Alchemy was a millenary art. Even in her previous life, it had taken Korelia years to fully understand it, or at least the theory.
Although she didn't consider herself an alchemist—after all, she was too rational to use those concepts, which was why she preferred terms like synergist or psychonaut.
Normally, alchemists were seen as men in black robes seeking the formula to achieve immortality by creating the philosopher's stone through rituals and human sacrifices, among other things.
But Korelia considered those interpretations useless; she didn't believe in material immortality. After all, matter corrupts and is destroyed; it's inevitable.
But she did believe that will could mold matter—the concept that nothing was real and everything was simply the observer's perception, chaos energy, as one might call it.
The tree never falls in the forest if no one observes it because there is no tree to begin with; with spiritual energy, this limit expanded even further.
Korelia, with the ability to grant herself authority, could transform spiritual energy into whatever she wanted, as long as her authority allowed it.
Authority over the waters, over the earth, over the air... etc.
But what if she chose a more powerful, more primordial authority? What if she chose an authority over time...?
Confused and dazed, Korelia found herself completely dizzy. It took her a few seconds to open her eyes, or perhaps it was minutes. She really didn't know what to think when she suddenly discovered she was completely chained up...
"What the hell, where am I? Did I teleport to a damn parallel dimension?" Korelia grunted, dumbfounded.
"Huh," she murmured in confusion when she realized she couldn't break free from her bindings. And just as she was looking at the gloomy surroundings...
"You could say that, girl. Parallel dimension is a good name for this place, though I suppose those fanatics have another term for it," a cold, hard voice replied.
Stunned, she turned around to suddenly see a tall figure dressed in amber yellow behind her, looking at her through the visor of his armor with cold eyes, laden with a cruelty beyond what any normal person could possibly show.
And at that moment, Korelia realized she was in the presence of a damn Elektrum warrior.
Welcome to Tesara
The Elektrum warrior's gaze was quite cold, like an icy blade digging into Korelia's head.
"S... sir, please don't hurt me, I haven't done anything wrong," Korelia whined with a terrified expression, while in her mind she was thinking of materializing a steel drill to drive into the warrior's eye if he showed the slightest sign of attacking her.
But nothing happened. An uncomfortable silence hung in the air for a long fifteen seconds before the warrior spoke.
"I don't intend to hurt you. My intention is to destroy the fanatics and protect the members of the Hegemony. That is my oath and my duty."
Unlike most Elektrum warriors, he didn't use a halberd, but a long sword similar to the bastard swords she had seen in her previous world.
"Yes, my lord, thank you very much. I am Korelia, youngest daughter of Garou Aime," she said hastily, trying to give a nervous bow to the tall warrior.
"I don't have a name. An Elektrum warrior does not need names. You can call me Decimus," the Elektrum warrior said indifferently. His mood was completely detached, and, confused, Korelia quickly asked:
"Sir, why did you tie me up? I..."
"I don't trust you, girl. If it weren't for how chaotic the situation is, I would have..."
But before he could finish speaking, his footsteps stopped when the deep darkness of these gloomy passageways ended, revealing a world as bright as it was dreamlike.
Giant dome-shaped buildings, glass houses, and hundred-colored streetlamps covered the entire city, while screens full of noise and confusing sounds filled the whole area.
And loudly and largely, heard everywhere and seen in all directions, was:
"Welcome to Tesara, the city of light, the city of opportunities. Welcome to the holy land of wealth and prosperity, welcome to the city of god."
Dazed, Korelia watched in surprise an image where beautiful landscapes, scenes of opulence, comforts, wines, and other objects dedicated to pleasure could be seen perfectly through projections.
Plus, of course, women. Dozens of images of scantily clad men and women were present everywhere, much to Korelia's distraction and stupefaction.
"What is this?" Korelia murmured in a daze.
Decimus remained silent for a moment as he seemed to evaluate the surroundings, and without answering, he simply moved forward in a seemingly random direction.
While she screamed in her mind, Is chivalry dead?, out loud she said something else:
"My Lord Decimus, what is happening? What has happened?" she said, fearful but curious inside, even though she didn't actually expect Decimus to speak.
"I don't know," the Elektrum hunter answered frankly, "but it's probably something caused by the followers of the Unique Temple," he commented indifferently.
"The cult..." Korelia said, feigning confusion, while internally surprised by Decimus's nonchalance in sharing that information with her.
Though perhaps his goal is to see if I act suspiciously, she thought.
"They are the fanatical followers of the corrupted remnants of the Sulfurs and the Quicksilvers," the warrior said indifferently as he kept walking.
Feigning terror and surprise, she cried out: "Weren't they just legends? Are they real?"
"Yes, unfortunately so," he said, giving Korelia a sideways glance. "The cult of the black sun is dead, but the race has continued to revive itself from time to time; after all, as long as the Aures and Argenteans keep falling into fanaticism and corruption, these creatures will continue to exist."
Korelia's mind at this point was racing a mile a minute as she pondered several questions, but one of them she needed to know: "And that voice? Was that a Quicksilver?"
"No," the golden warrior said in a sinister tone as he turned around. His gaze fixed coldly on Korelia's figure while the sword in his hand deformed onto itself, forming small saw blades like teeth to make cutting and tearing more efficient. "That was a vampire."
Suddenly the space exploded in a mist of red blood that pushed Korelia backward, as she watched in surprise a translucent, sickly figure of what looked to be a sort of mummified corpse.
"You, damn you, you dare harm my grand self!" roared the creature Decimus had called a vampire, while, to her surprise, Korelia observed a terrifying wound on the withered body of that corpse. Half of its body had been sliced open, but despite that, it kept complaining loudly and speaking haughtily against Decimus.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, the blood race has truly fallen low if you are their greatest exponent," the golden warrior said with disdain as he exploded with power, slamming the vampire's body directly against the ground.
Or so it seemed, when suddenly up and down inverted, the vampire's figure disappearing to appear once again above Decimus, this time with a blade formed from its own red blood to stab him.
"Dark blood sword," the vampire growled arrogantly. "This is not a place where you can act arrogant, damn mortal."
But before he could declare victory, Decimus's palladium armor suddenly deformed as dozens of golden spikes erected from his back, blocking the vampire's attack and impaling him in the air.
"You're not even a true member of the vampire race, which is why you're fucking around in this godforsaken place of the world, turning fools and arrogant people into Quicksilvers and Sulfurs."
"Ahhhh, you bastard!" the vampire shouted furiously, tearing his own flesh to free himself, but his screams of pain kept echoing as more palladium spikes drove into his flesh until the vampire let out one last scream laden with pain before turning to dust.
Turning around, Decimus looked coldly at the creature on the ground, while pulling from his belt, curiously enough, a small bottle with which he scattered an unknown liquid over what had been the vampire.
Although the entire previous clash seemed to have lasted an eternity, it had really lasted little more than a minute. Even Korelia couldn't help but praise the Elektrum warrior's dexterity with shining eyes.
If only I could steal that armor and his things... As she salivated at the thought, Decimus's attention suddenly fell on her again.
"Are you alright, Miss Korelia?" the golden warrior said respectfully as he bowed to her apologetically.
And at that point, if Korelia couldn't understand what was going on, then she wouldn't be worthy of the title of master.
"Do not worry, venerable one, you have not offended me, I was simply surprised by this series of events," she said in a bitter tone.
"Thank you for your kindness, miss. I will escort you outside this place, to the vicinity; this guy must not be the only one of his kind nearby, there are probably more..." he said in a more relaxed tone. "Besides, don't call me venerable. Having such a young and beautiful woman talk to me like that makes me feel old."
At this point, Decimus's attitude had taken a complete one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn, to the point that Korelia couldn't help but think that the rumors about Primus perhaps weren't just about him but about his entire retinue. The thought made her break out in a cold sweat, imagining a whole elite army of casanovas and womanizers.
"Don't worry, vene... er, Decimus. Though I didn't expect to meet a vampire," she said suddenly, looking with a certain nostalgia and disappointment at the spot where the dust of what used to be the vampire had fallen, feeling her expectations of this species as attractive figures from women's fantasies vanishing with the wind.
"You've heard of them? Well, although they are rare to see, the blood race has been around for some time, albeit as rumors and legends, so it's not unusual you've heard of them to some extent. Though many of their stories are distorted, especially regarding the identity of their founder, the Blood Monarch," Decimus commented. "But this bastard wasn't a full-fledged vampire, but rather a lesser vampire spawn."
"An energy vampire. If ordinary vampires are the lower class among the blood race, energy vampires are the slaves of the vampire race. They're known as scum among their own kind and despite everything, they are quite rare, at least this far from the northern continent, though it seems he wasn't alone."
At this point, Korelia was surprised to realize that Decimus was apparently quite a talkative man with a lot of charisma. Despite having moved through many social circles in her life, it was the first time she had met someone of the opposite sex who talked about interesting topics besides, of course, trying to get into her pants.
"Yes, energy vampires, unlike their superior versions, are practically more corpses than living beings. They prefer decomposed flesh and are scavengers. But their main characteristic, and the reason they get their name, is that they can feed on negative emotions and feelings. Although for that same reason, their appearance is quite starved and unpleasant to look at, besides having the ability to subtly manipulate people's emotions," Decimus commented in a light tone as they advanced through the area, surprisingly not encountering any danger for now. "Though honestly, I don't even know why these vermin exist; if you want something to devour people's energies and emotions, they already exist and they're called women, hahaha."
Laughing at his own bad joke, Decimus kept walking.
Meanwhile, a dumbfounded Korelia couldn't help but think that perhaps it would have been better if he had kept his serious and severe attitude. Unfortunately, she had no choice but to follow him.