A rge table stood at the ter of the spacious dining room. Beh it, a plush carpet provided a soft nding for footsteps, while overhead, a shimmering delier cast a glow, atuating the allure of the food.
Daisuke sat poised at the table. Underh his tailored tailcoat, he wore a crisp shirt and trousers, ly tucked into tall boots. His knife and fork hovered over the leg quarter of a Horned Rabbit, ready to indulge in the feast before him, when Reginald’s voice called out from across the table.
“Where’s Aprilena?”
There wasn’t a pause in Daisuke’s response. “She’s still a bit shaken up about the whole ordeal.”
“Well, that’s perfectly uandable,” Reginald replied in a monotone, casting a brief g his butler which evidently held meaning. “She’s still just a child, after all. Winston, why don’t you ensure she gets something to eat.”
“Right away, My Lord.”
Daisuke watched as the man with sleek, permed hair straightened his bend before disposing himself to the task. Then Reginald began rehashing the tale about the king’s personal request, whi hindsight, acc to him—was quite ludicrous. The narrative tinued as they climbed a flight of stairs leading to the man’s study.
A plush couch with a footrest beed, apanied by a wooden table littered with a sele of worn books. It was an intimate space, and Daisuke paid particur attention to the filing ets.
Stepping from the study and through a curtain, they entered Reginald’s b where a host of stifiders unfolded. Light radiated from the crystals set in the walls like torches. Shelves also lihe walls, each den with an array of vials, fsks, and aomes. The room was infused with the st of different herbs, chemicals, and powders. A dark woodeook ter stage, its surface a mosaic of ransmutation circles, sketches, and stras taining biological spes in various stages of experimentation.
Reginald traced his finger along the gss tube ptively. “After being stripped of our wealth, honor, and prestige—the very pilrs that defihe Percival name, my mother left soon after, my sister eloped with her lover, and my father eventually succumbed to his own despair and shame, taking his own life.
I alone remained.
I’ve been w alongside my father long enough to know that his work and research wasn’t in vain. He just didn’t have enough time to perfect it, especially uhe stant pressure of the king’s waning life.
But the greedy mongrels of the court didn’t uand that; they readily chastised us after the king passed. Without even giving us a onstrate our aplishments, we were looked upon as s and banished.”
In the dungeon-like ambience of the quiet b, Reginald’s voice carried a tone of anger and derision as he spoke. His mood ged, however, once he began talking about alchemy—a power whispered to be a gift from the gods themselves. His eyes held a spark of passion as he veyed the sce he had succeeded from his father.
“Alchemy is a force that stirs the heart of both man and universe, a ice that allows us to touch the divine.”
With an exuberaure, he indicated the various alchemical pos that surrouhem. “It is the mastery of matter. It is the art of maniputing elements, of shaping the very foundation of existence. Imagine, Julian, the ability to turn base metals into gold and mithril, to wield the Philosopher’s Stone and fe the elixir of youth, defying the relentless march of time.”
Reginald’s words painted a picture of wonder and possibility. “To be an alchemist is to stand at the crossroads of sd magic, a bridge between the mundane and the extraordinary. We humans strive not just for wealth or power, but to uhe mysteries of creation itself.”
He paused, a soft smile grag his lips. “Alchemy isn’t just about transmutation—it’s about transmutation of the self, of the soul. It’s a journey of discovery, a pursuit of the deepest truths hidden within the fabric of the world. And you, my young friend, have the opportunity to embark on this remarkable journey with me.”
Daisuke sidered the proposal for a moment. He khe freedom he currently had was just an illusion, and he didn’t want to overstep his boundaries and lose his privileges. While Reginald still ehe attention and praise, he o cede to the man’s requests until he could fe an escape pn.
Daisuke bowed deeply. “I’m still incredibly na?ve about the principles of alchemy, but it would be a great honor to work alongside you, My Lord.”
The maed a hand on the boy’s shoulder and squeezed, a delightful smile stretg his lips. “I teach you all you o know, but only you dition your mind to receive this vast colle of knowledge.
Together, you and I will bee the pioneers who ushered in a new era of eid teological development in the world. Kings and queens, even the very emperor, will humbly prostrate themselves before us. The name Percival and Langley will rise to the rank of gods, and then I’ll finally be able to unleash the wrath of vengeance upon the kingdom that tarnished my family.”
***
After agreeing to jinald on this quest for power aribution, Daisuke was shown to the library where he was left to start reading the mountains of books stored there.
A delier as impressive as the one in the dining room hung overhead. The walls, from floor to ceiling, were lined with shelves that housed hundreds of leather-bound tomes—a testament to a history of intellectual pursuits. A firepestled between the shelves on the eastern wall, radiated a f warmth, while a rge ats hung from that of the west.
Daisuke sat around a desk at the back of the room, moonlight streaming in through the rge bay windows. As he skipped through the a pages of a history book, he found himself reminisg about a past memory.
In high-school, his homeroom teacher oold him that knowledge is power; it was the key to success. At that time, he thought it was just another useless idiom to motivate him to study and work hard. But real-life experiences proved otherwise.
He soon realized that wits, knowledge, observation, and decisiveness were powerful ons that everyone should strive to add to their arsenal. These pos were truly the secret to success—but in his current predit, it would be the key to survival.
Had he not capitalized inald’s loneliness and need for validation, Daisuke would probably be sharing a cramped spa the sve’s quarters alongside the other children. By the time he returo the room, April had already fallen into a deep sleep. With a teouch, he pulled the sheets up to her neck, his eyebrows pulling low above his eyes. As he stroked her hair, the thought of what might have happeo her if he hadn’t fooled Reginald weighed heavily on him.
Rather than solely immersing himself iudy of alchemy, Daisuke took the initiative to somewhat familiarize himself with the game’s ats, ensuring he had a sense of dire in this unfamiliar world. He delved into books and articles ing current affairs, safeguarding himself from unwittingly wandering into hostile territories while pnning his escape.
While grateful for his natural ability to read, write, and speak the native tongue of this virtual ndscape, he couldn’t shake the nagging that it implied the System had accessed his thoughts, breag his personal privacy.
He didn’t know how to feel about that, nor could he shake the uling memory of Dusthaven, where the game projected aed his biological parents with eerie accuracy. Though he supposed after attempting to hack the game, he had likely soured any goodwill he had with the Zenith Corporation.
A sudden, ominous knock echoed at the door, causing Daisuke’s heart to race with apprehension. With a hairpin in hand, remi of his mother’s, he cautiously edged toward the source of the uninvited guest, his senses on high alert.
“Yes? Who is it?”
“U-Umm… I-I don’t have a name.”
Daisuke sighed, feeling the tensioe from him like a punctured balloon. He kly what that meant—being nameless. Opening the door to a slight ajar revealed a lone girl, no older than ten. She had a pair of furry, sagging ears atop her head, and a tanuki tail drooped behind her.
“Um,” she murmured in a bination of embarrassment and fear, desperately pulling down at the hem of her chemise nightgown. “…I,” she couldn’t hold his gaze. “I was told to… stay here with you tonight.”
Fear of monsters & the unknown: 49.6%
