Being squeezed into the crowd, Michael heard the conversations of the people around him and learned a few things about Jennifer Voldigard. He once again turned his gaze to Jennifer, who was walking the steps with her guards.
”Core Formation stage and three-star Alchemist level, not bad…” Michael thought to himself.
Her achievements were quite stunning to the others but not for Michael.
With the wealth of the royal family behind, as long as she possessed the basic talent needed to become an alchemist, they could use their wealth and resources to train her into a four or five-star alchemist with ease. Moreover, from the conversation he heard, Jennifer’s talent for alchemy was quite good. Therefore, having such an achievement was within expectations.
Under the protection of the guards, Jennifer swaggered through the packed crowd into the building without meeting any obstruction.
As Jennifer disappeared from his sight, Michael and Olivia squeezed through, pushing aside the crowd until they finally reached a spacious hall.
He eyed the vast hall and exhaled a long breath of air. Then, wiping off the sweat beads on her forehead, Olivia walked toward the western hall area as though she had walked there countless times.
Unlike the rest of the hall, the western area was blocked by lines of golden pole barricades. Several guards armored from head to toe raised their hands noticing Olivia and Michael,
”Restricted area,”
”Not for me. I am one of the judges,” Michael flicked his wrist, retrieving the invitation letter from the system storage.
Since the guards were wearing metal helmets, he could not see the shock on their faces.
The guard before Michael took the invitation letter and opened it up only to get startled after a few moments.
”You…You are Ghost?”
”One and only,”
”Okay teacher. You deal with this. I have to go register my team over there” Olivia looked over at the crowded southern side of the hall,
”Cool,”
She rushed towards the crowd while the guard eyed Michael from top to bottom.
”So young,” the guard mumbled under his breath,
”Here’s my Core Disciple card. It’ll help you confirm my identity” With another flick of his wrist, Michael took out the golden card from the system storage.
The guard looked at the name ‘Ghost’ embossed on the golden card in black.
”Please forgive us my lord” the guard looked at the card and the invitation letter for a moment before stuttering,
”It’s okay. You guys are just doing your job. Now can I go in?”
”Yes yes my lord, please this way”
Michael jumped over the golden poles and walked towards the door by himself instead of waiting for the guards to remove the poles. After Michael disappeared through the door, the guards were stunned,
”What a nice guy” the guard who checked the invitation letter exclaimed to the other guard,
”Yeah. For a five star alchemist, he’s surprisingly chill”
”It’s a breath of fresh air for a change”
The guards conversed. Working as the guards in the Alchemy guild, they had seen their fair share of talented alchemists and they all had one thing in common; arrogance. The moment they reach the three-star level, the alchemists would treat the guards like dirt. But seeing a five-star alchemist who dethroned Alchemy King Gabriel being so humble and modest, they were genuinely surprised. Immediately Michael’s status in their hearts reached another level.
Passing the guards, Michael walked into the corridor brightly lit with a straight line of chandeliers and slowly climbed up the stairs. The stairs led him to a brightly lit hall tiled with marble stone that reflected everything in the room. The hall had a luxurious feel thanks to all the golden tables, chandeliers radiating gold light, golden windows, and even the sofa set was inlaid with gold lines surrounding a pearl white cushion.
Currently, only a chubby old man with a pointy beard sat on the sofa blowing the cup in his hand. The old man had a mix of white and black hair, no mustache, and wore a green robe. He was calmly sipping the tea when he noticed Michael.
”Young man, you must be Ghost,” the old man greeted Michael with a grin,
”And you must be?”
”Atian, Atian Dawson. Humble five-star alchemist and one of the grandmasters,” the old man reached out to shake Michael’s hands.
”Ghost” Michael simply said after firmly shaking his hands,
”Aye, a man of few words, I presume. You have a long list of achievements than this old man ever had”
”Well if I listed out everything, I would look like an arrogant brat,” Michael smiled as he leaned back on the sofa.
”Quite a crowd out there. What’s the format here?”
Hearing Michael’s question, Ativan leaned forward and drew a huge rectangle on the tea table’s surface as he continued with a smile,
”All the alchemists in the competition will be participating simultaneously on a huge platform. We will have a few rounds, and the competition’s requirements will gradually become harder. Like in any other competition, we will eliminate many at the end of each round. Whoever can stand out among the cream of the crop, will be the final victor. This is the format for both individual and group”
”Oh…” Michael nodded his head slightly. He could imagine the spectacular view of hundreds or thousands of alchemists raising their flames and refining pills and potions on the same platform while people cheered for them.
”Back then, when I first participated, I almost peed myself. Nowadays, the alchemists are too strong both mentally and physically” Atian laughed, appearing to know what Michael was thinking.
”Here, as a fellow judge, you should take a look at this name list,”
Ativan flicked his wrist, taking out a golden parchment from his space ring.
Michael was somewhat curious as he opened the parchment to see the long name list. What surprised Michael was there were names still appearing on the list as he was reading the list.
Michael kept reading all the names until his eyes stopped at the name ‘Lelian Icarus’.
”Lelian Icarus. That’s Gabriel’s successor. Do you know him?” As though Atian knew Michael’s gaze was locked on Lelian’s name, he explained.
”I heard about it somewhere” Michael simply brushed it over. But, of course, he couldn’t say he read it in the book he bought from Lord Information. Dealing with Lord Information wasn’t something one should brag about.
Michael then noticed Noah’s name appearing on the bottom of the list and then the name Jennifer Voldigard appeared as Atian began to speak again.
”You might be familiar with another Voldigard right? Lane Voldigard?”
Michael nodded,
”He’s my alchemy teacher in Mazeroth. So this Jennifer Voldigard, is she a relative?”
”It’s complicated and It’s not my place to explain” Michael was surprised inside but didn’t show any expression on his face.
”Have you ever met her?” quickly asked Atian, changing the topic away from professor Lane.
”I have seen her for a moment at the entrance just now” Michael nodded,
”Don’t look down on that girl. Under the support of the imperial family, she has so many hidden cards that would dazzle people.” Atian smiled and reminded him. She could have all the hidden cards in the world but he had something she could never have, the system.
As he was looking through the name list, the parchment glowed for a moment, and then, the tiny stars appeared beside each name. Most had two stars, some had three and only a few had four stars.
“As you can see, we have quite a talented roster here. Just counting the three-star alchemists, there are already thirteen of them”
”So tell me from one judge to another, who do you think will win the competition?”
”Noah” Michael immediately thought in his mind. There was no doubt in his mind. After all, Noah had a 6-star Alchemist grandpa in his ring. It would be funny and embarrassing if Noah didn’t win the competition as far as Michael was concerned.
”I have no guesses Lord Atian since I don’t know most of them on the list”
A few more sips later, Atian finished his tea and placed the cup on the table.
”Young man, you still have one little thing to do before entering the judges’ panel. Alchemists from the guild don’t have this procedure, but since you’re an outsider, it’s the rule. I hope you don’t mind,”
”Of course not. It makes sense actually,”
”Wonderful,”
Atian stood up, smiled, and said, “Follow me. Know that due to security reasons, some participants might be in the same hall we are going to”
”Cool,” Michael nodded his head, stood up, and followed Atian. The two of them walked out of the room and walked along a quiet corridor for a short while. Once they were at the end, they pushed open a door by the side entering the hall that looked the exact replica of the one they came from.
Everything looked the same except there were some people in the room.
One of the groups in the hall was Jennifer’s group. The Soul Refining stage guards surrounded her while she was gracefully enjoying her cup of tea.
His gaze rotated again until it stopped on a handsome young man conversing with a few young alchemists.
He was adorned in emerald green robes with many shiny stones inlaid within. His white hair flew naturally over his shoulder. Among all the youngsters in the room, only he and Jennifer had a striking look to draw Michael’s attention.
Hearing the sound of the door opening, everyone in the hall who was whispering privately ceased their conversations. Instead, their gaze turned toward the door. When they saw Michael enter, they were all momentarily stunned by his dashing look because only Michael was dressed in full black and had physic like no one else in the room.
For a few moments, Jennifer stared at him without batting an eye. However, she quickly regained her composure and moved her gaze away from him. While following Atian, Michael could sense the young man’s gaze on him. By the way, the young man creased his brows when he entered the hall. Michael guessed he might be Gabriel’s successor, Leilan Icarus.