Last Gun Alchemist

Light Alchemy, Flame Alchemy, Wind Alchemy, Frost Alchemy, Earth Alchemy, and the other Nature Element Alchemy Paths are considered some of the strongest Alchemy Paths for a reason.

The same could be said for the Nature Paths practiced in other nations, even when those countries converted Essence into forms of energy completely different from Britannia’s Cognis.

One of their greatest advantages come from something quite simple.

The environment.

Nature Path Alchemists rarely have to worry as much about finding the basic resources required to ignite their Alchemy, since many of these resources already existed naturally around them. Earth surrounded them beneath their feet, wind moved through the atmosphere, light came from the sun and other sources, while water, frost, flame, and the other elements could be found or produced with far less preparation depending on the Alchemy Path.

Combat Path Alchemists don’t have that luxury.

They needed materials.

A lot of them.

Black Steel bars, normal Steel bars, Steel nuggets, Iron, Glass, and many other metals and manufactured resources that had to be bought and stockpiled beforehand, depending on the Alchemy Path being practiced.

And those materials didn’t simply appear out of nowhere.

Someone resources had to be mined first, then they had to be transported, refined, manufactured, shaped, and finally purchased by the Alchemist who intended to use them.

That alone made the Combat Paths expensive to maintain.

Then there was the Alchemy itself.

Combat Alchemy Circles often contained far more Alchemy Symbols because of the number of processes involved in converting raw materials into usable weapons or other combat creations.

Every additional process required calculation.

Every additional symbol required control.

And every additional stage demanded Cognis.

Because of that difference, Nature Path Alchemists generally had much better control over how much Cognis they needed to spend on a single Alchemy ignition, while a Combat Path Alchemist could consume a much greater amount of Cognis simply to complete one complicated creation.

But that didn’t mean Combat Alchemy was weak.

Far from it.

Its problem was growth.

The further an Alchemist advanced, the more complicated those problems became, and this difficulty in maintaining steady growth was one of the reasons many Combat Alchemy Families had gone generations without producing an Alchemist who surpassed the rank of Alchemist Scholar.

***

Ezra stared at the three threats standing before him.

His breathing was still heavy from the beating he had just received, while a thin line of blood remained at the corner of his mouth. Behind him, the tree he had crashed into carried a deep dent across its trunk, with cracks spreading through the bark from the force of the impact.

Ahead of him, Felix remained in a proper kneeling shooting position.

One knee rested against the forest floor while the Springfield M1903A sat firmly against his shoulder. His cheek remained close to the stock, one eye looking through the optic scope while the barrel stayed trained directly on Ezra.

There was no unnecessary movement from him.

He simply waited.

Tristin stood between the two other boys with a relaxed posture, the triumphant smile on his face showing just how confident he had become after watching Ezra get thrown through several trees.

And finally...

There was Gareth.

He calmly removed the empty magazines from his two Colt 1911s before inserting fresh ones.

Click.

Click.

He released both slides and briefly examined the pistols.

"These new pistols look really handy."

Tristin’s golden eyes moved toward the black-steel Colts in Gareth’s hands.

"Yeah."

Gareth raised the Colt in his left hand, turning it slightly as he examined the frame and grip.

"It has a nice grip, and the transition between movements feels smooth."

He lowered the pistol again, then his eyes settled on Ezra.

"Well then..."

Both Colts rose.

"Let’s end this."

Bang!

Clank!

Gareth had barely taken his first step when Ezra fired.

The Kel-Tec PMR-30 barked from his hand, sending a bullet directly toward the middle of Gareth’s face.

Gareth reacted immediately.

Instead of dodging, his right arm snapped upward.

The bullet struck the black-steel body of his Colt.

A metallic crack rang through the forest as sparks jumped from the weapon’s surface, forcing Gareth’s hand slightly backward.

The three boys looked toward Ezra.

He was standing again.

Slowly.

His legs weren’t completely steady, and the pain from Gareth’s earlier kick still burned through his abdomen, but he had forced himself back onto his feet.

"He’s resilient."

Tristin briefly glanced toward Felix.

Felix didn’t remove his eye from the scope.

"He’s just a trapped winter rat that refuses to go down."

His finger rested lightly against the trigger.

"He’s only looking to die."

Tristin raised his left hand toward Ezra.

The smugness returned to his face.

One of the six Light Blades responded instantly.

It vanished.

There was no normal movement for Ezra to follow.

One moment, the blade hovered within Tristin’s control.

The next moment, a streak of light crossed the battlefield so quickly that Ezra’s senses could barely register its approach.

But this time...

Ezra moved differently.

Clash!

A burst of golden sparks scattered toward the forest floor.

Tristin’s eyes widened.

He blocked it?

As the Light Blade entered Ezra’s range, Ezra had snapped the Kel-Tec upward, placing the black-steel body of the handgun directly in its path.

The two weapons collided.

The Light Blade was knocked slightly away.

Ezra didn’t stop there.

Almost in the same movement, he leaned sharply toward his right.

Gareth’s fist swept over him.

The Colt still held in Gareth’s hand cut through the air above Ezra’s head, missing his hair by only a small distance.

Ezra’s feet moved immediately, Cognis rushing through his legs.

His muscles tightened.

Then he burst out of the space between Gareth and the returning Light Blade.

Bang!

Felix fired.

Ezra’s sudden acceleration carried him away just before the sniper round reached his former position.

The bullet struck the ground and sent dirt spraying into the air.

From the first Light Blade reaching him, Gareth entering close range, and Felix firing from the rear, the entire exchange had happened within moments.

A Novice Alchemist trying to follow everything with ordinary sight would probably have lost track of at least half of it.

Ezra hit the ground in a roll.

His shoulder touched first.

He allowed his momentum to carry him across the dirt before planting one foot beneath himself and rising in the same smooth motion.

The instant his boot touched the ground, his hand entered his Space Bag.

A Desert Eagle appeared.

Instead of immediately aiming it, Ezra did something strange.

He dropped it.

At the same time, he released the Kel-Tec PMR-30 on his other hand.

Both handguns began falling toward the forest floor.

While Gareth was already moving.

He sprinted toward Ezra at full speed, bringing both Colts forward as he prepared to fire together.

Farther away, Felix adjusted his position by several degrees, carefully changing the angle of the Springfield so Gareth wouldn’t interfere with his line of fire.

Tristin’s golden eyes remained fixed on Ezra.

All three were preparing to attack again.

Ezra ignored them for the brief moment he needed.

Cognis flowed through his veins to both arms.

From his upper arms, it traveled toward his forearms, passed through his wrists, and finally reached his hands.

White Cognis streamed from the tips of his fingers.

It entered the black gloves he was wearing.

These weren’t the same gloves Ezra had worn before the practical test officially began.

They fit much closer to his hands, while the black material of the gloves still resembled leather from a distance, but its surface carried a slight metallic feel, and hidden beneath it were circuits that Ezra himself had designed.

His Cognis entered those circuits.

The white energy flowed through one channel after another like water traveling through narrow connected streams, gradually filling the entire pattern.

The moment the final circuit connected...

The tip of each glove’s index finger loosened.

A single black thread shot downward from each finger.

They moved quickly.

One reached the bottom of the Desert Eagle’s magazine.

The other caught the Kel-Tec PMR-30.

Neither handgun reached the ground.

Ezra raised his hands.

At the same moment...

Bang! Bang!

Gareth fired both Colts.

Bang!

Felix’s Springfield roared from farther behind him.

Three bullets converged on Ezra.

The black threads tightened.

Like stretched springs suddenly being released, both hanging firearms snapped upward.

The Desert Eagle flew perfectly into one hand and the Kel-Tec PMR-30 returned to the other.

Ezra stepped forward instead of retreating.

His body tilted.

The first Colt round passed beside his ribs, then he shifted his shoulder.

The second crossed behind him.

Felix’s sniper bullet remained.

Ezra raised the Kel-Tec.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

Three shots left the barrel in rapid succession, which weren’t fired randomly.

Each bullet was aimed toward the same side of Felix’s incoming sniper round.

The first struck near its right edge.

The second changed its direction further.

The third completed the deflection.

Clank!

The sniper round was knocked away from Ezra’s body.

Before the sound of the collision had completely faded, Ezra’s other arm was already moving.

The Desert Eagle rose.

Its barrel didn’t point toward Tristin’s stomach.

It didn’t aim for his legs.

It wasn’t even pointed toward one of his arms.

The muzzle settled directly on the middle of the prince’s forehead.

Ezra pulled the trigger.

BANG!

The Desert Eagle roared far louder than the Kel-Tec.

Its heavy round tore through the air with a single purpose.

Kill.

Tristin’s smug expression disappeared with every strengthened sense in his body screaming at him.

His hand was already moving to attack Ezra, but he immediately changed his intention.

One of the remaining Light Blades responded to his control.

It crossed the shadow cast by a nearby tree and seemed to disappear within the change of light.

The instant it passed another shadow, its golden shape became visible again.

It moved between patches of light and darkness so quickly that following its full path with ordinary sight was almost impossible.

The Light Blade appeared directly in front of Tristin.

Clank!

The Desert Eagle round struck it.

A metallic-like sound rang through the forest despite the blade being made from condensed light.

Golden sparks scattered outward.

Then another sound followed.

Crack.

Tristin blinked.

A thin fracture had appeared across the surface of his Light Blade.

For the first time since beginning the fight, his confident expression faltered.

It cracked?

His golden eyes immediately moved toward Ezra.

And met those black eyes.

Deep and empty.

Like there was something behind them that Tristin couldn’t see the bottom of.

His body reacted before his pride could stop it.

He flinched.

Only slightly.

But it happened.

Ezra noticed.

More importantly, he finally summarized the answer he had already found.

The reason Tristin remained positioned between Gareth and Felix.

The reason he couldn’t properly sense the movement of the Light Blades through changes in the surrounding air.

The reason the attacks seemed to appear and disappear instead of traveling like normal projectiles.

And finally...

Tristin’s current level as an Adept Alchemist.

Every piece of information Ezra had gathered since the three-on-one battle began connected fully inside his mind.

The strange movement of the blades.

Their relationship with the light and shadows around the forest.

Tristin’s position.

His control and his limitations.

Everything finally clicked into place.

Not too far from Ezra’s battlefield, another part of the forest was suffering for an entirely different reason.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

One tree after another cracked beneath heavy impacts, while chunks of soil, rocks, broken branches, and dry leaves were thrown across the forest floor.

And all of that destruction was being caused by one extremely angry noble.

"STOP RUNNING!"

Basil’s furious roar carried through the trees.

His large body charged forward with surprising speed, crushing twigs beneath his boots as he chased after Cyrus, who continued running several meters ahead of him.

Despite Basil’s size, his speed wasn’t something Cyrus could laugh at.

The moment Cyrus slowed down too much, the distance between them immediately shortened.

And judging from what Basil’s fists had been doing to the forest since the chase began, Cyrus had absolutely no interest in finding out what would happen if one of those punches landed cleanly on his body.

Cyrus glanced over his shoulder.

Basil suddenly lowered himself while still running.

Both of his thick arms reached toward a small boulder beside the path.

His fingers dug underneath it.

Then, using the momentum of his charge together with his physical strength, Basil ripped the boulder from the ground and raised it with both hands.

"You annoying bastard!"

Cyrus’s eyes widened.

"Seriously?"

Basil threw it.

The boulder spun through the air, tearing through branches as it flew toward Cyrus.

Cyrus immediately judged its path and stopped running for only a second.

That single pause was enough.

BOOM!

The boulder crashed into the ground directly in front of him.

The earth shook beneath Cyrus’s boots.

Broken stone and dirt sprayed across his clothes as the boulder bounced once before settling only inches away from where he stood.

Cyrus hadn’t even recovered when another danger rushed toward him.

Basil.

He had used the boulder to stop Cyrus’s movement,

A fist came straight for Cyrus’s head.

Cyrus’s eyes widened before he immediately dropped his body.

Whoosh!

Basil’s fist passed directly over his hair.

BAM!

Instead of hitting Cyrus, the punch smashed into the boulder.

Cracks instantly spread across the stone from the point of impact.

Several pieces broke away and scattered across the forest floor.

"I WILL KILL YOU!"

Basil roared, turning toward Cyrus with an expression that showed he wasn’t joking around anymore.

Cyrus quickly moved away from him.

As he did, another sound entered his ears.

Ring.

Ring-ring.

Ring.

Small bells hanging around Basil’s wrists shook with every violent movement he made.

Whenever he stepped, they rang.

Whenever he swung his arms, they rang again.

Whenever his large body twisted during an attack, several different tones overlapped.

Those bells hadn’t been placed there merely as decoration.

They were his resources.

From the moment Basil started chasing Cyrus, every movement he made had continuously produced sound, giving him access to one of the resources required for the ignition of his Alchemy.

And that was because the Evermont Count House wasn’t known only for its wealth or standing among Britannia’s noble families.

The Evermont’s followed the Alchemy Path of Sound.

And for a Sound Alchemist...

Noise itself could become a resource.

Cyrus’s gaze briefly moved toward the bells.

He didn’t have long to look.

Basil was already attacking again.

Both of his large hands came together above his head, his fingers locking tightly as he formed one heavy double-handed fist.

Then he brought it down.

Cyrus threw himself sideways.

BOOM!

Basil’s joined fists smashed into the forest floor.

The impact broke apart the earth.

Soil erupted upward along with grass, dry leaves, stones, snapped twigs, and pieces of exposed roots.

The force traveled through the ground strongly enough for Cyrus to feel the vibration through his arms as he rolled away.

He planted one hand against the dirt.

His body turned with the momentum.

By the time his boots returned beneath him, Cyrus was already facing Basil.

His expression changed.

The lazy look he had worn while running disappeared.

Clap!

His palms came together.

Cognis immediately rushed through his arms.

A crimson glow appeared between his hands as the lines of an Alchemy Circle rapidly constructed themselves between his palms.

Cyrus separated his hands slightly.

The circle completed.

Then he slammed his palms against the ground.

The Alchemy Circle flashed.

Crimson Cognis burst from beneath his hand and raced across the forest floor toward Basil.

It moved like lightning searching for something capable of conducting it.

Basil’s eyes followed the crimson stream.

"What are you..."

The Cognis suddenly split.

One stream sank beneath the disturbed forest soil.

The other changed direction sharply and raced toward the cracked boulder Basil had punched moments earlier.

Only then did Basil notice something.

Something small was lying among the cracks in the stone.

A little bottle.

And inside it...

Dragon’s Tear.

Cyrus had already prepared it.

The crimson Cognis reached both targets almost at the same moment.

The Alchemy ignited.

BOOOOOOM!

A massive explosion swallowed Basil’s position.

Fire burst outward between the trees, carrying shattered pieces of rock and burning soil with it.

The shockwave struck Cyrus a moment later.

His top snapped violently behind him.

His hair plugs were pushed backward as hot wind and dust washed across his face.

Cyrus immediately raised an arm, shielding his eyes from the flying dirt and heat.

"Shit..."

He stared into the burning area.

Flames covered the place where Basil had been standing, while thick smoke rolled upward and spread between the surrounding branches.

Cyrus’s expression became slightly uneasy.

"I hope I didn’t go too far."

For once, he actually looked worried.

Although...

It wasn’t exactly because he was concerned about Basil.

Cyrus swallowed.

If that idiot actually died...

His face stiffened.

Killing another student during the examination was already enough to put him in serious trouble.

But Basil wasn’t simply another student.

He was the child of an influential and powerful Count family.

If he accidentally killed a son of House Evermont during an academy test, then whatever punishment waited for him afterward wasn’t something he wanted to imagine.

He stared into the flames more carefully.

"Come on..."

Cyrus muttered under his breath.

"Don’t tell me you’re actually that easy to kill."

For several seconds, there was no answer.

Only the crackling of flames could be heard.

Then...

Ring.

Cyrus’s expression changed.

Ring... ring.

The faint sound of bells came from within the burning area.

Cyrus narrowed his eyes.

The ringing became clearer.

Not random.

Not weak.

The bells were still moving.

Then...

Clap!

A pair of hands came together from somewhere inside the flames.

Almost immediately, a powerful fluctuation of Cognis spread outward from the center of the burning zone.

The nearby flames shook.

The smoke twisted.

Dry leaves across the forest floor were pushed away as the pressure rolled toward Cyrus.

Cyrus eyes sharpened.

"...Ah."

Cyrus slowly lowered the arm protecting his face.

"So, you’re still alive."