novelnext Chapter 676: Alkimia Alchy
Chapter 676: Alkimia Alchy
Point-of-View: Alkimia Alchy
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"So, hey, I’ve been wondering this whole time, about your name," Remarked Ciel curiously.
Huh, honestly, I’m surprised no one’s brought this up sooner.
"Yeah, I think I know what you want to ask. No, this isn’t my original name, I picked it for myself when I reincarnated. I know, it’s a bit on the nose," I replied with a wry smile.
"Heh, yeah, that makes more sense. It’d be a crazy coincidence to have chemistry-based powers with your name," She laughed in response.
It sure would. I picked my first name based on the root of the word chemistry, which is traced back to the Arabic word Al-Kimiya and the Ancient Greek term
As for my last name, well...yeah, I didn’t put much thought into that one, I just shortened the word alchemy to get Alchy. In hindsight, maybe I should’ve thought it through a bit more, it phonetically sounds like alkie, the slang term for alcoholics.
Anyway, it’s been about a month now, so around half an hour on the outside. I’ve diligently been practicing and experimenting with my Skills, and I’ve made some pretty solid progress.
Which is good, it’s helped keep my mind off the current situation. Seriously, what a turbulent turn of events this has been. Barely a year into my reincarnation and here I am, forced to fight for the right to just...exist.
I was a major chemistry geek in my past life and aspired to become a world-renowned chemist, and then I was hit by a truck and died right after graduating college. It wasn’t the driver’s fault though, that was the day the Dungeons and the Monsters first appeared.
So, understandably, when the Monsters attacked, people weren’t exactly going out of their way to obey traffic laws. It was absolute mayhem, and I happened to be out buying some groceries when it all went down.
And when I heard the commotion and stepped outside to get a look at what was going on, the first and last thing I saw when I exited the store was a speeding truck barreling straight towards me. I died before I even realized what had happened.
But when I reincarnated, my System gave me a rundown of what had happened, as well as bringing me up to date on the current era. It was a lot to process.
And it was all text, walls and walls of text, I don’t have an AI assistant like Kai does. That seems to be unique to him, Cleo also said that she doesn’t have one, and given Leto’s envious, bitter expression when the topic was brought up, I doubt he’s got one either.
Anyway, like I said, my training has been progressing well. I’ve still got a lot of room for improvement as far as my physical combat skills are concerned, but I’ve seriously improved with my Magic.
I’ve learnt to cast faster, and I have better control over the shape and form of the elements and compounds I generate. Before, I could only create them in shapeless masses, but I’m a lot more versatile now.
"Alright, let’s practice your ranged attacks. Hit me," Called out Ciel, an eager gleam in her eyes.
"Okay, if you say so. Here goes,
"Boring!" Responded Ciel, as she fired off a small explosive projectile, a large cloud of steam erupting as her attack collided against my water and exploded upon impact.
"
"Come on, you can do better than that, I-...," She began with a frown.
"
An intrigued gleam appeared in Ciel’s eyes, making no effort to evade the attack, an intense explosion bursting out as the sodium collided against the water, another cloud of steam bursting out as the force of the blast triggered a gust of wind.
Did that work?
I sighed in frustration as the steam cleared, to see Ciel pretty much completely unscathed by the attack.
"That wasn’t half-bad. But it’d be better if you could cast both of those simultaneously, or at least in rapid succession. Your water attack was a lot slower, because you needed the sodium to catch up to it before it hit me."
"Yeah, I know, I’m working on that," I nodded in response.
"Good, keep sharpening and refining your control over it. Now, then, hit me with something stronger, a bigger explosion. Ooh, can you make a nuclear bomb?" She inquired excitedly.
Uh, what is wrong with her?
"I-I mean, in theory, yes, I should be able to if I generate a mix of Plutonium and Uranium. But I’m not going to do that," I stated firmly.
Another thing I’ve been working on is narrowing down the list of elements and compounds I use during battle. If I have too many options, I’ll only end up getting muddled when I’m under pressure, so I’ve limited myself to a select list of options.
"Aw, come on, just a small one?"
"No. The most powerful explosive compound I’m willing to use is Nitroglycerin, but that’s a last resort," I responded, refusing to budge.
"But that water and sodium explosion was way too weak," She argued with a frown.
Why does she want to get hit with an explosion so badly?
"Well, I could also use Trinitrotoluene, I suppose," I muttered reluctantly.
"Uh, trinitro...what?"
"TNT for short."
"Ooh, okay, that sounds like it should pack a punch! Hit me!"
I don’t think she’s going to let up. Fine...
"
She stepped forward as it closed in on her, raising her right arm in front of herself and letting the projectile hit her palm. An intense explosion erupted upon impact, a cloud of smoke billowing out as I felt a sense of concern and-...
"Nice, that wasn’t half-bad!"
Seriously? I mean, I know her right arm is one of those unbreakable Personalis Arma weapons, she and Cleo explained it to me a while ago. Still, though, I was hoping she’d at least fall over, but it looks like I was only able to push her back a couple of meters or so.
"Okay, now hit me with that Nitro whatever stuff!"
"Hm. I’d like to request that Cleo train me from now on, please."