The Alchemist in the Mountains
It was Sunday afternoon at 2 PM, exactly two days after my evaluation spar with Alkest Trimeus. Thud. Thud. “Tsk, it should be around here somewhere.”
I was currently climbing a mountain, pushing through the surrounding bushes. Why on earth was someone like me—who doesn’t even like hiking—scaling a mountain on a precious weekend? The reason was simple: yesterday, I had spotted Mir having a friendly conversation with the owner of a flower shop that felt strangely familiar.
‘Seriously, I got lucky.’
If our paths had crossed even slightly differently, I would have completely wasted one of the scenarios I’d been planning. Rustle. And so, here I was, fully armed and hiking up a mountain.
The location was definitely this mountain I was climbing right now… the problem was pinpointing the exact spot. Since it had been so long since I last came here, my memory was hazy. For now, I was relying on my gut feeling as I made my way up.
‘Where the hell is it?’
Climbing a mountain that would be difficult for an average person, all while fully armed, was draining my stamina considerably. Once again, I found myself grateful that my starting stats were 30.
“Hoo… hoo…”
-Heh heh. This turned into quite the unexpected workout, didn’t it?
“Hup… yeah, it did.”
I kept my breathing steady and wiped the sweat beading on my forehead.
-By the way, my disciple. Are you certain the alchemist you’re looking for is truly here?
“The information is solid, so he probably is.”
Just for reference, before climbing the mountain, I had lightly shared with Cheonhwa Yuseol who I was trying to find. Not everything, of course. For example…
-Settling down in the mountains… does that mean he’s someone devoted to pharmacology? But this doesn’t seem like an environment where medicinal herbs would grow well. Why would an alchemist come to a place like this? Is it because of that?
The fact that she didn’t know exactly what kind of alchemist I was looking for?
Whoosh.
-……!! To the right!
“I sensed it!”
Clang!
The moment Cheonma shouted, I swiftly swung my hand wrapped in the energy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art toward the right. Thankfully, I managed to detect the presence immediately and block it without any issues.
“…We’re getting close.”
I looked at the object that had bounced off my hand and smirked. It was a single dagger in rather poor condition. Its unique blade resembled a fang, paired with a rough leather grip. And at the end of the string attached to it, Cheonma immediately recognized who the owner of this dagger was.
-This is a weapon used by kobolds.
“We must be nearing our destination.”
-Indeed. If what you said is true, that alchemist should be somewhere around here.
Whoosh.
‘It’s progressing a bit faster than I expected?’
Another dagger flew from the same direction the previous one had come from. This time, however, there weren’t just one—there were five. And unlike before, the creatures that had thrown the weapons now revealed themselves.
Rustle.
“…Looks like I won’t even need to go find them. They’re coming to me first.”
-What kind of deep thoughts would a mere beast filled only with instinct and hostility toward humans have? Just clean them up quickly.
A pack of kobolds had appeared before us. The fact that they were already moving in a coordinated group suggested their progress was higher than I had anticipated.
Shhhhh.
I picked up the dagger I had deflected earlier and wrapped it in the energy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. The blade gradually began to turn pitch black. In that state, I lightly swung it toward the creatures.
Swoosh!
“Kyaaak!”
“Krrk?!”
“Kaak!”
Black sword strikes shot out from the blade. The kobolds that couldn’t dodge were instantly sliced in half and died on the spot.
“Kyaaak!”
“Two with that last strike. Controlling it is a bit tricky.”
-That’s because you’re using a dagger. Since it’s different from the weapons you usually use, naturally the handling method must change as well.
Maybe because I didn’t usually favor daggers, they didn’t feel very familiar in my hand.
Swoosh, slash!
“Kyaaaaak…!”
“Well, against kobolds, it’s not that difficult anyway.”
-If it were difficult, that would be a problem in itself.
I sent out a few more strikes and instantly shattered the kobold pack.
Crack.
“Ah.”
-The weapon couldn’t hold up.
The moment the battle ended, the dagger shattered. It simply couldn’t withstand the energy of the Heavenly Demon Divine Art. Was it because it was a weapon used by kobolds? I hadn’t even used it much, yet it was already gone.
“I need to control the power more quickly.”
My dedicated weapon was unusable because its durability was on the verge of breaking due to Cheonma’s presence. Creating a sword with the Heavenly Demon Divine Art was also impossible since my control wasn’t perfect yet and it would turn the surroundings into a mess. So I had no choice but to fight by infusing weapons with energy like this, but the downside was that weapons broke easily, just like what had happened.
‘If I don’t want to burn through money, I’ll have to work hard.’
“Kyaaak!”
Swoosh!
The moment my weapon disappeared, a kobold leaped at me from behind as if it had been waiting.
“You think I wouldn’t notice if you come from behind?”
Still, I had to give it credit for not joining the previous fight just to take me down alone. However, it had made the mistake of failing to properly conceal its presence. Well, expecting too much from a kobold was probably asking for too much.
If I didn’t have a weapon, I could just use my body as one. I extended my fingertips, wrapped them in the Heavenly Demon Divine Art, and struck the kobold down with a hand blade.
Splat.
Unfortunately, the attack caused the creature’s blood to spray everywhere at close range, staining my clothes.
“Ugh… the smell of blood.”
-I’m curious what kind of reaction people would have if you went down the mountain like this.
“They’d probably just assume I caught some kind of monster and move on.”
Of course, they wouldn’t try to get close to me.
“…Sniff sniff. Ugh! Master, can’t you do something about this smell with the Heavenly Demon Divine Art?”
-The Heavenly Demon Divine Art is a power specialized in destruction. Something like that would be better suited to the fox’s techniques using Ghostly Qi rather than me…
“…Ah.”
That’s right. Hoya had gone back. Of all times, she wasn’t here when I needed her most! I frowned at the familiar yet still nauseating metallic stench piercing my nose and continued walking.
‘At this point, I need to find him quickly and ask for help so I can at least wash up.’
Since kobolds had appeared here, there was probably a gate nearby. And that guy would be snooping around the area, investigating the gate.
-My disciple, was this originally an area where kobolds roamed?
“No. It seems they came out due to a naturally occurring gate.”
-Hmm, so it wasn’t a managed gate for breeding purposes. Then I could have just asked from the beginning. I misunderstood.
I froze in place at Cheonma’s words.
Wait, didn’t that sound like she had known the gate’s location from the very start?
“Master, did you know where the gate was?”
-Hm? I noticed it the moment we first climbed up here.
“No, I mean… why didn’t you tell me…?”
I asked, utterly dumbfounded. Then what about all the time I had wasted until now?
Cheonma, on the other hand, looked at me as if she couldn’t understand my question.
-Weren’t we looking for the alchemist?
At her words, I slapped my forehead with a loud smack.
Aaah, I hadn’t told Cheonma about the connection between the gate and the alchemist! This was clearly my fault for not properly sharing the information.
“Master. Then the gate’s location is…”
-Just go straight in the direction you’re looking and you’ll arrive.
At those words, I hurriedly dashed forward.
“We’re here.”
A bizarre, twisted distortion hung blatantly in the empty air. As I stared at the gate, I felt a strange pulling force emanating from it—something that didn’t exist in the game.
‘It’s not just my imagination…’
I had thought it might be a trick of the mind, but I really was sensing a pulling force around the gate. This was a real gate.
-My disciple, can you feel the density of the magic power spreading around the gate?
“Are you talking about this strange force that seems to be pulling everything around it?”
-Yes. The denser the magic power, the stronger it pulls its surroundings. You can also measure the gate’s danger level based on that density, so remember it well. The fact that it’s only pulling weakly enough that you wouldn’t notice unless you concentrated means the monsters inside are as weak as kobolds. If the monsters inside were stronger, the force you feel would increase accordingly.
I see. A new setting that didn’t exist in the game. My eyes sparkled with interest at the information regarding gates. I wondered what it would feel like near a gate with a dragon inside.
Ahem. Now then, time to take care of the reason I came here. After all, I hadn’t come to clear the gate—I had come to meet him, who was somewhere nearby.
Clack.
“Since you’ve been caught, why don’t you come out now?”
I thrust my sword toward the side of the gate in a threatening manner. The air rippled and tilted for a moment before a man wearing a robe appeared, scratching his head.
“…Well, it seems you had already noticed.”
His shabby appearance suggested he had spent several days outside. This man was exactly the reason I had come here.
“Another person coming to a place like this. How truly fascinating.”
Despite his disheveled looks, his eyes were as sharp as a bird of prey. With messy, ash-like gray hair and vibrant green eyes that seemed full of life—like fresh blades of grass that didn’t match his tired face—the man shook a small ampoule containing some kind of liquid and tapped the tip of the sword I was pointing at him.
“Could you put that sword away?”
“Before that, tell me who you are first.”
I already knew who he was. But that was only within the game. In reality, he and I were complete strangers. That’s why I deliberately showed the wariness one would have toward an unfamiliar person.
“Ah, then allow me to introduce myself first.”
He raised both hands as if he understood and revealed his identity.
“My name is Alkest Trimeus. I am a foolish alchemist who wanders the world in search of the impossible.”