The days of old were like this piece of gold being scorched in the fla; no matter how much energy you put into intensifying the fire, it could not be truly refined.
Kuyi Tulan spoke as if discussing a very ordinary matter. The winter weather was still cold, and the CRACKLING flas in the fireplace failed to provide much warmth to the tavern.
The weather was cold, but the atmosphere within the tavern was even colder.
It seed as if Kuyi Tulan's storytelling held so enchanting power, drawing everyone in the tavern to listen attentively.
No one knew why. Even Carllo, Hector, and others from the Alchemy Workshop were fully alert, all desperate to hear about the Chief's unique past.
"The ergence of Adventurers with Class changed everything in the world, and these changes occurred all too swiftly. Many feel this world has gone mad. But I know that's not the case. It's simply that we have failed to keep up with the world's pace," Kuyi Tulan wasn't in a hurry to recount his past. He spoke with his characteristic persuasiveness, as if a re movent of his lips could make everyone in the tavern understand his painstaking efforts.
"Chief Kuyi Tulan, we follow in your footsteps, ready to obey your orders anyti, anywhere," Carllo was the first to pledge his loyalty, a staunch follower of Chief Kuyi Tulan.
"That's right, Sir. We have benefited imnsely from following you," Hector also chid in with flattery.
Dastan, captive in his cage, allowed a faint smile to touch his lips. He had long grown tired of verbal spars with these people. Now that he was their prisoner, no montary victory in words could alter his impending fate.
He knew he would be used by Kuyi Tulan as a test subject, subjected to endless experintation; soon, he wouldn't be himself anymore.
Dastan couldn't help but reminisce about that night more than a decade ago when they too had been caged.
Only, that cage hadn't been golden; it had been pitch-black.
Dastan could never forget that night. His spirit had been broken then, and he had entertained thoughts of giving up.
I had transford into a monstrous figure, unable to return to my original appearance. Going out ant risking pursuit and attack. Even if my abilities were enhanced, what good would it do? I could no longer walk the streets freely as before. No one would recognize ; they would only see as a monster.
At first, he too had trusted Kuyi Tulan. He had believed that he and his family were too insular, too resistant to new things, and that this was why he lacked strength.
So, he had imdiately joined Kuyi Tulan's plan. The Alchemy Workshop's pact had seed like a new world, revealing a swift path to enhance his power.
There are no shortcuts in this world. Shortcuts are rely patterns discerned after countless trials; without sacrifice, there is no reward.
But at that ti, he lacked his current understanding. His sole intention then had been to rapidly improve himself, to contribute to the revival of his family.
He hadn't expected Kuyi Tulan's techniques to be Forbidden Spells, utterly impossible to truly realize.
lding, absorbing, crossing, exchanging... These, I believed, were the principles of the pact. I even felt that since the Alchemy Workshop could create the Exchange Beast, they could surely fulfill the pact's terms. After all, Alchemy was the most wondrous art on this continent, more mystical even than the Spellcraft of Wizards. Because Alchemy could create. This art relied on Equivalent Exchange, making it possible to create new things. To outsiders, these new things seed as if conjured from nothing.
"Creation can forge anything; miracles are often born from unknown creation!"
Dastan faintly rembered the Alchemy Workshop's slogan from that ti. Thinking back now, that slogan must have been Kuyi Tulan's own creation. Only he could devise such words.
Dastan chuckled bitterly. How could I have been so foolish then, so recklessly believing those words? And there were so many others just as foolish. What were they all after? How did we let ourselves be duped by Kuyi Tulan's pronouncents?
They had unhesitatingly participated in Kuyi Tulan's plan. In the Alchemy Workshop's laboratories, they suffered unbearable pain and endured unimaginable experiences, until they lost consciousness.
The premise had been clear: if they could create an Exchange Beast, then they could also create fearless Soldiers—Fighters, Hunters, or even hybrids of the two classes!
The past seed to play out before his eyes. Kuyi Tulan's plan hadn't stalled despite the controversy. The Empire's thirst for power was insatiable; as long as there was even a sliver of a chance to obtain powerful individuals, such opportunities would not be dismissed.
Even if these plans were controversial, teetering on the edge of darkness.
From a certain perspective, Kuyi Tulan hadn't broken his word. He had indeed made Dastan stronger: his Bomb Jump was enhanced, his burrowing ability strengthened, and his elusive movent technique could be used repeatedly...
He had completely fulfilled what was written in the agreent.
However, Dastan lost his human appearance.
He turned into a monster resembling a rabbit!
It was sothing difficult to comprehend. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ N0veI.Fiɾe
Perhaps this was Equivalent Exchange: to gain one thing, you must inevitably lose another. The choice of what to sacrifice... perhaps that is the eternal question of Equivalent Exchange.
When Kuyi Tulan unwrapped the bandages from Dastan's body, Dastan initially felt nothing out of the ordinary. But upon seeing his reflection in the mirror, he erupted in uncontrollable fury. Unable to restrain his rage, he instantly seized Kuyi Tulan by the throat and slamd him against the wall.
His fury then was potent enough to kill Kuyi Tulan; even with the nurous Alchemy Servants and apprentices in the laboratory, nothing could have stopped him.
But Kuyi Tulan, pinned against the wall, showed no trace of fear. Dastan vividly rembered the smile on Kuyi Tulan's lips then.
That smile still sent shivers down his spine.
And then ca the words after the smile—words he would never forget as long as he lived.
"You are my creation. How could I allow you to run riot before ?"
Kuyi Tulan had planted his Marker in each of them. To this day, Dastan still didn't know what that Marker was, but he could clearly recall the distinct agony that Marker inflicted.
He also didn't know what thod Kuyi Tulan had used. All he knew was a sudden, overwhelming ache coursing through him, then his body went limp, and he collapsed, utterly drained of strength.
Never would I have imagined that I, a proud mber of the Sol Family, would beco a puppet, a monster controlled by another!
Heartbroken and in despair, he began to refuse food, resolved to end his wretched life in that pitch-black cage.
It was at this ti that the Great ntor once again appeared before him.
Just as on the battlefield that first ti, the Great ntor appeared before him, radiating light.
That night was the night of his rebirth.
That night, he beca Dastan once more.
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