Kira POV

Tohka and I said goodnight to each other and logged off to sleep in the real world.

As I lay in my bed, I began to ponder: Who was behind all the killings. Why did they have to kill all of those people?

I woke up the next day quite early and decided to play a bit of Endless online. Logging back on, I decided to head to a nearby library.

I woke up and saw Tohka resting. 'Why is she on my bed again?' I got up, snacked on a sandwich and went out the door.

"Morning." The innkeeper said to me as I walked out.

"Good morning Mr...?"

"Oh right. Sorry for not introducing myself. My name is Shou Tucker and I am Nina's father."

"Well, my name is Kira. Nice to meet you Mr. Tucker." We walked together and almost bumped into Alexander.

"Good morning there Alexander." I patted his head. "Oh, by the way, Mr. Tucker, do you know where the nearest library is?" He smiled.

"Well in actuality the inn has a library. Do you want to see it?" I nodded and followed him.

As we walked I found out quite a lot of things about Shou Tucker. He had gotten the position as innkeeper two years ago and had lived with his daughter ever since. His wife had left him and instead went to live with her parents. He was an innkeeper, but also a state alchemist.

"I have never heard of 'state' alchemists. What are they?"

"Well they are people with the ability to transmute matter. The 'state' indicates that they have a military position. We receive lots of benefits, but every year we have to submit an assessment, and if we fail two years in a row, we lose our position and thus our home. I need to pass this year's assessment no matter what."

I patted his shoulder. "Don't worry Mr. Tucker, you'll think of something great."

"I hope so. Anyway," he opened a door. "This is the library. It contains a lot of information on alchemy as well, so feel free to knock yourself out."

"Thank you. I will." I smile and reach out to a book. Shou nods and closes the door.

I look at the book I had just picked.

Alchemy and its basics

I sat down and started to read.

The first thing to know about alchemy is NEVER to fiddle with human life. That is considered taboo and, if one attempts such a thing, they will may lose body parts or even die.

Alchemy usually works with the help of a magic circle, and it has to be created perfectly otherwise it will not work. These circles can be made using anything, from the popular chalk or just having inscriptions on gloves that state alchemists wear. One memorable inscription was drawn in blood on a the users blood. However, do not attempt to draw unless one has experience in drawing them.

Once a circle is drawn, the person may start to activate the transmutation. This takes matter from one object and uses it to create the desired object. Naturally, if there is not enough matter for the object to fully be created, then the transformation will stop. This means that if the object in mind is denser, then more matter is used to transmute.

"I see. So an alchemist would fight by using imagination. Interesting."

A shadow fell over me. 'What th-' A giant furball fell on me, sending us both to the ground.

"Yay! Let's play Kira!" A childish voice came from on top of me. "Alexander, get off of Kira so he can play with us."

I smiled as Alexander barked and got off me. "Hey Nina. You're up early."

She shook her head at me. "No I am not. You've been reading daddy's books for a long time now. Your friends went looking for you!"

The door opened and Dylan walked in. 'Speak of the devil and he shall appear.'

"Hi."

"Were you here the entire time?"

"Err.. Yeah. I was reading the books here."

He smirked. "Come on, let's go hunting. We got to spend our time leveling up now don't we?"

I sighed and put the book back on the shelf. Just as I was about to go I felt a tugging on my cloak; it was Nina.

"Can we play after you come back?" She timidly asked. I smiled.

"Sure. Wait for us."

"Yes!" She beamed.