Emperor's Reckoning

"AH~" Lyon yawned before patting Renduval's shoulder. "C'mon, let's continue the tour."

"I think that's a good idea," said Princess Cherie as she smiled. "There is no haste in picking up the items, and who knows, with a little bit of luck, we might be able to find something more valuable with a cheap price."

"Hmm?" Lyon raised his brows, "Oh right, Renduval!"

"What?!" said Renduval as he covered one side of his ears.

"You said that we would be here for a week, where do we sleep?"

"Oh? That would be the Alchemy Union Inn," answered Princess Hilde. "The accommodation has been set up beforehand, and... we clearly have extra rooms available."

"I see, I see," said Lyon as he nodded. "Then where is this lodging, is it in one of the Five Halls?"

"It actually is," said Renduval as he nodded. "It's in the Second Hall."

Lyon sighed. "Alright, alright."

"What's the third, fourth, and fifth hall for?" asked Porealus.

"The third hall is where you can put up a quest, it's more like a guild in a sense," answered Renduval.

"A quest?" Lyon furrowed his eyebrows. "What kind of quest?"

"Let me answer that," Hunes got up before patting the dust on his cloak away. "The quest usually came from an alchemist, it's usually gathering rare items or hard-to-earn ingredients that are not available in the First Hall for sale."

"Not only that," Renduval squinted his eyes. "The cultivators can put up a request as well for an alchemist to brew a specific pill in mind, that is if they don't have anyone in mind already. This case is pretty much rare since the more popular you are the more likely you will get contacted by the cultivator instead of asking a total stranger to brew the pill for you."

"Wait is the fee for making a pill vary from one alchemist to another? Even though they are making the same thing? From the exact same recipe?" asked Lyon.

"Absolutely!" Hunes and Renduval nodded at the same time.

"Why? Oh, wait, never mind, I get it," Lyon nodded. "Because their technique varies and the pureness of the pill may come out differently right?"

"That's right," Renduval nodded.

"Then, what's in the Fourth Hall?"

"The Fourth Hall is the biggest hall of them all. It's the lodging for the alchemists, instructors, and elders," answered Renduval. "They are separated of course, but not in a way that you would think of."

"Hmm?" Lyon raised his brows.

"If you think of it as a pyramid, then you're wrong," Cecile suddenly jumped in the conversation. "Every alchemist is affiliated to one elder and not more than one."

"Oh, I get it," Lyon nodded. "So who is your elder, Renduval?"

"Elder Malaqa," Renduval nodded. "She is the most senior elder in Alchemy Union."

"Yeah, that's pretty obvious," Lyon chuckled. "And what about the Fifth Hall?"

"The Fifth Hall is the library of Alchemy Union and the place where the headmaster rest," answered Hunes.

"The library, huh," said Lyon before he put his hands behind his head. "Alright, then, I will take a stroll."

"I'm coming with big brother!" said Zet before his robe was pulled by Porealus.

"You're not," Porealus said.

Lyon waved as he went down the stairs with his wife and followers followed suit.

"Renduval, you should go," said Porealus.

"Huh? Who are you to order me around?" said Renduval as he frowned.

"I mean, if you want Alchemy Union to be the next Afurnae, then I won't stop you," Porealus smirked.

Hilde squinted her eyes before she immediately followed Lyon down the stairs.

Hunes frowned. "What happened to Afurnae?"

Renduval sighed before he went past Hunes and immediately rushed down the stairs as well.

"What happened to Afurnae?" Hunes was left wondering before Porealus approached him with a smile. The young noble clearly had something to say from his smirk.

"Hunes, I better give you a piece of advice before it's too late, my dear friend," said Porealus with a smile. "That young man is not something that you would want to offend, even more so if Alchemy Union is your backing."

"Is this a threat?" Hunes frowned. "I will let you know that I can summon experts before the next hour comes."

"It's advice," said Porealus as he tapped his shoulder with a smile. "You don't want to mess with that guy, even if your cloak is made of gold, that's all I'm saying."

Princess Cherie smiled, "It is true, please sir Hunes, heed to his advice."

Hunes was clearly contemptuous. He was a respected alchemist. The golden color of his cloak proved his grand status.

"Just don't," Porealus shook his head. "He is affiliated with Elder Elise."

(Elder Elise?!) Hunes eyes opened wide.

"That's impossible..." he muttered. (Hardly anyone was on friendly terms with that prodigy!).

Hunes looked at Porealus with furrowed brows, "What happened to Afurnae?"

Porealus sighed. "Let's just say it used to be intact."

"What..." Hunes opened his eyes wide while he averted his gaze to Cherie who smiled wryly.

---

Meanwhile, in the junction of the halls, Lyon was leading the pack once more.

"Lyon, you're not thinking of going to the Fourth Hall, are you?" asked Lumina as she furrowed her brows.

"W-What? What makes you think so?" asked Lyon.

"Oh nothing," Lumina answered.

Lyon furrowed his brows before he sighed, "But then again, I never thought that I would spend a week in this place."

"This is actually a good chance for you," said Cecile.

"Why is that?"

"You can use this place to train your soul, it's not that bad here."

(Not that bad) Hilde smiled inwardly as she heard Cecile's words.

"Oh that's right, this is the perfect place for it right? Because of that soul flame thingy," said Lyon as he raised his brows.

"Wait! Wait for me!"

"Huh?" Lyon stopped and turned around to see Renduval was making his way to him.

"Wait, hah, hah," Renduval panted as he grabbed his own knees, catching breath.

"What?" asked Lyon.

"I need to accompany you," said Renduval as he straightened his back.

"Do whatever you want," Lyon smirked before he casually walked through the long junction.

The passerby of alchemists immediately looked his way. His name had already circled around without him knowing how fast it was.

The complete carcass of the kunpeng was still in the yard and was up for a sale, though the revenue would go to Renduval's pocket the ones that hunted the beast was getting the highlight.

"Hmm, young master, are you looking for an alchemist lady?" asked Kesya after she ran forward and walked backward.

"Hmm, that's not a bad idea," Lyon nodded. "Think about all of the benefits!"

"I know right, hahaha!" Kesya laughed. "Though, I don't think Empress Selena would be delighted if you take another flower in your embrace."

Cecile chuckled while Renduval and Hilde frowned. There was a woman's name that they had never heard before, and she was affiliated with Lyon.

"Then I have to make sure that she is worth the risk, hahaha!" Lyon laughed.

(Wow, he didn't even say no) thought Kesya before she chuckled.

Renduval sighed. He had never seen someone being so open about marrying a woman. (He is truly the bane for every woman).

"Soul training, hmm," Lyon muttered. "I thought with cultivation the soul's strength increases."

"That's only half true," said Cecile. "The cultivation of the soul is only through hard work, you need to expose it, use it, recover, then repeat until it grew strong enough for the time."

"Expose, use, recover, that's really basic, is there some way that I could make this process faster? I mean, I doubt it but is there a pill for it?" asked Lyon.

"There is actually," said Cecile. "Hmm... what was it called again... Assid?"

"Forgive me, young miss, I forgot about it as well," said Assid as he bowed.

"Graham?"

Graham shook his head, "I have not the slightest idea, please forgive me, y-young miss."

"Hmm, this is quite the ordeal," Cecile sighed.

"Hey, aren't you going to ask me, young miss?!" asked Kesya as her brows twitched.

"If you know about it, you would already utter it out now, would you?" said Cecile with a smile.

"?!.... That's true," Kesya smiled wryly.

"Well then, we will just have to make do with what we have," said Lyon. "Let's go to the Third Hall and see what's there, maybe we can ask some alchemist about it."

"Hey aren't you going to ask me," said Renduval.

"Oh?" Lyon raised his brows, "Do you know the pill we are talking about?"

"Err, not really."

"Not really? What do you mean?"

"I mean, we can go to the Fifth Hall. There must be something in there that contained the information of the pill that you guys sought."

"Hey, that's a good idea," Hilde nodded.

"Yeah, let's go to the library," said Lumina without hesitation.

Lyon slouched, "Hm.... fine."