Chapter 572: The Grand First-Year Combat Festival: Mysterious Alchemy Path

After Maxwell left with the other Medic staff, the fight area was left behind in a state that hardly resembled the platform that had existed only a short while ago.

The air was still hot.

Heat continued to rise from the deep oval-shaped hole that covered most of the battlefield, causing the air above the damaged ground to shimmer. Small pieces of broken stone remained scattered around the edges, while thin trails of white smoke continued drifting upward from several places where the Golden Flames had burned through the platform.

The Craft-based Royal Academy staff entered the fight area.

They wore protective clothes designed to withstand high temperatures, with some of them pulling their collars higher as the heat pressed against their faces. A few carried equipment cases while others held heat meters and repair tools.

One of the staff members stopped after taking several steps onto the damaged platform.

He raised the heat meter in his hand and looked at the numbers displayed on it.

His eyebrows slowly rose.

"Wow, the heat level in this place is crazy."

He turned the device slightly, as though checking whether he had read the measurement correctly.

The number remained the same.

Another Craft-based Royal Academy staff member looked around the damaged fight area.

His eyes moved from the deep oval-shaped hole to the cracked sections of the platform and then toward the parts that had been scorched black.

"What was even that Alchemy Path?"

He sounded genuinely confused.

Another member of the team adjusted the protective clothing around his neck before looking toward the battlefield.

"Golden Flame..."

He paused.

His eyes remained fixed on the smooth depression carved into the platform.

"It could be a new philosophy under the Flame Alchemy Path."

He was only giving his own thought, but the possibility seemed to make him even more curious.

"Maybe Mr. Maxwell is actually a hidden child of the Burnwick Hous—"

"Sheeesh..."

The Senior member of the team immediately interrupted him.

The staff member stopped halfway through his sentence.

The Senior member turned his head toward him with a displeased expression.

"Don’t go saying things that could easily get you and everyone here into trouble."

He lowered his voice slightly, though there was no need for him to do so.

"Don’t you know that all the High-ranking Alchemists can hear sounds clearly even from here, and the highest of them all can hear the thoughts of people?"

The younger staff member’s expression stiffened.

He glanced toward the seating section where the important guests were watching the event.

The thought of someone hearing what he had just said made him quickly look back toward the battlefield.

Some of the Craft-based staff had already begun igniting their Frost Alchemy Scrolls they held.

Cold air spread from the Scrolls in their hands, pushing against the heat still trapped around the fight area.

A faint layer of frost appeared over several pieces of hot stone.

The staff members continued working while the temperature slowly became easier to endure.

"But then what could explain the Golden Flames and this power?"

Another Craft-based Royal Academy staff member asked.

He looked toward the center of the damaged battlefield again.

His confusion still hadn’t disappeared.

"I studied a lot about other Alchemy Paths, but never have I ever learned about any Alchemy Path relating to Golden Flames."

He stopped speaking.

His eyes remained fixed on the clean oval hole created by the clash between the Massive Sun Lances and Massive Scarlet Flame Lances.

The surface was far too smooth for an ordinary attack to have created it.

The sheer size of the destruction also made the staff member hesitate.

"The destruction makes it seem like it was the work of a Meister Alchemist."

Another staff member turned toward him.

"What if Mr. Maxwell is actually a Meister Alchemist?"

The others looked at one another.

For a moment, nobody answered.

It was only a possibility, but after seeing what Maxwell had just done, the idea was difficult to completely dismiss.

They continued to converse about the matter while beginning to repair the fight area.

Some worked around the edges of the damaged platform.

Others examined the deeper section of the hole.

Several staff members used Alchemy to move pieces of broken stone out of the way, while others measured the remaining heat before deciding where it was safe to begin repairs.

The Senior Craft-based staff member remained near the center of the damaged fight area.

He quietly looked at the place where the two Mass Alchemies had collided.

His expression became more serious, as he remembered the light.

Not merely the explosion.

But the light that had covered the whole arena.

He had seen many powerful Alchemy attacks during his years working around the Royal Academy.

He had seen flames.

Wind.

Ice.

Explosions.

He had even seen attacks strong enough to damage large areas of the Academy’s training grounds.

But that brilliance was different.

There was only one Alchemy Path that had that much brilliance.

His eyes lowered slightly.

Don’t tell me the Sun Alchemist is back?

He thought quietly to himself.

The thought remained in his mind for only a moment before he turned back toward the junior Craft-based staff.

"Move that section over there first."

He pointed toward one of the larger broken areas.

"And make sure the heat is completely gone before you begin repairing the surface."

The junior staff members nodded.

They returned to their work.

The Senior staff member also returned to giving orders, but the thought remained somewhere in the back of his mind.

The Sun Alchemist.

If that really was what he had just witnessed, then the Royal Academy...

No.

The whole Kingdom had just gained something far more important than another talented student.

Meanwhile, the four Holographic Screens continued entertaining the crowd.

The original live images had been replaced by perfected slow replays of the most important moments from the battle between Maxwell and Ravenor.

The screens showed different parts of the fight.

One replay displayed Ravenor’s Scarlet Flame Lances.

Another showed Maxwell’s Golden Flames spreading across the platform.

Another replay showed the two Mass Alchemies colliding.

And the final screen showed the moment when the Golden Sun Lances devoured the Massive Scarlet Flame Lance.

Every time the final scene played, another wave of voices spread through the arena.

The crowd continued discussing the fight.

Some talked about Maxwell.

Others talked about The Young Lord of Burnwick’s performance.

Others were still discussing Lyra’s performance in the Best Loser’s Match against the two Monsters she had fought.

Lyra’s attempt to continue fighting despite knowing the difference between herself and the two geniuses had also left an impression on many spectators.

But another conversation had begun filling most of the overlapping voices throughout the arena.

The Semi-Final matchups.

Maxwell’s display had changed the way many spectators were looking at the remaining First-Year Alchemists.

Before, people had already been discussing the Semi-Finals because of the names involved.

Now, however, another question appeared.

One that was resting in almost every spectator’s mind.

Could the other Young Alchemists handle his Golden Flames?

The question spread from one group of spectators to another.

Some people argued about The Lady of Ash.

Others mentioned the Lady of Berg.

While some talked about Ezra.

And there were still those who believed The Young Lord of Burnwick would have been able to win if the circumstances had been different.

Nobody could ignore what Maxwell had just shown them.

At the First-Year seating section, the same question was being discussed.

"I guess you three have a lot of thinking to do, if you are going to face Maxwell’s Alchemy Path."

Cyrus looked toward Ezra, who was seated on his left.

After looking at Ezra for a moment, Cyrus turned toward the two girls sitting behind him and Ezra.

His expression was thoughtful.

"The Golden Flames seemed to have absorbed Ravenor’s flames with every contact, but I guess it’s because of the strength of the flame that caused that reaction."

Willow sat with her arms folded and one leg crossed over the other.

She looked toward the Holographic Screen while the slow replay continued showing the Golden Flames swallowing Ravenor’s Scarlet Flames.

Her expression remained serious as ever.

She was clearly thinking about what she had seen.

"But the Golden Flame has nothing to do with our Flame Alchemy."

Sasha looked toward Cyrus.

Her own expression had become thoughtful as well, with the question clearly bothering her.

Cyrus nodded slightly.

"That’s because it’s not an ability from our Flame Alchemy Path."

His tone remained calm.

Sasha’s eyes narrowed slightly as she looked back toward the screen.

"Then what is it?"

She leaned forward a little.

"Don’t tell me there is an Alchemy Path that exists and I don’t know about it."

The curiosity in her voice continued growing.

She had spent her little year’s learning about Alchemy Paths as a hobby and still keeps learning about them.

So, the sudden existence of something she had never heard of was naturally difficult for her to accept.

Cyrus remained quiet for a moment.

The name Maxwell had mentioned during their briefing meeting on the first day of the Royal Academy came back to Sasha’s mind.

The name of the person Maxwell had called his Master.

And she wasn’t the only one thinking about it.

"I’m now very curious about the Master he mentioned during our briefing meeting on our first day in the Royal Academy."

Diane joined the conversation.

She sat up straight.

Her eye cover had now been removed and rested against the side of her forehead.

Her light-blue eyes still looked sleepy as always, but the curiosity within them was clear.

"Andraver, right?"

Selena also joined the conversation.

Her voice remained calm.

"That’s the name of the Master he mentioned."

Cyrus’s expression changed slightly.

Only for a moment.

Sasha noticed it.

She turned toward him.

"I’m sure you and Ravenor know about this."

Her eyes narrowed with suspicion.

Cyrus immediately shifted slightly in his seat.

"Huh?"

He looked at Sasha warily.

"What makes you think that?"

He tried to keep his expression normal.

But the question had struck closer than he wanted.

Cyrus remembered Ravenor telling him to keep the information he had given him about Maxwell’s Master and the Alchemy Path he followed a secret.

At that time, Ravenor had trusted him with something that clearly carried weight.

Now Maxwell had revealed his Alchemy Path in front of the entire arena.

The Golden Flames were no longer a secret.

Everyone had seen them.

Everyone had felt their power.

And the moment the name of Andraver became connected to those flames, anyone interested in Maxwell’s Alchemy Path would naturally begin searching for information about his Master.

Cyrus’s eyes shifted subtly.

He glanced toward the seating sections of the important guests.

The High-ranking Alchemists were still watching the arena.

Some were speaking among themselves.

Others remained focused on the Holographic Screens.

Cyrus quickly turned his attention back.

Wait... now that he has revealed his Alchemy Path, doesn’t that mean that the people after his Alchemy Path will already be onto him?

The thought made his expression slightly more serious.

"Cyrus!"

Sasha shouted his name, noticing his long silence.

Her voice became annoyed.

"Are you ignoring me?"

She leaned forward from her seat.

Her right index finger moved toward Cyrus’s face, poking his cheek.

Cyrus flinched slightly.

He moved his head away.

Sasha poked him again.

His expression became more uncomfortable.

"I’m sure you must know something too... Ezra."

Vera finally joined the conversation.

She looked toward Ezra without changing her expression.

There was something about the way she looked at him, which made it seem as though she already suspected he knew something about Maxwell’s Alchemy Path and his Master.

Ezra turned his head toward Vera.

His expression remained as plain as ever.

"I’m surprised you don’t yet know anything about Maxwell’s Alchemy Path or about his Master."

Ezra’s voice remained even.

"I already guessed you would have asked the Duke, your Father or one of the Elders about who Andraver is when Maxwell mentioned his name."

There was a faint surprise in his expression.

And it was genuine.

Ezra knew Vera as the cautious type.

Since she usually paid attention to every information that could become important later.

So, from Ezra’s perspective, he had expected her to have already made her investigations the moment Maxwell mentioned Andraver.

Vera looked at him for a moment.

Her dull expression didn’t change, but her answer came without hesitation.

"I knew it was something deep that dealt with a hidden history of the Kingdom."

She rested her cheek lightly against one hand.

"But I really don’t care about knowing what doesn’t benefit me immediately."

Her black eyes remained on Ezra.

"Just let time play its role as always."

There was no urgency in her voice.

She didn’t look bothered by the fact that she had been unaware of the information.

"And now seems like the perfect time for me to know."

Vera simply finished.

Her expression remained unchanged.

She hadn’t ignored the matter because she lacked curiosity.

She simply hadn’t seen a reason to chase after the information before it became relevant.

At least, not yet.

Ezra continued looking at Vera.

For a moment, neither of them spoke.

The Holographic Screen behind them continued playing the slow replay of Maxwell’s final attack.

Golden Flames filled the screen again.

The sound from the arena continued around them, but the small group remained focused on their conversation.

At the same moment...

"Okay, I will speak."

Cyrus finally gave in.

Sasha’s continuous poking at his cheek had clearly worn down his patience.

He reached up and rubbed the spot where she had been poking him.

"It’s not like anyone is paying me to keep quiet in the first place."

He said it while rubbing his cheek.

Sasha immediately leaned back into her seat.

A pleased smile appeared on her face.

Cyrus looked at her for a moment.

Then he sighed.

The secret surrounding Maxwell’s Master was finally about to be spoken aloud.