World’s Cutest Alchemist

Running through the field, the team passed by multiple monster packs. They were completely ignoring them—even if they killed them they wouldn’t get much reward from it. Their blacksmith was practically out of the game and finding something worth using would be rare.

Their plan was an early rush. Maven had poured everything into creating Hayley’s rapier. They wanted a quick win—before the enemy could make proper gear.

This was known as a ‘Blitz’ strategy. Usually, it’d take around another twenty minutes before the two teams met.

SG was hoping to catch the Principality off-guard.

“Yunlee, Amira, any signs?” Hayley asked, continuing to move.

“Nothing yet…” Yunlee responded. She had her elemental scouring the skies and searching for the enemy.

“My skill senses movement west. Not monsters.” Amira responded after a moment.

“Got it, focus west. Let’s move.” Hayley’s orders was swift. The team started heading west, completely trusting their explorer’s skill.

Yunlee also recalled her elemental and send it west.

After a few more minutes of running, Yunlee suddenly spoke up.

“Destroyed village!” She said.

The destroyed village in question looked similar to the one SG ransacked. There were no corpses left since they despawn after ten minutes, but considering the lack of monsters, they had definitely looted it.

“Let’s move!”

After another few minutes, the team soon arrived at the village. Amira, the explorer, stepped forth, kneeling and touching the ground with her palm.

“Fifteen minutes ago.” She said after a moment.

“Which direction did they go?”

“North, they were carrying stuff. Likely materials.”

Hayley thought for a moment. They were probably started to process their materials and making gear. Now that they had their tracks, Amira could locate them easily. If they started running now, could they catch them in time? Before they’re equipped?

Their production-class has probably already set up shop. That means they’d have defenses at their base; Is it worth risking the attack?

They’d be out-numbered and have to deal with annoying defenses.

Hayley inwardly clicked her tongue.

There was only one answer from the beginning.

So, she quickly made her decision.

“Gary, speed buff to the max. We’re charging forth without stopping. Yunlee, recall your elemental and prepare to attack. Amira, lead the way and don’t look back. We’re attacking on site, full send it.”

“Heh.” Johnathan chuckled.

“All or nothing, huh.” Freya nodded.

“Let’s kill those bastards!” Gary said, casting his skills.

The team all looked at each other, a slight smile on each of their faces as they nodded. Without a second thought, they all started to move. Amira led the way, following the tracks she could see due to her skill.

Now, it was a race against time.

…

Nicholas, PoC’s captain, sat at a table with his team. They were waiting for their production-class, a runesmith, to inscribe runes onto their weapons.

Thankfully, they had gotten lucky and found several useful weapons from monster villages.

‘This should be an easy win.’

Though they were all thinking it, none of them would say it. Too many times have teams gotten hit with the curse of words.

Everything was going well, they found good weapons, their runesmith had good materials in the shop, and the mood was good. Having won against SG 2-0 last year in multiple matches definitely contributed to the good mood.

Confidence was high, spirits were up.

The only issue was they hadn’t found where SG was.

PoC had one of their members, a summoner, have their summon explore SG’s side of the map. So far, they found a few destroyed villages, but there were no sights of the actual team themselves.

“Could they be in the forest?” One member asked.

“It’s possible. They might want to avoid a fight considering they’ve always lost last year.” Nicholas replied.

“So they’re going for an objective win?” Another member asked, stretching.

“That’s likely.” Someone replied.

“Porter will probably be done with the weapons within fifteen minutes. After that, we’ll search and eliminate them. If we can’t find them, we’ll move onto searching for the OBJ.” Nicholas said, tapping the table.

Despite everything seeming to go well, he still had a worry in his heart. Something felt…Wrong.

Though they hadn’t talked much, he knew that SG’s captain, Hayley, wasn’t someone who backed away from a fight before it started. It was more likely she was sharpening her claws.

‘Do they think they can win in equipment?’ Nicholas thought.

Before he could linger on the question longer, a bell sound rung through the radio. Everyone went quiet and their eyes widened.

The alarm had tripped.

Their production-class’ base was getting invaded. And where was the team right now? In the base.

“Quick! Move! Retrieve your weapons!” Nicholas immediately urged, jolting up.

BOOM!

The sound of one of the runesmith’s traps echoed.

They were coming.

…

“Go! Go! Go!” Hayley shouted, rushing past the explosion.

BOOM!

Freya, the Shadowstriker, was using skills to trigger the enemy’s traps as they approached them.

Just a mile away the team saw the enemy’s base.

Yunlee sent her elemental high up in the sky to get an overview of the surroundings. There, she saw everything. The village below with the enemy exiting a house; Runes painted across the plains surrounding the village; A particular house that looked like where their

production-class set up; And her own team rushing forth.

“No weapons!” Yunlee shouted immediately, informing her team of the situation.

No one replied with words, instead, they activated their skills.

Gary, the Pray Caster, used all his mana and skills to buff the team to the fullest.

Freya slipped into the shadows, rapidly activating each and every one of the enemy’s traps.

Amira, the explorer, found the shortest path possible to the enemy.

Johnathan, the heavy knight, lagged behind the rest of the team due to his armor and lack of speed, but he marked Hayley with a skill.

And Hayley, the royal fencer, activated several skills in succession, blinking forth with [Quick Step].

Within a minute the team entered the village. Hayley immediately locked onto the production-class’ house. She saw a member of Principality urgently entering the house and slamming the door behind him.

“CQB!” Hayley shouted, rushing to the door.

As she reached the door, Johnathan finally activated his skill and appeared right in front of Hayley. He immediately grasped the situation and kicked the door open.

Immediately, skills and projectiles were fired toward him.

Johnathan raised his shield, activated his skill and stepped into the building.

“They’re inside!” One of the Principality team members shouted.

“Fend them off! Captain’s getting his weapon!” Another one shouted.

Johnathan took another step, widening the gap between him and the door. Every projectile that hit his shield felt like a truck. If he didn’t have [Guardian’s Barrier] active, he’d have to worry about getting struck directly.

Through the gap Johnathan made, Hayley activated [Quick Step] and slipped into the building. Beside her, Freya had already entered through the shadows and appeared behind one of the panicking Principality members.

Hayley locked onto her target and appeared right in front of him, the enemy support.

He looked at Hayley with wide eyes, attempting to activate a barrier skill.

But, unfortunately for him, Hayley was faster.

[Duelist’s Stance], [Royal Pride], [One And Done], [Weakpoint Detection], [Quick Thrusts]. Hayley’s skills activated in succession and in an instant, a hole was pierced through the enemy support’s throat.

Then, Freya’s dagger pierced through the back of another enemy’s neck.

The Principality members tried to react and target the two invaders in their backline, only for their projectiles to be sent toward Johnathan instead. He had activated another skill.

Realizing their only method was melee, they attempted to engage up close.

Unfortunately for them, a royal fencer’s close quarters is nearly unmatched.

Within just a few minutes, every enemy except their captain and production-class was dead.

Their summoner’s summons were taken out by SG’s elementalist.

SG gathered in the room just outside where the enemy’s captain and production-class were holding out.

They looked at each other and nodded.

Hayley stepped forth and cut off the door at the hinges.

Inside the room, they saw the two enemy’s sitting down. Nicholas, the enemy captain, had his hand on his forehead and the runesmith was leaning back looking towards the ceiling.

“A good plan…” Nicholas said with a sigh. “Did you expect it to go this well?” He asked.

“I had hope.” Hayley replied.

“Haah…You win this round.” Nicholas shook his head, “But don’t expect it to work again next round.” He said, standing up and grabbing the longsword sitting next to him.

“Don’t worry, we’ll win in another way next round.” Hayley smiled, raising her rapier.

With no more words to be said, the two captains charged at each other.

Hayley thrust her rapier while Nicholas swung his sword. Runes etched into the blade started to glow.

Blade and rapier connected.

CRACK!

Cracks appeared in the blade of Nicholas’ sword and it started to freeze over before snapping off completely. Nicholas looked at this scene with shocked eyes and only shook his head in disappointment.

The next moment, a hole appeared in his throat.

But, he didn’t die yet. He smiled as he began to speak,

“Entering an enemy’s base is really risky, you know?”

Before anyone could realize the meaning of his words, the entire room—no, the entire house started to glow.

BOOM!

Everything went up in flames.

The house was no more, several SG members died instantly. The only one’s remaining were Johnathan who had activated his skill and Hayley, whom Johnathan protected.

“Haha…I’ll keep it in mind.” Hayley murmured to herself, looking at the sky.

[WINNER! ROUND 1 STEEL GATORS]

…

“Waaaaah!” I shouted, shaking Mouse. “That was so cool!!!” I said, continuing to shake her.

“S-Stoooooop shakinnnnng meeee!” Mouse let out, grasping my shoulders.

“Oh, hehe.” I giggled.

Watching a match live really was different. Anything could happen. Especially…

“That explosion was so amazing!!!” I thought back to the end of the match. That was such a huge explosion! I want to make one too!

If I weren’t at Mouse’s place, I might have just thrown a few dynokali potions!

Mouse stared at me for a moment,

“…No, it couldn’t be.” She shook her head as if reassuring herself with something, “That was a really good round!” Mouse finally said.

“I can’t believe their strategy worked. Why don’t all teams just use it?”

Everything seemed to go well from start to finish with their ‘Blitz’ strategy.

“Well, for one, it usually only works once and even then it barely works how you want it. You saw it yourself, at the end everyone was blown up. There’s too many variables and things they need to calculate. Simply put, it’s unreliable. SG got really lucky Principality wasn’t more on edge. That wouldn’t have gone so well if they faced other teams.” Mouse explained.

“Mm…” I nodded, “So, it’s a gamble?”

“Basically.” Mouse nodded.

“I see, I see…When’s the next round?” I asked.

“There’s an hour break between each round.”

Checking the time, I saw it was a quarter til 8. (19:45)

“Then, I’ll make us dinner!” I smiled, getting up.

“What’re you gonna make?” Mouse asked, following me to the kitchen.

“Pasta!” I was craving it.

“I don’t think we bought any pasta though?” Mouse tilted her head.

“Homemade pasta!” I simply replied, bringing out the proper ingredients and putting them on the counter.

Homemade pasta was extremely simple to make. And it didn’t take long, it was perfect to make in between rounds.

Mouse sat down a little away and watched with interest.

First, I needed flour and eggs. I created a small hill of flour and formed a small crater—or well—in the middle of it.

“Flour volcano?” Mouse asked with curious eyes..

“In a way.” I nodded, continuing to cook.

Next, I needed egg yolks. First, I cracked two whole eggs into the small crater, then I followed up with cracking four more eggs into a small bowl and transferred only the egg yolks into the crater.

With a fork, I started to whisk—or scramble—the eggs, making sure to keep a boundary of flour. When the yolks were fully whisked, I slowly pulled in the edges of the flour before eventually incorporating all of it fully.

Using my hands, I pulled the flour over itself again and again, eventually starting to form a dough. I kneaded the dough, continuing to pull it over itself.

Soon, I was left with a pasta dough.

I added a bit of flour and then pressed the dough out flat and thin. If Mouse had a rolling pin, I’d use that, but she didn’t so I just used a wine bottle to roll it thin. I added flour as needed before I was finally left with a long, thin strip of pasta dough.

“Woah…” Mouse let out, “How did flour become that in minutes…?”

“Mm…” I hummed, continuing to work.

Here, I’d usually use a machine to get the type of pasta I want—but, of course, Mouse doesn’t have that—so, I just used a knife to cut the dough into strips.

Bringing a pot to the stove, I filled it with an apt amount of water and turned on the heat.

Now, I needed to focus on the sauce.

At the cutting board, I placed two small onions on it and a few cloves of garlic. Cutting the onions in half, I diced them before moving onto the garlic. Smashing them with my palm, I quickly minced the garlic.

With the ingredients prepped, I moved onto the next step. Bringing a pan to the stove, I poured in a bit of olive oil to cover the bottom and turned on the heat. I waited a little until just before the smoke starts to rise and then added the diced onion.

There, I added a bit of salt.

The delectable scent wafted through the air as I stirred.

Just about five minutes later, I added in the minced garlic and stirred. At the scent of burning, I added a bit of water to cool it down.

Next, I added in some tomato paste and stirred. The garlic and onion clumped together, getting a nice red color. I added in a bit more salt while I was at it.

Finally, it was time to add the tomatoes.

If only I still had my tomato plant…I could be using homegrown ones, but alas, store-bought tomatoes work just as well.

I dropped the tomatoes into the pan—about 20 of them. Then, I added a splash of water. I stirred it a little before grabbing one of the tomatoes with my hands and crushing it before dropping it back in the pan.

I repeated this for every tomato, adding water and stirring when needed. Next, I added a bit of salt, pepper, and a pinch of sugar. With that done, I turned the heat to a low simmer and focused back on the pasta.

The water was now boiling, so I added a handful of salt before turning to Mouse.

“How do you like your pasta?” I asked.

“Huh?” She flinched, not expecting me to talk to her while cooking, “Um…However?” She tilted her head.

“You don’t prefer a specific kind? Like al dente or anything?”

“I don’t know what that is, so just cook it how you like it.” She replied.

I nodded and washed my hands before dropping the pasta into the water.

Since it was time to wait, I turned to Mouse.

She tilted her head as if to ask what I was doing next.

“Now, I need to wait for the pasta to cook.” I said.

“Mm,” She nodded, “You look really cool when you’re cooking.” She said.

“Thank you.” I smiled.

I did hear a couple photos being taking while I was cooking, but I ignored them since I was too focused.

We casually chatted a bit before I tasted a bit of the pasta. It tasted done, but I felt like teasing Mouse, so I turned to her.

“Do you know how to tell if pasta is done?” I asked.

“How?” She asked.

Using a spoon, I lifted a small strand of pasta from the water.

“It’s very simple.” With her full attention, I grabbed the pasta and flung it at the nearby wall.

The pasta stuck firmly to the wall.

“What-!?” Mouse let out, startled. “Huh!? Why’d you throw pasta at the wall!?”

“That’s how you can tell if it’s done.” I said, not revealing any hint of teasing.

Well, it was technically true. Growing up, that’s how my family did it.

“…Really?” She asked suspiciously.

“Of course. Would I lie to you about this?” I tilted my head as innocently as possible.

“Mm…That’s an interesting way to tell.” Mouse finally believed me and I smirked. I had no intention of telling her that simply tasting it was a better method.

Grabbing a bowl, I moved the pasta into said bowl. There, I scooped up a bit of pasta water and poured that on the pasta, next, I added a bit of olive oil before mixing thoroughly.

Now, it was finally done. All that’s left is to plate it.

“There we go.” I clapped my hands, “All done!”

“Really?” She asked, “That didn’t take long.”

“Mhm,” I nodded, grabbing two plates, “How much do you want?”

I put pasta on her plate until she told me to stop, added a bit of pre-shredded Parmesan cheese before finally topping it off with a few scoops of the homemade tomato sauce.

I did the same with my own plate before sitting next to her.

“It smells delicious!” Mouse said, eying the food. She seemed to be waiting for my go-ahead.

“Hehe, please enjoy.” I giggled.

She didn’t hesitate and stabbed her fork into the pasta.

“Mm!!!!!”

…

Cleaning up took way longer than eating. Mouse insisted on helping clean, I didn’t reject.

I stored the excess sauce in a jar and placed it in the fridge.

Finally, with full stomachs we headed back to the TV and lay on the bed.

The next round had just started.

While I was watching, I felt tired. Eating really does make you sleepy.

Scooting over a bit closer to Mouse, I got comfortable and indulged in the soft blanket.

Mouse seemed to be focused on the match so she didn’t notice me scooting closer to her and stealing a bit more of the blanket.

Haah…I’m tired.

It didn’t take long for me to just decide to sleep. It’s not like I haven’t slept at Mouse’s place before.

Tomorrow when I go back home, I’ll quickly clear the fifth floor too. It’ll probably take like ten seconds as usual…Haah…I should just skip the guide too, not like it’s useful anyways.

With my plans set for tomorrow, I closed my eyes and drifted off to dreamland, listening to the match commentary as white noise.

…

If only I weren’t so cocky—they say arrogance has a price, I wish I hadn't learned the cost.