Emperor's Reckoning

The crackles of his soul flame brought about an eerie sensation to their ears. It was blazingly white, all the way up to his shoulder. Flaming, waving, dancing— he evidently lit up the dome by himself, competing with the bright sun.

"Hm?" Cecile raised her brows before she smiled. "Interesting."

"Is that his soul flame..." Tamuh muttered. His eyelids refused to refresh his vision as his thought crashed into nothingness. He had never seen anything like it before, it was one of a kind. He may have over a thousand students but none of them had what Lyon had.

"I-Incredible," muttered Lumina as she had her eyes widened. She had never thought that foolish swordsman then would have something like this under his sleeves.

Elise proudly smirked. "You want to see my student right? Well feast your eyes Tamuh, compare him to the thousands of students that you have!"

"Tch!" Tamuh clicked his tongue in a contemptuous way. "Don't get too cocky Elise. He might have a special soul flame, but it worth nothing if he can't concoct a single pill." (Besides, what absurd abnormality! Can he really control that beast of a fire?).

Malaqa and her wrinkled eyes were having a slight tension exercise due to Lyon's brightness. The soul flame might just be at the base level, but the sheer size and wild demeanor it brought out were otherworldly.

She let out a bright grin. "That's something new, but can you maintain it?"

"Huh?" Lyon raised his brows. "Maintain this state?"

Malaqa nodded before she averted her glance to the rest of them. "This is the first test for you rookies. Activate your soul flame!"

The other three immediately snapped out of their astonished look and answered. "Yes!"

They activated their soul flames immediately as ordered. The white soul flame covered their palms but in comparison to the fourth rookie, they seemed like child flames at best.

"This is the first round, hold that state until I say it's done," said Malaqa with a smile.

"What? There is no exact time?" asked Lyon.

The three rookies were surprised by his daring question. Elder Malaqa was one of the prominent figures in Alchemy Union, talking back to her was out of the question. Yet the daring youth seemed not to care at all.

"Hmm? Is there a problem?" asked Malaqa as she raised her eyebrows with an add-on smirk. "Or are you not up to the challenge?"

"Ooh~" Kesya grinned. "You don't see that every day."

Lyon smirked. "Alright, I'll play your game."

Malaqa nodded with a smile, "Good." She turned her glance toward the only alchemist on the testing ground. She put her hands behind her back as she calmly approached Renduval.

"I must say, you sure do look like your grandfather when he was young," said Malaqa as her eyes softened.

"T-Thank you," said Renduval nervously.

"You're relentless," said Malaqa, "Just like him."

Renduval nodded nervously whilst his eyes didn't dare to meet her.

"Are you confident in passing the test?" asked Malaqa.

"I-I am," answered Renduval with a nod.

Malaqa frowned. "You don't seem to be."

"S-Sorry, w-with elder around, it can't be helped," said Renduval.

"Renduval, you'll be fine," said Lyon before he patted his back with a slam.

Renduval loud thock against his back was heard by the entire people in the dome and his figure was pushed due to the force of it. He moved forward a couple of steps before turning around in retaliation with his face. "You!"

"What?" Lyon crossed his arms and smirked.

"Oh? You can move around even after activating your soul flame?" uttered Malaqa in surprise.

"A-Amazing!" said Cherie. "I've never thought young master Lyon would be able to walk with ease like that!"

Hilde was speechless. The unfathomable man that came from the Mortal World had become incomprehensible.

Tamuh was shocked as well as Elise was. He had guessed that Lyon was probably just an entry-level alchemist wannabe, he never thought that he would have such talent. "Drawing out the soul flame is already a task that not everyone is able to do, let alone maintain it and walk around."

Tamuh looked at Elise with a frown. "What did you teach him?"

Elise was astonished as his but the question that the latter asked made her shift her expression. She leered at Tamuh, "Something that you can't teach."

(This little bitch!) Tamuh had the veins inside his cheeks popped as he clenched his jaws.

The three rookies were looking at Lyon with their eyes bulging out of their sockets. They hardly maintained their form and breathing, but the young man nonchalantly walked around and chat.

"Huh?" Lyon raised his brows, "Is this something amazing?"

Renduval was speechless at Lyon's oblivious knowledge. He did something that was unreal for rookies but doesn't know about it.

"It is," answered Malaqa with a smile. "For someone that's highly unfamiliar with alchemy, this is quite a feat. Not everyone could do it."

"Really?" Lyon snorted with a smile before he turned to the three other rookies. "Hey, you guys can't walk?"

"Kh!" The rookies were hardly able to speak a word let alone walk like him without care.

"Heh," Lyon crossed his arms as he smirked. "You should have stretched your muscles as I did."

The three rookies had their blood rushing to their throats. They were the ones that mocked him just before, now, Lyon was the one mocking them back. Stretching the muscle had no direct link to one's performance in regards to alchemy art, but the situation did.

"Heh, losers," said Lyon without a shred of mercy.

Cecile smiled as she shook her head. "He might not show it at first, but when the opportunity opened itself, he straight with no hesitation."

"He might not show it, but he always holds the grudge, it will be just a matter of time before the opportunity presents itself," muttered Kesya with a grin. "That's why he is so fun to watch."