Alchemist In The Apocalypse: Rise Of A Legend!

Regaining Consciousness

[Ace POV]

I stood up and stretched as I watched the sun's rays illuminate the sitting room through the gaps in the curtains.

Since I couldn't sleep or rest the entire night due to the effect of leveling up and the fake physique of rank 1 specie, I practiced mana control all night.

Since mana and magic were crucial to completing my job quest, I took them very seriously.

Because of yesterday's events, when I discovered that coating my blades with flames does not count as a magical attack, I had to improvise on the spot to come up with something acceptable, which was a fireball.

At first, my fireball could only be described as a large wisp of fire, but with practice, I was able to create a good enough fireball.

The problem beseeching me now is the same as it was before: mana control.

I can shape and manipulate the mana in my body to create the fire needed for the fireball but that's it.

I can't increase the intensity of the flames, so the damage caused by the fireball is limited, and I can't control how much mana is wasted when I cast a fireball. When I try to increase the intensity of the fireball by making the flames burn hotter, the shape of the fireball collapses as mana is wasted, and is even more wasted when I try to reshape it.

These are the things I concentrate on. At the very least, my mana control is improving. It would have been preferable if I had received some kind of guidance.

I wonder if I should ask Emma for help. Another question is whether she can assist me and is not simply relying on how she feels to manipulate mana.

I made my way to the master bedroom while thinking about these things.

It should be nine o'clock right now, according to my mental clock.

They must have been extremely tired to be still sleeping. Of course, it's also possible that they haven't yet adjusted well to their new situations.

I'm not one to talk cuz most of the time I'm 'unconscious,' as in knocked out unconscious.

As I considered this, I slowly opened the door to the room to avoid making too much noise and disturbing the people inside, but even so, Emma and Chris were still awakened by the sound.

That's good. At least it indicates that their senses are good enough.

After exchanging greetings, I went over to Anna's side and placed my hand on her forehead to check her temperature. What I didn't expect was for her to start moving as soon as I made contact with her skin.

When I saw this, I withdrew my hand and waited for her to fully awaken.

"She's moving," Emma, who had appeared beside me, said, and Chris, who was beside her, asked if he could wake his sister up, which I declined.

There's no rush to head out now; we can stay here for a while longer.

After all of this happened, Anna finally opened her eyes.

"Ugh," she muttered, slowly opening her eyes to see us.

"Oh? Good morning, guys? Why are you all staring at me like that?" Anna said this as she was about to greet us, but when she noticed our eyes on her, she asked this question.

Chris had already responded, so neither I nor Emma had to.

"Sister Anna," he said, pausing before adding, "Your iris is silver."

It was exactly as Chris said. Aside from Anna's hair changing color, her eye iris changed as well.

It was interesting to observe since I knew she didn't wear contact lenses.

"What do you mean, my iris is silver? This....?" Anna wanted to question Chris at first, but when she saw her hair, she paused and had a confused look on her face for a second before it vanished as she observed her body.

I asked a question after seeing this.

"How are you feeling?" I inquired.

"Strange," she replied, adding, "I feel different."

"How different?"

"I can't explain it, but oh boy, it's good," she exclaimed, the latter part of her response filled with excitement.

"Would you like to see what changed?" She inquired, a knowing smile on her face.

Of course, I'd like to see what an epic grade can do. Otherwise, I won't bother with you contracting the crow in the first place.

"Yes," I said, keeping my thoughts to myself.

When she heard this, she smiled happily and got out of bed, telling Chris to carry his sister from the bed as she left the room.

Seeing this, we all followed her out of the building.

Though I saw it yesterday, I didn't pay much attention to it, but seeing Anna's silver hair again made me want to touch it and feel how it felt, but I held back since I was more interested in the changes in Anna and the summoned crow.

As we exited the building, I noticed Emma observing me several times for some reason and she couldn't contain her curiosity anymore as she gestured at me and spoke.

"Something is different about you," she said and after a brief pause, and added; "Standing close to you gives me some kind of pressure that keeps sending danger signals in my head," she said as she took a deep breath and looked at me before speaking again.

"It feels similar to what I felt from the Goblin Lord," she said as she stopped talking.

When she first started talking, I didn't understand where she was coming from, but when I heard the rest of what she said, I understood.

I never about leveling up, so if she noticed a difference, the others must have noticed it as well but didn't say anything. In Anna's case, she must have been too excited and ignored this, and Chris may be more concerned with his sister's issues than with this.

And about the pressure she spoke about? It must have been her senses.

It's more of a killer instinct. Many species rely on sensory cues to let them know a predator is around.

In this case to Emma, I am the predator and she's the prey, hence the 'pressure'.

As I was thinking of this, we arrived at the front of the building where we stayed, and after checking the surroundings for anything unusual from where we were, Anna called out my name excitedly.

"Ace, are you ready?" She asked, strangely rubbing her hands together.

When I heard her question, I responded with a nod.

She said it was a good thing, so I have expectations.

"Okay then, let's get started," Anna muttered as she knelt on one knee and began chanting something in an unknown language as a purplish black circle with a trigram in the center appeared in front of her.

I knew what it was at this point already, as did Chris, who had seen her do it before.

She was summoning the shadow crow.

Emma was paying close attention to the purplish-black circle in front of her since it was her first time seeing it.

I didn't have to wait long before I saw the shadow crow appear in front of me. I wasn't particularly interested in it because it wasn't the first time I'd seen it, and I was more interested in the shadow crow that had finished materializing.

Unlike its previous appearance as a crow, its new appearance was strikingly similar to that of a pied crow, except the white feather, black beak, and black claws were replaced with silver. It had silver eyes as well.

This, however, was not what drew my attention and interest. It was something completely different. The primordial chronicle revealed to me the crow's information. This has never happened before.

[Rank 1 Shadow Crow level 25],

Yes, a rank 1 species. A genuine rank 1 specie.

This was too drastic of a change. Only one contract to earn a rank?

"How?" I asked Anna after failing to come up with a plausible explanation.

"It's because of the epic rank skill," she explained, adding that "its function is to allow contracted summons to grow alongside the summoner." I was initially perplexed by this, but I now understand what it means. When the summoner and summon are bound together by a contract, both parties can receive feedback from each other in terms of physique strength or mana levels. The shadow crow was able to enter rank 1 because it was already close to being one, and my feedback was just the final push it needed ", Anna stated.

I had a general idea of what she meant after hearing what she said, and I couldn't help but think that her epic skill is a cheat.

For one thing, Anna won't have to fight monsters and will still be able to level up thanks to the crow, and now she can also receive feedback from the crow while doing nothing?!

Why do I feel the need to measure her neck with my hands?

This feedback should be similar to having a percentage of the other party's power. For example, Anna will have a portion of a rank 1 physique as a result of the crow's feedback, and the crow will have a portion of Anna's mana that will be added to its total mana reserves.

Depending on how high the feedback percentage is, Anna can simply take off in the new world with contracting summons.

Perhaps I didn't feel the pressure I felt from the goblin lord from the crow because of my level up, but looking at the faces of those other than me and Anna, I can tell they're not doing so well.

But Hmmm. I know the crow is rank one, but how can it cause damage with such a small body? Will it possibly use its clones to bomb the opponent similarly to how it attacked before?

I'm curious as to how much damage it will do now that it's rank 1.

Perhaps she read my mind as Anna addressed me and said,

"Are you curious about its mode of attack?" Anna inquired, a smile on her face.

Seeing her smile, I thought that maybe there were still some things I hadn't seen, so I nodded in response while having these thoughts.

When Anna saw me nod, she spoke excitedly to the crow on the grow, saying;

"OK boy, do your thing," she said, and the crow's body began to change as soon as she said those words.

No, I'd rather call it transforming than changing because, in front of me, and under the surprised gazes of Emma, Chris, Mia, and even Anna, was a crow the height of a burly man. With its current size, it was entirely possible for a person to ride it.

Everyone was quiet for a few seconds as we focused our attention on the crow. We only turned our heads to look at Anna when she feigned coughing.

When she saw this, she patted the crow's body and pointed to a random structure, telling the crow to attack.

Hearing this, the crow looked in the direction Anna was pointing and opened its mouth, making a loud screech. Standing so close to the crow didn't help, but my attention was still drawn to it when I noticed that as soon as it made a screech, a black ball of fire appeared in front of its mouth and flew to the building Anna was pointing at. No sound was made, but what happened in front of my eyes was a building that corroded in less than 3 seconds.

The only thing that remained of the building was the corroding molten on the ground.

Seeing this attack, I knew if it hit me, it would be a death sentence, regardless of whether I had a physique similar to a rank 1 specie. In the end, it's close but not enough to match a Genuine rank 1.

As I was thinking of this, I noticed the crow's body shrink back to its original size as Anna spoke.

"So this is what a rank 1 specie is capable of," she paused before adding, "It's just a shame it can't maintain this form forever and must revert to its previous style of attack." At the very least, it can be considered a trump card ", she stated.

'So this is the cost, huh?'

Well, if the crow could maintain that form for an extended period, it would be far too powerful, but as she stated, it can be considered a trump card.

Overall, the crow's prowess improved significantly after the contract, but what about Anna?

I can't believe the only thing that changed about her was the color of her eyes and hair. Chris and Emma were both looking at her, so it wasn't just me who had this thought.

When she saw this, she smiled sheepishly and took a few steps back before breathing in and out a few times. This is when something changed.

On Anna's back, a pair of wings sprouted.