The Silly Alchemist

Crackle crackle.

The fire dancer flapped her wings, then flew towards the two remaining warriors with such intensity she left trails of hot ripples behind her with every swift movement. She was unbelievably fast!

“Run!”

The two warriors were fast enough to notice the impending danger, they quickly separated themselves and ran to different corners of the arena.

Unfortunately, the flame angel quickly caught up to them and soon they were engulfed in its flames.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

“Help!”

Thankfully, they didn’t suffer too long before the fire dancer returned to the sky, leaving behind her stunned, toasted opponents.

“…”

It was magnificent. The audience was so taken back by what they saw, not knowing how to react to the exciting battle. Their jaws were numb at this point, there were too many surprises in this battle alone, they wouldn’t even find it weird if the seventh princess transformed into an angel.

This was the first time she used this skill, Ye Lanyu had never seen this before when they sparred.

Sure, the skill was impressive but Ye Lanyu didn’t feel inferior at all. She was long aware that she also had a similar skill herself, though she had yet to use it in a battle.

The two girls were rather close, though they fought every day. At the end of the day, they were still friends so it was only courtesy for them to show some mercy- they never used their full powers on each other.

Of course, this hadn’t become a major issue for their personal growth and skill development!

Their potentials were still the same even if they both decided to restrain themselves. On the other hand, it was even easier for themselves to identify their own weaknesses.

It’s misleading to think that training at full capacity all the time was good for development. You discover different things about yourself when alternating between different levels of restraint- you’d learn so much more about yourself that way! This approach was more suitable for those who wished to refine a specific skillset.

“Hey, we’re done, we can go home now!” shouted Ye Lanyu towards Ye Lang without stopping to check on her opponents.

“Ah, so soon? Slow down–” yelled Ye Lang from across the arena. Everyone heard him.

“Oh come on, you don’t need to eat so much now! Xiaoyan won’t run, she’ll be here forever!” replied Ye Lanyu calmly, albeit shouting.

Zhen Xiaoyan flushed red upon hearing that, she quickly shouted, “Miss Lanyu, that’s nonsense!”

“That’s just a fact, Xiaoyan. Remember when you swore to be his kitchen lady forever? You’re probably going to be here for a long time!” said Ye Lanyu with a smile, bluntly stating the obvious. The girl was finally standing in front of both Ye Lang and Zhen Xiaoyan.

“Yeah, it’s too late for regrets now fatty. There’s no backing away from this promise, I’ll get you no matter how far you run!” Ye Lang added with a mouthful of food.

“…” the three girls were speechless. Without context, that… certainly sounded like a threat.

Zhen Xiaoyan shook her head. “I’ll never break our promise! I won’t run away. If I disappear someday, remember to look for me!”

“Of course! But remind me when you go missing!” blurted Ye Lang with a casual nod. If Zhen Xiaoyan had disappeared, the boy certainly would be slow to notice. He would need a prior notice…

But-

“Silly, that’s not what ‘going missing’ means!” fumed Zhen Xiaoyan.

“You’re an idiot,” Ye Lanyu and the seventh princess agreed.

“…” Ye Lang went silent for a moment, as if deep in thought.

“Ah, nevermind. Let’s not think about this anymore, I definitely won’t go missing!” interrupted Zhen Xiaoyan with a bright smile plastered on her face. The girl then resumed her attention to the grill, not noticing that the battle had ended and it was time to leave.

It was thoughtful of Xiaoyan to stop Ye Lang’s train of thought, she was worried that the boy might overthink and suffer a burnout! Plus, it was just a random thought of hers that popped out of nowhere, there was no need for a definite answer- though Ye Lang had given her a rather satisfying one.

Ye Lang promised to look for her if she ever went missing! That alone was enough to make her heart burst from all the happiness.

“That’s weird, why isn’t anyone ushering us to leave yet?”

The opponent team was already well enough to be able to sit up on the ground after a few moments of rest. There were no severe injuries.

They were thankful for the fact that they could still walk after such an intense battle, they were expecting the worse- to be carried away from the arena on a stretcher, which would be very embarrassing for them. They still had some pride.

The grounds were awfully silent too, the judges had yet to announce the outcome of this battle. Under normal circumstances, the girls’ victory should’ve been announced very early on. Unless…

Unless… there were split opinions on the results?

No, no way! Wasn’t it obvious they won?

The ice and fire duo was obviously terrifyingly powerful!

Their opponents and a part of the audience had also found the delay odd. This was taking too long…

No one had any clue when the next battle would start. Plus, the rink was still occupied! What on earth was happening?

Someone then decided to ask the Sheng City organizers…

“Why are you not announcing the results?”

“What do you mean? The competition isn’t over yet.”

The answer was recurring, coming from all Sheng City personnel who were questioned. Everyone had the same answer, which was odd. What did they mean by that?

It wasn’t the same case for the prior battles, all results were announced straight after it ended. What happened?

It would be understandable if the judges had wished for them to continue the battle, which would be deemed a special request.

The situation was unexplainable because the Sheng City judges, personnel and relevant staffs had given the same answer.

Heck, even all the Sheng City civilians had the same answer!