……..
‘Soul Alchemy!’ Zilan’s ears perked up when he heard this.
“Soul Alchemy…how does it work? How do you imbue something with Soul? Can you show me?” Zilan asked. Before hearing the Chairman’s story, the thing he desired most was the secrets and teachings of Soul Alchemy thus now that the opportunity was finally here, he had to grab it.
“Hmm…I can teach you what I know however, it’s not much. The theory behind Soul Alchemy escapes me or rather Roho made it so that we would not be able to perceive it, we could only use it like a reflex. For good reason too, Soul Alchemy can be extremely dangerous even in its simplest form for example how I use it. Roho on the other hand used it to expand his body (an entire realm) and to an extent create us. When you reach the Core compression stage and you access Roho’s life essence crystal I’m sure everything will be presented to you.”
Zilan sighed when hearing this. Fortunately, the Core compression stage was not a far-off of a goal for him. He would get there sooner rather than later. It was only a matter of when especially if you consider the short amount of time he took to reach the Soul compression stage.
“Several aspects of Soul Alchemy I can’t even teach you. [Soul Ignition] for instance, was something I used to be able to do quite easily through instinct thanks to Roho however with his passing, I now rely on the crystal for help.” Explained the Chairman. “Anyway, there are plenty of things I can teach you and there will be time for that. What you can do now is go back and rest we’ll deal with the rest later.”
“Understood.” Responded Zilan.
“Hmm…” Turning his head to a certain spot, the Chairman’s gaze locked onto the happenings on the metal Mountain. A peculiar smile then formed on his face. Seeing it, Zilan followed the Chairman’s eyes and after hesitating for an instant, opened the scorched gates, two stars appearing in his eyes. The Chairman had yet to notice as he was pre-occupied with the scenes he was witnessing.
On the Mountain, as soon as Zilan’s soul had gone through the mirror, his physical body collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut. The spectators watching all froze and no one moved except for one person, Kifo. He had been with Zilan for a while thus simply watching him fall, he could feel that something was not right with him. Kifo even got the insane impression that Zilan was ‘no more’ despite being able to see him breathe in and out.
This being the case, Kifo bolted towards the top of the mountain, his speed could be described as frightening as an eerie white blur flashed past everything, clearly showing off his Black core stage strength, before arriving at the bridge where Zilan was. When he stepped on it, the bridge had seemingly lost all of its ferocity not attacking him in the least. He rushed to Zilan’s side and began urging him to get up. He even poured water on his wounds which reacted by swiftly closing up, his complexion also took for a turn for the better but Zilan still did not awaken.
“You should stay close to this child.” Stated the Chairman as his smile vanished.
Zilan nodded, warmth filled his heart as his eyes were glued to Kifo’s actions, “I intend to.” He said. The Chairman closed his eyes and shook his head hearing this. ‘Even in death, you’re still frightening, Akili. For these two to be together….’ The Chairman stopped himself from thinking further, understanding Akili’s mind was a task he was unqualified to partake in.
As the Chairman shifted his gaze back and looked at Zilan, his countenance finally changed into one of disbelief. The two mesmerising stars in Zilan’s eyes was something he could not believe he was seeing. “No wonder..” He whispered. He now somewhat understood Akili’s reasoning.
“What was that?” asked Zilan, closing the Scorched gates.
“I’ll send you back now.” Thanks to his powerful soul, the Chairman managed to compose himself. “After everything has calmed down I will announce that I have taken you as my disciple. Don’t worry I would not dare to ask you to call me your Master, I am well aware of the guidance you Scorched have. It is only a smoke screen. I will also inform Erten and the others of a new addition to my Association. Don’t ask you’ll know soon enough. Finally, you and your disciples will be rewarded for your performance.”
Zilan heard this and although he was confused by a few parts he still nodded in agreement.
“Before I head back do you mind telling me the full reason why you founded this Association?”
“Like I said, it was a promise I made to a friend. The Beast World after the Beast King was felled by Mungu was in total chaos. Development was non-existent and life for the common Beast was terrible. Mungu will one day inevitably recover, this is a fact thus the Beast world needed to rebuild and grow stronger if it was to have a chance at withstanding the eventual assault. The Beast world therefore needed new foundations to facilitate its growth and that is where I stepped in, that is how the Alchemy Association was born. Unfortunately, my strength is limited and constantly diminishing, I could not and cannot control the actions of the Beast King’s Generals hence the Beast World’s current divided state. Sigh~ this is talk for another time……” The Chairman then casually waved his hand and Zilan’s soul was sent back into his physical body at lightning speed.
Little Red, “Master you should rest, your injuries…”
The Chairman shook his head, “I’ve rested long enough besides, once the crystal is passed on I’ll be able to….” He didn’t finish his sentence.
“That child will carry our people’s legacy forward. The Roho will live on in the next generation.”
Little Red, “What about the one who took everything from us?”
“Ikatwa, will have his day. I may not be there to see it when it happens however, he will have his day. That child Zilan, is destined for great things.”
Little Red, “…”
