AK - The Alchemy Kingdom

Chapter 128: The magic repeater I

Year 3, Winter, First Month, Second Week.

Master, are we gonna be OK?

Oliver looked at the group disappearing through the tunnel with a complicated expression, if it was up to him, they would never separate a group that was already this small. However, his Master was clear, they didnt have time to stop here while the Adventurers group might already be waiting for them. Nevertheless, establishing communication with their city was essential, so Karl decided to stay in the tunnel to install the repeater while Diana and Lew escorted the crafters to start preparing the camp.

Of course. We have Samia to identify any threats and Johann to deal with them Stop overthinking and help me set up the connection point

The 14 years-old Alchemist could only accept his Masters word and forget about his worries. Johann, on the other hand, was a little annoyed to be waiting for the Alchemists to finish their work, he would prefer to be out there where the wind ran freely. Ever since he was released from the restrains, staying outside and enjoying freedom became his favorite hobby.

When Karl offered to take the restraint in exchange for his oath, he was a little hesitant about letting the boy meddle with his soul. Contracts and slave marks werent new to him, he even saw it happen a couple of times, but doing it without the rare and expensive materials from soul tree was indeed fascinating. In his almost one year with the villagers, no, now they were AK citizens, he saw more and more fantastical things, and it looked like they were still far from reaching their limits.

In truth, the oath barely made any difference in his life, he wouldnt be able to talk about Alchemy with outsiders, but so what? Did he even want to go back to the Kingdom? When he decided to stay with them to explore his new condition with Karls help, he planned to leave in one or two years, this was more like a break from the nobility rules and problems.

Surprisingly, he had grown close to them, especially to Hanna who was assigned to watch him one year ago. When the girl was released from duty, he couldnt help but feel a little sad. Fortunately, they still hang out and spend time together. Johann was slowly realizing how much he enjoyed the simple life without the schemes and etiquette from Kingdoms nobility. Now that they decided to build a city, he was even considering staying a little longer.

However, it didnt matter how much the Mage was enjoying his stay, he couldnt wait patiently for Karl any longer, so he decided to tag along and force the Alchemist to fulfill his promise to help him advance. Karl, who had been proposedly avoiding Johann, could only give up and finally reserve some time for the Mage.

Once they finished the preparations, they exited the tunnel at the bridges side leaving only Oliver behind. Outside, the exotic team formed by an Alchemist, a wind Mage, and the shadow started to look for a suitable hill to hike.

The Green Mountains extended for almost one hundred kilometers until meeting the main river. The energy vein located under the mountains made everything in the region livelier than normal. Through millions of caves, the veins energy spread through the mountains creating different scenarios, bathing with energy beasts and resources alike. On top of these mountains the unusual green vegetation, nourished by the energy absorbed through their roots, grew stronger. The trees there were taller than normal, wood and plant energy developed easily in such an environment, causing the appearance of beasts and entities attuned to these elements.

Although this magically rich environment was known by the Kingdom, few dare to venture into it, only plant Mages would go there from time to time. For others, what they could gain wouldnt be enough to outweigh their losses. The problem with magic beings attuned to the plant element was that not all of them were passive like the Comtple Tree or normal beasts like carnivorous plants. Some would grow smart enough to be considered a race. A race with a plant core and the ability to use elemental magic freely.

Over the Green Mountains, it was rumored to live a race of such beings. The Treants supposedly looked like trees of all sizes and species, but they could move, communicate and form some kind of social organization. Amongst the rumors and tales, something had reached a consensus, this race wasnt friendly to Humans. Either way, Karl decided to try his luck in the borders of the southern part of the mountains, he guessed that the Treants would live closer to the vein and deep into the mountains forest.

The hike on the first hills took some time, Karl and Johann used this time to discuss elemental magic while Samia moved around them concealed. Of course, the Alchemist was constantly checking on the readings from the locator to avoid being surprised by anything. Karl masterfully exchanged the plant crystal and beasts blood to check for both plant beings and beasts while talking with Johann. The Mage was a little annoyed by not having the boys complete attention, but the situation had become something of a norm when talking to Karl.

The readings pointed to a few LT beasts now and then but they easily passed around them. However, the lack of MT beasts and more LT beasts in a place with high-density energy made him feel anxious, something was definitely wrong. Johann was also on high alert, after all, he couldnt miss Karls expression of uneasiness. The Mage kept circling wind energy around his body, while seemingly unconcernedly talking with the Alchemist.

So, what were you doing inside the tunnel?

We were looking for a strong energy channel close to the western exit of the tunnel that could be used to power the repeater. We need a strong supply to increase the reach of the repeater Once we find a tall tree close to that point, we can install the repeater and connect it to the energy supply

Johann looked doubtfully to Karl and asked:

And how would you know the location up here which is close to that point down there? And how would you connect them? Dont tell me youre thinking about digging through the mountain

Karl stared blankly at the Mage, then smile before answering.

Of course Im Hahaha But only a very narrow channel, wide enough to bring the energy up and pass this cable Once we get close to the right point, this tool should react to the Alchemy mark drawn on the ceiling of the tunnel.

The Alchemy cable was a great idea proposed by one of the second-level disciples, instead of using plates or a bamboo tube, they could draw a transferring line on a rope and use it to transfer energy. The idea was so helpful that Karl wondered why he didnt think of it early. So, before coming, he asked the disciples to draw a line on a few hundred meters of thread they got from Keller.

The Mage was shocked by the answer, even if the hills were shorter at the southern part of the mountains, they should still have 200 meters of height, how could they locate something so deep into the ground? And how about digging through it? Karl realized the mans confusion, so he decided to explain.

You probably noticed were using Alchemy marks instead of drawing the limits of the barriers. Although it uses considerably more energy, this method saves on time used to draw giant limiting Arrays while offering the possibility of resizing the barrier without needing to redraw the Array. As you probably guessed, the marks are used to provide a physical position to the Array. In our current case, Im using it to mark the target of the tools effect. You dont need to be surprised, even though the actual distance between the tool and the mark might be hundreds of meters through the earth, their magical connection is as close as an arms length