The Runic Alchemist

The moon wasn't visible, just as the sun wasn't during the day. The only difference between night and day here was a mere 10% drop in visibility. Damian wouldn't have even noticed the change if the soldiers guarding his cell hadn't informed him.

At first, Damian wondered why so many men were assigned to guard his cell, but as time passed, high-ranking individuals kept visiting him one after another to inquire and see him. Some wanted to make him their cup bearer, assuming he was just a petty thief caught on the way. Others wanted him as a bed warmer, while some even claimed he was their relative.

Very few knew what he had done and why he was here. Those few tried to negotiate with the knights in secret but were politely refused.

Damian couldn't sleep for long amidst the commotion, so he awaited the arrival of night, even though it was already dark enough to be considered night. Soon, the surroundings grew even darker, signaling that it was time to leave. The starless night sky was too dull to gaze upon anyway.

Once again, Damian was escorted, with the crowd parting as they walked, all eyes on him as he was dragged to the source of the most concentrated mana energy in the entire camp. Damian could already sense multiple high-level second-rankers and the most powerful mana signature—the third-ranker lady Vidalia.

With his experience with third-rankers, Damian knew she would be able to sense his abnormal mana quantity too, but only if he was directly in front of her.

His mana sense was a side effect of his [World Shaper Hands] skill, but it had proven far more valuable than most of his skills. To this day, he still didn't know what the [Lord's Authority] did.

The center of the camp was less crowded, with only high-ranking nobles and other important figures residing in larger, decorated tents bearing various house insignias. The most noticeable structure was a wooden building with multiple floors, matching the size of the library in Faerunia that Damian used to visit. This one, however, had three—no, four—floors.

A large insignia of House Eldorian, a grand tree with a glowing core crossed by two opposing stags guarding it with glowing antlers, adorned the building.

Wood style.

When would he get his hands on this thing? It was magnificent. If he didn't receive a death sentence today and was not forced to escape, Damian would definitely seek out this wood-style user and steal their spells. Lady Vidalia sure knew how to live in style. Many other one-story wooden structures were around for noble houses, but none compared to this one.

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At last, they reached the gorgeous temporary structure. All the soldiers and knights accompanying them were barred from entering. The elder Kiyama sister chose one of her best guard and Valoris, along with Damian, who was still in chains. Everyone around them who were also entering noticed the oddity and stole quick glances at him.

There wasn't a commotion, per se, but it was certainly not low-key as people murmured in their own groups of three.

The inside of the building was just as highly decorated as Damian had guessed it would be. Someone had indeed left no detail overlooked while creating this masterpiece. The seats of various lords and high knights were arranged for the special occasion in the middle of the giant hall. It had a slightly angular C shape, with the central platform elevated, reserved for the highest-ranking among them.

The middle seat was a highly decorated wooden throne-like chair, more beautiful than the other lords' chairs, though they were also quite splendid. All the seats were connected to the wooden floor, as if growing out of it, with a large table covering all the seats in the C shape, laden with various foods and drinks.

On one side of the hall were large wooden stairs leading to the upper floors, where Damian sensed the most powerful mana signature—on the third or fourth floor. People were gathered in the giant hall, talking in their own groups, with no one approaching the table or chairs.

Lady Kiyama, however, chose to move to one side of the hall with Valoris, Damian, and the knight, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible but failing miserably as a group of three men walked towards them with firm steps. The man in the middle, particularly handsome with rare dark purple hair and a military suit, looked especially dangerous.

Many had chosen to wear military suits around them, though most had come in their best casual clothes, with some fur added on top. Damian was also made to look somewhat presentable, having been given a small white shirt and breeches his size's from somewhere in this camp which was placed in the middle of nowhere.

Damian wasn't a fan of dressing up in fancy clothes, but looking a bit civilized wouldn't hurt his chances of appearing innocent now.

Valoris and his sister both wore fancy noble attire with shirts, coats, and stylish boots. This world was all kinds of strange—they didn't have enough food, yet they had magically crafted premium clothes; they lacked basic antibiotics for diseases but had advanced healing spells for injuries.

The purple-haired man in his mid-20s was a second-ranker, not just any second-ranker, but the best of the best. Lady Kiyama and Valoris instantly covered Damian and exchanged pleasantries with the dangerous man.

"Why is he still alive, Kiyama?" the purple-haired man asked in a gruff voice cutting them off mid sentence, glaring at Valoris, his eyes glinting a slight silver in the artificial light.

"Lord Aramis, please calm down. This is why we've brought him here—for Lady Vidalia to pass judgment," Valoris reasoned, looking a bit nervous.

Damian could understand his situation. This man was likely to be the next lord of Pyron, and their house would have to serve his. They couldn't afford to show any disrespect here.

"My, my, what have we here? Are my eyes deceiving me, or am I seeing cute little boys in here? Or is it just a fantasy of mine? How shameful..." A melodious voice chimed in, grabbing everyone's attention.

The newcomer was a man in very peculiar, bold stylish clothes, with two beautiful women on each arm matching in his ridiculousness. He smiled while looking at Damian and the rest as if he knew all their dirty little secrets. Damian could see this was a red flag from a distance. The man was lean, built like a male ballerina, with a very confusing but somehow graceful walking style.

"Lord Tristan, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance this fine evening," said Lady Kiyama.

"Oh, my dear Makayla, Why must you use such titles and create distance between me and your beautiful wild beauty?"

'What the hell.. Where was this going?'

Damian couldn't tell what the others felt, but Lady Kiyama had a slight twitch of her eye, revealing her annoyance at being called "wild beauty." Damian couldn't help but chuckle, once again drawing unnecessary attention. What the hell was he thinking?

"So, who is this fine gentleman, and why is he in chains?" asked the peculiar newcomer, Lord Tristan.

Despite his strange fashion choices, he was no ordinary man. He was also a second-ranker and matched Lord Aramis Viranil in mana quantity. But it wasn't just about levels—he seemed to be a mage, and a very gifted one at that. Matching a max-level second-ranker in mana was no small feat.

Even with Damian's huge mana pool, which was just shy of 40% compared to normal second-rankers, he was nothing in front of these two monsters. And that wasn't all—Damian sensed multiple other people like them in the giant hall.

"He's my brother's killer. If you're done with your games, go away, Tristan. This is personal," said Lord Aramis in his signature dangerous gruff voice.

Damian was seriously reconsidering what he had gotten himself into here. The stare-down between the two peak-level second-rankers was making everyone around them nervous, but fortunately, it didn't last long. Suddenly, the murmuring and chattering all around stopped, and everyone looked at the stairs as Lady Vidalia, with her two other Queen's Knight guards, made her way down to the hall.

Once she was down, she glanced at the gathered crowd and nodded slowly, making her way to the throne-like chair on the elevated platform. Everyone bowed and then followed her, finding seats suitable to their status among the gathered big shots.

The elder Kiyama sibling seated herself at the very end of the table, while the knight and Valoris held Damian's chain and stood behind her. All the knights who had come with their lords were stand behind them as well. Damian, on the other hand, was completely lost, overwhelmed by the intense yet calming, peaceful, and pure abundance of mana that Lady Vidalia of House Eldorian possessed.

It was just so full of life and vitality, like a fresh spring in its full bloom.