"I am?" Hal asked with his eyes wide.

When Karmen and Arya had first told him through their telepathic link that the Alchemist Organization was searching for him, Hal had not really cared all that much and was not averse to them wasting their time if they so wished.

The way he saw it, they were doing it as a courtesy to his 'Alchemy master' Nadia and for that reason, he did not see why he should give it any further thought.

But now that the Branch head had spoken to him so amicably end even allowed him to call him by his name which he was sure was not exactly a normal occurrence, he began to suspect there was something else at play.

'What could have caused the change' he thought and his eyes finally fell for the second time since he had entered this room, on Glenn who had been his examiner during the tests.

He nearly smacked himself as he saw what it was that had been right in front of him and yet he had missed.

This was obviously about his alchemy rank, for which by the way, he had still not being given his token so far.

Toto looked surprised that Hal would even ask such a question,

"Of course you are. With you as a second rank four Alchemist leading our young alchemists alongside the genius Adeline Silva, we have a much better chance at bringing the branch a lot of glory.

That you are important to us is an understatement."

Hal placed a hand over his face and could not believe he had gotten himself into this, especially considering his continuous disinterest in Alchemy,

"About that, Toto, I don't think I'll be participating" Hal said.

Toto paused and his face blanked,

"You won't? Why not?" He asked and this time he turned to Arya who could not help but smile.

"Don't look at me. You haven't actually addressed me since you began to speak to my apprentice which must mean you are confident of your success. By all means, carry on" she said with a gesture.

Karmen had leaned forward and had her hands on the side of her face with her elbows on her right as she watched it all like it was all an exciting play.

And to be fair, it had all the elements of one. From Hal's far-fetched story to how pale the Branch head now looked as he seemed to realize his mistake.

It was true.

He had completely neglected the master and was focused on the apprentice. This had been so wrong of him.

"I am sorry, Alchemist Nadia. Would you like to chime in?" He asked and had already said it before he realized how wrong it sounded.

However, Arya was not upset. In fact, as Hal was actually HER master, she knew this was his conversation and it was much better she remains completely in the background. At least for now.

Toto's sudden look towards her direction told her that he was planning to bring her into the conversation which she would very much prefer to not be a part of.

Turning it around that he had slighted her was her way of justifying not giving her input and allow Hal to do as he wished.

'Good work' Hal told her telepathically.

'Thank you for the praise' Arya replied with a mental smile. Even though she was smiling at the situation on the outside already.

Toto looked a tad bit dejected as he turned back towards Hal whose hand was no longer on his face, and then asked once again,

"Why not?"

Hal shrugged,

"It seems like a really high profile event" he said with a slight frown.

"That's because it is. What's your point?" Toto asked.

"Well, I like to keep a low profile. I usually love peace and quiet. I am not born for the hassle of an alchemist convention"

Hal was not about to let Toto rope him into this event and had no interest in being a part of it. Becoming a certified Alchemist was simply meant to be a means to an end. He wanted to have their backing but he had no interest in doing something for them.

If there was some sort of Runemastering convention, that would be a different story.

'Come to think of it, there is definitely a Runemastering convention or at the very least something of that nature but I probably have to become certified and be issued a token first.' He thought and then his eyes brightened,

The princess. She was the key.

When next he had a conversation with her, he would ask if she could offer him some shortcuts to becoming a certified Runemaster without months or even possibly years of study

After all, she was obviously a certified Runemaster. And a powerful one at that.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand.

Toto was frowning,

"The hassle? But Hal, you obviously wish to become great, so how exactly do you think you can be great when you avoid these hassles?

Winning aside, simply participating in the convention gives you a stage to showcase yourself.

Obviously, not everyone can win since there will ultimately be only one winner, but at least, if you are good enough, you can begin to receive the recognition of Alchemist who actually have a hand in governing the continent as a whole.

And by that, I mean those who serve in the Emperor's court.

In fact, busy as the Emperor is, you have the chance, which should you win, becomes a certainty that you will meet him and other members of the imperial family."

Hal was a little tempted to ask what effect meeting the emperor would actually have on him but decided he might as well pretend to respect imperial authority.

Also, as for meeting members of the imperial family, he already met two so far and that was without going out of his way to actually have a meeting with them.

The two were obviously Tanya and Arya.

Hal felt Arya still counts even if she ran away from home since she still obviously has imperial blood running through her veins and even shared their green eyes which he was now sure was a bloodline trait.

He just did not see what the big deal was.

If anything, it would be better he not meet such powerful individuals on the Continent as he was paranoid enough to feel it was like taking one step closer to the exposure of his Devil bloodline.

Toto could see that all that he had just said barely had an impact on Hal whose expression remained the same so he decided, maybe speaking of the rewards would succeed where promises of fortuitous meetings had failed.

However once again, talks of high-grade cultivation techniques and high-grade skills were still not doing the job.

And how could it?

With the Primordial Cosmic Art, what other cultivation technique could Hal possibly need.

As for skills, as long as he had currency, he could get those as well.

The idea of getting it for free was intriguing though but not enough to make him want to participate.

Eventually, Toto sighed and decided, since the convention was not for another seven months, he could work on wearing the blue-eyed young man down ahead of it.

"Oh well, I at least implore you to give it a lot of thought. It remains a wonderful opportunity to let the continent know what you are capable of. I will have guards escort you back to your residence. You must be tired after your journey." He said.

Hal raised a brow,

"Residence?" He asked

Toto nodded with a natural expression,

"Of course. We can't after all just let Alchemist Nadia and her apprentice who also happens to be an asset stay in a hotel now can we?"