The Combat Alchemist

As Akira and Lukas walked through the streets, they'd garnered no small amount of attention, drawing the gazes of many people. Even so, it wasn't to the point where everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at them. That wasn't the case when they entered the contracts hall, though, as every single person stopped what they were doing and watched as they entered the building and made their way to one of the boards.

Lukas could not describe how uncomfortable it was to have so many sets of eyes on him. It reminded him of when his elementary school hosted plays for each grade. He could still vividly remember standing on stage, not just in front of the entire school but their families as well. Suffice to say, it was a nightmare that he'd likely never forget.

Eventually, he couldn't stand all the attention anymore and took a look around, finding hundreds of curious eyes looking back as they quietly conversed with those around them. Lukas wanted to shrivel up and die under the scrutiny, but he was far too stiff to do such a thing.

Everyone held the same look—well, mostly everyone. There were a few standouts, including one exceptionally pretty woman with fiery hair and icy blue eyes who looked like she'd been poked between the eyes.

'What's up with her?' Lukas wondered as he continued to follow Akira.

It was only once they came up to one of the job boards that people began going back to their business, allowing Lukas to relax slightly. Most of the people who had been around the board they'd just arrived at left, while a few opportunists stuck around, hovering nearby like faithful servants hoping to be recognized.

As Akira started looking over the postings available, Lukas continued to glance around stiffly. The hangers-on must've mistaken his uncomfortable glances for something else, as they scurried away nervously. He thought it was strange but wasn't going to complain. The fewer people near him, the better—the last thing he wanted to do was pretend to put on some sort of show for the people around him.

Now that they were relatively alone, Lukas turned his attention to the board, looking over the contracts. Each one had various types of information on them, some containing pages while others only had a short paragraph. Every contract did have one thing in common, though—each had a general location, beast type, number and strength, as well as the reward for completing the contract. Going over some of the postings, he noticed a few beasts he recognized, though there were more he didn't. As for the rewards, he didn't know what was good and what wasn't, as he still had little to no grasp on the value of mana coins or other such valuables. Then there were the locations. Naturally, Lukas didn't know where any of these towns or villages were. To him, they were just names on a piece of paper.

Lukas curiously skimmed a few of the contracts, a couple of them piquing his interest. One posting required the clearing of a drake nest that had popped up close to a road in the south. The details said there were a handful of drakes around high to peak copper, all of them extremely aggressive as they were protecting a clutch of eggs. The contract wanted a team of at least five people with high reputation to take the job, promising an essence and a handful of bronze mana coins as payment.

His attention was pulled from the posting when Akira reached out with her Adventure Society crystal, tapping it to one of the papers on the board. Before Lukas could read what was on it, the page turned into motes of light that were sucked into her crystal.

"What contract was that?" Lukas asked.

Akira gave him a smirk. "Wouldn't you like to know? I'm grabbing contracts that I think will help give me a decent idea of how you fight, that way I can get a better idea of what I'm dealing with. Sparring against another person is all well and good, but I need to see you go to work on some beasts."

Before Lukas could reply, Akira reached out and tapped her crystal to another posting, that one too disappearing before he could read it.

"Shouldn't I know what I'm going to be fighting beforehand so I can be prepared?"

"Nope. Well, normally yes, but this is a training exercise, and part of that is seeing how you adapt and face unexpected situations and opponents. You'll also get a chance to see me fight, that way you get an idea of what you're aiming for as you start to progress martially."

"Alright. Is there anything you will tell me?"

"I think you'll enjoy what I have planned. I know I will."

*

"You're kidding, right?" Lukas asked flatly.

"What?" Akira said. "This one is low copper like you and will be a good starting point."

After collecting a handful of contracts from the hall, Akira had led Lukas out of the city and to the northeast, refusing to give him any information on what they were meant to be hunting. This gave Lukas a bad feeling, reminding him of the eagerness with which she had taken to "sparring" with him. He was confident, though—Akira didn't have a full measure of Lukas' strength and ability, so he was sure he could handle whatever she tried throwing at him. He had, after all, taken on the fireborn drake at level 15 while the beast had been level 30. Granted, Lukas had barely made it out alive, but he was sure Akira wouldn't throw something like that at him.

Just over an hour after leaving the Adventure Society, they reached their target village and met with the man who had posted the job. Lukas got to see firsthand what kind of information gathering the job required as Akira spoke with the man. The man told them the beast, a laruk, had last been sighted earlier that morning a few kilometers to the east, in the forest.

Now, Lukas had no clue what a 'laruk' was, and Akira wasn't giving any hints. It didn't help that the man was a nonmagic, meaning he wasn't able to get a good feel for the beast's strength. This left Lukas with no idea what he'd be dealing with. Well, he knew it was a laruk, but that was it.

It turned out Lukas had nothing to be worried about, leaving him more disappointed than anything. After spending a good twenty minutes making their way through the trees, they stumbled upon their prey. It was a strange lemur-like creature, only the size of a golden retriever. It had thin arms and legs, but two long, thick-looking tails, each with what appeared to be a clubbed end. They were no doubt what the laruk used to fight. The creature had brown fur with streaks of deep forest green that helped it blend in with its surroundings.

The laruk was sitting up on a tree branch, lazing about, having yet to spot Lukas and Akira. Lukas hadn't even identified the beast yet, having only felt its aura. Even so, he could tell it was weak. Using a quick identity, he confirmed it.

Laruk - lvl 24

Exactly what he expected. The beast was three levels lower than him and probably had half his stats. Lukas wouldn't be lying if he said he could mop the floor with it—especially if there was only one. He'd spent a decent amount of time fighting weaker beasts two weeks ago, so this wouldn't pose a challenge. It made him wonder why Akira wanted him to fight it. Did the beast have some kind of special attack or something?

"I could probably kill that thing with a solid kick," he said.

"Then prove it."

Lukas sighed, thinking it a waste of time. "Alright, well, do I need that crystal of yours or something? What if you don't get credit for the kill?"

"Don't worry about that," Akira said, waving away his concern. "So long as I'm close enough, the crystal will pick up on it. It's a feature that allows teams to operate."

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"If you say so."

Leaving Akira's side, Lukas walked toward the tree the laruk was resting in, not bothering to hide his presence or travel through the shadows. Once he was within a few dozen meters of the tree, the laruk noticed him—which wasn't a surprise, seeing as he was making a fair bit of noise pushing through the foliage. The only thing Lukas did bother to do was hide his aura, retracting it so he didn't scare off the beast. It would've been a massive pain in the ass if Akira made him chase it down.

The laruk, having seen Lukas, got up from where it had been resting and began screeching angrily at him. He simply observed the large lemur-like beast, assuming its stats focused on agility and strength, judging by its size and build. The creature seemed made for quick and hard-hitting attacks with its tail.

Just as Lukas thought that, the laruk used the branch like a springboard, pushing off to fly toward him. As it shot through the air, it flipped and aimed to bring both club-like tails down on his head. It was as he thought—the beast had a lot of agility but still fell short of someone like Lukas.

Sidestepping the attack, Lukas grabbed one of its tails, and before it even hit the ground, he spun, swinging the laruk around and slamming its head into the trunk of the tree it had been resting in. That alone wasn't enough to kill the beast outright, but it sure as hell wouldn't have felt good either. Sure enough, the laruk was dazed and unable to retaliate before Lukas brought his boot down on its head.

You have slain [Laruk - lvl 24] – Experience earned.

With the creature's tail still in hand, the prompt to loot the body appeared, and he accepted.

You have looted [Laruk].

24 [Copper Mana Coins] have been added to your inventory.

"I figured it was going to be easy for you," Akira said, coming up on Lukas. "I didn't expect it to be trivial. Like seriously, you're both right at the beginning of copper rank, but that wasn't even a fight."

"Yeah, and I didn't even get anything out of it. Please tell me you have stronger beasts lined up for me. Otherwise, we'll be wasting our time."

"Well, maybe you should actually fight it next time. We're out here so I can get a look at how you fight beasts, and while your display here was impressive, it doesn't really give me anything."

Lukas turned to her, bewildered. "How are you supposed to see what I'm actually capable of when I'm not in any real danger? Fighting stuff like this is like playing with a puppy."

Akira rolled her eyes. "You can pull your punches—restrict yourself to make it a challenge."

He just stared at her for a moment before shaking his head and walking away.

"Hey! Where are you going?"

*

Sometime later, Lukas and Akira were walking along an empty side road. It was smaller than the other roads that populated the forest, though not by much. It connected two villages—one large and one small—with the smaller village mostly used for mining and the larger for ore processing.

Lukas would've figured that with an industry like that, the roads would be more populated, but it seemed like this particular one was barren. The farther they went without seeing anyone, the more he began to believe that was what they were there for. His best guess was that some kind of beast or monster was staking out the area near the road in search of easy meals.

Sure enough, he was right, and Akira pulled him over onto a stone bridge that spanned a small river.

"If you haven't figured it out yet, the reason the road is so deserted is because there's a monster nearby."

"I figured it was something like that," Lukas shrugged.

"Well, this monster is very territorial and has decided to make the roadside its home, attacking anyone that comes close. Our job is to take care of it so people don't have to take a detour."

"Okay. So, is this monster just up the road or something? Why'd we stop here?"

Instead of answering, Akira gave him a devilish grin before disappearing in a flash, leaving Lukas alone on the bridge. Scowling, Lukas noticed her reappear at the far end. He wanted to ask what she was doing when he heard the sound of rushing water behind him. Confused, he turned around just in time to have a torrent of water blast him in the face, sending him tumbling into the stone guardrail.

Gasping and spluttering, Lukas managed to get his bearings fast enough to dodge another stream of water by slipping into the shadows and zipping away. As he ran through the shadow realm, he got a chance to see what had attacked him: a four-meter-tall figure with a roughly human shape, made entirely out of water. Exiting the shadows, Lukas reappeared on the riverbank opposite Akira.

Without thinking, he instinctively took out a bottle of necrotic poison and hurled it at the monster. It was only then that he realized what he was dealing with, as the bottle splashed ineffectually into the body of the water elemental. It simply sank into its form, twirling around in the churning mass.

Before he could chastise himself for wasting one of his new and improved poisons, Akira did it for him.

"I don't think that's going to work!" she shouted from the other side of the river, her voice thick with schadenfreude. "There's not any flesh to rot!"

"No shit!" Lukas shouted back, dodging yet another jet of water, leaving it to carve through the forest brush.

Now that the surprise had worn off, Lukas did a quick identify to get a better idea of what he was dealing with.

Water Elemental - lvl 26

It wasn't overly surprising, though he hadn't expected to be fighting his first elemental like this. One thing that did surprise him was the creature's strength. Despite being a level below him, it had taken him by surprise and put him on the back foot immediately. That, of course, wouldn't last, and Lukas got ready to attack. The only problem was figuring out how exactly he was supposed to do that.

As Akira had so helpfully pointed out, his poisons wouldn't do jack shit—it had no flesh to rot, no blood to bleed. He also wasn't about to jump headfirst into the river to try and take it on in melee. That was a great way to drown like an idiot. Unsure of his options, Lukas could only dodge as he tried to come up with a plan.

He jumped from shadow to shadow, scrambled through muddy grass, and quickly became soaked to the bone. He had to admit, while he could've taken down nearly anything else at this level, this was an extremely bad matchup. His poisons were useless, and none of his abilities could help here. They were all utility-focused and did squat in this kind of fight. The only one that helped at all was the ability that let him move through the shadows.

He didn't have any ability that would deal damage directly—not a single spell or offensive skill, something most people had. Sure, he only had four abilities so far, but couldn't he have gotten at least one that was useful for more than running or scouting?

When it became clear that Lukas could dodge the elemental's streams, it changed tactics. Long, tentacle-like arms snaked out toward him at alarming speed. Surprised, Lukas summoned a starry short sword and slashed at one of the tentacles aiming for his leg. To his dismay, the blade passed right through, doing nothing. Before he could try again, the tentacle wrapped around his ankle and yanked him off his feet, slamming him into the mud while another tendril shot for his neck.

As water began to crush his throat, Lukas gave another swing with his sword, and to his relief, the attack actually worked. The water making up the end of the tentacle fell apart like it had lost its structure. Lukas wanted to figure out what he'd just done, but the furious elemental didn't give him time as it sent more tendrils his way, dragging him closer to the river.

He frantically slashed at the water limbs, confused and frustrated that only some of them broke apart. That was when a certain someone gave him a helping hand.

"Oh, if only there was a way for you to see the magical energy flows within the elemental so you could disrupt them more frequently," a bemused voice said in his mind.

Without hesitation, Lukas activated his Amber Eyes, and the orange glow behind his mask flared brighter. Instantly, he could see shimmering, light-blue lines within the elemental's body. They twisted and turned like a magical mix between veins and magiscript. Swinging his sword again, Lukas aimed for a cluster of these lines, and the moment his blade struck, the tentacle collapsed.

Armed with this new knowledge, Lukas went to town on the remaining tentacles, cutting them down like a sickle through wheat. Even so, it was too late—and there were too many. He was dragged into the river and pulled underwater. Panicked, he tried to swim away, but the water around him turned more physical and filled with magical veins that kept him bound.

With nothing left to do, Lukas desperately opened his inventory, hoping to find something useful. Maybe if he dumped enough poison into the water, the mana in it would disrupt the elemental's structure.

'If I dump a load of poison, will the mana disrupt that of the elemental, or at least give me a chance to break free?'

Reaching for his inventory, Lukas was prepared to unleash an ungodly amount of poison when something else caught his eye.

*

Akira had to admit she was having a pretty good time. Watching Lukas struggle and wrack his brain for ideas was amusing. She even got a few good laughs when he got blasted by water or thrown into the mud. It only got better when he swung his sword ineffectually at the elemental's tentacles while being dragged toward the river.

That was when she began to worry—afraid he might actually get pulled under. But then his eyes lit up, and he began severing tentacle after tentacle. Akira figured he had a good chance of escaping like that but was quickly proven wrong as he was yanked into the river.

She stood on the far bank, frowning, unsure if she'd need to step in. A few seconds passed without anything happening, and she decided she'd had her fun and would go save Lukas before things got out of hand.

Then something appeared at the bottom of the river—and the water began to bubble as steam rose, and the elemental attempted to flee.