The Runic Alchemist

"Excuse me, I have an urgent matter to attend to, give me a moment to think..." Damian said hurriedly, walking briskly toward the open window on what appeared to be the third floor. Without waiting for their replies, he jumped out, using Vidalia's vine spell. Muttering random words, he conjured far fewer vines than Vidalia to match his mana, extending them like ropes to hold in place at the window. Explore more at m,v l'e-m|p| y r

He landed safely below, startling a maid who was passing nearby below going on her own way.

Damian rushed toward the camp's entrance, moving so quickly it was nearly running. People noticed him, calling out various things as he passed, but he ignored them all. When he finally neared the three mana signatures he had sensed, his legs gave out, and he froze, staring at the group. Two soldiers from the perimeter guard duty were accompanying them.

They were chatting among themselves when Yovan's eyes fell on Damian. His hand trembled slightly as he pointed at him, his mouth unable to form words. The others followed his gaze and found Damian just standing there, frozen.

Damian could not figure out what he should say or what kind of expressions he should be making, but he didn't have to think for long. A blur of movement rushed toward him, crashing into him, hugging him tightly. It was Sam. Damian, finally calming a little, awkwardly returned the hug.

They didn't look much different from how Damian remembered, but their mana and aura had changed entirely. They now felt like seasoned warriors—especially Einar and Sam. Their mana was much sharper and more distinct, their auras considerably colder, hinting at how many lives they must have taken.

"What the hell!?"

"MAXIMUS!!"

"You're still alive! Thank the gods..."

All three exclaimed at once, the other two also surrounding Damian, giving him no room to breathe. Damian smiled faintly and gently pried Sam off him—surprisingly, the guy had a really strong grip, far stronger than before. As he finally freed himself, Damian noticed something odd about Sam's face.

"Weren't your eyes green? How are they bright blue now?"

Sam grinned mischievously. Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, he raised his hand between them. Suddenly, bright blue veins emerged from his forearm, followed by a small electric spark in his palm. Damian's eyes widened, freezing him in place once again.

"You... You learned to control it?" Damian whispered, his voice louder than intended.

"Hehe..." Sam smirked, nodding smugly, as if saying praise me more peasant. His hands rested on his hips, brimming with pride.

Damian, chuckling, pushed him back, grabbing him by the face, then turned to the others.

"I can hardly recognize you guys... What kind of monsters did you fight?"

"No monsters, just people," Einar said with a sad smile.

"And how the hell are you here? We heard you went missing in battle or something!" Yovan exclaimed, grabbing Damian's shoulders and shaking him.

"It's a long story…"

Damian continued chatting with the three as he led them to Tristan's place to let them relax from whatever harrowing journey they had endured. Tristan had told Damian to come by whenever he wanted and treat the building like his own, so Damian didn't hesitate. The maids and guards recognized him, offering them food and preparing a place for them to rest, even going so far as to prepare baths.

They spent several hours afterward talking in Damian's room. They even quickly went out to find the cousins, Mira also freed them from their duties with a smile so the six could finally reunite. They shared stories of what had happened to them—what they had done, seen, and endured.

They showed Damian their army badges, which displayed in their status windows a count of how many enemies they had killed and their ranks. Damian was astonished by the numbers—they had likely killed more people than he ever had. It was terrifying to consider, given their age. No wonder people were so messed up in this world.

Especially Sam and Einar. Their mundane casualty counts alone reached the hundreds. And Sam's badge displayed more first-rank kills than Einar's. Huh..? Einar had a family name—Einar Larven. Damian didn't comment on it, though, and neither did anyone else.

It wasn't their business.

As always, Damian never told them the whole truth—only the parts that were acceptable to this world and made sense to them. He didn't mention being chained to Vidalia or fighting third-rankers. He simply said that he had been punished, helped in the fight against the Ashenvale forces, and used his mana-sensing skill to track enemies down for them.

That much was acceptable; everyone already knew about his senses by now anyway.

Sam unlocking his lightning was incredible news, though. He didn't talk about it much being in the group and all, it was already good enough of them that they did not ask questions. They had already seen Sam create lightning sparks before, and since he couldn't perform regular magic, it was self-evident that he was an Esper. They had probably figured that out by now on their own.

"Alright, you guys must be exhausted. Get some rest. I've got a few things to take care of," Damian said, getting up. "You two coming?" he asked the cousins.

"Nope. My head's killing me—I need a week's worth of sleep," Jorven said.

"Yeah, I'm sleeping too, now that you've got us out," Geldric added.

"Alright, go rest in your room. The maids should have beds prepared by now." Damian waved them off and left the building.

Even though Damian had the urge to leave immediately, Sam and the others had just arrived, having survived a grueling journey. They needed time to recuperate before heading out again, if they planned to come at all. Einar had his own goals, and Yovan was here to join the army and earn credit.

With Damian's agreement with Vidalia lasting at least two days before the counter-attack, he decided to handle the enemy-sensing job on the camp perimeter for now.

He could choose two items from the list for that, and although Sam could earn the lightning sword himself with how much he had already accomplished, it was better to get it early. Damian also had his eyes on a few things, especially the Sacrium metal, the advanced spell book, and that space-time mage's journal.

If he could get his hands on those, he could learn some epic new spells—and more than just learn them, he could mold them to suit his needs. Along the way, maybe he'd finally have a chance to really understand the mysterious runes he kept drawing.