"Something happened, didn't it?" Godslayer's voice spoke once everyone left.
"You were watching?" Alex asked.
"I woke up because of the crazy Yang you started pulling in. I was scared it might come for me like that yellow fog of yours did," he said.
"You should be fine though, right?" Alex asked.
"I am," Godslayer said. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"
Alex thought for a bit and looked to his right. "In a bit," he said and walked forward to stop the young alchemist that was ready to leave alone. He placed his hands around the young man in a friendly manner and asked, "Are you planning on leaving?"
"Uh, Brother… Yu!" he remembered. "Yes, I was just leaving. I have nothing more to do here."
"I see, but surely you can stay behind for a bit right?" Alex asked. "I wish to make some trade."
"Trade?" the young man asked. "What do you want to trade, brother?"
"You have a book full of ingredients, you mentioned. I want to trade for it," Alex said.
"You… you want to trade for my book?" the young man asked. "I'm afraid I can't do that. It's my book and I won't give it away."
"I'm not asking for the whole book," Alex said. "I'm only asking for the recipes inside of it, and I will make a fair trade."
"What fair trade?" the young man asked. "Senior, you cannot give me anything that can make me sell the recipes inside of my book. I know what they're worth. I won't be giving them away."
Alex had to accept that the young man, while not that good at Alchemy, knew what he was talking about. He smiled a bit and let him go.
"Alright, you can leave if you want," he said. "But I want to ask before you leave if you know who the best alchemist in this continent is."
"What stupid question is that?" the young man asked. "It is obviously his majesty, the Dragon Emperor."
"Is he?" Alex asked. "Right now, is it still the Dragon Emperor?"
The young man paused for a while. "No, this time around it's—"
As he spoke, Alex took off his mask, revealing his face to the young man.
"It's… YOU!" he shouted out loud as his eyes widened in surprise. It was impossible to tell if he was answering the question or if he had just recognized Alex.
Alex put the mask back on. "Can I take that exclamation as a sign that you recognize me?" he asked.
"Y- y- y- y- you! You are the alchemist that— no! You are the King of the Southern Continent! The one that won against his Majesty," he practically shouted.
Alex looked around, making sure there wasn't anyone that saw him, and spoke back to the young man.
"I am willing to trade with you," he said. "I will buy the recipes in that book, and in its stead, I can teach you alchemy that will help you reach close to the same level as me. I cannot promise that you will reach the same level as me, but I can promise that you will reach the same level as the Dragon Emperor."
The young man's eyes were wide enough from the start that it was difficult to say if he even processed anything that Alex said. However, after a moment of not speaking, he quickly thought to react and started saying something.
"Uhh… I'll be at the same level as the Emperor? I heard he's Level 10, the only Level 10 alchemist in the continent. That's impossible for me, isn't it? I can't imagine why that would be something I can reach," he said and looked up at Alex. "Can I really do that?"
Alex smiled, but his face was hidden behind the mask. "Yes, I can promise you will reach the same level as the Emperor. Although I will say this much. It will be hard to make pills on the same level as the Emperor consistently simply due to the lack of perfect ingredients. You will make pills as good as him, but not very frequently," he said.
"Then I'll agree," the young man quickly said. "Are you going to take me in as your student?"
Alex was taken aback a bit. "Student?" he hadn't expected someone to take him as a master. Although he certainly was old and strong enough to be one. Still, to be a master to a Saint Foundation realm cultivator that was the same age as him wasn't what he wanted right now.
"No," he said. "I am not looking to take students right now. What we will do is simply trade. I will give you what you need, and you will give me what I need."
"Okay," the man said with a dejected look.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to hide information from you," Alex said. "Oh, and one more thing. There is another condition, which I'm not sure you can fulfill or not."
"Wh-what requirement?" the young man asked.
"I will need you to move to the Southern continent with me when I leave this continent in less than 19 years," Alex said. "Can you do that?"
"Leave the land? Sure. I have nothing keeping me here," the young man said.
Alex narrowed his eyes at how quickly he accepted. "You… don't have any family here?" he asked.
The young man shook his head. "No family," he said. "Had a sister before, but haven't seen her since the game began. Don't know where she is, or if she even played the game."
Alex remained quiet for a moment. "She's not in the Eastern Continent?" he asked.
"Don't think so," the young man said. "I didn't find her during the Great Search."
"The Great Search… that was when everyone started searching for their people after the game ended, wasn't it? Did you not find your sister then?" he asked.
"No," the young man said with a dejected look.
"I see. Well, she must have either remained in the real world, or just gone to one of the other three continents," Alex said. "You'll know if there is ever a chance to go back."
The young man didn't know how to feel about that. Happy? Joyful? It had been 50 years since he had seen his sister. Truth was, he didn't even remember what her face looked like completely. Just fragments of them here and there.
"I'm sure she's been doing fine either way. She's my elder sister after all," the young man said. "Anyway, I accept your offer… err Your Majesty?"
"Good. Let's make an oath to make sure that both of us remain true to our side," Alex said. "And so you don't reveal my secrets to anyone else."
"I agree," the young man said. "Your majesty." He added belatedly.
The two made an oath and once the oath settled in them, it was confirmed.
"Alright, that's settled then," Alex said. "For now, go to the Dragon Capital and enter the Alchemy school. There you can meet with my people. Take this and tell them I sent you there to learn. They will get you started on any basics that you might not know."
"Once I'm done with the matters I have here, I will return there and give you the knowledge we agreed upon. Then, and only then, I will take the things you promised me."
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