The Mage of Primordial Chaos

The receptionist girl was dubious, but she led me to an empty area regardless, in the back of the bank. It was a large room, brightly lit by white lights. The entrance to this place was like a bigger version of a combination lock even taller than I was, which meant this place was a safe vault.

"Um… could you show the treasure here?" She asked. "If this is still not big enough, then I don't know what will be…"

"Uh… this should be big enough?" I shrugged. "Probably, anyway. Though… I would recommend stepping outside, unless you want to get crushed."

"E-Eh? Um… okay."

The receptionist stepped out of the massive vault room, and I moved in front of her. Then, taking off my necklace (my Space Locket), I dumped all the mordai in it into the room.

The receptionist's jaws dropped.

Her eyes followed as more and more mordai fell out of my necklace's pendant, falling onto the floor. Because the entrance of the Space Locket was so small, however, draining it all took… quite long. And, uh, standing here was quite awkward.

A good fifteen minutes of pure silence later, all the mordai was finally drained. And the entire vault… well. It was filled up completely, with only a few cubic centimeters' worth of room to spare. 

"…" The receptionist's mouth still hang agape, even as I slipped my Space Locket back around my neck. 

"Go ahead and check the authenticity on each one. But uh, if each one is $150,000…"

"H-H-H-Hold on… let me process this information…" The receptionist gulped. "I can't make a decision this huge myself… for now, please stay here, I will speak to my manag-"

"Uh, actually, I have something to do in about ten minutes," I said. "Is it fine if I come back later?"

"O-Of course! E-Erm, the manager is in a meeting right now, so for now, here is my business card!" 

She hurriedly pulled out a small card from her breast pocket and handed it to me. I took it and skimmed over it.

Hm… Mi Fangyao? I'll remember that name.

"Do I just leave all this stuff here, or…"

"Yes, don't worry! It is safe here in this vault," the receptionist—Mi Fangyao—confirmed with a few hasty nods. "We do close at 6 PM today though, so please do try to come before then if you can… if not, we open again tomorrow morning at 8."

"Got it," I replied. "I'll see you later, then."

"R-Right! See you, valuable guest!"

*****

After exiting the bank, I turned to the way I had came from and took a deep breath.

"Alright… now then…"

Steadily, I began heading for the AAA Headquarters, where the supposed alchemy competition was going to be held. When I arrived, I found that the crowd had grown even more, spanning nearly the entire wide street, and the noise could be compared to that of a riot. Soon, however, everyone fell quiet as the building's doors slid open, and an elderly man along with two younger servant girls stepped out.

Clearing his throat, he used Sound Magic to amplify his voice, and spread his arms.

"Welcome, everyone, to the annual Ascended Alchemist Association Alchemy Competition. This competition will contain a series of tasks, both written and practical, that will test your knowledge and skills in the field of alchemy. Should you pass, you will be granted the golden opportunity of becoming a registered alchemist with us, and in addition, the top-ranking individuals will receive additional rewards. Is that clear?"

The crowd nodded, signaling that they understood.

"Good," the man said in response. "Now, I shall begin explaining the details of the competition. First, you will all be graded based on points. Depending on your performance in each task, you will be allotted a certain amount of points. By the end of the competition, the person with the most points will not only obtain riches and recognition, but also receive the opportunity to become a direct disciple of the AAA's best, top grandmaster, and the best alchemist in the whole world—Grandmaster Qian."

I blinked. Grandmaster Qian? Does he… have a connection to Qian Hua, somehow?

"Hm… interesting," I muttered under my breath.

"Now, without further ado, please line up in an orderly fashion and enter the building!" The man declared. "Everyone is allowed to participate, as long as you pay the entry fee of $5!"

Immediately, the crowd formed into one orderly line. As this was Fragment, people were civilized enough to not fight over spots. Everyone here were from well-established families and were quite talented. One could tell they were wealthy just based on their clothes. Compared to them, I… well, I was in the Yharnav armor set I had obtained from the Death Realm, so I stood out. Not in a good way.

Still, apart from the confused and wary glances I was receiving, no one made an effort to actually talk with me or make any rude comments. I was used to this anyway, so it didn't affect me at all.

Very soon, it was my turn to reach the entrance. There, the old man scanned me up and down with a raised eyebrow, then hesitantly held out his hand.

"… Entrance fee, please."

He had just said everyone could enter, so no matter how I looked, he couldn't reject me. I took out a 5 dollar bill from my Space Locket (I stored everything in there) and handed it to the man. It was a bit crumpled, but whatever.

The old man nodded, signaling I was good to go. I headed inside and found the enormous chamber filled with low-lying desks. The young men and women from outside earlier were seated cross-legged, one person at each table. The desks were empty for now, but they wouldn't stay that way for long.

I found an empty seat near the back of the room—in the corner, as usual. I had a strange affection for corners. They made me feel comfortable. Once there, I waited patiently, ignoring all the stares I was getting. I closed my eyes and relaxed-

… Not.

A girl sat down at the desk next to me, eyes closed. She had brilliant light blue hair similar to Lan Xiao Su's, and a striking cool beauty. She seemed to notice me staring at her, however, and opened one eye closely. It was a beautiful light lavender, almost like grey.

"… Do you, need, something?"

"… I could ask the same thing to you," I said. "There are tons of other seats all around. Why sit here, next to me?"

"I like, this spot. Is there, a problem?"

I decided not to comment on her unusual method of speaking, and instead just turn away.

"… No. I just prefer to be isolated, that's all."

"Hm."

The girl turned away as well, and it was then that I noticed the stares at me intensify. Now, they were murmuring.

"D-Did the young lady of the Zhao Family just talk to someone…?"

"Impossible… she never speaks a word, even to her own parents!"

"No one even knows her name apart from her own mother and father!"

… Huh? The young lady of the Zhao Family?

I turned to the girl beside me once again.

This is her…? And she never talks, apparently…? What is going on…

"Master," Lorelei suddenly said from inside my mind. "According to her soul, this girl is interested in you."

What? 'Interested?' As in…

"No," Lorelei corrected. "Not in the romantic sense… but she does seem to be sensitive to alchemy. She feels a strange power coming from you—that is also why she chose to sit here, and speak to you when she never does to anyone else. In other words… she wishes to witness your abilities first-hand."

Hm… I see. But since she wants to see my abilities so much… I'm going to go ahead and pretend to be as normal as possible. I don't know what she wants to do to me after seeing my powers, and I'd really rather not get caught up in anything… troublesome.

Wait… she doesn't have Psychic Magic, right?

"No, master. Lorelei can confirm she is not reading your mind."

Thank god…

Soon, the room filled up one by one. The line outside, though, did not seem to get any shorter. Random passerby on the streets who saw the commotion would join just to try their luck, even if they had never done alchemy before or didn't even know what alchemy was.

Obviously, though, the AAA couldn't accommodate everyone. The spots were filled up to the brim, and anyone who didn't manage to get one was out of luck. They were promptly asked to leave, and as dejected as they were, there was nothing they could do.

After that, the two girl servants following the old man shut the front doors, and the old man himself calmly walked to the end of the room, standing before everyone.

"Once again, I welcome you all to the competition. You are lucky to have received this opportunity—many people, like those outside, were denied this chance. Do not waste it."

Then, snapping his fingers, several more servants suddenly flooded out from the sides of the rooms, and set down a variety of herbs and other alchemic components down on the desks.

"Now then… let the tests begin."