"...Woah."
At the very mont the two stepped foot into the ltierre Heavenly Court, Valyr imdiately felt as if he'd been transported into a different dinsion altogether.
Though the insides of the Heavenly Court didn't really stand out much when compared to the interior of the guilds and the governnt halls, there was an ethereal air throughout the space, prompting the young man to figure out where that feeling ca from.
Fortunately, Byron noticed the curiosity that was on the young man's face, deciding to wander around a bit with Valyr as he reminded himself that it was the latter's first ti.
Thanks to the man's whims, the young man was eventually able to find out that the reason why he got that feeling from the ltierre Heavenly Court was due to the fact that the density of mana within the building was a few tis greater than what it was outside.
'Aside from that, it seems like every inch of the place is carved with small grooves that mana can flow through,' thought the young man to himself, taking note of the fact that those grooves seed to make the entire building feel like one massive entity.
However, before the young man could continue exploring the insides of the ltierre Heavenly Court alongside Byron, a female voice stopped them in their tracks as they turned around to look at her.
"Haah... haah..." Gasping for air, a lavender-haired woman appeared before both Valyr and Byron, her crystal blue eyes making them feel as if she was purely staring right through them.
Taking in a deep breath after that, the woman soon let out a relieved sigh before looking at the two with a smile. "You two must be Ylvar and Director Byron, right?"
In response, the two looked at each other for a bit before nodding, prompting the woman to nod back as well.
"The Imperial Alchemist has instructed to escort Ylvar to where she currently is," said the woman after that, only to shift her gaze towards Byron. "Though she also ntioned that Director Byron is free to accompany Ylvar as well."
"Why does it feel like I'm just an afterthought to her?" Listening to the woman's words, Byron bitterly smiled, his gaze briefly on Valyr as he hoped that the young man would have him tag along.
Unfortunately, such thoughts imdiately disappeared when the woman responded to his question, her words eliciting a fear he'd suppressed to co up to the surface.
"The Imperial Alchemist ntioned that Julius and the other ministers are currently within the ltierre Heavenly Court." The woman looked at Byron, ignoring the drastic change in the latter's expression.
"She says that it would be wise for you to leave the Heavenly Court for the anti, lest the ministers request more out of Director Byron."
"..." Though he felt like he'd stepped on a turd after hearing the woman's words, Byron eventually decided to heed the woman's words for the anti, not wanting to be given another quota after having already completed one soti earlier.
With that, the man bade farewell to Valyr for the anti, reminding the young man to visit the Blacksmith Guild once his eting with Mystia was done.
Promising that he'd do so once everything was over, it was only then did Valyr and Byron both part ways, with Valyr following behind the woman that greeted them.
Continuing to look around the ltierre Heavenly Court while they made their way to where Mystia was, Valyr decided to strike up a conversation with the woman in front of him.
"Er... if you don't mind asking, what's your relationship with the Imperial Alchemist?"
In response, the woman glanced back at him for a bit with a slight smile, responding not long after with a proud tone. "I am the Imperial Alchemist's second disciple."
Valyr's eyes briefly widened in surprise at those words, only to nod in understanding. "How many disciples does the Imperial Alchemist have?"
"Three," replied the woman, her body language gradually relaxing thanks to the
conversation. "The first one is her niece, while the third one is soone both I and her niece don't know much about."
"All we know is that the third disciple was chosen by the Imperial Alchemist for their superb affinity."
"I see." Valyr nodded once more, slightly curious as to who was lucky enough to beco Mystia's third disciple.
After all, with a position like the Imperial Alchemist of the ltierre Heavenly Court, it ant that her disciples had access to a far greater amount of information that even he could access with the help of the Blacksmith Guild.
Not only that, but they would have priority access to the alchemical concoctions Mystia made, reminding him of the gifts he'd received from her back in the auction he participated in.
Pushing such thoughts to the side, Valyr decided to shift the topic of their conversation to more mundane stuff, allowing the two of them to relax a bit more around one another.
By the ti they arrived at the place where Mystia was, the two more or less were on amicable terms, prompting the woman to faintly smile as she explained sothing to him.
"The Imperial Alchemist is on the other side of the door," said the woman. "Make sure to knock, okay? I'll be leaving, then."
"Thank you for your help," replied Valyr as he kept the woman's words in his mind, watching as she gradually left his vision. "Oh, wait. What's your na?"
"I go by Aloe," said the woman in response, causing Valyr to be silent as thoughts surfaced in his mind while watching the woman disappear from his vision.
'Wait a minute... Vera... then Aloe...'
'Aloe... Vera...?'
'...'
'Surely that's not the reason why she chose them as her disciples, right?'
Taking in a deep breath as he took the ti to remove the errant thoughts in his mind, Valyr soon stared at the wooden door before him, noticing that it felt out of place compared to the other doors within the building.
'It's probably because of the strong alchemical energy on the other side,' muttered Valyr to himself inwardly, knocking on the door after that.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Who is it?" After waiting for a short while, a familiar voice to Valyr responded on the other
side.
"It's ," said Valyr in response, causing the other side to beco silent.
Then again, such silence did not last for long.
"Oh! Co in, then."
Hearing those words, Valyr faintly nodded as he excused himself, opening the door to finally
co face to face with soone he should've t a long ti ago.
"We finally et again, Valyr." Though she was still in the middle of concocting an alchemical potion, Mystia looked at the young man with a faint smile on her face, only for it
to turn into a slight grin.
"You've made the right choice of concealing your original appearance."
"Julian gave a reminder before I ca here." Valyr nodded in agreent. "Now that I
think about it, does Miss Mystia know of my reasons for coming?"
"Sir Byron hasn't given anything, neither did Sir Julian when he talked with him, but I can easily guess," replied Mystia after a bit of contemplation.
"I have a strong feeling that it has sothing to do with the Mystic Energy you've neglected." Mystia glanced at him with a knowing smile. "Is that right?"
Valyr could only blush in embarrassnt after hearing those words.
Seeing the young man's drastic change in expression, Mystia let out a bit of laughter as she returned her focus on the concoction she was making.
"Well, don't worry about it too much. Just so you know, I didn't really have that much hope that you'd focus on Mystic Energy, even with Vera teaching you in the inheritance. Consider it a mismatch of circumstances and interests."
"In any case, since you've co here, I'll make sure to teach you as much as I can about Mystic Energy. I don't know if you'll reach Vera's level by the end of it, but your control over the
energy would definitely improve by leaps and bounds."
"With that being said, shall we start the lesson... my third disciple?"
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