Emperor's Reckoning

"Hunes," Renduval muttered. His eyes revealed a slight contempt against the gold cloak alchemist. "What do you want?"

Hunes smirked as he raised his chin a little. "I'm going to the third floor, do you need anything? Not that you can afford anything there, hahaha!"

"Tch!" Renduval balled his fist. "Do you think I cannot afford that silver medal?"

"Oh ho?" Hunes raised his brows. "Do you know what you're talking about, Renduval? What kind of money that you have that makes you think you have the luxury to pay this piece of status?"

Renduval's eyes were glaring as he saw Hunes playing with the silver medal in his hand.

"Oi Renduval."

Hunes and Renduval immediately shifted their glance to the man who was sitting back with his legs crossed. The lazy demeanor that he exuded was undeniable.

(Who is this guy?) thought Hunes as he started to size him up. (He doesn't seem to belong to a rich family but something is off).

"What?" asked Renduval grimly.

"What part of the kunpeng that's rarer than the rest? And what floor are they usually on?" asked Lyon with a smile.

"That's..."

"The feathers of the kunpeng," answered Hunes. "It would be sold on the fourth floor if there are any."

"Intact?" Lyon raised his brows.

"Intact?" Hunes laughed. "Hahaha! if it were a full set wing then it would belong on the fifth floor!"

"Why is that?" asked Lyon as he yawned.

Hunes squinted his eyes. "Because when a kunpeng started to feel threatened they would flee with their wings performing more than they were innately capable of. The faster they flee the more they burn their own wings. The feathers of kunpeng are good material for a pill due to its part of becoming the catalyst."

"Meaning?"

Renduval immediately added. "It would make any pills react faster, some of the instructors once said that the time it took for a pill to activate inside one's body is cut in half than normal. It would literally save a life in a near-death situation."

"Oh, it's that precious," Lyon raised his brows. "I never knew."

"Clearly," Hunes furrowed his brows before averting his glance back to Renduval.

"Then you should be able to buy that silver medal easily, don't you think? Heck, you might be able to buy the gold one, haha!" Lyon laughed.

Hunes furrowed his eyebrows. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, you don't know? Don't you see the kunpeng in the yard?" asked Lyon as he raised one of his brows.

"What? What do you mean?" asked Hunes.

"You must be from the outside right, Hunes?" asked Renduval before he smirked. "You should see what carcass is in the yard."

"Hmph! Stop goading me with that smirk of yours," said Hunes, "I have a trip to the third floor."

"Good, then you can see it yourself from the window," said Renduval as he crossed his arms.

Hunes furrowed his brows before he scoffed and made his way to the third floor.

Lyon frowned. "Hey Renduval, why don't the second floor have windows?"

Renduval shrugged. "I don't know, I didn't design this place. It's been like this since before my late grandfather was born."

"Heh, that's stupid," Lyon smirked before he stood up and approached Cecile and Lumina.

"Are you seeing something that you like?" asked Lyon with a smile.

"No, I don't even see one pill that could be useful," said Cecile as she shrugged. "The second level is definitely not for us."

"En, what Cecile said," Lumina nodded. "The good pill ones are definitely not sold in a public place like this."

Lyon raised his brows, "You're right, the best ones will never be in plain sight, oh yeah. Princess Cherie."

"Yes, young master Lyon?" Cherie came with her hand fig-leaved.

"You said that we are free to choose three items from the second floor, right?"

"Yes?"

"Do we still need to pay for the alchemist's service?" asked Lyon.

"Oh? Sadly, yes, you still need to pay the fee on your own," said Cherie as she weakly smiled.

"Oh, well," Lyon looked at Renduval with one eyebrow raised.

"What?"

"It's free right?"

"What?"

"Your service."

"You want me to make pills for you? Do you even have the recipe?" asked Renduval with a frown.

"Wait a minute, I have to buy the recipe?" Lyon frowned.

"Well, not really, but if I don't know the recipe then what can I do?" asked Renduval as he shrugged.

Lyon sighed.

*Thock! *Thock! *Thock!

Someone rushed down from the upper floor and didn't even think of being subtle. Everyone from the second floor immediately turned and saw the person that was catching for breath.

"Hunes?" said Renduval before he smirked.

"T-The kunpeng on the yard, is it truly yours?" asked Hunes as he furrowed his brows.

"It is his," said Lyon as he crossed his arms with a smile.

"How much?"

"Woah, that's pretty quick," Lyon chuckled.

"C-C'mon old buddy, how much," said Hunes with a smile.

"What makes you think that I would sell it to you?" asked Renduval. "After how badly you treated me?"

"C-C'mon, let's bury the hatchet here, the past is the past and we need to see the present and more importantly the future."

"You're in the way, move," a bassy tone was heard before Hunes were pushed out of the way.

"Ah!" Hunes fell to the floor before turning around with a glare. "Don't you know who I..."

His eyes opened wide as he was met with a ghastly glare. "Did you say something?"

The cultivator wore black garb where his strong arms were shown. His hair was long and black. He had no shred of benevolence in his eyes as he looked at the pathetic alchemist that he pushed. The deep cultivation that he possessed immediately struck out as powerful.

"N-Nothing."

"Then get out of the way," said the cultivator before the latter turned around, sorry, this mutt is in the way, Elder Anna."

"That's alright, Nit."

A beautiful woman presented herself from the stairs. She was wearing the same cloak as all the elders had. Her face was starkly white like porcelain, and her hair was blueish-white. She looked at the second floor through her round glasses.

Lyon raised his eyebrows in surprise as he looked at the elder. His mouth gaped before he felt the floor was getting colder. He glance down before looking at Ivy who had a thousand emotions in her cold eyes.

Anna furrowed her eyebrows as she looked at Ivy. She tilted her head with a smile before nodding at her. She turned around before taking the stairs down with Nit at the front.

The cold atmosphere immediately lessened as she left the building.

"Who was that?" asked Lyon.

"That's elder Anna, she is the second youngest elder in the Alchemy Union," said Renduval. "She is quite dedicated to cultivating her soul flame, so much that she didn't even take notice of her own disciples."

The matriarch of the Yuki Clan held Ivy's hand. She spoke no words as she knew her disciple well enough. The sudden occurrence brought a shock that not even her cultivation that focused on ice was capable of handling it.

"It seems like, she has some history with that woman," muttered Cecile as she crossed her arms.

Meanwhile back in the yard.

"This is pretty rare," said Malaqa as she smiled her wrinkly lips at the woman who had just arrived from the building. "Anna, have you found what you needed?"

Anna smiled weakly. "Sadly that thing is still as rare as ever, meanwhile, this huge carcass in the yard is truly astonishing."

"I know right," Tamuh chuckled. "It was a clean hit to the head. From the looks of its wings, it didn't even flee when it died."

Nit opened his eyes wide as he looked at the dead kunpeng. The carcass was complete as if the beast had died of old age. There was hardly anything missing except the chunk of its head.

"Hmm... incredible," said Nit as he nodded. "One must be quick enough and strong enough to kill this fledgling in a single stroke, what kind of weapon did the hunter use?"

"Something blunt obviously," said Elise. "The kunpeng lost a chunk of its head."

(I know that) Nit furrowed his eyebrows.

"Hmmm, I need to know who the hunter is, perhaps he or she could go to that place and fetch me the Hundred-Petal Flower."

"Oh? You should have seen the party already if you are from the sixth floor," said Malaqa with a smile.

"The party? Oh, you mean a group of hunters did this?" asked Anna with her eyebrows rose.

"Yeah, they should be on the second floor with Renduval."

(Oh, it's those guys... and that woman...) thought Anna before she nodded. "Then I will ask them later, they are here for seven days anyway."

Anna smiled before she left to the opposite hall with Nit tailing behind her.