Chapter 465: Critical situation

Ren's group had successfully teleported out of the room where the Goddess of Light descended. After teleporting they were now in an abandoned alleyway in the middle district of the Divine City. Lara wasn't able to pick a better location as she didn't really know the coordinates of that room, and it was hard to tell if they were underground or aboveground. So she tried her best with what she had and this was the result.

After they were teleported away the group sighed in relief that was when they noticed that Ren was on the ground kneeling. Ren was now in his weakest state. Right before they teleported away, Ren had depleted his mana supply.

Ren who had nothing left could no longer heal the gaping hole in his stomach. He was still conscious but the pain he felt as the blood kept on flowing out was intense. Valdel and Lara reacted quickly the moment they saw Ren kneeling. Valdel pressed onto Ren's pressure points slowing down the flow of blood near the area of the hole in his abdomen. Lara then pressed her hand onto Ren's body and tried transferring her mana into him.

Yet despite this technique of passing mana to others was something that she was proficient in, Ren's body was rejecting her mana.

'Tsk, I forgot the mana of the Strongest Mortal Soul is special and mana coming from an outside source will be automatically rejected. I can try to force it in, but that might harm Ren, and I can't risk it in his current state. We need to somehow make Ren naturally regenerate his mana.'

"Heh, I messed up. I should've conserved a bit of mana to suppress this injury." Ren who couldn't move and was losing consciousness suddenly spoke. As those words left his mouth, he started coughing out blood.

"Stay silent Ren! Just focus on regenerating your mana!" Lara grew anxious as this was the first time she has seen Ren this injured. She had seen Ren's past incarnations dying before, some of them were even done by her hand, and every time that happens a part of her would break. If possible she didn't want him to die before her. Ren whose consciousness was flickering from conscious to unconscious noticed Lara's changing expression.

"I don't know what you're thinking, but you should never give up until the very end. Victory will come to those that endure the longest."

Lara almost cried when she heard what Ren said, but she held it in and gritted her teeth. She closed her eyes and tried to calm her heart. She then looked at Kor and Mir.

"Do you know if there's an alchemist's workshop nearby?"

Kor who had snapped out of his depression started to sniff around. After a few seconds, he responded.

"Follow me, I smell the scent of potions coming this way!"

Valdel picked up Ren's body and the group started running. Kor moved as fast as he could towards the scent of potions. He then saw a shabby-looking house in the distance, that was where the scent was coming from. Kor then pointed at the house.

"That's where the smell is coming from!" Seeing the direction Kor was pointing at, Lara and Valdel sped up as they burst into the house.

...

Moments before Ren and the others teleported out of the Temple of the Goddess of Light. In the middle district of the Divine City, inside a shabby-looking house lived a seventeen-year-old girl who was trying to synthesize an energy potion. This girl was named Shion and she was an alchemist apprentice of the Holy Kingdom.

It has been six years now since she started training as an alchemist apprentice. Usually, by the age of fourteen, most of the apprentices would have stopped being apprentices and would become professionals. Yet Shion was still an apprentice, she had failed the professional alchemist exam three times in a row.

She had been mocked by others as a failure, and she was told to stop dreaming of becoming an alchemist as she had no talent for it. Yet Shion refused to listen to any of them.

"So what if I have no talent for it? I will become an alchemist so that I can fulfill my dream and hers."

Shion's dream of being an alchemist was something she had inherited from her older sister who had died while protecting her.

Shion remembered the face of her kind older sister who wished to become an alchemist so that she could help those in need. Her sister had the talent to become one of the greatest alchemists yet she died for someone like her.

'I can't give up now, I will become a splendid alchemist that big sis would be proud of.' Shion followed the instructions on the book she had borrowed from the local library. It was a basic alchemy book that beginners would use. Usually, an apprentice alchemist was provided with the basic books and materials to start their journey into alchemy, but Shion had failed too many times and had to sell her books to keep on trying.

Shion was currently low on funds, and could no longer afford to buy her materials from the local stores. So most of what she currently had were things she personally picked up from outside the city. She looked at the book and saw that she was missing some materials to finish the potion she was creating.

'Well, these herbs should be okay as replacements.'

Shion tossed the herbs into her burning pot and started to mix them. She then took a bottle of monster blood and poured it into the pot. The moment she did so, Shion noticed something weird was happening. She quickly moved away and ducked as the contents of her pot exploded. She was so used to her concoctions exploding that she was able to react with efficient movements. She looked at the empty pot and sighed. As she was about to clean up the room, someone suddenly burst into her house. She saw a man carrying a wounded person, and behind him was a woman of incredible beauty.

This was the encounter that would for better or worse, change her life.