Gardener of Eden

Chapter 73: Chapter 73: Alchemy Competition

From their elevated seats in the spectator balcony, Rowan, Barney, Caelen, and Mirei watched as Seraphina stepped onto the stone floor of the colosseum arena below.

The grand arena was an awe-inspiring sight—a vast open stadium surrounded by tiers of stone seating, overhead holographic projectors, and elevated inspection platforms. Down on the sandy floor, dozens of identical alchemy workstations were laid out in a precise grid, each outfitted with high-grade mana burners, crystal cauldrons, silver balance scales, and racks of sealed reagent vials.

As Seraphina reached her designated station at Sector 14, she paused, looking up toward Squad 07’s seating area, and gave them a brisk, confident wave of her hand before turning back to inspect her workstation.

Rowan tapped the interface on the armrest of his stadium seat, bringing up a glowing observation tablet provided to all spectators and evaluators. ”Here’s her feed,” Rowan said, selecting Seraphina’s station. The tablet instantly displayed a crisp, high-definition camera angle centered on Seraphina, complete with real-time diagnostic readouts tracking her mana flux, cauldron temperature, and reagent purity metrics.

”Pretty neat tech,” Barney remarked, leaning over to inspect Rowan’s screen. ”Inspectors can monitor every micro-gram of reagent added and every degree of temperature shift. No way to fake results down there.”

”Seraphina won’t need to fake anything,” Caelen said, crossing his arms with a sharp nod. ”This is her domain.”

A booming chime echoed across the colosseum as the head alchemy inspector took the central podium, his voice amplified by sonic runes.

”Welcome, Cadets, to the Initial Competency Evaluation — Alchemy Division!” the inspector announced. ”Before you are five sealed containers of volatile elemental reagents. Your objective is singular: Synthesize a Tier-2 Pure Elixir within twenty minutes. The evaluation will be scored on speed, stability, and, above all, final potion purity. Reminders: fifty percent of you will fail this bracket today. Begin!”

The arena erupted into a flurry of motion. Cauldron fires flickered to life in multi-colored flames across the stage as contestants rushed to unseal their reagents and calibrate their instruments.

On Rowan’s tablet, Seraphina’s stream showed a picture of absolute calm amidst the chaotic rush. While other contestants nervously scrambled with their measuring scales, Seraphina cracked her knuckles, a sharp smile touching her lips.

She picked up the first vial—an unstable liquid mana-dew—and examined it against the light with her trained spectrographic eye. Without a moment of hesitation, she adjusted the mana burner beneath her crystal cauldron to a precise cyan flame, introducing the base liquid before carefully measuring out crushed fire-salt and silver-vine powder.

”Look at her hands,” Mirei observed quietly, pointing to the tablet screen. ”Not a single tremor. She’s measuring by raw intuition and density.”

Down on the arena floor, a loud pop and a plume of dark smoke burst from a neighboring workstation three rows down as a student miscalculated their reagent heat ratio, triggering an early automatic disqualification.

Seraphina didn’t even glance at the distraction. She channeled a steady thread of her own refined mana directly into the liquid, forcing the volatile primal elements to align into a shimmering, perfectly translucent golden serum. The real-time purity meter on Squad 07’s tablet began climbing rapidly: 88%... 93%... 97%...

”She’s locking in a high-purity Tier-2 elixir in under seven minutes,” Rowan said, a proud grin forming under the brim of his straw hat. ”Squad 07’s first point is as good as secured.”

***

From the elevated inspection gallery overlooking the colosseum, Senior Invigilator Woody adjusted his diagnostic eyeglass, tapping his control tablet to lock onto Station 14.

As an evaluator for the Alchemy Division, he had monitored thousands of hopeful cadets over the years, and he knew the signs of impending failure. Across the arena floor, the air was thick with the acrid stench of scorched herbs and premature elemental flare-ups. Novices were frantically stirring cauldrons, sweating through their sleeves, and making reckless adjustments to their heat runes in a desperate rush against the clock.

Then, Woody turned his gaze to the young woman at Station 14—Seraphina.

”Fascinating,” Woody murmured under his breath, leaning closer to his monitoring console.

Where others succumbed to panic, Seraphina displayed an extraordinary, almost unnatural patience. She stood motionless for several long seconds, allowing the volatile elemental baseline of her reagents to settle. Her breathing was slow and rhythmic, completely unaffected by the chaotic shouts and sudden plumes of black smoke erupting from neighboring stations.

When she finally moved, it was a display of sheer technical mastery.

Her agile hand movements were a blur of fluid, practiced efficiency. There was no hesitation, no wasted motion, and not a single tremor in her fingers as she handled the volatile ingredients. She measured densities by feel and sight alone, effortlessly skipping the standard balance scales that consumed precious seconds for other contestants. With light, delicate flicks of her wrist, liquid mana-dew, silver-vine powder, and crushed fire-salt were introduced into her primary vessel in flawless, rhythmic sequence.

Woody watched as she unclasped a shimmering, intricately runed artifact from her alchemical kit—the Crucible of Eternal Transmutation.

”So she possesses a crucible of that caliber,” Woody noted, his diagnostic screen instantly registering the localized mana density spike around her station.

The Crucible of Eternal Transmutation hummed with a quiet, resonant radiance as Seraphina funneled a fine thread of her own refined mana into its core. The artifact responded instantly, creating an ideal micro-environment that stabilized the violently clashing hot and cold elemental reagents.

Rather than forcing the reaction with aggressive heat—a common mistake made by hasty students—Seraphina maintained a precise cyan flame beneath the vessel, exercising incredible restraint. She waited patiently for the exact micro-second when the reagents reached perfect kinetic equilibrium before initiating the final fusion phase.

On Woody’s tablet, the real-time purity gauge began to surge exponentially:

85%... 91%... 96%... 99%...

A soft, golden radiance flared within the Crucible of Eternal Transmutation, condensing into a crystal-clear, shimmering liquid that settled calmly at the bottom of the container. Not a single impurity remained.

Woody tapped his stylus against the tablet, a rare, appreciative smile touching his lips as he officially logged the score for Station 14.

[Candidate: Seraphina — Squad 07] [Item Synthesized: Tier-2 Pure Elixir] [Synthesis Time: 6 minutes, 42 seconds] [Final Purity Rating: 99.8% — Grade S]

”A textbook demonstration of control, patience, and artifact mastery,” the invigilator recorded into his official log. ”Positioned comfortably in the top percentile. She isn’t just passing this trial—she’s setting the standard.”

***

Having completed her elixir far ahead of the allotted twenty minutes, Seraphina calmly stepped back from her workstation. She wiped her hands with a clean cloth, neatly stored her tools back into her leather alchemy pouch, and pulled out a tall stool to take a seat. While the remaining contestants around her frantically stirred cauldrons, suffered explosive mishaps, or sweated through their uniforms trying to stabilize their volatile mixtures, Seraphina rested her chin on her hand, casually watching the final minutes tick away.

At long last, a resounding metallic chime reverberated throughout the colosseum, accompanied by a bright flashing barrier that locked down all active cauldrons.

”Time is up! All synthesis must cease immediately!” Senior Invigilator Woody’s voice boomed over the arena speakers. ”Evaluations are finalized. Stand by for the official leaderboards!”

High above the arena floor, the massive central holographic projector sparked to life, illuminating the dark stadium air. A glowing digital leaderboard materialized in bold, crystalline lettering, drawing thousands of eager eyes from the spectator galleries.

The crowd erupted into murmurs as the top rankings settled into place:

[ INITIAL COMPETENCY TRIAL — ALCHEMY DIVISION RANKINGS ]

1st Place: Julian Vance (House Vance) — Purity: 99.9% | Time: 18m 45s

2nd Place: Lyra Thorne — Purity: 99.9% | Time: 17m 12s

3rd Place: Seraphina (Squad 07) — Purity: 99.8% | Time: 06m 42s (Fastest Brew)

Seraphina’s name glowed brightly near the very top of the board, firmly locked into 3rd Position overall.

While the top two contestants had managed to squeeze out an extra fraction of a percent in chemical purity, both had consumed almost the entire twenty-minute window to do so under controlled laboratory conditions. Seraphina’s entry, by contrast, boasted an incredible 99.8% purity concentration paired with an astonishing 6-minute and 42-second completion time—more than double the speed of anyone else in the top ten.

Up in the inspection gallery, Senior Invigilator Woody tapped his tablet with an approving nod. ”In an academic vacuum, a fraction of a percent might earn top marks,” Woody noted aloud. ”But in active field operations inside the Tower, a high-purity potion brewed in six minutes saves lives. Squad 07’s alchemist understands tactical reality.”

Up in the spectator balcony, Barney let out a booming laugh, slapping his knee. ”Third place overall, and she finished while the rest of them were still reading the instructions! Look at those times!”

”A pure S-rank performance,” Caelen agreed with a faint grin. ”She set a benchmark no one in this cohort can touch on speed.”

Rowan leaned over the balcony railing, adjusting the brim of his straw hat as he caught Seraphina’s eye on the floor below. ”She secured our first category with ease. Exactly what we needed.”

Down on the arena floor, Seraphina looked up at the glowing leaderboard, taking in her 3rd place standing and the gold highlight on her record-breaking time. A sharp, satisfied smirk touched her lips. Slinging her kit over her shoulder, she unclasped the Crucible of Eternal Transmutation, gave a light nod toward the invigilators’ booth, and turned to head up the ramp to rejoin Squad 07 for the next event.