Emperor's Reckoning

Lyon furrowed his brows. He looked at the item presented and could notice right away that the item was an ingredient of some sort.

"A claw?" Lyon raised his brows, "I guess there is nothing but ingredients auctioned here."

"Well, it's called the Alchemy Union for something," said Kesya as she leaned back.

"That's true," Lyon nodded before he saw the blue-haired cultivator approach him in the middle of the auction.

This action called upon the pause of the atmosphere. Tension suddenly build up as Mavis, the young master of the Sky Clan, approached the mysterious azure alchemist.

Ning and Azleid furrowed their brows as their interest was taken along. (What is he up to?).

The auctioneer paused in the middle of her speech before Mavis quickly realized what was going on. He turned and smiled wryly, "Sorry, please don't mind me and continue."

"E-En," The auctioneer nodded before she resumed her sale pitch. "The next item is the claw of..."

Lyon looked at the smiling Mavis, "Is there something you want to say to me?"

Mavis smiled as he pulled the sit in front of Lyon and sat facing backward, "Brother, my name is Mavis."

"So I've heard," said Lyon as he nodded with a smile. He remembered how Mavis indirectly helped him with his situation, albeit it was unnecessary. The good gesture stayed in his mind, "My name is Lyon, and don't call me brother."

(That's weird) thought Mavis before he asked, "Then may I call you brother Lyon instead?"

"What do you want Mavis," asked Lyon as he sharpened his eyes.

"I just want to become friends with you," said Mavis with a smile, "I feel like we have this some sort of similarity, I'm positive that we will get along just fine."

The words out of his mouth brought the nearby cultivators and alchemists alike to turn their glances. Mavis was certainly a friendly type of a young master but they would have never thought that he would be the one taking the initiative of making a friend, furthermore to an unknown youth that dare to 'challenge' Red Lotus's overbearing lass.

"Oh no," responded Kesya as she giggled. "Young Master, you better make yourself uglier, the men are now charmed too!"

Lumina and Cecile chuckled over her words of jest.

Of course, the man in question twitched his lips and looked at Mavis—with his glabella pinched by his brows, "You swing that way?"

Mavis was taken back. His thin eyes actually opened and revealed his deep blue irises. However, his surprise was also shared by those that heard what Lyon had just said.

"No!" Mavis aggressively answered.

"Alright, calm down," said Lyon as he let out a sigh of relief before he heard someone in a distance saying.

"Aw, shucks."

Lyon raised his brows but not gonna look into who was uttering that disappointed expression.

"Sorry about that," said Mavis as he scratched his head. "I raised my tone unnecessarily."

Lyon shook his hand as he shook his head, "No problem."

"I've never met you before, brother Lyon," said Mavis. "And I'm a frequent prospective buyer here."

"Of course, you never meet me here, this is my first time here," said Lyon before he smirked. "And apparently, some of them didn't welcome me with the courtesy that I deserved." Lyon leered to Ning before averting his glance back to Mavis.

"Y-Yeah," Mavis scratched his head, "By the way, that insult you gave to that ass-kisser is really sharp hahaha!"

Lyon smiled as he shrugged. "I'm born with a sharp tongue."

"However, are you sure though?" asked Mavis as he straightened his back.

"Sure about what?" Lyon asked.

"Red Lotus is not easy to deal with," said Mavis as he shook his head.

"Easy is not impossible," Lyon casually said before he heard the auctioneer presenting the fourth item.

Mavis smiled wryly. He had never met such a daring young man. He knew only a handful of people that had the right to say that, but he was doubtful if Lyon was amongst those people.

"Tell me Mavis, which clan are you from?" asked Lyon before he jested. "I see the Teardrop clan got a teardrop paint, the Red Lotus is self-explanatory, but you? I see no ornaments that revealed your origin."

Mavis furrowed his brows. "You... don't know?"

"Should I?" asked Lyon with a smirk.

The crowd was stupefied. Mavis was well-known in Alchemy Union. He was among the famous young masters from Sixth Heaven. Even a man who grow up in a cave would have heard his name.

Mavis immediately looked at him in a different light. Mystery shrouded this unknown young man more and more. (I-Is that why he dares to face Red Lotus?)

"B-Brother Lyon," said Mavis as he furrowed his brows, "Y-You do know how powerful those two clans that you mentioned right?"

"Yes!" Hilde answered spontaneously. (He obviously doesn't know and doesn't want to know the gravity of the situation he is in! Why is Cecile not stopping him?! Do you guys literally have the power to face their wrath?!).

Mavis furrowed his brows. The answer didn't match Lyon's expression.

"Where are you from, Mavis?" asked Lyon as he clasped his hands and smiled.

(Are you serious...hehe) thought Mavis as he saw Lyon superseded him with his three generals sitting on the back row. The confident, the smug, the arrogance—they were all fusing into one body. (Can he really afford his situation?).

"I'm Mavis of Sky Clan," said Mavis as he smiled.

"Oh, the Sky Clan eh?" Cecile uttered with a smile.

(So you've heard of it?!) thought Mavis as he nodded at Cecile. "And, where are you guys from?"

Hilde immediately braced herself as she looked at Lyon. If he were to honestly answer the question, there is no doubt that Ning of Red Lotus would show her fangs without mercy. A fight would immediately break out and she would indefinitely be dragged into this hot mess.

However, as soon as Lyon opened his lips, he felt Cecile's hand on top of his. He glanced at her smile.

"The Sky Clan of the Sixth Heaven," said Cecile. "Your clan's history is really famous and iconic. Heralding from First Heaven, your clan strode its way to the Sixth Heaven, but the name was different when they start."

Mavis furrowed his brows before he smiled. His eyes were squinted no more as he looked at Cecile. "Everyone knows the story, but the last bits of your words. Only a few circles know about it."

Cecile smirked as she made herself comfortable. "Don't overthink too much about it, Mavis."

"Hehehe, after you said that, how can I not?" Mavis was wary.  The group seemed to be more than not ordinary. The auburn woman knew a soft secret that his clan had hidden for years. They could always deny the claim since there was hardly any proof, and it didn't even matter if the others believe it. However, the fact that she chose to spew that information meant that she was making a point—that was of her mysteriously powerful status.

He now knew that the group—at the very least the young man and the auburn woman was not someone he could easily mess with. If she knew those bits of a secret it was no wonder why they didn't cower against Red Lotus's overbearing lass.

"If she told you not to worry about it, then there is no need for you to worry, Mavis," said Lyon with a smile.

"Hehehe, brother Lyon, you are really interesting," said Mavis with a smile but his tapping feets revealed his nervousness.

"I clearly have something that you are waiting for!" said the auctioneer lady.

"Where are you from, brother Lyon," asked Mavis as he disregard that the majority of the prospective buyers stood up in awe.

"Where am I from?" Lyon smirked, "You should concern yourself with what the lady is selling, for now."

"That's! I knew it!" said one of the prospective buyers.

"Only one?! Damn! It's going to be a tight battle!"

"The Angush Pill!" presented the auctioneer lady.

Mavis's eyes widened before he stood up and turned. Meanwhile, Azleid and Ning were doing the same thing. They were all looking at the same thing. The three young prodigies coveted this one single item.

"Angush Pill?" Lyon crossed his arms as he raised one of his brows.

"You want to buy it?" asked Lumina. "You better be prepared, look at all these people."

"That is next to impossible," said Cecile as she shook her head. "Unless you use your underhanded tricks."

"Angush Pill... hmmm, they don't make that out of beef steak do they?" Lyon wondered before he swept his imagination away by shaking his head. "No need, it's just pills, we can always just make them if we have the ingredients."

"By we, you mean you, right?" Cecile grinned. "After all, out of all of us present, you are the alchemist."

Lyon opened his mouth but no words of refuting could he utter. "Damn it."