CHAPTER 106— Alchemy City (12)
Seraphine's mind drifted backward, pulling her into the bittersweet memory of her childhood within the Ignis Estate.
"Now, execute Fire Fangs Tier 2," the private instructor's authoritative voice boomed across the courtyard as a young Seraphine lunged forward, thrusting her hand outward.
Fire Fangs 2.
Two massive, distinct fangs formed from crackling orange flames surged across the open courtyard, smashing squarely into the combat dummy and charring its upper half to a crisp black husk.
"Hah..." Seraphine pumped her fist in a burst of childish triumph, a proud smirk forming on her lips as she glanced up at the instructor, eagerly awaiting her score.
"Very good. The winner of this test is Serarix," the instructor announced plainly.
Seraphine's smile vanished. Her eyes went blank as she slowly turned her head to look at her older brother, whose spell had completely incinerated his target dummy into a pile of fine white ash.
'My brother... was always better than me.'
Another memory surfaced. Seraphine sat alone in the sprawling Red Garden of the Ignis Estate—a sanctuary cultivated exclusively with crimson flora gather from across the continent. She sat in the grass, tracing absent-minded circles in the dirt with a pout on her face.
"Hey, Sera!"
'Brother Rix...' Seraphine's heart gave a tight tug. She intentionally turned her face away, refusing to make eye contact.
"Are you still upset about the test? It was just a standard aptitude test, no need to sulk—"
"It's easy for you to sit there and say that because you always win," Seraphine snapped, her voice trembling with frustration.
"No matter how many hours I spend training in spellcasting, you always outclass me effortlessly. They call me a Superova-level talent, yet everyone constantly compares us and talks about how much more brilliant you are, even though you aren't even a Supernova!"
Sigh... Serarix let out a long breath, stepping closer and placing a gentle, grounding hand on his younger sister's shoulder.
"Hey, look at me. You possess a completely unique talent of your own. You've already reached orange flames, whereas I was still struggling with blue flames when I was your age."
"Hmph..." Seraphine stubbornly turned her head away again.
'Was that not convincing enough?' Serarix thought internally, a bead of nervous sweat trickling down his cheek.
"Listen to me. I know for an absolute fact that one day, you're going to grow so strong and surpass me to a point where I won't even be able to catch up to your shadow."
Seraphine's eyes snapped back, widening in surprise as she looked up at him. "Really?"
"Of course. It took me three years of brutal foundational training just to master beginner spell forms, but you're already naturally executing intermediate outputs I used to struggle with at your age. Everyone has their own things they excel at and if you keep working on the things you excel. you'll become better than anyone on it."
Serarix offered her a bright, unfiltered smile.
'Looking back.' Seraphine thought bitterly.
'I always thought my brother was just being absurd. He constantly downplayed his own extraordinary achievements just to coddle my own childish temper. And back then, I thought it was foolish. He should have been immensely proud of his own hard work instead of pretending to be less than he was just to comfort me.'
---
'Time went like that we both competed with each other in Ignis estate. Our private Instructor taught us both. Soon I broke through orange flames and reached red then finally crimson flames.'
"All right, let's test your raw fire output today," the instructor had instructed years later, standing with his usual professional posture.
Serarix stepped up to the line, extending his hand. He concentrated, unleashing a dense, rolling wave of crimson flames that swallowed the reinforced combat dummy whole.
When the fire cleared, the heavy dummy was roughly 79% charred, leaving only its reinforced metal support legs standing.
Serarix wiped the sweat from his brow, breathing heavily. 'Gosh this new dummy sure is tough.'
He turned around, a teasing grin on his face as he looked toward his sister. 'I wonder how my beloved little sister managed this round. Hopefully she doesn't throw another fit if her score is lower—'
Serarix froze dead in his tracks. His jaw dropped.
Even Seraphine was staring at her own hands in sheer disbelief. She hadn't cast a complex spell at all; she had simply released an uncompressed, wild burst of raw crimson flame. Where her dummy had stood, there wasn't even ash left—the stone flooring beneath it was glowing white-hot and melting into glass.
The instructor slowly walked over to the crater left behind, kneeling down and rubbing a finger through the scorched, melted earth before standing back up.
"Excellent."
'It was the first time that instructor had given me any complement in all these years of training.'
"Your raw fire power is quite amazing better then any fire mage I have ever seen."
Seraphine had lowered her head, a massive, triumphant smile spreading uncontrollably across her face.
'At that time I had finally found the one thing I was definitively better at than him.'
A soft, melancholic smile touched her lips in the present.
---
Years bled into years, and their training continued to evolve. Seraphine completely abandoned traditional spellcasting, pouring every ounce of her obsession, focus, and energy into maximizing her raw, destructive flame output.
"Hey, Sera... why did you stop attending the spellcasting classes?" her brother had asked her one afternoon.
"I don't need fancy spells to crush an opponent. My raw power is more than enough," she had answered back then with total conviction.
"Oh... is that so?" Serarix had simply smiled, never once pressuring her.
Then came that catastrophic, irreversible day.
Seraphine had been out in the private training yards, single-mindedly grinding her raw flame output as usual.
"Yo, Sera," her brother called out, walking over.
She paused, turning her head. "Brother Rix?"
"Still pouring everything into raw flames, huh?" he asked, crossing his arms.
"Yeah."
"Mm... you really should consider mixing in some spell utility training too, just as a fallback."
"You know I don't need it."
"Even so, spells give you tactical options, raw power can't always solve—"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Seraphine dismissed him with a casual wave of her hand, turning back toward her target.
Only after glancing at him closely did she finally notice his attire. He wasn't wearing his standard training leathers; he was dressed in travel attire. "Wait, where are you even heading looking like that?"
"Oh, I'm heading out to meet Alokik."
"Alo—you mean that Alkhecist friend you're always talking about?"
"It's alchemist, And yeah, I'm going to catch up with him. I'll be back soon."
"Alright... goodbye. Have a safe trip,"
Seraphine had called out lazily, giving him a brief wave of her hand.
'I always wonder... why didn't I force him to stay? If I had possessed even a shred of foresight about what was coming, I would have physically chained him to the estate.'
'Because my brother did come back, exactly as he promised... but...'
Seraphine's chest tightened as the memory shifted to her brother's lifeless body lying cold inside an ornate polished-wood coffin.
Her eyes had been blown wide, tears streaming uncontrollably down her cheeks in a relentless, blinding flood.
Her brother's corpse bore horrific thermal burns, as though he had been caught directly in the epicenter of a catastrophic explosion.
"We offer our most profound apologies for this unimaginable tragedy. A vicious terrorist launched an unprovoked strike on the GAA campus, and many innocent lives were extinguished in the crossfire. We understand the loss of house ignis young master is even greater then them, so as official delegates of Alchemy City, we have brought whatever compensations we could muster to offer the House of Ignis..."
The formal delegates from Alchemy City had bowed low, their voices echoing hollowly in the estate hall. "We offer our deepest condolences—"
"AAAHHH—!"
The delegates froze in sheer terror as they hit the floor. A colossal wall of raging, crimson flames erupted from the floorboards, scorching the air inches above their heads.
The terrified estate maids scrambled back, struggling frantically to hold Seraphine down as wild, untamed flames spiraled around her arms. Her eyes were bloodshot and overflowing with hot tears, radiating a feral, murderous intent capable of tearing the room apart.
"WHICH BASTARD DID THIS?! WHO THE HELL DID THIS TO MY BROTHER?!"
Seraphine's agonizing scream had chilled the delegates straight to their souls.
"W-we don't know yet! Alchemy City's security division is still investigating the perpetrators behind the assault!" the delegates had stammered, shaking in absolute terror.
Seraphine had bitten her lower lip so hard it bled, watching the blood drip down her chin as hot tears carved tracks through the soot on her cheeks.
'I will hunt that bastard down. Whoever did this to my brother... I will burn them down to their absolute last cellular trace.'
---
SCREEEEECH—
The high-speed express train ground to a heavy halt, releasing a loud hiss of pneumatic brakes.
Seraphine, who had been leaning her forehead against the cool glass window, softly fluttered her eyes open. She sat up straight, rubbing her tired eyes with the back of her hand.
"Are you finally awake?" Selene asked gently, offering a soft, comforting smile. "You were sleeping so soundly the entire second half of the trip."
"I wasn't sleeping. I was just resting my eyes," Seraphine deflected stubbornly.
Selene merely chuckled, choosing not to press the issue.
Seraphine looked across the compartment aisle. Sitting in the opposite row were Rowan, Sarina, and Ritvik, all quietly gathering their respective belongings.
"Looks like we've finally arrived," Rowan announced.
One by one, the trio stood up and began filing out toward the carriage exit. Seraphine and Selene gathered their things, standing up to follow them off the train.
'So... I'm back in this wretched city again.'
Seraphine thought, stepping out onto the bustling platform of the Alchemy City transit terminal. Her gaze locked onto the horizon, her eyes burning with cold, unyielding resolve.
'This time, I am not leaving until I avenge my brother.'
With that solemn vow carved into her heart, Seraphine stepped forward, plunging back into the heart of Alchemy City.
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CHAPTER ENDS