The Battle Against The Alchemist

Holding a lantern in one hand and a ordinary looking steel bo staff in the other, Dr. Rush slowly and carefully walks down the creaking wooden stairs leading to the cellar door.

It had only been about a quarter of an hour since he last left the cellar but a loud crashing noise originating from there brought his attention back to it.

As his experimentation had to deal with human-mana modifications he had to be very careful not to get caught. Ever since the Lawfell Incident that caused the deaths of over 100,000 people in the capital, human-mana modification testing was banned throughout the kingdom and only top alchemists and mages belonging to the kingdom were allowed to dabble in the subject.

The sole reason why he was even in the slums of the Ion City, the outermost city in the Kingdom of Bernits, was to avoid the eyes of the authorities and to continue his experimentations in peace. If he were to get caught doing his experiments, not only will his alchemist license be revoked, he would be either executed or be placed in a prison where he will rot away for the rest of his life.

Knowing the risks he faced, he took no chance in someone breaking into his cellar and was prepared to eliminate anyone he saw within that space.

Walking down the last steps of the staircase, Dr. Rush appeared before a large wooden door reinforced with wrought iron.

Although this door looked relatively ordinary, it was paired with a complex lock that only opened when mana was directed inside and was rigged with a alarm that would ring whenever someone tried to break in or out.

Carefully looking over the door, a look of confusion appeared on his Dr. Rush's face. The lock and alarm was not broken or tampered with, meaning that someone had not broken in through the front and no one tired to break out.

'Is the boy still alive? Or is it some intruder that dug all the way into my cellar.'

Shaking his head, Dr. Rush quickly dismissed both thoughts. He had seen the boy die right in front of him and the cellar was 40 feet underground. It was highly unlikely for anyone to dig that deep around his home without him realizing.

Raising up his bo staff, he directed his mana to the lock on the door. The light-blue energy penetrated the lock and a clicking sound was heard.

Tightening the grip on his staff, Dr. Rush opens the door ajar, trying to detect any sounds or movements coming from inside but finding nothing.

After confirming that there was no movements, he swung the door wide open and threw the lantern into the center of the room, illuminating the ground as it went. He could see shards of metal on the ground, deducing that the shards came from the Magical Sentry Guns that was mounted on the walls.

Carefully stepping into the room, he further tightened his grip on the staff and reached for the magic scroll on his hip.

'Whatever was in here is pretty strong if it can rip through metal. I must first open the ligh-'

*SWISH*

A light blue fist materialized out of thin air and socked him in the face before he could react, causing him to stagger as blood poured out his nose.

"Ugh-"

Not missing a beat, the blue fist transformed into into a humanoid and slugged him in the face once more.

Just as the third fist was about to hit, Dr. Rush regained his senses and ducked down, just barely managing to evade the strike.

At a strength and speed unbefitting that of his appearance, Dr. Rush swung his staff at the humanoid as he tried to put distance between them.

Seemingly unfazed by the incoming staff, the humanoid figure keep charging at him, swinging its fist at the alchemist.

Just as the staff was about to hit, the figure burst into a glimmering blue mist. Caught off guard by the sudden change, Dr. Rush didn't notice that another humanoid figure was very quickly materializing behind him.

Just as Dr. Rush was processing what happened, the figure that just formed jumped onto his back and put him in a choke hold.

Attempting to struggle free, Dr. Rush pounds his fist into the humanoid's face, trying to break out to no avail. As if it doesn't feel pain, the grip doesn't even loosen in the slightest.

In front of him, the glowing mass of blue mist once again transforms into a humanoid figure. Knowing he won't have a chance if he doesn't get out of the choke hold, he grabs at the magic scroll tied around his hips and began pumping his mana into it.

Half a second pass and the the humanoid figure in front of him had already reached its attacking range and sends a left straight targeted at his face.

Dr. Rush, still in a choke hold, used his staff to push off the wall, attempting to make space between them and just barely managing to dodge the fist strike.

Refusing to open the distance between them once more, the humanoid figure grabbed onto the staff and forcefully pulled the alchemist back, smashing it's fist into his chest.

Multiple distinct cracking sounds was heard and Dr. Rush was sent flying through the air and crashing into the wall on the other side of the room.

Taking this chance, the humanoid figure rushes to the alchemist to finish him off while the one on his back tightens the choke hold.

Two meters away from the alchemist, the one charging at him sensed that mana is rushing into a scroll on the alchemist's hip.

The charging figure stoped and dashed away while the figure applying the choke hold collapsed into a blue mist and tried to get away.

A smirk appeared on the alchemist's face as the scroll finished charging.

"Too late," the alchemist muttered.

A sudden fire flared out from the scroll and burned everything in a 4 meter radius of him, catching and obliterating the escaping blue mist with its flames.

....

'Shit...'

A ripping pain envelops the other half of Dorian's body, paralyzing him. His soul had fused with the mana, so when his other half got annihilated by the flames, it felt like part of his soul got ripped to pieces.

He could feel that the control of the body got harder after his other half burnt away. The previously solid form of his body is now wispy around the edges.

"Ready for round two?" A cracked voice asked from behind wall of flames.

*FWOOSH*

With a swing of his staff, the fire wall split apart, revealing the alchemist. His white robe burnt away, showing off his body. His previously thin and dried muscles that shriveled away seemed to have been fully revitalized, a glowing substance flowing in his veins.

His previously ordinary looking staff now had mana pumping through it, lighting up the runes that have been carved onto it while emitting a dangerous red aura.

'Though he is definitely more stronger now, his injuries are definite severe. He's putting on a strong front but his concave chest and burn wounds are definitely hurting.'

Taking the initiative, the alchemist charges quickly at Dorian, thrusting the staff straight at the center of his mass.

Quickly collapsing into mist form, Dorian stuck to the ground as the staff barely misses his body. Unwilling to just be a target, he closed in on the alchemist, striking upwards from the ground and uppercutting the groin.

Surprisingly, undaunted from the excruciating pain, the alchemist didn't break his stance and unhesitatingly struck down at the blue mist, managing to dissipate a fourth of Dorian's remaining body with a single strike.

Raising his arms and preparing for another strike, a hand materializes behind his head and grabs his hair, forcefully pulling his head back.

Taking this opportunity, Dorian turns back into human form, smashing the exposed throat of the alchemist with his right hand and gouging the eyes of the alchemist with his left.

Just as Dorian was going to strike at his shattered chest for the final blow, a sideways sweep of the staff dispersed yet another chunk of his body, forcing him away.

As if his last attack took all the remaining bits of his strength, Dr. Rush fell on all fours, coughing blood each time he attempted to breathe. His eyes constantly leaked blood while his chest was completely smashed inwards.

The glowing substance flowing within his veins had grown dim and his muscles was once again shriveling. Fourth degree burns covered his right thigh all the way to his ribs, while the area surrounding it was covered in third degree burns.

Dorian wasn't fairing well either. Just 5 feet away from the alchemist, he was struggling to keep the remaining mana together. His current mass had been reduced to only a bit over 20% of his original size. That is to say, he lost almost 80% of his soul during this fight.

His control of the body had reduced to such a degree that if he couldn't hold his mana together, it would disperse along with his soul. Holding together his body together felt equally as challenging as swimming across an ocean with a 50 pound rock tied around your waist, sooner or later you'll sink and drown.

'How are you still not dead yet damn it! Your injuries are so severe, just fall down and take a nap for all eternity already!'

As if on cue, Dr. Rush finally breathed his last; his body unable to support life any longer. With a thump, he hit the cold stone floor in a small pool of his own blood.

Seeing that Dr. Rush had died, he could instinctively feel that he would be able to absorb the remaining mana inside Dr. Rush's dead body, such as when he absorbed the mana from his own dead body.

With the thought in mind, Dorian used all his strength and will to move just 5 feet forward and make contact with the carcass.

1 feet... 2 feet... 3 feet... 10 whole minutes of struggling later, Dorian had finally made it to the body and began absorbing the mana.

As he begins to regain his lost mass, he could feel his body stabilizing as his soul heals using the mana stolen from Dr. Rush's body.

Seeing that Dr. Rush had actually died, a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction passed through Dorian. He had completed his revenge and won the battle, even if he had won by the skin of his teeth. If anything, the fact that he just barely won the battle made the victory ever sweeter.