Chapter 101: The Alchemists' Guild

The name of Thomas had been famous ever since Roland first entered Port Academy. He was one of the academy’s two peerless geniuses of the past thousand years, having reached the rank of a seventh-rank mage and graduated before the age of thirty. Later, Roland even heard that before he became a necromancer, Thomas had been the only necromancer the academy had produced in a thousand years.

Recently, when Roland went to the Maya Mountains and entered the Temple of Mysius, he had once again found traces of Thomas. Thomas was the one who had passed the first and second trials in succession, and who had come perilously close to clearing the third. If he had succeeded in that third trial back then, the later Mysius treasure would have had nothing to do with Roland at all.

And now, hearing that Thomas’s apprentice in potion alchemy, Anthony, was actually attending the same academy as he was, Roland could not help but sigh at the marvels of fate.

“Anthony and Princess Nancy are both in the sixth year. Their cultivation speed may not be as famous as Victoria’s or yours and mine, but in the field of potion alchemy, they are both well-known figures. Especially Anthony—word is that he has already become a member of the Alchemy Guild!” Simone said.

“The Alchemy Guild?” Roland suddenly recalled how, when he had wanted to check whether the herbs for refining a seven-star potion—reviving grass and sword fruit—were available, Big Brother Mallet had suggested investigating the three great alchemy guilds, since their medicinal materials were the most comprehensive. Hearing Simone mention it again, he could not help asking, “The Alchemy Guild must be huge, right? I’ve heard it has a very complete stock of medicinal materials?”

Seeing that Roland, despite beating him so effortlessly in potion alchemy, was clearly already a fairly capable potion alchemist yet knew nothing about this colossus of the alchemy world, Simone could only feel speechless. “I really don’t know what kind of master taught you potion alchemy. How could he not tell you even the most basic information about the alchemy world?”

Roland scratched his head a little awkwardly. His alchemy teacher, Mysius from ten thousand years ago—setting aside whether there even was an Alchemy Guild in that era—had spent so little time with him that they were either doing one trial or another. How could there have been any spare time to explain all this?

Seeing Roland, who had just utterly crushed him in potion alchemy, now showing such a sheepish expression, Simone felt a strange sense of satisfaction. He immediately straightened his posture and began explaining like a teacher, “The Alchemy Guild is an enormous organization on the Aragon Continent. Although it does not have many members, its influence ranks only below divine authority and imperial power!”

“The reason, of course, is the guild’s many high-level alchemists, those who can turn decay into miracle. Almost all the continent’s top alchemists belong to this organization. It was founded shortly after Emperor Aragon established the empire and unified the continent, but later, as the Aragon Empire split apart, the organization was divided as well.”

“Only after the Church of Light formed the Light Alliance led by our Europan Empire, and the Church of Darkness formed the Dark Alliance led by the Rouen Empire, and a smaller Aragon Empire was re-established, did the current three-way balance of power come into being.”

“The Light Alliance, the Dark Alliance, and the Aragon Empire each have their own Alchemy Guild. While competing with one another, they also cooperate to a certain extent. Although the original single guild has now become three, each of them still retains many of the rules that were in place when the first Alchemy Guild was founded. For example, if one wants to become a member of the Alchemy Guild, one’s alchemy must at least have reached the five-star level!”

After rattling off all this in one breath, Simone’s throat had gone somewhat dry, and he picked up his fruit wine and drank.

After hearing his explanation, Roland finally gained a rough understanding of this enormous organization. At the same time, he could not help sighing at the guild’s extraordinarily high threshold for admitting members. He was only at a low three-star level now; to reach five-star alchemy, he would still need to cross five or six ranks at the very least. And the higher potion alchemy climbed, the harder it became to refine anything. Although he did have some talent in potion alchemy, how long it would take him to reach that level was anyone’s guess. Yet Anthony had already achieved it, which had to mean that the man truly possessed formidable skill in potion alchemy.

“Do you know who the chairman of our Light Alliance’s Alchemy Guild is?” Simone set down his fruit wine with a faint smile that was not quite a smile.

Seeing that expression, Roland guessed that the man holding the office must be someone unusual. Thinking of it, he said, “Could it be your father, Master Cervantes?”

“Haha...” Simone could not help laughing. “You only got half of it right. My father does indeed work in the Alchemy Guild, but before his title as chairman, there has to be one more word: vice.”

“The vice-chairman of the Alchemy Guild? That’s already amazing!” Roland exclaimed. “So Master Cervantes’s alchemy must have reached a very high level, then?”

Hearing that question, a proud look flashed across Simone’s face. “Of course. My father’s alchemy has reached seven stars, and he has already stepped into the master tier. In the entire Aragon Continent, people like him are as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns!”

“Since Master Cervantes possesses such superb alchemical skill and is only the vice-chairman, then how high must the chairman’s alchemy be, and who is he?” Roland became interested. At this moment, he was extremely curious about the chairman.

At the mention of the chairman, that same faintly smiling expression appeared on Simone’s face again. “In fact, the chairman has already been mentioned by us just now. He is the teacher of Anthony, who has long been renowned in our Port Academy—Thomas!”

Thomas again. Now Roland understood why Simone had worn that expression earlier. He could not help asking, “Then... what level has Thomas’s alchemy reached?” In his view, Thomas must have obtained alchemical knowledge and potion formulas in the Hall of Mysius, which was why he had attained his present accomplishments. What Roland did not know was just how high Thomas’s alchemy had risen to, that he could actually surpass Master Cervantes and become chairman of the Alchemy Guild.

Simone shook his head with a wry smile. “Speaking of which, Thomas’s alchemy is actually not even as high as my father’s. He is only at the six-star level.”

“Could it be that the chairman of the Alchemy Guild is not chosen by whoever has the highest alchemy? Would a six-star alchemist be able to lead seven-star alchemists without anyone objecting? Or is it because Thomas holds an important post in the Church of Light, and that is why the chairman’s seat was given to him?” Roland voiced all the doubts in his heart.

“Although divine authority is far stronger than the Alchemy Guild, its hand does not reach quite that far. The chairman of the Alchemy Guild is decided entirely within the guild itself, and no one objects to Thomas holding that position as a six-star alchemist—including my father.”

“Oh? Why is that?” Roland grew even more puzzled.

Simone let out a long breath. “Because my father is a tool alchemist, while Thomas is a potion alchemist. In the Alchemy Guild there has been a rule passed down since ancient times: when the alchemy levels are the same, the chairman must be a potion alchemist. And if potion alchemists are ranked below tool alchemists or puppet alchemists, then unless the tool or puppet alchemist has reached nine stars, the chairman’s position still belongs to the potion alchemist!”

Roland was stunned by those words. He had always known that among the three major branches of alchemy, potion alchemy held the highest status, but he had never imagined that within the Alchemy Guild, the office of chairman so clearly displayed the standing of potion alchemists. In other words, there was only one circumstance under which a tool alchemist or puppet alchemist could serve as chairman: he had to be a nine-star alchemist, and there could be no potion alchemist who had reached that same level.

Listening to Simone tell him so much about the people and affairs of the alchemical world today, Roland, who had previously known nothing in this respect, benefited greatly. He immediately said, “Simone, thank you for telling me all this. How about this—I’ll tell you how to condense the undead space in return.”

Although they had wagered on it earlier, Simone was still his classmate. Taking so many things from him for nothing left Roland feeling a little uneasy. Besides, he was only sharing an idea. When he had first written down that concept and stored it in the academy archives, he had done so with the intention that others might use it as a reference.

“Roland, how could that be right? I lost the bet just now—how can you still repay me?” Simone said with exaggerated surprise.

“You little rascal, stop pretending. You went to such lengths just now to tell me all that. Wasn’t it because you had ideas about the method for condensing the undead space? Fine. Since you don’t want to hear it, I won’t say anything,” Roland teased.

The moment Simone heard that, he panicked and hurriedly said, “Roland, I’ve already talked until my mouth has gone dry several times. Do you know how hard this was for me? J-just tell me already!”