PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

668 Chapter 668 The Alchemy Tournament Begins.

As the capital of the Eternal War Maiden Sect, the venue for all their major events, it could be expected that the alchemy tournament the sect placed so much emphasis on would be held in one of the best stadiums that could be found throughout the Martial Sovereign World, and it was true, at least for the more advanced parts of the tournament if anything.

To be completely honest, Desmond had to admit that it was quite disappointing to hear that the first stage of the tournament was an incredibly long and tedious written exam with no spectators allowed.

What Desmond didn’t understand was that a written exam was the only way the Eternal War Maiden Sect could get rid of all the participants who didn’t meet even the minimum requirements for the class of alchemists the sect was looking for.

As one of the most powerful sects on the continent, and one made up almost entirely of women, it was normal for there to be plenty of aspiring alchemists who wanted to try their luck in the tournament, dreaming of attracting one of the beautiful and powerful girls from the sect with their talents or charms.

Precisely because he did not know the above, Desmond found it a bit strange that many of the participants who arrived at the exam area were young and incredibly handsome guys, some even effeminate. The bunch of pretty boys was quick to turn their attention to the beautiful women around Desmond, and there was no lack of brave souls trying to make a move, but those people were quick to understand the difference between brave and stupid.

Desmond didn’t have to lift a finger to finish the matter. With an aggressiveness and directness that surprised Desmond, the girls ruthlessly rejected anyone who came near them and dealt with well-measured violence to those who did not understand with words.

Desmond had to admit that this was quite refreshing, since, as much as he hated it when others looked at girls with bad intentions, this was so common that it was even tiring for him to deal with so many flies hanging around.

With that insignificant problem put aside, the group said goodbye to Sasha who entered the examination area. As Desmond and the rest of the girls head to a nearby restaurant to eat and wait, Sasha was led inside the building under the guidance of one of the tournament staff.

Under the guidance of the girl accompanying her, Sasha reached one of the many rooms where the exams were taking place. During the course of that place, Sasha was explained some of the details about the exam, which apparently consisted of two parts, one written and one practical, something different from what she had been told previously.

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According to tournament staff, much of what participants were told before actually taking the exam or tests was false, and this was not an accident but intentional to deal with those trying to prepare to challenge very specific types of tests without being true alchemists. Those who fell for the trap could only cry and blame their own incompetence as the tests were still difficult within reason.

To Sasha, all of this made little if any difference, she was Sasha Kor Ignis, the flowers, and fire came as much in her name as in her blood, and there was no way she would fail an alchemy test otherwise it would really be insulting the memory of her teacher.

With a fervor that was as fierce as the vermilion fire of her bloodline, Sasha took her own written test and began to solve it. Sasha felt the need to look twice at the written test to see if she had something wrong after reading the first few questions, but no matter how much she turned it around or looked at it in a different light, the questions didn’t change.

Someone close to Sasha saw her do this and she mocked her, believing that the ignorant but pretty girl had no idea how to solve such a complicated and high-level exam. Oblivious to the thought of someone who would never be relevant to her, Sasha ended up accepting that this was in fact the tournament exam, which disappointed her. Sasha felt insulted by how low the level of the exam was, but she had no one to complain to so she stopped wasting time and started solving it.

The first hundred questions were about herbs and their properties, the next fifty were about refining and distillation methods. After that came the main course, one hundred and fifty questions about mixing ingredients, reactions between ingredients, ways to solve problems during the refining of specific medicines, etc. They were all questions that only an alchemist with real practice would know.

Apart from having some problems with the calligraphy of this world, to which she had barely finished adapting, Sasha ended up solving the exam with ease, although the writing problem caused her to take much longer than the rest of her companions. Fortunately, Sasha hadn’t gone over the time limit, so her delay had zero impact on her evaluation.

For many, just that written exam was enough to make them lose all hope, plunging into the bitter taste of defeat, but Sasha was different, she was just disappointed at how low the level of the alchemists who decided to attend the exam was. It was quite fortunate that the people around Sasha couldn’t hear what the alchemist with high standards thought, or they would likely cry tears of blood to death in rage and shame.

Sasha was quickly led with the rest of her classmates to an area where the practice tests on refining will take place, the final filter to actually participate in the alchemy tournament. Armed to the teeth with knowledge and practical experience, Sasha wasn’t one bit afraid of this test unlike her classmates, she was a bit naive in that regard.

While it was true that Sasha’s theoretical foundations were quite solid and that she had practical experience, she had completely forgotten one crucial fact: she had never performed alchemy with the tools commonly used in this world.

Looking at the alchemy furnace made of bronze, Sasha felt lost for the first time. Sasha had read how to use alchemy furnaces like this, but she had never put that knowledge into practice, and now it had come to bite her in the ass. Unlike her lab, where she had all sorts of investigative aids. Here, Sasha had to maintain absolute control of processes that she normally had a tool for.

According to the rules of this test, all the participants were required to refine a small healing pill. Each participant would have three sets of herbal medicines for three attempts. Only those who managed to refine the pills in fewer than three tries would make it through and participate in the true tournament.

With the promise of glory, wealth, and maybe even women, all the alchemists present gave their best, that included Sasha, of course, although her interests were different from those of the others.

Sasha got off to a confident start, properly and skillfully processing all herbal medicines. Once she got the part she needed from each plant, Sasha faced her first problem, temperature control. Although incredibly powerful, Sasha’s fire was intense and unruly, it was nearly impossible to maintain precise control over the fire during the refining process, so Sasha quickly burned her first set of ingredients to ashes.

This was a great blow to Sasha’s pride, but her warm and dedicated temperament prevented her from being affected by that mistake. Increasing her concentration, Sasha repeated the processing of the medicinal ingredients once more. With great tension, Sasha entered the refining phase.

Despite her efforts, Sasha felt that everything was getting out of hand a couple of times, encountering some resistance and even rejection of some of the ingredients, now it was her job to identify where the problem was and how to solve it to carry out the process.

Due to these unforeseen events, Sasha once again ended up failing, this time in the final part of the refining process when she attempted to finish the process before moving on to condensation. Having learned from her mistakes, Sasha fine-tuned her control over the fire and repeated the process with her last set of herbs.

This time, Sasha had learned from her mistakes and gained experience in using an alchemy furnace that was nothing like her sophisticated equipment. Close to the time limit again, Sasha finished refining the healing pills, under the speculative gaze of the people who participated with her.

Although she had some problems along the way, Sasha never doubted her talent or ability, let alone her knowledge, so it came as no surprise to her when her name was put on the list of people who passed the written tests and practices before her.

Both satisfied and eager to compete at a higher level, Sasha left the exam area with a happiness that seemed to burn like a warm campfire. Sasha knew that this was only the beginning and that given her previous experience it was likely that she would not go as far as she had proposed, but she was still eager for her to reach the actual tournament.

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