Fragarach

Edward Pain the Alchemist

When all of them heard the scream of their instructor they stick their heads inside the door to see what is happening inside and saw their instructor shaking with an excited smile in his face while holding a bottle of crystal clear elixir.

“Wow! Is our instructor able to produce an elixir as clear as that? I know that he is from a family of alchemists but to be able to produce something like that is phenomenal.” Female demi-human whispered to the others around her.

“I know right? I bet that bottle alone would sell for hundreds of thousands of gold coins!” one of the human students said while adjusting his glasses with an excited tone.

[Wow! So you’re telling me that a single bottle can cost hundreds of thousands of gold coins? The treasury in our house might not even be one eighth of it! If the alchemist can make that much just by selling a single bottle?] Thomas thought as sweat break off from his forehead.

[This is a little vexing, since every one of us know that Thomas can easily get jealous of anyone.]

Kate and the others stare at him with concern since they know Thomas’ attitude and have known him for so long.

Everyone outside the room are left in awe after seeing a crystal clear elixir for the first time, even the students that wants to learn what are the new developments regarding the new student stood in shock after seeing the elixir in the instructors hands.

“Is that an elixir? I have never seen an elixir as clear as that.”

“Your family sells elixir right? Have you seen anything like that?” as student that wants to gossip poke her friend with her elbow.

Her friend is squinting her eyes just to observe the bottle fidgeting as the instructor shakes in excitement.

“I have never seen anything like that at all, I may have to tell my father about this.” She said with a calm and composed tone. [We originally planned to check the new student out but I never thought I would see an elixir such as that.]

She thought as her eyes scanned the room and saw Raven bowing his head apologizing to the instructor.

[He really is gorgeous!] she thought as she smiled nicely. [His mana aura may be intimidating but it part of his charm.]

Cassiopeia look at her with a concerned face and turned to Raven.

[Because of what happened earlier he might attract more girls in the future.] she thought as she stare at the floor.

“He is so handsome.”

“Do you think he has someone he likes?”

“Are you kidding me? He only started going to the academy today right?”

“Hey did you forget? He is in the same class as Cassiopeia, she might have charmed her already.”

The other female students thought as they whispered to each other while glancing at Cassiopeia.

“Let’s go, we already got what we want from here. Our instructor might scold us for staying out for too long, remember that we only said that we’d go to the bathroom.” The girl who glanced at Raven reminded.

“Okay-“one of them said with a sad face. “I wish I was in the same class as him.”

They whispered to each other as they walk away from the room.

“Wow Raven did become a celebrity with just the first day of his study in the academy.” A female demi-human said as they stare at the group leaving the hallway.

“I hate to admit it but I am a bit jealous, I never dated anyone since I came here in the academy because most of the girls are attracted to either a strong person or a handsome one or a kid with a golden spoon. I don’t know if he is rich but he already has the two traits that girls would go chasing him around the academy.” A human student said to his fellow students, human and demi-human alike, both races nodded their heads in agreement.

“That pressure from his mana aura earlier is not something a human can release, even us, demi-humans are struggling to breath while exposed to his mana aura.” A male demi-human said while analyzing and remembering what happened earlier at the test grounds.

“I agree. But hear this first, there are rare cases of someone releasing tremendous amount of pressure with their mana aura by chance, I have read some books about it when I was a child and there is also a news about it happening in some nearby kingdom that it causes panic when a child subconsciously releasing such mana aura.” The student with the glasses said as he readjusted his eye glasses.

All heads turned towards him when he said that there are some rare cases like what happened earlier that caught their attention.

[He may have spew some facts and I also heard about it happening but it pisses me off when he adjust his eye glasses every time he say something.] Thomas thought as his eye brows twitch in irritation.

[A few minutes earlier before the instructor cried aloud.]

“Call me Instructor Edward, I am from the Pain family, a family of renowned Alchemist. I heard from Elder Rigor that you have no educational background and that you have not studied in any institution in the past years of your life. But he told me that you told him you had someone who taught you some things about mana manipulation. Is all of that true?” he asked as he sat on the table behind him.

[So our instructor is from a family of alchemist? Maybe he could have insight on what I should do with the elixirs I made.] Raven thought as Edward stare at him.

“Yes, all of it is true Mr. Edward. Someone taught me everything I know so far, that’s why I applied to study here at the academy to learn everything that he did not teach me.” Raven said with a sad tone.

“Hmmm so he taught you some things huh? I don’t know anyone from around here that teaches children some stuff, are paying him?” he ask as he put his hands in his pockets.

“No Mr. Edward, as you can see, I came from a poor family and we can only afford to buy food to last for a day. We could never have enough money to spend on studying since it cost really high. I can never ask my mother to do all kinds of work just so that she can send me to an educational institute.” Raven explained with his face getting flustered.

[So this is his first educational institute huh? The person who taught him some things might be incompetent enough that he made this poor young man spend money at the academy when he could use it to help his parent, I pity this child.] he thought as he closed his eyes to prevent tears from flowing out of his eyes.

[Why did Mr. Edward closed his eyes? Did he get some dust on it?] Raven thought as he stare at his instructor struggling not to let a single tear out.

[I must not cry in front of a student, they will think I am pathetic.] he told himself.

“So what kind of things did he teach you?” he asked with his eyes closed.

“He taught me mana manipulation, runes and rune formation, alchemy-“

The moment Edward heard the second and third thing Raven was taught of, he immediately opened his eyes in shock that he did not hear the other things that Raven said.

[Runes? Rune formation? A- a- alchemy?! Are you telling me that man taught him all those things for free?!] he thought as his eyes are about to pop out of their sockets as he stare at the ceiling.

“-and sword arts.” Raven continued.

[Poor kid my ass, this kid is the luckiest person in this whole kingdom, money can disappear but knowledge will stay forever. Did he just spend all his luck in his entire lifetime?] Edward thought as tears stream off of his eyes like a river.

“Mr. Edward? Sir? Instructor? Mr. Edward?” Raven called out with a concerned expression.

[What happened to him? Does his eyes really hurt?] he thought as he saw his instructor’s nose redden.

[Give me back my pity, this is so unfair! Wait it’s not too late yet, I did not get to witness if he can rival me in alchemy, I can still have the upper hand.] he regained his composure after realizing that he might still show that he still has the upper hand.

“What did he taught you about alchemy? I bet he only taught you the basics am I right?” he said while rubbing his eyes of his tears.

Raven took a bottle of elixir from his bag and handed it to his instructor.

“Here Mr. Edward, this is the only medicine I have, your eyes is hurting right? Please take this.” Raven said with a humble voice while handing Edward the bottle of elixir.

“Thank you very much.”

Edward accepted the bottle without looking since he is rubbing his eyes off of tears. Then he take of the lid and drank a mouthful of elixir without him knowing.

*Gulp*

[What is this wonderful, sweet liquid? Wow! My eyes doesn’t sting anymore, this is amazing!]

“Wow! What is this thing? It’s amazing how it cured my eyes in an instant.” He said with a bright smile without looking at the bottle.

“That is the elixir I made with what my mentor taught me.” Raven relied in a nervous tone.

“Oh I see! An elixir – that you made- with what your mentor- taught you.” He said with a broken voice.

Edward’s heart started beating faster as he remembered that Raven was also taught how to make elixir. He raise his hand that is holding the bottle of elixir and brought it close for his eyes to see it clearly.

“HOLY MOTHER OF F**K!” he exclaimed.

He almost flip the table as he jump from surprise when his eyes stumbled upon the bottle of elixir that he holds in his hand.

[I felt my heart skip a few beats, I almost died there. What the f**k is this?! I have never seen in my entire life an elixir as clear as this!] he thought as he felt his temperature dropped a few degrees in shock.

“Are you telling me that you made this?” he rattled as he asked Raven.

“Yes Mr. Edward. My mentor told me that elixirs are not very necessary so he only taught me some few things about it. After that he also showed me how to make a simple elixir that might help me.” Raven explained carefully.

“Can you tell me what he taught you about alchemy in order?” he asked with a sad face.

“Oh, ok.” He replied.

Raven told everything what Aranx taught him but he did not disclose Aranx’s name since he doesn’t need to know everything. He explained everything he learned in great detail that made Edward listen to his voice alone.

“That is all that I learned from him, he did not say any more word about it and proceeds to teach me about runes.” Raven said with a nervous tone.

Edward turned his head to the window once Raven finished answering his question.

[Basics my ass, he cited the whole book of alchemy that my family deemed as an ancient artifact that only our descendants can learn yet he manages to memorize it all, every single word! And there are some things that is not written in our book, like (………) and (………). And here I thought our family is the kingdom’s greatest asset. Greatest asset my ass!] he thought as he felt his world crumble into dust.

[If he can make a ton of these high quality- no, perfect elixir that no other human can create, then he would easily be the wealthiest person in the whole world. Imagine how much he can sell a single bottle of this, I can say that it can cost a few hundred thousands of gold coins. That is enough fund for a few generations of his family, with just a single bottle. But looking at him right now, he lacks ambition. Don’t tell me-]

“Are you not aware of how this bottle can change your life?”

He interrupted his thoughts to ask Raven something he wanted to know.

Raven glanced at his concerned instructor with a sad face.

“I know, the guards told me about it. it is just that maybe the quality is not enough as the guards says.” He answered meekly.

“What?!” Edward cried in shock.

[Back to present time.]

[Is this young man for real?! This is the last evolution of elixirs, even better than this is no longer needed. An elixir as perfect as this no longer needs to be improved, the effects can say for themselves. The best elixir we can make can show its effects after a few hours but this one is phenomenal, it healed me instantly. Speaking of healed, I no longer feel my back aching. Oh! It’s because of the elixir, great.]

He thought as his shoulders drop in disappointment. [A young man defeating every alchemist in all of our family’s generation, how disappointing. I feel so pathetic.]

He thought as he look at the young man apologizing to him non-stop.

“Let’s talk more about it next time. Let’s call it a day.” He said with a broken voice.

Edward went to the elders to let his students go home early since he is having a headache. The students left the academy with a puzzled expression as they went home.

Raven took the same route he used earlier. He felt a strong mana aura ahead of him but he still continued to walk when all of the sudden a young man around his age instantly kneel before him.

“This humble servant greets the savior.” Says the young man jet black clothes.