PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

Taking the next ingot and the next medicinal herb, Sasha frowned. The medicinal herb this time had a strong corrosive essence, and the metal was even denser and heavier than before. A quick guess told Sasha that this particular metal would require extreme temperatures to reach its point of smelting, which would be difficult to achieve without even affecting the medicinal plant.

Though Qiqi didn’t explain it, Sasha guessed that if she corroded the metal instead of melting it, that would mean disqualification, so she had to melt this metal ingot while preventing even the slightest trace of the corrosive plant essence fell on it.

Following Sasha’s will, the fire rose under her oven expanded its petals, and burned with greater intensity. The temperature was so high that the oven itself began to change color, barely being able to tolerate the temperature. At the same time, tendrils of barely warm fire carefully wrapped around the medicinal plant, creating a cocoon.

When she was sure that the cocoon had formed without any problem, Sasha poured in even more mana and increased the temperature even more. It took her a couple of seconds, but the metal ingot finally yielded to Sasha’s blazing fire, which was lucky since the furnace couldn’t handle a higher temperature.

The process was lengthy, but Sasha stood her ground, keeping a strong grip on the fire in the oven. Eventually, the ingot completely melted down, and Sasha got the go-ahead to continue.

Relieved, Sasha lowered the temperature and opened the cocoon of fire that held the herb. Seeing the grass mostly intact, someone gave Sasha a thumbs up, declaring that she had made it to the next step.

Even before taking an ingot or a medicinal herb, Sasha already looked worried and tired. Sasha wasn’t naive enough to believe that the test was going to get any easier and that the last part had already taken almost everything she had to complete. Now, Sasha was wondering if it would be necessary to turn her ace up her sleeve.

Before Sasha could make up her mind, a loud whistle interrupted her stream of thoughts, followed by Qiqi’s voice. “Looks like we have the contestants for the next round.”

.....

Confused, Sasha pulled her attention away from the furnace in front of her and looked around her only to realize that, indeed, half of the participants had already burned their medicinal plants while trying to melt down the metal ingots.

In addition to looking at those who had been disqualified, Sasha also looked at the best alchemists in the place and saw that those people were one step ahead of her in the test. Although that didn’t give her rivals extra points, Sasha felt competitive about it, perhaps because she wanted to show the world that the alchemy skills she learned from her beloved teacher wouldn’t lose to anyone.

Without Qiqi needing to utter a word, members of the tournament staff came over and escorted the losers out. Other than one rebel refusing to accept the results, only to be subdued and kicked out of the venue, nothing of note occurred and the remaining contestants were given a chance to rest.

“You did pretty well.” Ai Zuling’s voice came from behind Sasha.

Sasha turned around and nodded politely before answering. “I did my best, but I was still a step behind the best. I will try to do better in the following tests.”

Ai Zuling didn’t take Sasha’s words very seriously, she herself had helped Sasha progress so she knew better than anyone that Sasha could have done much better if she had used her Ace up her sleeve from the beginning. “I am sure that you will surprise me and the audience.”

Hearing Ai Zuling’s words, Sasha looked in the direction of the audience, seeking and finding Desmond’s face on the balcony. It only took a pair of eyes to realize that Sasha was looking with love and passion at Desmond and Ai Zuling certainly had eyes.

Ai Zuling looked at Desmond for a moment before recognizing him. A distant memory of nights of passion, nothing more and nothing less. Ai Zuling looked at those memories calmly before letting them pass; she had a different life now, which included a good husband; she was not interested in looking back.

As Ai Zuling and Sasha were lost in thought, a person silently approached them. It wasn’t until the person spoke that both girls realized her proximity to them and it was none other than the alchemist nicknamed Sublime Lotus. “You guys are tough opponents, I won’t lose.” The girl said in a flat voice before leaving.

Sasha and Ai Zuling exchanged a glance, almost as if wondering which of them knew the masked girl, but it seemed that neither of them knew her. Before both of them thought about the matter further, Qiqi called the contestants to announce the next round.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the first round was about fire and control, the next round is about refinement and wisdom.”

Staff members brought on this occasion different cauldrons full of strange substances. In addition to cauldrons of suspicious-looking unknown substances, tournament staff also brought in small work tables and filled them with jars of unmarked and unnumbered herbs.

Once things were in place, Qiqi explained. “This task consists of two parts. The first involves the cauldrons given to each of you. These cauldrons contain an unfinished alchemical mixture, your job is to finish it. Here’s the catch, you don’t know what the mixture is in the cauldron, much less what the missing part is, neither in the ingredients nor in the refining steps. Your task is to identify the mixture and its faults and correct them.

That is where the second part comes in. On their work tables, you will find jars and jars of herbs and unmarked ingredients, it will be their task to use your knowledge, senses, and instincts to identify the herbs you need to complete the mixture.

Of the sixteen remaining people, the only ones who seemed calm even now after such an explanation of such a difficult test, were Sasha, Ai Zuling, and Sublime Lotus. Even the oldest and most experienced alchemists did not feel one hundred percent sure that they could accomplish the task.

“Oh, one last detail. This is a race against time, only the first eight to complete the test will advance to the next and final round.” Qiqi said as if she was trying to fan the flames.

In this part, the tournament became less spectacular than in the previous round. Here there was no fire show or anything like that, but a bunch of people concentrated smelling, feeling, and tasting ingredients to complete a concoction; it was frankly quite boring.

Luckily for those who were dying of boredom, things got interesting when someone accidentally added a poisonous herb to the mix thinking it was another herb that was very similar to the previous one. The cloud of poisonous smoke that came out of the cauldron caused the alchemist in question to vomit non-stop in a humiliating and embarrassing way in front of the entire public.

The next person to fail was someone who misanalyzed the mix. Instead of adding a herb with a strong concentration of soft energy, as he needed, the alchemist added an herb with an aggressive and volatile nature. Unsurprisingly, that alchemist’s cauldron exploded in a rather spectacular fashion, covering the poor alchemist in soot and stinking remains.

Some of the mistakes weren’t that spectacular, but the ones entertained the thrill-seeking audience. Desmond and company did not enjoy the misfortune of others like the rest, they focused on Sasha and her progress.

For her part, Sasha was in her element. Although the denomination and exact characteristics of her race were a bit more special and specific, Sasha was essentially an elf, she could die of shame if she lost in a test related to identifying herbs and elements of nature.

Many didn’t even understand what Sasha was basing her decisions on during that round, as she barely seemed to taste the ingredients and formula in the cauldron. However, Sasha was, against many odds, the first to finish the second round of the alchemy tournament.

Just half a dozen seconds later, Sublime Lotus ended and two minutes later it was Ai Zuling’s turn. From then on, Sasha didn’t pay attention, at that moment, she only wanted to think about her rivals. Almost fifteen minutes passed since Sasha finished first, but the final eight were ready.

As soon as the final eight were completed, Qiqi stepped in again. “These are our finalists, let’s give them a round of applause, ladies and gentlemen. The events this year were less numerous than in other similar tournaments, but we have raised the difficulty of the events a lot, so these people deserve our respect just for having come this far.”