CHAPTER 105— Alchemy City(11)
Even days after returning from Alchemy City, Seraphine's mind remained trapped in the shadows of the GAA sub-levels.
"And that, consequently, is why your
mana—"
Inside the Class-S lecture hall, assistant instructor Elias was lecturing the students with academic passion, while Instructor Aiden sat slumped sideways in his chair, completely dead to the world and snoring softly.
Seraphine sat at her desk, frantically trying to take notes. Yet, every single time her pen touched the page, her hand spasmed or she misspelled basic words. Finally, her pen came to an abrupt, violent halt.
'Tch...' She clicked her tongue in sheer frustration. 'I still can't believe it.'
The haunting image of the platinum-haired man—the supposed successor of Al Salvador—floating effortlessly outside the shattered balcony replayed endlessly in her mind.
'That bastard was standing right in front of me, and instead of incinerating him, I let him walk away scot-free.'
A wave of humiliation and hot rage flushed her cheeks. 'And that wretched girl... how dare she play me for fool?'
SNAP.
The metal nib of her pen violently snapped in half as she drove it downward into the page with excessive force. Ink pooled instantly from the broken tip, staining her handwritten notes into a dark, illegible smudge.
"Ah... Seraphine?"
Instructor Elias blinked, pausing his lecture as he noticed the sudden commotion.
"Yes, Instructor?" Seraphine forced her voice to remain level.
"Well... if you're feeling under the weather or experiencing academic stress, you're permitted to take a brief leave from the hall. You know... so the rest of the class can study in peace." Elias offered a polite smile.
Seraphine swept her gaze across the room, noticing that several students sitting near her were physically trembling from the sheer, suffocating pressure radiating off her.
She slammed her palms flat against her desk and stood up abruptly.
"Yes. You're right. I need some air."
Seraphine snapped, marching straight toward the double doors and storming out into the corridor.
Selene watched her retreating back, her expression clouded with deep, growing concern.
Walking briskly down the hallway, far away from the lecture halls, Seraphine gripped her head. 'What am I even doing with myself.'
She thought bitterly. 'Should I just pack my bags, head back to Alchemy City alone, and hunt down that bastard Salvador myself?'
"Sera!"
A soft, gentle voice echoed from behind her.
Seraphine paused, turning around to find Selene jogging to catch up.
"Sele?"
"Are you alright? You haven't been yourself since we got back from the trip."
Seraphine averted her gaze, exhaling a long, ragged breath. "I'm planning to head back to Alchemy City."
Selene's eyes widened slightly, but she quickly smoothed her expression into something steady. She let out a quiet sigh.
"Sigh... Then I'm coming with you."
Seraphine's head snapped back toward her in shock. "Sele—"
"Oh, come on. We're best friends, aren't we?" Selene said casually, adjusting her hair. "You think I'm going to let you go charging back into a terrorist den entirely by yourself?"
A genuine, soft smile finally broke through Seraphine's hardened expression. "Fine. I'm heading down to the administrative office to file a formal leave application right now. Should we ask Marna if she wants to tag along?"
"Well... Marna's tied up with her house affairs, and she explicitly swore last time that if anyone asks her to join another infiltration mission, she'll shatter their kneecaps."
Both girls shared a brief, appreciative chuckle at the thought.
"Alright. I'm going to grab the paperwork," Seraphine said, turning back toward the path.
---
And that precise chain of events was how she had wound up standing at the exact same administrative counter.
Ritvik stared across the room at Seraphine with wide, saucer-like eyes.
'What the hell...? My internal survival instincts didn't even twitch this time.' Ritvik thought, standing rigid and nervous. But Seraphine deliberately turned her head away, completely ignoring his presence.
"Here. Your leave of absence has been officially approved," the clerk announced, stamping their documents and sliding the stamped passes across the counter.
Seraphine snatched her application without uttering a single word and walked away.
Ritvik's eyes twitched in profound confusion.
'Hold on, what is happening? Usually, my instincts go berserk like a defcon-one siren whenever she's within a ten-foot radius. But right now? Total silence. Not a single alarm. And even stranger... she didn't even insult me! Not a single 'mutt' or 'four-eyes'! What is wrong with her?'
He stood frozen as Seraphine vanished down the hall with Selene.
"Hey, Ritvik, what's gotten into you?" Rowan asked, walking up and giving Ritvik's shoulder a firm, friendly pat—which caused Ritvik to physically shudder. "Why are you standing there frozen like a statue?"
Ritvik shook his head rapidly, snapping back to reality. "Um—yeah, nothing. Sorry. Let's get moving."
An hour later, the trio arrived at the bustling Aetheria railway terminal.
"Did you all checked your ticket sittings." Ritvik asked, checking his own ticket.
"Um... Yeah."
"Good. I managed to reserve all our seats together in the exact same compartment," Ritvik announced with a touch of pride.
As they strode down the boarding platform toward their designated carriage, Ritvik suddenly halted dead in his tracks.
Rowan looked back. "What's wrong now?"
Following Ritvik's line of sight, Rowan saw Seraphine and Selene standing near the boarding gates, waiting to board the very same train.
Their eyes locked across the platform for a brief, awkward second. Ritvik flinched instinctively as his and Seraphine's gazes collided.
Then, the boarding whistle blew, and Seraphine quietly boarded the train without a single snide remark. Ritvik's brain stalled out completely.
'Seriously... what is going on with the universe today?',
"Hey, come on! Are you planning to miss the train?" Rowan urged, pulling his sleeve.
"Right—yep, let's go," Ritvik mumbled, thoroughly dazed.
Once they boarded the sleek magitech locomotive, they began weaving through the narrow aisles in search of their compartment.
"Let's see... compartment number six..." Ritvik muttered, scanning the brass door plaques.
He stopped dead in his tracks again.
Sitting quietly inside compartment number six, occupying the window seat across the aisle, were Seraphine and Selene.
"Looks like Our seats happen to be right in here too," Sarina noted mildly, sliding inside the compartment.
"Come in. No problem." Selene replied with a faint, polite nod.
Without a word, Rowan, Ritvik, and Sarina filed in, taking the seats directly facing Seraphine and Selene.
As the train accelerated out of the station, a heavy silence settled over the cabin. Ritvik spent the first ten minutes blatantly staring at Seraphine.
'What's gotten into her?Normally, she's practically vibrating with aggressive energy, but today she's completely mute. She hasn't thrown a single insult or glared at me once in fifteen whole minutes!'
Rowan and Sarina exchanged glances, watching Ritvik stare unblinkingly across the compartment.
Meanwhile, Seraphine kept her profile turned toward the window, her expression entirely serene. Every so often, her eyes flickered over, accidentally meeting Ritvik's intense gaze before calmly drifting back to the passing landscape outside.
Ritvik felt an existential crisis brewing in his chest.
'Wait. What?! Normally, if I even glance at her for a microsecond, she immediately snaps, 'What are you staring at, you mutt?!' But today? Absolute silence. Not a single word!'
Desperate to test the waters, Ritvik intentionally leaned forward, narrowing his eyes as he cranked his staring intensity up to maximum. 'Let's see if this finally triggers a response.'
He continued staring aggressively.
Five agonizing minutes dragged by.
The stare was so intense that Rowan, Sarina, and even Selene sitting right next to Seraphine began shifting uncomfortably in their seats.
'What is wrong with her?! Why isn't she insulting me? I'm staring right at her like a lunatic and she's treating me like invisible furniture!'
Ritvik clutched his stomach, a cold sweat breaking out across his forehead.
'I don't get it... my instincts usually scream bloody murder whenever she's near, but today they're completely dead quiet. And honestly? It's making me feel violently uncomfortable.'
Another five minutes passed in torturous silence. Ritvik's fragile mental stability finally snapped.
THUD.
Unable to take the psychological torment a second longer, Ritvik slid off his seat and dropped straight to his knees on the compartment floor, clasping his hands together in absolute desperation.
"Please... just say something! Throw at least one insult at me! I literally cannot handle this silence anymore!"
Seraphine slowly glanced down at him, her expression deadpan, before turning her gaze right back out the window.
"Please! Just one curse word! One tiny bit of rudeness! I can't you—"
Ritvik's patience evaporated entirely. In a frantic, unhinged maneuver, he lunged forward and grabbed onto Seraphine's ankle and lifted her foot.
Seraphine flinched violently, a bright crimson flush instantly shooting up her neck and cheeks as the boy grabbed her leg inside a public train.
"What the hell do you think you're doing you mutt?! Do you have a death wish?!"
Ritvik's ears perked up instantly. The sweet, glorious sound of hostility washed over him like a cool breeze on a desert day.
"What did you just call me?" Ritvik asked, his eyes going glassy as a massive, ecstatic smile spread across his face.
"Let go of my leg right now, or I will personally incinerate you down to atomic ash!"
"Oh, ho, ho... yes! Those are the exact words I've been craving!" Ritvik squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head side-to-side in pure, masochistic ecstasy.
Rowan and Sarina sat frozen in their seats, staring down at Ritvik with round, blank eyes, utterly bewildered by the psychological horror show unfolding before them.
"What?! Are you a complete and total pervert?!" Seraphine stammered, her face glowing bright red with mortification as she tried to pull her leg free but Ritvik refused to let it go.
"Oh, yeah... oh, yeah, keep going!" Ritvik cheered, gently patting his own chest in sheer joy. "I finally feel like myself again!"
All the creeping uncomfortableness vanished from Ritvik's soul. Seraphine's aggressive verbal abuse was hitting his ears like a symphony orchestra.
"Ugh...!" Seraphine gritted her teeth, her fists trembling with absolute rage and embarrassment. "Get out of this compartment this instant, you perverted stalker mutt! Stay away from me!"
"Oh, yes! Yes! I love it!" Ritvik beamed like a happy idiot.
"Mom! Why is that guy acting like that over there? Did that pretty girl rejected his confession?"
"Hush, dear. I told you before—you need to learn how to properly talk to girls, or you'll end up just like him. Your father was every bit as foolish when we were young."
A mother and her young son loudly whispered their running commentary from the neighboring compartment.
Seraphine felt like the floor beneath her feet should open up and swallow her whole. It was hands down the single most embarassing moment of her life. Her knuckles turned white as she clenched her fists.
Meanwhile, Ritvik was still kneeling happily on the floor, smiling up at her like a golden retriever that had just been yelled at.
"Will you behave like a civilized human being, you idiotic, perverted freak?!"
In a blind panic of pure mortification, Seraphine pulled her leg back and delivered a swift, unhesitating heel-strike directly upward into Ritvik's chin.
CRACK.
The impact was instantaneous and devastating. Ritvik's eyes rolled straight back into his head, his body stiffening like a plank before he tipped backward and collapsed flat onto the cabin floor, rendered instantly unconscious.
Even as he lay motionless on the carpet, completely knocked out, his right arm twitched upward one last time, offering a trembling, triumphant thumbs-up.
"Thanks... for that..."
---
Ten minutes later, the chaotic commotion had finally settled.
Ritvik was propped back up in his seat, his eyes closed in peaceful serenity, a dopey, contented smile permanently plastered across his face. Meanwhile, Seraphine sat rigidly on the opposite bench, staring intensely out the window with a face that remained stubbornly bright pink.
"What are you staring at now, you recovering lunatic?" Seraphine muttered defensively.
Ritvik pressed a hand to his chest, sighing happily. "Oh... please, say a few more words like that, I might just—"
THUD.
Selene, Sarina, and Rowan all sat frozen, staring at Ritvik with identical expressions of pure psychological horror.
"Um... not trying to be rude." Selene spoke up tentatively, "but does your friend... enjoy being verbally abused, threatened, and being hit by girls?"
Rowan slowly raised one hand, using his palm to cover his entire face as if he could magically delete himself from reality.
"Please do not call him my friend. I am embarrassed to call him my friend."
"Yeah, we officially disown him," Sarina agreed flatly.
"Hey! Weren't you two just giving a whole speech about how much you hate betrayals?!" Ritvik protested, snapping awake. "And now you're betraying me in my hour of need!"
Sarina casually reached across the aisle and delivered a sharp knuckle-chop straight to the top of Ritvik's head, instantly silencing him.
"You know," Selene muttered thoughtfully, breaking the tense silence, "I actually know another guy who acts alarmingly similar to you. I'm sure you and Zephyr would get along really well."
"Don't you dare lump me in with that womanizing menace." Ritvik mumbled, stirring back to life without opening his eyes. "I am a man of refined, specific tastes—not a menace."
"You were still entirely unhinged." Selene sighed.
After another long stretch of quiet, Rowan finally decided to steer the conversation back toward their primary objective, leaning forward his seat.
"Why are you heading back to Alchemy City?" Rowan asked directly, looking at Seraphine.
Seraphine lifted her head, casting a sharp, assessing glance his way.
Ritvik chuckled softly to himself in his mind.
'Hmph... idiot. She never answers personal questions from anyone. She's definitely about to snap, 'Is that any of your business, mutt?'—'
"To kill Al Salvador."
Ritvik's eyes popped wide open. 'She... she actually answered?!'
"Um... why?" Rowan asked, a bead of cold sweat rolling down his cheek.
"Because that monster murdered my older brother," Seraphine said, her voice dropping into a chilling, absolute stillness. "So I'm going to track him down and return the favor."
'Oh... so it's a blood feud. Fair enough, carry on.' Ritvik thought, wisely shutting his mouth.
Rowan dropped his head in heavy contemplation, resting his chin against his thumb as his thoughts drifted back to his own missing brother. A sharp pang of empathy stabbed at his chest.
"Wait," Rowan suddenly raised his head, a realization dawning on him. "If that's true... then why were you asking about Alokik back at the GAA?"
Seraphine took a slow, heavy breath, her fingers tightening into tight fists in her lap.
"Alokik was one of my brother's closest friends. Right before he died, my brother traveled all the way to Alchemy City specifically to meet up with him. And on that exact same day... my brother was assassinated alongside Alokik."
She looked up, her eyes burning with raw pain and unyielding resolve.
"I thought maybe they were both working on something dangerous, which is why they were targeted. But when I asked around in GAA, I found out about Alokik's 'lab accident' and realized my brother had simply gone to visit his friend during a crisis... only to walk right into a slaughterhouse. When I find Salvador, I'm going to burn him down to his absolute last cell."
Rowan lowered his head further, his bangs casting a shadow over his eyes. 'So that's her driving force... her brother.'
The raw weight of her motivation struck a profound chord within him, bringing his own mission to find his brother Arden into sharp focus.
"Is that all you wanted to interrogate me about?" Seraphine asked coldly, narrowing her eyes at Rowan.
"Yeah... thanks for telling me," Rowan answered softly.
"So, what about you?" Selene interjected, leaning forward. "Why are you going?"
Rowan flinched slightly as Selene's soft, round eyes locked onto him. Despite their gentle appearance, her gaze carried an uncanny, ocean-deep intensity that felt like it was reading straight through his skin.
Seraphine also shifted her gaze toward Rowan, waiting for an explanation.
"Last time you even had Infiltrated GAA with these two." Selene continued calmly. "What's your reason?"
"Because..." Rowan paused, choosing his words carefully. "I know for a fact that something fishy is going in Alchemy City. Alokik, Kaya, Al Salvador—there's a massive, critical missing link connecting all of them together, and I need to uncover the truth."
Seraphine let out a sharp, dismissive scoff. "Hah... So to play detective. No wonder you are this mutt's friend."
As Seraphine sneered, Ritvik eagerly leaned across the aisle toward her, wearing another sick, idiotic grin at the insult. 'Ah... my heart feels so complete now. She is officially back to her glorious, insulting self.'
Sarina sighed, rubbing her temples.
---
CHAPTER ENDS