Last Gun Alchemist

A Spatial Alchemy Circle appeared beneath Felix’s boots before he could say anything else.

The symbols flashed.

Felix gave Ezra one last irritated look, still holding the AK-47 in his hands, before his body vanished from the forest.

Whoosh!

Once Felix was gone, the damaged battlefield finally became quiet.

Ezra remained where he stood for a moment, his black eyes passing over the empty spaces where Tristin, Gareth, and Felix had been.

Only after confirming that the fight was truly over did he lower his weapons.

The Kel-Tec PMR-30 went into his Space Bag first.

And the Desert Eagle followed.

Ezra then looked down at the special black gloves covering his hands.

He stopped supplying Cognis to them.

The faint flow of energy passing through the Circuit lines immediately faded, causing the magnetic function of the Magnetizum–Black Steel alloy to deactivate along with the thin threads he had used throughout the battle.

Ezra flexed his fingers once.

They worked well.

There were still things he could improve, especially after using the gloves in an actual fight instead of only testing them under controlled conditions, but they had already done what he created them to do.

His movement with firearms had changed completely and improved.

And that was enough for now.

A glow appeared beneath his boots.

Ezra looked down and saw the Spatial Alchemy Circle forming around him.

Before it activated, he quickly removed the special gloves and returned them to his Space Bag.

He took out the ordinary pair he had worn earlier to school and slipped them onto his hands instead.

The Spatial Alchemy Circle brightened.

Whoosh!

The damaged forest disappeared.

Almost instantly, Ezra felt solid ground beneath his boots again.

He had returned to the training quarters where the Practical Test had begun.

The place looked very different now.

When the students had first gathered there, the wide sandy training ground had been filled with excitement, nervous conversations, and students wondering what Professor Kent had prepared for them.

Now...

Many of those same students were sitting or lying across the sand.

Some leaned forward with their hands resting on their knees, breathing heavily after hours of running, fighting, and searching for Numbered Gems.

Others were too exhausted to stand and had simply dropped wherever they found enough space.

Then there were the injured students.

Academy medics moved between them with medical supplies and Alchemy materials, treating burns, cuts, broken bones, gunshot injuries, and whatever else the students had managed to do to one another inside the forest.

Karla had already arranged for the medical team to be present by the time everyone returned.

Ezra’s gaze moved across the training ground.

It soon landed on someone familiar.

Basil.

Two members of the medical team were leading him away.

Calling it walking would have been generous.

Basil could barely support his own weight, and both medics had one of his arms placed over their shoulders as they helped him toward the area where students with worse injuries were being treated.

His swollen face made him difficult to recognize from a distance.

Burn marks remained across parts of his skin, while his academy uniform was still repairing itself.

Ezra’s gaze moved away from him.

Then he saw Cyrus.

Cyrus sat on a foldable chair while one of the medical staff treated him.

His academy cardigan covered most of his damaged training clothes, and his head plugs were still resting over his ears.

Compared with Basil...

He looked much better.

That didn’t mean he had escaped without injuries.

”Mr. Ezra Ashenlocke.”

Ezra turned.

A female medical staff member stood beside another empty foldable chair.

She pointed toward it.

”Please come over for treatment.”

Ezra looked down at himself.

He had managed to hold his own against every threat he encountered during the test, but that didn’t mean he had walked away untouched.

There were cuts across his face.

Parts of his clothing had been torn during the fights.

Blood still slowly leaked from some facial cuts, including the cut left by Tristin’s Light Blade which managed to cut his inner armor slightly.

Ezra walked over and sat.

The medical staff member immediately began preparing her Healing Alchemy.

She placed the required herbs in front of her as the medium for the ignition.

Then her hands came together.

Clap!

Cognis gathered between her palms.

An Alchemy Circle formed.

Once the construction was completed, she brought the Alchemy toward Ezra’s injuries and began treatment.

A faint warmth spread across the damaged areas.

Ezra remained still and allowed her to work.

A short distance away, Professor Kent walked through the training ground with his hands behind his back.

His calm eyes passed over the students lying on the sand.

One student groaned while holding his side.

Another was being carried toward the medical area.

A third had his arm wrapped in bandages while complaining quietly about how much everything hurt.

Kent shook his head.

”You are all really weak-hearted.”

Several students looked at him.

Kent continued walking.

”Imagine this was a war.”

He glanced toward a group of exhausted students.

”Is this how all of you would be acting?”

A boy sitting on the sand stared at him in disbelief.

He leaned slightly toward his friend.

”Speaking like he’s been to war before.”

The friend beside him gave a tired snort.

”How can there even be a war? Britannia has been peaceful since before I was born.”

Kent stopped walking.

The two boys froze.

Slowly, Professor Kent turned his head.

His calm eyes settled directly on them.

”...”

Neither student said another word.

Kent stared for another second before continuing on his way.

”We will wait ten minutes for these lazy classmates of yours to stand up before I announce the winner of this test.”

The effect of those words was immediate.

Students who had been half-dead moments earlier suddenly found a little energy.

Heads lifted.

Quiet conversations started.

Even some of those sitting on the ground straightened their backs.

The winner.

That was what everyone had been waiting for.

The first-place reward alone was enough to make the entire Practical Test worth the trouble.

Ten thousand points.

But first place wasn’t the only position that mattered.

Under the normal Class Test ranking system, the students who placed from second to tenth would receive three thousand points, while those ranked from eleventh to one hundred and fiftieth would receive five hundred points.

Students ranked from one hundred and fifty-first to five hundredth would receive fifty points.

Anyone below the top five hundred received nothing from a normal Class Test.

While Main Tests worked differently.

In a Main Test, students who ranked below the top five hundred would still receive six points each.

That ranking system was one of the reasons the competition inside the forest had become so fierce.

The Numbered Gems weren’t simply objects Professor Kent had scattered around for entertainment.

Every gem could affect a student’s position.

And position meant points.

Points affected rankings.

So even students who knew they had little chance of taking first place had still fought to climb as high as they could.

While conversations about the results spread through the training ground, another group had gathered a short distance away.

”Lady Selena!”

Selena turned.

Her usual group of girls hurried toward her.

The moment Selena saw them, the relief on her face disappeared.

All of them were injured.

One girl had a bandage wrapped around her arm.

Another had part of her face covered near the side of one eye.

One had bandages around her stomach, while the remaining two had injuries around their necks and arms.

Selena’s expression fell.

”You girls really didn’t have to do what you did for me.”

There was no elegance or practiced politeness hiding her feelings this time.

She genuinely looked hurt seeing them in that condition.

The girl with the bandage near her eye smiled.

”It’s our duty, Lady Selena.”

Another girl nodded happily.

”We couldn’t let you get hurt.”

”Yeah.”

The others agreed together.

Selena stared at them.

For a moment, her eyes became slightly wet.

She had told them not to do it.

She remembered that clearly.

Yet they had refused to listen.

Her gaze moved away from the girls and settled on someone standing nearby.

Sasha.

Sasha was looking directly at her.

And unlike Selena’s followers...

She didn’t look happy at all.

Her foot tapped repeatedly against the ground.

”Tsk.”

Sasha clicked her tongue.

”You were lucky, Galehart.”

Selena released a tired sigh.

She shook her head with her usual grace.

The entire chase immediately returned to her mind.

She had already met up with her female followers inside the forest and had been helping them search for more Numbered Gems so they could all finish the test with better rankings.

Things had been going well.

Then Sasha appeared.

And everything became troublesome.

Sasha had quickly realized Selena possessed a good number of Numbered Gems.

From that point onward, she chased her.

And chased her.

And continued chasing her.

Selena had known from the beginning that fighting Sasha directly wasn’t a good choice.

They might have been within the same Alchemist Rank, but that didn’t mean their combat strength was equal.

Even if Selena fought with everything she had, she knew Sasha was stronger.

Much stronger.

And Selena had no intention of losing all the Numbered Gems she had spent so much time gathering.

So, she ran.

Her followers had run with her at first.

Eventually, however, the girls decided they needed to stop Sasha.

Selena had disagreed.

If they were going to fight, she wanted all of them to work together.

Even then, defeating Sasha would have been an extremely difficult task.

Her followers refused.

They told Selena to leave.

Then they stayed behind.

The girls had thrown everything they had at Sasha simply to hold her in place.

Sasha hadn’t wanted to seriously hurt them at first.

That was why they managed to keep pestering her for as long as they did.

Unfortunately for them...

Sasha eventually ran out of patience.

The result was standing in front of Selena now.

Bandages.

Bruises.

And several girls who somehow still looked proud of themselves.

By the time Sasha finally dealt with them and continued the chase, Selena had already disappeared with her Numbered Gems.

That was why Sasha was standing there now, tapping her foot with the expression of someone who had watched her prey escape at the last second.

Selena looked at her injured followers again.

Then she sighed.

”You really are all troublesome.”

The girls smiled.

Sasha clicked her tongue once more.

Time continued passing as the remaining students received treatment and waited for the final ranking to begin.

Ten minutes finally passed.

By then, the training quarters had settled down considerably.

Students who needed more serious treatment had already been taken away by the medical staff and transported to the Royal Academy hospital, while those whose injuries could be handled on the training ground had been patched up enough to remain.

The remaining students gathered once again.

Some still had bandages wrapped around their arms, heads, or legs, while others stood in new academy training uniforms after giving time to change in the changing room close by.

Exhaustion could still be seen on many faces, but now that the moment everyone had been waiting for had finally arrived, most students forced themselves to remain standing.

”Hey, who do you think will rank first?”

One student quietly asked his friends.

That single question seemed to spread.

Whispers started throughout the crowd.

”Maybe one of the Young Lords?”

”I don’t know. There were too many fights happening.”

”I heard some students were stealing entire stashes.”

”Didn’t someone cause that huge Cognis fluctuation near the end?”

Similar conversations appeared everywhere.

Too much had happened across the forest for anyone to confidently predict the result.

There had been fights that only a handful of students witnessed, while other battles happened so far away that most students only heard the explosions or felt the Cognis fluctuations afterward.

Some students had focused on searching for Numbered Gems.

Others had hunted their classmates.

A few had done both.

But regardless of how everyone had approached the test, only one student could take first place and receive ten thousand points, which would also give that person a major advantage in the first-year rankings.

That was enough to make even normally confident students nervous.

Professor Kent stood before them.

”...”

His eyes calmly moved across the crowd.

”You all look nervous.”

Several students exchanged glances.

Willow eventually raised her hand slightly.

”Professor, I think a lot of us just feel pressured. We all tried our best, but none of us really knows how much better someone else might have done.”

”Yes, yes, Miss Willow.”

Kent casually waved his hand.

”I understand.”

Willow lowered her hand.

”But before I announce the results...”

Kent suddenly turned.

His eyes settled on one student in particular.

”I have one thing I need to mention.”

The conversations around the training ground gradually died down.

Kent’s expression became more serious.

”Many of you nearly killed your fellow students during this test.”

A few students immediately looked away.

”I understand that things became heated. I really do.”

Kent’s eyes remained on Veda.

”But don’t allow your anger to get you arrested while attending the Royal Academy because you broke not only school rules, but the laws of Britannia.”

Kent paused for a moment.

”Is that clear...”

His gaze sharpened slightly.

”...Young Lord of Ash?”

Several students immediately looked toward Veda.

Veda didn’t argue.

Instead...

He nodded once.

”I’m sorry for the problem.”

His apology came without hesitation.

Kent’s expression softened a little.

”Don’t worry. I’ll also be scolding the Evergrey’s for the assault they carried out on Miss Fay Ashenlocke.”

He gave a faint, helpless smile.

Kent could at least understand why Veda had reacted the way he did.

Veda carried the title of Young Lord of Ashenlocke.

When he learned that members of his family had been attacked and badly injured, he had responded as someone carrying that responsibility, regardless of whether Fay belonged to another branch of the family or was in a different year.

That didn’t excuse nearly killing other students.

But Kent understood where the anger had come from.

”They did what?”

Vera’s voice suddenly rose plainly above the crowd.

Several nearby students turned toward her.

It was strange enough hearing Vera raise her voice that even a few Ashenlockes looked at her.

Her black eyes had already moved toward the crowd.

There was only one Evergrey standing among the students.

Grant.

Vera found him immediately.

Her expression remained controlled, but the relaxed look she had carried earlier was gone.

Grant noticed her gaze.

He lowered his head.

For once, he didn’t seem interested in meeting the eyes of an Ashenlocke.

”They attacked Fay?”

Nina’s expression darkened.

”No wonder I didn’t see her.”

Her fist tightened beside her body.

”Those bastards.”

She sharply turned toward Grant as well.

And Nina wasn’t alone.

Henry Ashenlocke and Bess Ashforge, standing beside each other as usual, both stared at him with narrowed eyes.

Their expressions carried none of the casual mood from before.

Even Gareth’s usual easygoing expression disappeared.

Felix openly glared at Grant.

”How dare a Count family mess with us?”

Felix stepped forward.

Even though he actually didn’t care about Fey getting almost killed.

He hated the fact a noble family lower than the Ashenlocke openly acted against them.

And it was the Evergrey of all people.

Gareth immediately caught his arm.

”Felix. Let it go. Professor Kent literally just finished warning Veda about this.”

Gareth’s voice remained calm.

Felix clicked his tongue, but he stopped moving.

The sudden tension between the two noble families didn’t go unnoticed.

Whispers spread throughout the students again.

”I expected something like this to happen eventually.”

”Why?”

”They’re both Gun Alchemist families.”

”But the Evergrey’s really have the guts to openly attack the Ashenlockes.”

”I wonder what’s going to happen between the families after this.”

Another student leaned closer.

”But what exactly did the Young Lord do?”

His friend looked at him strangely.

”Can’t you see that most of the Evergrey’s aren’t even here?”

The boy paused.

His eyes moved across the crowd.

Grant was present.

But many other Evergrey students were missing.

”...Oh. What happened to Lady Grace Evergrey?”

That question caused even more whispers.

Clap!

Kent brought his hands together.

The light clap wasn’t particularly loud, but it was enough.

”End this matter for now.”

His firm voice cut through the conversations.

”Let’s focus on class.”

The students gradually fell silent.

No one argued.

The conflict between Ashenlocke and Evergrey clearly wasn’t something that would disappear because Professor Kent told them to stop talking about it, but this wasn’t the place to continue it.

”Now...”

Kent turned back toward the students.

”Where was I?”

His eyes suddenly landed on Cyrus.

Cyrus blinked.

He looked behind himself.

Nobody.

He looked back at Kent with visible confusion.

Why is he looking at me?

Kent didn’t explain.

His gaze moved from Cyrus toward Ezra.

Ezra simply looked back at him.

Professor Kent stared at the two boys for another moment before faintly shaking his head.

A small smile appeared on his face.

Whatever he was thinking, he kept it to himself.

”Karla.”

He pointed toward her.

”Please show them the results.”

Karla nodded.

She was already holding her Zphone tablet.

”Alright.”

She walked to the front of the gathered students and turned so everyone could see her clearly.

”Good job, everyone.”

Her voice was calm and careful.

A few students straightened themselves.

”Before we show the rankings, I’ll quickly explain how the Numbered Gems were counted.”

Karla raised her Zphone tablet.

”The numbers engraved on each gems are the reason we call them Numbered Gems, but those numbers aren’t only there to tell us how many gems Professor Kent hid throughout the Forest Training Zone.”

Her fingers moved across the screen.

”Every Numbered Gem has its individual number registered inside the course application.”

Karla dragged two fingers outward across the tablet.

A holographic screen expanded from it.

Light formed in the air until a large transparent display appeared behind her, making it possible for the gathered students to see what she was talking about.

Rows of numbers filled the screen.

The students watched quietly.

”When a student picks up a Numbered Gem, that particular gem sends a signal to the course application and becomes registered as taken.”

Karla tapped one of the numbers.

Its status changed on the holographic display.

”That happens with every registered gem that was found during the Practical Test.”

Several students nodded.

Karla continued.

”Then, once the test is over, we use the final sorting system.”

Her finger moved toward another section of the application.

A button marked for sorting appeared.

”This identifies which student currently possesses each Numbered Gem through your last touch print and calculates the total number belonging to each of you.”

A student near the front looked down at his hands.

Karla noticed.

”Yes, your touch print.”

She raised the tablet slightly.

”Once you handled the gem, the system had what it needed to identify you during the final count.”

That explanation caused a few students to whisper again.

Karla ignored them.

”So...”

Her finger hovered above the button.

”...all I need to do now is sort the results.”

The training ground became quiet.

Students who had been whispering stopped.

Those who had spent the entire test confidently stealing gems suddenly looked a little less relaxed.

Others unconsciously reached toward their Space Bags, as though checking their Numbered Gems one last time could somehow change the result.

Karla tapped the button.

Click.

The holographic screen changed.

A loading icon appeared in its center.

It slowly rotated.

Every student’s attention locked onto it.

The final ranking was being calculated.