Mika 031 (Patreon)

Yan was almost squirming as they walked back to the inn. Mika made a note of the behaviour, and once they were safe within a room, Mika finally tilted his head. 

“Are you sure we should have spent so much?” They had made so much money from all the potions, and yet they had spent pretty much everything they had made. 

“Money is to be spent,” Mika said. 

“Yes, but…” Elder Yan rubbed his forehead, worried. “We have a large target painted on our back.”

“That we do.”

“Why did we want to do something like that?”

Mika smiled. He could understand the Elder’s worry, after all, they did just openly declare war against pretty much every main family in the city by spending so much money and bidding against them.

The third day had similarly to the first two days. They had bought up half the inventory of the last day, flaunting their near limitless wealth. They continued to buy various armours and weapons for Mika. Of course, even Tara was getting a little nervous, so they calmed down near the end. Whenever the City Lord, the Chen family, or the Leone family bid, they would keep their wallets closed. 

Elder Yan, who held a confident demeanour the entire time, was much less enthusiastic now. The danger had become so much more present. 

“It’s simple. I wanted to know who we could build relations with, and who we should be careful of. We managed to do that. We also wanted to make sure every family in the city understood that we were rich, but we were also more than happy to make dealings with them.”

“What about the Leone family? You were awfully nice to them as well.”

Mika smiled. “I just so happened to like the Patriarch’s character.” He leaned back in the carriage. “Plus, it was nice to see senior sister Tara squirm.” He smirked wide. “She realised she had let quite the greedy pair of dragons run rampant.”

Yan was wondering just where he got all his courage from. “What are your plans for all those weapons?”

“I’ll inscribe them with runes. My brothers should be happy with the Iron Grade gear, so I’ll gift it to them. Once we’re finally ready to rank up, I’ll upgrade them.”

Mika opened his eyes and then looked to Yan. “It seems we have company,” he said, handing over a handful of pills to the Elder.

“What?”

It was then the carriage came to a halt, and the auction guards began to confront the enemy. There were four auction guards, two at Base Steel, and two are Forged Bronze. They were fairly powerful, but their enemies were four Base Steel. 

Mika nodded to the Elder, who stepped out. He looked out to watch the fight, seeing the two Forged Bronze guards struggling against the enemy.

“So you’ve finally come out, Alchemist!” A large man with a giant axe growled out to him, grinning wildly. He was like a bull, with long black hair which fell down to his shoulders. He wore a full set of High Bronze Grade items, though his axe was Steel Grade.

“I am here,” Yan said, placing his together within his sleeves. 

“This one, Lone, asks that you give up all your items and the Elder will be left alone.”

Yan sighed. “It seems that you’ve come for all the treasure I have in my possession. Is your life really so cheap?”

“What does a crippled Alchemist have to say to me?” He roared with laughter. “Do you think you’re able to resist us?”

“Elder Yan, take the young Alchemist and escape. We’ll be able to handle these scum!” The Base Steel guard was ready to fight to the death. The four had been assigned to protect the Elder, and it seemed this would be their last message.

“You shouldn’t be in such a hurry to die,” Yan said. “You’re still young.” 

“Hah! Looks like the Alchemist is smarter than he looks.”

“Yet you’re much stupider,” Yan said. He tossed out four potions into the air towards the four guards. “You should drink them.” 

The guards caught the potions with ease and then quickly swallowed down the potions, feeling their bodies fill with strength. Even the Base Steel guards could feel an overwhelming sense of strength. 

“Damn it! Get them!” Lone charged forward like a raging bull, swinging his axe wildly. 

The Base Steel guard, a woman, caught his axe with her spear with ease. Lone was surprised, but she was even more surprise. “…”

“What?” Lone stared down in surprise. 

“The potions do not last long, so please do make it quick,” Yan said, bowing his head slightly. 

“Attack!” The woman quickly spun her spear around and used her technique. “Flowing Fire, Spear of Heart!” Flames engulfed all along her spear as she spun it and then she thrust it forward. 

“Balding Rock, Wild Axe!” Lone grabbed his axe with both hands and his axe met her spear, the fire unable to flow further forward as his technique stopped it in its track, though didn’t dissipate it. 

The woman smiled. Lone could feel his muscles straight at the effort of keeping her at bay. ‘Just what did that Alchemist give this bitch?’

“Flowing Fire, Spear of Mind!” The fire all around her then formed atop onto her forehead, forming a small ball. All the fire concentrated into a tiny little bead. 

“Shit!” Lone grit his teeth. “Balding Ro-” It was too late.

The fire shot out, waves of ki and fire emanating from the pair as the tiny beam of fire struck his face, causing his entire head to engulf. A pained scream filled the air as the man let go of his axe, losing his strength quickly as he dropped down, clawing at the fire across his head. 

The other guards had felt a similar level of strength surging through their bodies. The other Base Steel guard managed to dispatch his own foe with ease, cutting through their High Bronze Grade equipment, his sword forcing itself through their heart.

The Forged Bronze guards were having more trouble, swinging wildly as their opponents faced them, but even they understood something was wrong.

Even if they were slightly boosted by a Boost potion, it shouldn’t have closed the gap so much. 

“These bastards are tough!”

“We need to run!”

It was only when they heard the pained screaming that they noticed the other two Base Steel companions had been killed. 

The other two Base Steel guards leapt into the fray as well, causing them to curse as they fell, meeting their demise from a sure win, to a most devastating loss. 

Elder Yan took all their belongings into his spatial ring as the guards watched in utter shock and surprise. “Ehm.” Yan cleared his throat. “The four of you did well in managing to defeat the assailants. We Alchemists were frozen in shock and were unable to deal with the situation. Luckily, the items you possessed allowed you to deal with them effectively.” 

“…”

‘Wasn’t it because of your potion we were able to deal with them?’

Elder Yan smiled innocently. “How fortunate we were. Why don’t you take their weapons since you defeated them? I will see what’s in their rings to see who they could have been.”

“R-right…” The Steel guard bowed her head, her brow full of sweat. Her body felt drained after the fight, the Boost potion took away much of their strength so they were vulnerable for a moment. “We’ll stop for an hour and rest to restore our strength.”

“No need,” Elder Yan said, tossing each of them a couple of pills. “Take the blue pill first, and once it’s half refined, swallow the red pill.” Yan left into the carriage.

The guards followed the Elder Alchemist’s instructions, feeling their strength rapidly return to them. 

‘Alchemists are scary…’

They continued along the road, facing six more enemies on the way, but it ended up the same way. 

“Tegros?” Elder Yan asked.

“Perhaps,” Mika said. “We offended a great many people and I’m sure many others realised that we had a number of items. Unlike the other families, we have to head back to our town, and so are more vulnerable.”

“Unlike other families, we also possess a much greater weapon than they could even imagine.” 

Mika smiled. “Thank you,” Mika said, glad that Elder Yan thought so. “I’ll be sure to show you all my other abilities, one day.”

“I’d rather not. I’m not sure I can keep all of those secrets to my grave.”

“You have no choice in the matter.” Mika smiled innocently, even though he had threatened the Elder.

‘What have I gotten myself into?’

“At least we’ve made back some money through all these rings. They don’t really have anything I’m interested in.” Mika took a few items tossed the rings to the Elder, taking a few items for himself. There were a few gold coins, as well as a few minor treasures which could be used by their weaker Alchemists.

When they arrived at the gates in the late evening, they turned to the auction guards. 

“Thank you for your assistance,” Yan said, bowing his head slightly.

“It’s no bother at all, Elder.” The woman returned the bow. “It was our honour.”

“Please take these,” Elder Yan handed each guard a bottle of pills, as well an extra one. “For the good niece.”

“We can’t possibly accept.” 

“You won’t accept my good intentions?” Elder Yan asked, still smiling innocently.

The guard retreated. “No, definitely nothing like that. If you insist, then I thank you on behalf of our Auction Hall.” She bowed to him.

“No matter,” he said, waving his head as they left, heading through the streets. 

“I should head back home for now,” Mika said. “I’m sure my sister misses me.”

“I have noticed that the pair of you are quite close.”

“She’s taken good care of me, so I have to take good care of her too.”

Elder Yan smiled. “If only my children were as close as the two of you are.”

“Are they distant?”

“Not quite distant, but certainly more troublesome than the two of you.”

“Are you sure your children are more troublesome than me?”

“…”