treating his wounds. After she bandaged his arm and leg with the medicine that Petra had given her, she wished him good luck in today's competition.
* * *
Morning.
The sun was high, and the sky was clear. After last nights rainfall, the entire city was bathed in a refreshing air. Cold dew clung to the morning grass, and muddy roads hardened beneath one's feet.
Pen slung his bag over his shoulder and walked throughout the city.
Passing from the slums to the commoner's district, then into the central district, Pen reached the competition venue after just a short hour walk.
He had already signed up, so after arriving, he was taken to one of the waiting rooms with the other contestants.
While he was settling in, the competition's opening ceremony began.
-
"Welcome to the Solarin Castles annual Alchemy Competition! I'm your host, District Lord Horous!"
Cheers!
The competition was held in a large arena.
On the front stage stood three people, district lord Horous, the elderly lady that Petra had met, and an unnamed alchemist with four stars on his chest. They stood tall and proud, carrying the Solarin Castles pride on their backs.
Behind them was around one hundred people, all heavily armoured guardsmen from the central district. Some held swords, while others held banners. They were tall and unmoving, like immovable pillars that represented the city.
Surrounding the stage was a crowd of around five thousand people. This number was relatively small compared to the Solarin Castle's total population, but this year's competition was much smaller in scale, because many of the reputable people had already left in advance for the Sky Towers Grand Gathering. Those that stayed behind were either nameless alchemists, or aspiring youths.
Following the opening statements, the crowd roared once again with an earthshaking momentum.
After the opening ceremony concluded, the week-long competition officially began. The winner of the tournament would be granted one of the three spots to represent the Solarin Castle in the Grand Gathering.
This reward meant little to some, but to others, this was an opportunity to open a whole new door, one that would allow them to step away from the realm of the mundane.
-
Pen waited for his turn, before walking up to the stage.
He, like many others, sat before an alchemy cauldron. It was a round pot made of magic steel. Simple in its design, it was the standard equipment for every alchemist. A small flame lit up below its bottom, and the lid was sealed shut.
To his right was an Elf and to his left was a Cockatiel Beastmen.
The term 'Alchemist' meant two very different things depending on where you were. Unlike Pillomal, where alchemy was the art of creating 'Pills' through the use of spiritual energy and medicinal herbs, on Earth, alchemy referred to a much wider field of study, encompassing things such as material science, biological science, and chemistry.
For this competition, Pen needed to create the pill that was assigned to him by the announcer each round. This would change for each stage of the competition, getting progressively harder as they went. Those that passed would move up in the competition bracket, and those that didn't, would be thrown into the loser's bracket.
Pen cleared his mind.
After the first pill was announced, he retrieved his portion of the ingredients before focusing on the cauldron. He placed his hands on the side of the cauldron and began to use his spiritual energy to take control of the interior space.
Unlike magic, 'Alchemy' only required the use of 'Spiritual Energy' and the 'Will'. Pen was not a strong fighter, but his willpower was abundant, allowing him to craft pills that were far above his level.
-
As time passed, cold sweat began to roll down his forehead.
His calm expression slowly turned into a grimace, and he could feel his body starting to cool down.
He didn't tell his sister because he was worried about what she might do, but while he was being beaten up yesterday, one of the boys seemed to have poisoned him. After spending the night in constant pain, not only did he not drop out of the competition, but he also chose to fight it and continue.
His abnormal behavior drew some eyes, but for the most part, he remained in the background.
The only person of note was the elderly woman who turned to him briefly from the spectator box.
Pen gritted his teeth.
He repeatedly hypnotized himself to continue.
Alchemy was an insanely precise art and losing focus for even a moment could result in complications, failure, or even an explosion.
This was all for the sake of a better future, for him and his sister.
Pen repeated this to himself, over and over again.
As he continued to work, the pain in his body became more intense. It felt like something deep inside him was chipping off parts of his bones every second he persisted. He was poisoned by an extremely rare poison called 'Silent Lightning'. It was a painfully sharp poison that would streak throughout the bones of the body and tear lightning-like streaks throughout its flesh.
This was also what Petra had smelled.
His breathing was painfully sharp, and his eyes were unfocused. Blood ran down his legs, and purple scars stretched across his skin, hidden beneath his clothes.
After an hour had passed, Pen finally collapsed from the pain.
His last thought was to calm the cauldron and prevent it from exploding.
-
When the first round of the competition had ended, he was just another name, one that was tossed to the loser's bracket without a second thought.
He woke up in the waiting room.
His head pulsed with pain, and his body hurt all over.
After he blacked out, he must have been dragged here.
An impossible level of frustration flashed past his eyes, an emotion so intense that it didn't escape the eyes of two people.
Lingering in the waiting room was the Cockatiel Beastmen and the Four-star Alchemist who helped with the opening ceremony. The alchemist was trying to recruit Petra's maid, but she resolutely refused. Their argument was paused by the young Pens awakening, and both of them caught his intense flicker of emotions at the same time.
The bird girl used this distraction to slip away, but the black clothed alchemist just stood silently in place, watching the young boy depart from the competition venue. At his level, he could tell a talent with a look. From the start, he had high hopes for this boy. Unfortunately, the poison that ran through his veins was untreatable. He didn't know how he had offended that noble brat from the Sky Tower, but he lamented losing such a good seed.
After Pen reluctantly walked away, the competition continued for the day.
Although he had failed today, Pen still knew that he had a small chance.
If he could win all the matches in the loser's bracket, then there was still a sliver of hope. That was what he told himself, but he knew the truth. In his current state, it was over.
He had overdrawn his body, forcing himself too far past his limit.
Even if he could find a cure for the poison, even if he could find the money, even if he could heal his body and mind, he knew, he still wouldn't be able to survive in this ruthless world for long.
He was frustrated and helpless.
He didn't understand why he would take such a risk.
-
The day passed, and Pen continued to walk around aimlessly.
He was lost, not knowing what to do.
Images of his sister, his life, and his failures, all kinds of things flashed past his mind.
He had unconsciously followed a trail of ants back to their anthill, not really caring about where he had wandered. He couldn't afford a room, so he had to find a place to stay. Perhaps a bridge, perhaps a back alley, as long as it had a roof, it was fine.
When he finally stopped, he realised that he didn't know how far he had walked.
He didn't even know where he was.
Pen frowned, looking around.
He knew he had to find a place to stay before dark, because he didn't want to be taken away by the law enforcers and locked in prison.
At that exact moment, a wave of lightning-like pain ripped through his body, sending him into a spasm.
He fell to his knees and clenched his teeth.
His head hit the ground and he groaned in pain.
After a period of flashing between consciousness and unconsciousness, Pen finally returned to his feet and began to look for a place to sleep for the night.
At some point, he found himself standing before a strange tower. This tower didn't seem to fit, being stationed between two old and dilapidated buildings. The green grass and fresh smell made this unusual place stand out even more, making Pen suspect that he was under an illusion.
Pen walked up, wanting to see if he could sleep in the back.
Just as he was about to go around, the door suddenly opened by itself.