AK - The Alchemy Kingdom

Year 5, Spring, First Month, Third Week.

“Morning, Rachel… Can you ask Ben to take me outside after breakfast? I have to…”

Heidi tried to act as normal as possible, but the confused look on Rachel’s face made her stutter a little. The Adventurer, who was visibly embarrassed, quickly added:

“Ah… I need to train some moves in a place with high-density energy… I would be back at noon…”

Rachel graciously nodded, pretending to believe the Fighter. Heidi couldn’t wait to cross the lake, but she would only leave to hunt in the next week after her weapons were ready. Since she couldn’t bring herself to admit that she just wanted to have a tour outside, she had to come up with the training excuse. Actually, she didn’t have to explain anything, but Rachel was also responsible for the checkouts and the free information on the beasts’ location, so the cook knew Heidi didn’t have anything to do outside.

Again, the Fighter could have just ignored Rachel’s confused look, but she didn’t want AP’s staff talking about her irresistible curiosity. She finished the delicious meal and went back to her hut to pack some things and wait for Ben. Not long after, she heard a knock and was surprised by Lew waiting outside. As soon as the private huts became available, Heidi decided to rent one for herself as many of her comrades lacked hygiene and proper tidiness.

She was about to question his presence when the Lew hurriedly explained:

“Sorry... Rachel told me, you wanted to go outside and I offered to take you… I have been so occupied in the last couple of days that I didn’t have time to see how it looks… So, are you ready?”

Heidi could only scold herself for acting so childish, why couldn’t she admitted being curious just like him? Pushing the thought to the back of her mind, she ran inside and quickly came back with her bag. The two Fighters casually chatted about food and beasts until they arrived at the eastern side shore of AP.

The Adventurer was a little hesitant to get close to the water, but Lew calmly approached the hut built beside the pier and knocked on the counter window. Shortly, the window was opened and Lew discussed something with the clerk. The young man looked a little embarrassed but ended up accepting the crystal from his Boss.

The decision to charge for the service was still being tested for customer acceptance, but apparently, nobody was complaining yet. The truth was that even with the additional one crystal cost to enter and leave AP, the place still offered too many benefits, so the Adventurers would just think of the extra cost as an access fee.

The clerk closed the window and after five minutes, a strangely well-crafted wooden boat exited the boathouse. Heidi wasn’t surprised by the evenness and workmanship of the boat because she had gotten used to seeing these on the huts, but the lack of paddles was certainly disturbing. Aside from the unusual well-finished craft, the boat had nothing worth mentioning. It looked like a classic medium-sized passenger boat from the Water Capital, with the capacity to transport a dozen people.

The young clerk was using a long stick to push the boat forward. The tool was enough to get the boat out of the building and secured it at the small pier, which was proved by how fast and easy the man got it done. However, this wouldn’t work to cross the lake unless it was actually just a couple of meters deep.

Even confused, Heidi refused to show weakness in front of her fellow Fighter. She moved forward and boarded the boat relying on all the courage she could muster. Surprisingly, the clerk exited the boat as soon as they boarded it leaving the wooden stick secured at the side. The man bade them farewell and returned to the boathouse.

Lew sat at the individual seat closer to the boat’s tip and asked her to sit too. Before she could react, the boat started moving into the mist. Heidi could only gulp and silently pray to the Origin for protection. Instead of comforting and appeasing her fears, the speed and stability of the boat only made the situation more unreal. She looked down at the water and wondered if there were beasts under it, a shiver spread through her body as she remembered the stories of people being swallowed in a second by giant water beasts.

Fortunately, Lew’s voice pulled her out of this contemplative and dreadful state.

“In the beginning, the dark waters and the limited view were a little scary… But once you get used to it, it becomes oddly calming, and the mist adds a mysterious touch for sure...”

“Yeah…”

After hearing her fellow Fighter’s thoughts, Heidi decided to let go of her worries and enjoy the trip. The Adventurer admired the scenery but still wondered how the boat was moving seemingly alone and so fast. She would never have imagined that the reason was just below her feet. Between two layers of planks that formed the boat’s floor, hidden from prying eyes, the Array shined as it created many effects on the boat.

The magic boat Array is formed by three parts, one responsible for maintaining the secondary effects, another to push the boat towards its destination, and a final part to join the previous two while increasing the reach of the effects. The secondary effects were grouped in the same Array because they all targeted the boat, while the effect to move the boat targeted the water.

The secondary effects were concealment, to keep the boat hidden from possible enemies; wind basic properties, to improve the speed of the boat by reducing the air resistance; and lightness, to lighten the boat and further increase the speed of movement. To group these effects, Karl used an Addition A. with the three Arrays inside and a Direction A. (triangle) in the center to direct the effects around the boat. The Alchemy mark would receive the concealment effect from the command room, the Properties Extraction A. (star form) with wind crystal to lower the air resistance, and a Lightness Rune to reduce the weight.

To move the boat, the Alchemist used the water affinity, moving the water under the boat towards a specific direction. The direction would be decided by an operator depending on the situation outside the lake to avoid unwanted encounters. So, the direction would be passed by an Alchemy mark and would point to one of the marks inside of the lake wall. As usual, the water affinity would be acquired by the Properties Extraction A. with a water crystal. Finally, the water affinity and the direction mark would be combined with an Activation A. (square), to allow manual activation of the boat, and the result would be directed under the boat using a Direction A. (triangle) on the center.

The last part would only group the previous parts and increase the area of the effects. To group them, Karl used an Addition A. with a Stimulus Rune in the center to increase the effects’ energy and consequently the reach. By now, all the Alchemists knew the differences between the Combination and Addition Arrays. While the former would merge effects and properties to set parameters, the latter would group independent effects to share properties, energy, or other effects. In the magic boat design, the Lightness, concealment, and wind properties effects shared a target between them (boat), and also shared an effect (Stimulus R. to increase the reach) with the boat movement Array.

Oblivious of the magic processes happening below her, Heidi decided to be more forthcoming and asked Lew something that was occupying her mind.

“Lew, do you think that a lake would prevent the Kingdom to find AP? I mean, it’s obviously an obstacle but they would cross it eventually… Unless the water…”

She tried no to think of what could be lurking under the seemingly calm waters. If there were beasts below, how could they continue unhindered?

“We have other defenses, but I can’t discuss our secrets… For now, I think the mist and the water beasts are enough to keep them at bay. Of course, these obstacles can’t block the Kingdom for good, but they would have to commit a lot of resources to overcome the defenses… You should know better about their internal situation and the constant conflict amongst the nobles. Would they waste a lot of resources here just to dismantle our operations?”

The Adventurer almost lost it when she heard about the beasts. How could they be so careless and just navigate through beast-infested waters? However, at this point, a thought struck Heidi. If they could prevent the beasts from entering AP, why couldn’t they do the same for the boat? She remembered too well the container they used to cage the bats.

Unknowingly, Heidi had guessed AP’s methods correctly. They were using the marks in the wall around the lake to extend the beast's barrier to an entire section, thus allowing the boat to navigate freely through the section without being attacked. In fact, the five minutes that the clerk took to get the boat ready, was the time the command center took to decide on the trajectory and activate the effect in a section. The barrier would spread from AP slowly until it reached the other side of the lake in a section, pushing away any beasts that might be on the way.

Strangely, it was less costly to expand the barrier than to put the effect only circling the boat, like they did with the concealment effect. This happened because of the specific behavior of the bubble element. Building the bubble barrier was more difficult than expanding it, and also because the misty environment would help to form the bubble layer.

Although the time seemed to pass slower on Heidi’s perception, the trip took less than ten minutes. For now, it was a novelty and it would make some Adventurers hesitate, but in time, the boat trip would become another small detail to add to AP’s uniqueness.