The Meeting room of the Alchemy masters...

It was official...

Arya was bored.

Immensely so.

For hours, the Alchemy masters made decisions and then disagreed only to agree again and then realize the other branches might not like their decisions.

So they would dismantle the discussion again and pass minutes insulting the other branches and their sense of superiority.

After which they would argue on who had been on the bad end of an altercation with the branches the most.

Then they would insult each other once again before finally settling in a decision.

However, that decision would not hold for long and the whole process would start again.

She hated it and was willing to take anything as long as she could leave and never be involved in an argument or 'meeting' with this masters again.

The only person who she found remotely okay to be around was Master Alexis and it was only because he the most silent of the six and also looked to hate the meeting as much as she did.

And then as though the universe was smiling down at her, there was a knock on the door,

"Go away. This is a private and important meeting." The branch head called.

"I believe you will want to hear this sir" Glenn's voice sounded from the other side and when the branch head looked to be poised to tell him to return again, Arya spoke up,

"Why don't we just hear what he has to say?" She said and the branch head told Glenn to come inside out of respect for her.

He also asked the Alchemy masters first and none of them minded.

Glenn pushed open the door and looked to be close to bursting as he reported,

"Branch head, the apprentice you sent over to be tested passed." He said.

"Oh, is that so? What rank is he now?" The branch head asked.

"The Fourth rank" Glenn said.

There was immediate silence in the room as many wondered if they had heard wrong,

"Did you say the fourth rank?" Master Antonin asked.

Glenn nodded vigorously,

"Yes, I did. He refined this pill" he said and took out the pill Hal had refined for all of them to assess which they did.

For one thing, they could all see that the workmanship was shoddy and it only just counted as a Rank four pill but it was a fully formed rank four mending pill nonetheless.

"Congratulations Alchemist Nadia" said the branch head.

"Yes, congratulations." The other Alchemy masters chimed in while Arya was pleased to see her Master's success.

She was smiling and about to speak when she sensed something and dashed out of the room.

It was more like a tug on the tethered connection she had with Hal but it was enough to alert her that something was not quite right.

"There is a conflict going on in the Building" Master Antonin commented as with his seventh rank intermediate spiritual sense coupled with his sense as a Semi saint, he could easily pick up on the going ons in the building.

His perception range was just that large.

However, since their meeting room was meant to give complete privacy, it also shut off their senses from the outside and made them incapable of sensing anything until Glenn opened the door.

The Branch head being at the Semi saint realm could sense it as well and the fact that Arya ran outside made it intriguing and worth his input so he stood up and followed.

When they arrived at the reception, they found Arya with a very angry-looking Karmen holding her head and spouting so many swear words, she made the old men embarrassed.

She hated that she had been knocked unconscious and when she came to, Hal was gone.

"What happened here?" The branch head asked but Arya was focused entirely on Karmen who was giving her a rundown of the events in a low voice. So the branch head turned to the clerk and asked the same question even though Hal's absence made him guess the answer already,

"I don't know what happened. I left to have his Rank Four token ordered and heard the sounds of combat. When... When I arrived it was already too late." The clerk said.

When Arya heard those words, she turned to glare at the clerk who gulped at the angry look in her eyes and the faint red fog he could see starting to appear not just from her body but from Karmen's as well.

She believed he must have had enough time to come and at least offer support but just like anyone in the Silva Duchy, he couldn't be bothered with the safety of a stranger.

The fact that it was the norm did not make it any easier for Arya to accept.

That said, there was a more important question to ask,

"Where were the guards?" Arya asked in a grim voice.

At that time, there are others arriving at the reception and the clerk's voice was much calmer when he said,

"They were all knocked unconscious. I and a few others found this by their bodies" he stretched out rune sheets which had obviously been used already.

"Damn Runemasters." Master Firmin said but Arya was far from interested in sharing his sentiment since she knew it was more about his dislike for their 'tainted' senses.

The branch head looked solemnly and for the first time since they arrived at the Alchemist organization, he looked like someone of Authority as he drew himself his full height,

"I promise you, Alchemist Nadia, I will leave no stone unturned and I will find your apprentice.

I can only hope he is still in the capital."

...

Hal woke with a start and the first thing he noticed about his environment was that he was lying on a grassy ground and surrounded by trees.

Also, it was daytime.

"Great, so I was kidnapped and taken to a forest. Bad guys lack ingenuity in this world, I mean, Where is the creepy basement?" Hal lamented as he sat up and noticed he felt nothing.

He felt no different than he had before falling unconscious.

"Good, you're awake" a voice said behind him and Hal recognized it as the voice he had heard just before he was knocked unconscious.

He turned his head and looked upon the face of Ehrlich, who was apparently supposed to supervise.

"Who would have thought supervising involves an abduction. I am so shocked." Hal said with his voice oozing with theatrics.

Ehrlich actually cracked a smile, albeit a thin one that looked to lack humor,

"I needed to make sure you had no one with you. This mission is supposed to be completely solo after all."

"Wait, mission? Are you telling me, it's started already?" Hal asked and stood up from the ground.

Ehrlich nodded,

"That's right. This whole area is called Black lagoon and is situated in the Silva Duchy. It is a Black market site ruled by those rightly referred to as the scum of the earth. They trade in many goods that are not exactly illegal per se but still need to be done away from prying eyes.

The individuals here follow the same structure of power as the Duchy although they don't have as many experts.

That said, there are many here who can squash you like a bug so watch yourself. You are just strong enough to be a slave and good-looking enough to be an escort and tool of pleasure." He said.

Hal felt a chill at the back of his neck and looked down to see his clothes had been changed into a different and actually good looking attire,

"You pervert! Did you strip me?" He asked in outrage.

"Will it make you feel better if I told you a lady changed you?" Ehrlich asked with a straight face.

"Maybe" Hal said.

"Oh, okay then, a lady changed you."

"I don't believe you"

"Not my concern.

Your mission is to discover who it is that is supplying a brand of Technique that not only increase strength, it creates monsters.

Find out who it is and if they are above your strength level, only perform reconnaissance and contact me with this" Ehrlich said and offered Hal a communication talisman.

"Good luck" he said but remained where he was.

"Aren't you leaving?" Hal asked.

"Oh I will but not now. I'll follow you out of the forest and to the city itself after which I will fade into the background and watch from a distance."