I Am The Only Witch Hunter

Ashe quickly finished applying the balm. She opened the entrance door to let Siderius enter.

"Finished already?" Siderius said.

"Yes, Master." Ashe nodded.

"Come inside. It's time for me to show you how to graft a mutation."

Siderius sat down in the middle of the underground hideout.

Ashe placed candles all around him, illuminating the space with orange flames. Her heart beat aggressively like a drum.

She was finally able to see how a witch hunter grafted their mutation.

Ashe kept her mouth shut and did everything as quiet as possible, worrying any amount of noise may disturb her master.

She knelt down in front of Siderius.

"Watch closely." Siderius placed the pair of panther's eyes on the ground.

Next to him were Mercury Crystals. He didn't intend to use the Mercury inside his system bracer nor its mutation assisting function. If he did, he would have to explain to Ashe the existence of the bracer.

Siderius had no reason to distrust Ashe. But he wasn't that ignorant to expose every trump card he had to another. Even now, he acted like a caring Master and did everything to raise his pupil.

But in reality, was he really that selfless? No. Ashe was nothing more than a pawn. She was an outcast of her own witch clan. The perfect candidate to show everyone how cruel witches could be.

Ashe had an urge to reclaim it all for herself. Siderius liked that. He wanted to raise a witch hunter that came from a witch clan that would eradicate all the witches, no matter if she shared a blood connection with them.

Ashe would become the sharpest blade of Siderius. That was what he wanted.

But she needed more tests. Test for her loyalty. Test for her ideals. And test for her savagery.

If she could overcome them all, only then would Siderius open more knowledge for her. As for now, he had only given her parlor tricks to impress the uninitiate. The real power of Alchemy and Witch Hunting she hadn't even touched upon.

Now. He would show her a glimpse of what they were.

"Open up!" Siderius clasped his hands together. The Salt Crystals split themselves up, leaking the Mercury out to the ground.

The salt dissolved back to their white powder form and scattered to the ground to form a new seal. This seal was a Salt Directing Agent.

"Salt Directing Agent can be used to make tonic. But it can also control the flow of other primes and elements. Once you graft your first mutation, you can use this seal to control Mercury."

"I understand, Master." Ashe nodded. Her eyes stayed fixed on the seal.

Siderius opened his right palm and formed an upside down umbrella. He slowly rotated his wrist counter-clockwise.

The silver Mercury moved as his hand moved. A new Mercury Seal began to form on top of the Salt Seal. This Mercury Seal was incredibly complex with one layer stacking on top of another.

"Mercury Synthesized Mutation Seal. It acted as a vessel for your mutation organ. There are three variations of this seal for three minor levels of a mutation rank.

Oculus Extima is the eyes. You can mutate it three times. The first time requires only the one-layer variation of the Mutation Seal. The second time requires two layers and the third time requires three layers. The layers are to make sure your subsequent mutation will not conflict with your prior ones and causes what we are used to call 'Mutation Collapse'."

"What is Mutation Collapse, Master?"

"It is when your genetics lose control and your body deforms without ends."

Ashe shivered gently and swallowed her saliva. "Is this condition... common, Master?"

Siderius shook his head. "No. It is very rare. But you have to understand something, Ashe. Everything has a price. Even Witch Hunter's mutation.

Its price may be different than witches' desire. But there is one. You should have expected it. It is one of our core Alchemy rules."

"I apologize, Master." Ashe lowered her head.

Siderius shook his head again. "No need to be. Stay focused."

"Yes. Master."

Then Siderius continued to control the Mercury Seal. Its power entered the two freshly cleaned eyeballs on the ground. The eyeballs floated up slightly along with the white Mercury Seal.

The Seal split itself into two circles, hovering diagonally to each other. It formed the letter 'X' in the front.

Then, slowly and thoroughly, Mercury took over the fleshy eyeballs. The silvery liquid consumed them completely. Its energy leaked into the genetic footprints of the eyes, reading its structure, capabilities and source of power.

Soon, the two eyeballs became two silver spheres that hovered slightly above ground.

The bracer was not summoned. But its windows still appeared in front of Siderius' eyes. Ashe wasn't aware of their existence at all.

[Analyzing potential mutation…]

[Detecting unknown species…]

[The species share genetic traits similar to a black leopards (Panthera Pardus)]

[New Pardus Oculus Extima is recognized]

[Pardus Ocula No. 9 is registered!]

[Pardus Ocula is ready to be grafted!]

The two silvery spheres landed on Siderius' palm. Their surface shimmered gently like there were miniature waves on them.

"Wow!" Ashe crawled forward. Her eyes stayed on the spheres without blinking. "Is this a mutation?"

Siderius nodded. "A pardus mutation to be precise. These are the eyes of a black panther construct. Or you may know it by the name of Chaos Beast."

"CHAOS BEAST?!"

Ashe shouted without thinking much. She quickly covered her mouth and looked around.

"You killed a chaos beast, Master?" Ashe whispered as if she's afraid someone might overhear them, even though they were in the middle of nowhere.

Siderius nodded. "They... are much weaker than what the myth says."

Ashe gasped. She instantly believed him. From her impression, Siderius was not the kind of man that liked to lie.

However, her brow soon furrowed when she retraced his previous words.

"What do you mean construct, Master?" Ashe said.

"It is something that you do not need to be concerned about right now, my apprentice. You are not ready to know the truth yet."

Ashe blinked her big black irises a few times. She didn't dare to question further. She only thought that there was much more that she didn't know about this kingdom called Eldoria.

"Will you ever tell me about it, Master?"

"I will. When you are ready to bear the responsibility."