Chapter 16 - Outcome of the competition

The competition was in an hour. My potion kept safe, I absolutely want to win, I hope the other competitors are not learned. The place where the event took place was in the middle of the city on the market square. Many stalls sold food and alcohol to spectators who sat on wooden stands.

The masons had built a beautiful scene that opened with two huge red curtains. Behind these curtains was a jury gathering for a consultation. Then they came to position themselves on the raised chairs overhung by an oak table where were placed note sheets. The scores ranged from 0 to 10 and there were five juries. The closest to 50 won.

When the curtains opened the candidates were still in the audience. And I was a surprise jump. The old man 'Kalam' was there, sitting on one of the chairs between a massive man and another hooded man. The man with the green hood beside him was telling me something but I couldn't remember where I saw him. Why did Kalam help me when he was a jury member?

"Good morning everyone! To this day, we are going to determine the alchemist most likely to become a manaul chemist" Say the commentator by using an amplifying device that uses magic crystals. When he spoke of a manaul chemist, he refers to the different ranks that determine the level of an alchemist. The first level was a budding alchemist, the second manaul Chemist, the third matonic Scientist and finally Transcendent Alchemist. The jury members were all manaul chemists. And to get that level, you had to prove your worth by offering a gift of your art to the king and then selling 100,000 gold pieces of potion and ingredients. It was clear that they each had a shop and a workshop.

Thus, the candidates went on stage. I was with 28 other candidates, the victory would prove decisive. Then, one by one, the commentator called the names of the candidates on his list to present the potion of their choice and an expert came to give his knowledge in addition, using a tester. This expensive device determined the level of perfection of the potion by means of the quantity of altering molecules contained. The first 20 candidates passed and had created intermediate potions and 2 expert potions. These were the 'Tonrative' and 'Coumarisse' potions, which made it possible to have a more powerful earth and wind elemental capacity. My potion was still rare, I thought.

The last eight candidates had the most elaborate potions. At the end of the judgements handed down by the judges, five finalists, of whom I was faced with the decisive opinion of the public. Indeed, the public had the right to vote on one mark out of 15. Two candidates were eliminated. We were down to three. Kalam spoke.

"Your potions are most exceptional and we will be 3 judges, the most experienced, to determine the winner"

The curtains went down and 30 minutes passed before opening.

" 1st place: the alchemist from 'Cilucide'

" 2nd place: The second alchemist from 'Cilucide'

"3rd place: the alchemist from 'Mancrisse'"

3rd place! I lost the competition? How is that possible, who are these alchemists? The prize-giving was carried out and to the surprise of all the public and participants, the winner refused the prize. Everyone had been shocked, who would refuse such a rare ability? Kalam came to talk to me afterwards.

"You did what you could but I expected their victory"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, all the alchemists from the village of Cilucide have been winning for 10 years. They are the best. No one has ever seen this village with his own eyes and no one knows where it is"

What a mystery! It meant that the price would be available for another occasion. I kept this idea in mind. Although disappointed to have lost. I left the market room and went to the north of the city. Being in 3rd place, I had won 1000 gold coins. It's not bad given the investment I had to make. I can always use my potion later.

Arriving in the streets of the north of the city, many traders were discussing about an auction that was currently taking place a few meters away. I entered the small amphitheatre, designed for auction and attended the auction.

". . And finally, the rarest article we have on hand: the black heart recipe. This ingredient, once fused with an artificial entity, can instill an evolved consciousness.

In other words, if I applied it to my fire elementary, it could evolve and have an independent mana source. But it was completely out of my budget, my 2,000 gold coins were nothing compared to the 100,000 gold coins that were starting the auction. After 10 minutes, the auction had gone up to 143,000 coins. The alchemists were fighting for it.

An elegant woman had won the auction. The moment the grimoire was handed over to her. My sense of combat sharpened, I felt a fluctuation of the mana court in the room. When suddenly, the room that was illuminated by lamps of mana and torches sank into darkness. The Grimoire was still in the hands of the seller, and then stealthy movements passed before my eyes. Some 10 seconds later, the room rekindled its lights. The grimoire had disappeared! The woman who had bought the recipe looked at the seller's empty hands and claimed he had hidden it to keep it. A hubbub sounded quickly, when guards entered the sales room.

They gathered testimonies from the closest spectators and then withdrew. I addressed a guard:

"Do you have something? I am adventurer I can help you"

"There's nothing you can do, it's the black craftsmen who did it."

And he went out towards the second level of the city, towards the military districts. I had remained marble in the face of this impromptu event, the defeat that pressed me had touched my morale. I left the room, and went to the guild. I intended to leave tomorrow to resume my journey to the breach.

The guild was large and spacious. Many adventurers saw the quests available on the billboard. Then two royal guards came to display a new quest: "Capture the thieves of black craftsmen, reward: 20,000 coins". That was a lot of money, not to mention the recipe that could be learned along the way. But I had no leads and probably they were stronger than me. I consulted the other quests and stopped on one: "Search for escort of noble merchants to the village of 'Chalare', reward 5000 gold coins". This village was on my way to the breach, it was ideal for me.