Sidney was seated on his bed, it'd been three days since Ronda and Veronica had talked to him, and he'd been mostly alone the whole time.Spike and Viking occasionally dropped by, but he turned them away a lot of the time. Partially due to their excessive noise and trying to set off explosions and test out new gizmos in his room, but mainly because he was deep in thought.Take a risk with the enhancements, or stay natural but walk on thin ice, it was a decision he still hadn't made.On the one hand, enhancements would solve his current problem and put him at ease, but there were a lot of factors involved.Ronda said that his body would adapt to the poison, but wasn't it purely because his body failed to adapt to his new Channel spell that he ended up in a worse state than he was?But on the other hand, if he took the natural route, things would be even more hectic. His body was extensively damaged after all, and he'd been bedridden—and would stay bedridden—for days.And he'd had time
"The procedure will take a week," said Ronda. Sidney was laid on a bed in a room separate from the dragon's den.Surrounding them, all over the walls, in shelves, and by the bed he laid on, were potions and tools of different calibers.Potions, runes, talismans, so many different things were at the disposal of Ronda, in each and every direction."A week?" Asked Sidney, "I'll work you through the process," said Ronda."Your bones are going to be replaced with enhanced alchemy infused bones, or rather, I'll be enhancing your current bones with alchemy infused ones," said Ronda."Enhancing? Not replacing?" Sidney asked, confused. "It would be easier to tear out your bones and stick in new ones, but the danger of doing that and the extensive recovery time would be unbearable and bad to say the least, however, carefully injecting a certain fluid into your bones and slowly changing them from the inside would be more effective and faster, though a lot more painful," said Ronda.Sidney looked
In a different portion of the forest, a certain group trekked through the woods, with a woman leading them all.Miss Kayla took the lead, her steps cautious and graceful, yet firm, her hair packed, and her eyes sharp.Trailing behind her were all three boys, Jake, Henry, and Williams. Jake wore an unbothered expression, Henry as well, however the same couldn't be said for Williams.He seemed to be tripping over every tree root and rock in his way, and more times than not, ran into Henry or Jake.As the four trekked through the forest, Williams caught his leg on one of said exposed roots and fell over, falling flat on his face."Ow!" He groaned, the group stopped, Jake in particular had an irritated look on his face, "damn it Williams, this is the twenty sixth branch you've tripped on!" He yelled."Normally I'd stand up for you but he's right, this is getting pretty annoying," said Henry as he walked over to him."You three should hurry up, we'll be almost there. The night's almost her
"The students that are moles?" Asked Henry, "yes, Williams story just helped us figure that out," said Kayla."What were the names of the students that approached you?" Asked Kayla, "Oh... I-it was..." As Williams spoke, Miss Kayla pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down the names of the students, along with something else.When she was done, she drew an alchemy return circle on the floor and dropped the piece of paper into it."Williams," she turned to him, "on behalf of both me and Jake, I'm truly sorry for how we've treated you," said Miss Kayla as she bowed her head.Williams looked at her a bit shocked, and so did Henry. Jake on the other hand just lowered his head, not turning to face anyone."I'm ashamed of myself not only as a teacher, but as an individual for putting you through all what I set Jake up to do. Please don't hold any ill feelings towards him, everything was my doing!" Said Kayla."N-n-no, you d-don't have to a-a-apologize—" "But I do!" Kayla said with determin
The day was bright, it was early in the morning. The birds were singing, the sound of river flowing accompanied their song, it was the symphony of nature.Amidst all this were footsteps, filling up the ambience. Jake, Williams, and Henry were all walking in the forest, making sure that their steps weren't heard.They'd been training heavily for the last two weeks under the guidance of Miss Kayla. After that night, they'd trained their bodies, and worked on their alchemy, with heavy emphasis on Williams.Jake hadn't spoken much to them during that night that he'd heard Williams and Henry's back stories, he'd been really distant, but he'd been working hard and seemed focused as well.Williams and Henry were a tad worried, but they were focused on the task at hand and had been working hard as well.Right now, it was the day that Miss Kayla had been preparing them for. She'd spent those two weeks tracking their movements and gathering information.Now that she had all the info she needed,
Illuminated by their alchemy sticks, Henry and Jake walked through the dark cave, seeing no further than three meters from them.Both of them walked slowly and quietly, making sure not to make any unnecessary noise as they moved.The eerie dripping of water in the cave seemed like the only company they had... That, and the swarm of bats that had flown out of the cave not too long after they'd entered.The further inside they went, the more and more tense the air got. Jake took a step forward, and his foot seemed to sink into the floor."Shit!" He thought as he began gathering mana, "Henry, booby trap!" He yelled before slamming both his hands together."Gale burst!!!" He yelled as a huge gust of wind erupted from all around him, blowing dense and fast air all around him all at once.In the same instant, Henry slammed his hands into the floor. "Hibernation!" Instantly huge pillars of ice erupted from the floor all around him, surrounding him in a thick layer of ice.A millisecond after
"We're here to save you," Jake repeated as he took a step towards the kids. During the whole ordeal, the children watched Jake and Henry come down from the ceiling and defeat the men that were just beating them in a single hit.Whether it was because they were too scared to think straight, or because they simply didn't believe them, the children retreated from Jake.Jake and Henry stood in front of the kids with confused looks on their faces. "It's alright now guys, we're here to save you guys," said Jake as he stretched out a hand."No!" One of the children screamed as he covered his head and began crying. All the other children huddled even closer with tears flowing from their eyes."P-please," one of the girls said as she slowly hugged her fellow captives close, "d-don't kill us," she cried.Watching all the children shudder at the mere sight of them, Jake and Henry stood in shock looking at them."These kids... Can't they see we're here to save them?" Said Jake in a soft and empat
"I'm not gonna stutter," said Williams, "I'm n-not—argh!!" He cursed lightly and oddly nicely as he threw a stone off the top of the cave.He was sitting on top of the cave, on a huge rock that arched over the edge of the cave, causing it to resemble a cliff."That was supposed to be it! I was supposed to say ten sentences in a row without stuttering, and of course I messed up on the seventh line," thought Williams as he tossed another rock.He let out a heavy sigh, "remember what Henry said... Say whatever it is you want to say in your head first a couple times," thought Williams.He sat quietly for a moment before speaking, "I'm not gonna stutter. I'm not gonna stutter. I'm not gonna stutter. I'm not gonna stutter. I'm not gonna stutter. I'm not gonna stutter. I'm not gonna stutter. I'm not gonna s-stutter—dang it!!!" He yelled as he tossed another rock."That damned seventh line..." He thought, as he threw another rock. He sat silently, alone, on a cliff above the cave. Certain tho
With the pact made amongst one another, talks about the ORA continued, and eventually everyone started sharing their experiences specifically with them.One-way or the other, it eventually divulged into a topic of backstorues, making all the students share details of their transformations during the search for Sidney and Earl.They all were glad to hear that Williams lost his stutter. Hearing his back story and what happened to him only lit a fire in their hearts concerning the ORA.They'd hated them deeply already, but to think they'd take advantage of abandoned children like that... It reminded them that there was nothing the ORA weren't willing to do for their goal.Giving them all the more reason to train and become strong enough to fight them and take them down.Henry revealed the promise he made with his village elder, and everyone showed their support, especially Crystal and Ruby.Earl, Sidney, Annie, and Ruby never knew anything about this, and how could they? Henry was always
Jake laid down on his back, completely shocked silent. He watched Earl distinguished the attack he would've hit Jake with, before smiling and saying the words, "I win."It took a moment for Jake to realise it, but he'd lost the match. The final match in the mini tournament that they were holding, he'd lost that match. He'd lost to Earl.He was completely shocked by the whole thing. The moment he and Earl's fists collided, he felt the brunt of Earl's attack send him flying backwards, and he saw Earl fly off too.But it seemed Earl either recovered insanely quickly, or Jake was thrown a lot harder by Earl's attack than he would've liked to think he did.Before he knew it, Earl was standing over him with an attack ready to be launched straight at him.For some reason his mind went back to when they were kids, back when he'd bully Earl, call him names, and always boss his around because he was stronger than he was.He then remembered the fight that happened back in the entrance exams, the
"Flaming lotus!" Said Earl. "Vortex!" Said Jake. "Whoa!" Said Sidney, "what the hell are those moves?" He asked. "I don't know... But this is getting fun," said Crystal.Both Crystal and Sidney knew that Earl was going to lose the contest no matter what. It didn't really matter what happened when it came to him, he'd already lost two matches, nothing could make up for that now.However the situation for Jake was different. If he won, he would 'officially' be the strongest soon to be second year student in the entire school.Earl wasn't fighting to win, or at least not to win the current mini tournament they were all having. He was fighting for his pride, he was fighting to win and prove himself.Jake was fighting for the same reason. For the longest time he'd been on top of Earl when it came to power and fighting prowess. Ever since Earl got his alchemy, he'd been growing extremely fast, but he still hadn't been able to beat Jake once.This fight wasn't just for the title of strongest
As the smoke cleared from the battle fought, on the floor was Jake and Sidney, both with satisfied looks on their faces.Earl and Crystal had their mouths held open in complete shock. They had a feeling the match would end quickly, but not in one attack.Both of them had their mouths held open in complete and utter shock and confusion. Crystal slowly turned to look and Earl, and Earl slowly turned to look at Crystal."That was..." Said Earl, "... So cool," said Crystal. Their shocked expressions slowly turned into huge smiles."Those guys are crazy," laughed Crystal. "I know right... They're even crazier than I am," said Earl with a huge smile on his face.Both of them hopped down from the training dummies and made their way over to the middle of the training grounds.Sidney and Jake were both huffing and puffing on the floor, breathing heavily. Blood ran down the side of both their faces."Wh-what... are we gonna... do now?" Said Jake. "What do you mean?" Said Sidney, "I won that fig
The explosion was large and huge, far bigger than what anyone was expecting. Not Jake, not Sidney, not Crystal, not Earl.However as the dust slowly settled, the aftermath came into view. The dome of crystals that Crystal had made to protect herself from Earl's attack was shattered to pieces, with only a few stems of crystals sticking out of the ground.Earl was standing there, with his hand held out, and with dust all over him. He began coughing as he waved his hand in front of his face, trying to clear away the dust.It didn't work very well. Earl opened one eye, looking at the place where Crystal was supposed to be. The dust hadn't cleared up, and as a result, he hadn't seen her to confirm she was down.'On second thought, maybe I used way too much firepower,' thought Earl, 'I hope she's okay,' he thought to himself.As he looked down into where she was once—the shattered dome of crystals, he saw a silhouette, one that closely resembled Crystal. It wasn't moving, and it was laid d
Sidney was there, holding himself up using nothing but one of his hands, and with a crystal spike not too far away from his throat, he accepted whole heartedly that he lost the fight."I can win her in close quarters combat," said Crystal. "That's probably what you were thinking right?" She smiled. Sidney couldn't help but see the irony of the whole situation.He'd known that the Lloyd's were stronger than normal, but he'd put his hopes in his enhanced body holding out. And it was the right call at the end. He bet on himself and won.His enhanced body proved strong enough to withstand the 100% force of the Lloyd's, but what he'd misjudged was Crystal's battle iq.She waited for the instant his hand made contact with the floor and picked her moment to strike perfectly.As Sidney remained upside down, he dispersed the mana he'd gathered in his throat, allowing the tiny alchemy circle to show itself.A mouth came out from the alchemy circle, biting repeatedly like a pair of jittering tee
Earl was panting on the floor, pinned down by a butt load of straw, which doubled as the other end of Sidney's arm.Earl messed up. He'd let the curious side of him out too much, egging Sidney on to press on the offensive. This was what ultimately caused his failure. Earl hadn't even shown all the tricks he had up his sleeve. But to be fair, neither had Sidney, both men had simply fought, and one ended up being the winner.Earl didn't feel bad in the slightest though. The thrill of fighting Sidney for the first time left him with a smile on his face."That's the match!!!" Yelled Jake, "Sidney wins, and Earl loses!" He added. "You're amazing, Sid," said Earl, wide grin on his face as he remained pinned down. Sidney reverted back to normal, the straw dissipated.He walked over and held out his hand, "that was a lot harder than I expected," he smiled. Earl grabbed his hand, Sidney pulled him up."So you can like, transform into Gy now?" Asked Earl. "It's a new spell I got," said Sidney
Chapters 225: A winner, Earl Vs SidneyCrystal still stayed in shock as she slowly turned her head around to see Jake. He had most likely used his wind to slow his fall so that when he landed next to her it would sound like he was farther away.She was still completely capable of fighting. They'd only just started the fight after all, and she hadn't shown all she had to offer, but the fight was already over.If this was a real fight to the death, he would've lopped off her head in that moment. Perhaps she was just overconfident before, but she'd been sloppy in her first match.No, she couldn't even make herself think she would've done better. There were still two people she would fight later, she could show more of her power then.As for now? She'd totally lost. A smile sat on her face. "Whoa... You weren't playing around," said Crystal. "I kept your face in tact, now you can seduce Henry another time without worrying about how pretty you are," Jake smirked."You think I'm pretty?" As
The rules of the mini-tournament were clear enough for everyone to follow. Whoever won the most battles would be the winner, and the ones who lost the most would be the fourth strongest.Though it wasn't completely official, it was still going to be had. The four of them knew that the difference in power between them would most likely be miniscule at best.Crystal was a natural talent, and she came from the family of the Lloyds, known for being incredible combatants. She was bound to be one of the strongest in the school from birth alone. Jake was the epitome of hard work. Luck was on his side from the beginning, so he was something of a big fish in a small pond.But now that he'd been introduced to the river, he still held his own. Wind alchemy wasn't seen as something incredible or noteworthy by most, but Jake had changed that fact in the minds of the students.He'd held his own as one of the strongest people amongst them, and he didn't look like he would stop growing anytime soon