Reincarnated With A Glitched System: Why Is My MP Not Running Out?

Chapter 2155: Alchemy Cauldrons

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"I'm sorry but she was really just… asking for it," Aquarina shrugged with a small, playful smile. "Why did she even tell us such a hilarious thing in the first place?"

"Whatever!" Celeste refused to let the teasing destroy her pride. She crossed her arms tightly and lifted her chin. "I'm a much better woman now! And… And it's not like I care about love anyway! I am a grown-ass woman now. I've got my own talents. I am going to become a great alchemist and sorceress and earn a bunch of money!"

"Well said!" Ruby nodded in firm agreement, her gentle expression never changing.

"Eugh…" However, the moment Celeste saw Ruby's soft and sincere smile, she felt her heart start hurting all over again. The pain was sharp and sudden. "R-Ruby… you don't hate me?"

"Why would I hate you?" Ruby asked with genuine confusion, tilting her head slightly. "We're friends, right? I mean, it sucks but… Yeah, that doesn't mean we can't keep being friends…"

"Really?" Celeste said, her lips trembling with emotion. Her voice cracked just a little. "Rubyyyy! Come to mama for a big hug and kisses!"

"Eeek?!" Ruby cried out in surprise as she was suddenly squeezed tightly by Celeste and kissed repeatedly on the face. Soft smacking sounds filled the air. "W-Wait! Celeste, I feel like you're taking advantage of my kindness somehow…"

"Nahhh~" Celeste sneered with a slightly perverted grin, clearly enjoying the moment far too much as she continued holding the smaller girl close.

Leaving my friends to sort themselves out for a while, I moved along with Aquarina back to where our parents had gone. Around thirty percent of the city had remained completely untouched after the intense fight. The contrast was almost surreal. One side of the street still showed scorched buildings and cracked stone, while the other side looked almost peaceful.

There were still some shops that were surprisingly open right now, mostly those whose owners came from outside the city, such as the elven cafés and similar establishments. Soft lantern light spilled out onto the damaged roads, and the smell of warm food mixed with the lingering scent of smoke.

We went over there and found the workers distributing food to the people who had been affected by the battle. At the same time they also offered normal services for any tourists and travelers who had simply happened to arrive when everything went wrong. Bowls of soup, fresh bread, and cups of herbal tea were being handed out with quiet efficiency.

"Sylphy! You're back. I see you got back together with all your friends," my mother said with a warm smile as soon as she noticed us. "Hello boys, girls. Let's have a meal together."

"Hey! You guys have been working really damn hard, but there's really no need. You've already done enough, okay? So take it easy," said my father, placing a hand on Zack's shoulder. "The King has sent even more help here anyway."

"We were just doing what we could, killing time and helping people at the same time," Zack said with a tired but satisfied expression. He rubbed the back of his neck. "But yeah, I've been growing tired of it… And now that Sylphy's awake, I guess we'll be leaving soon?"

"Yeah…" I said softly. "Though, technically, we haven't completed our training as Alchemists yet, right?"

"Ah!" Celeste spoke up from behind us, still slightly flushed from earlier. "Master Felicia said you already passed with the best grades because you made the craziest cauldron she had ever seen…"

"But us? We were forced to make them the normal way!" Celica sighed dramatically, kicking a small pebble across the ground.

"It wasn't so hard. There were plenty of materials everywhere," Ruby smiled and winked at me. "It was actually fun to work on them together while you were sleeping. Aquarina made her own too."

"R-Really?!" I became excited at once. My eyes lit up. "Can I see your Soul Cauldrons, girls?!"

"Sure!"

The four apprentices of Master Felicia proudly showed me their Soul Cauldrons — soul-bound cauldron-type relics that infused a person's soul with Alchemical Magic and turned it into an Alchemical Soul.

According to our master, Alchemical Souls were required for all advanced alchemy arts and spells, and the only way to obtain one was by first creating a Soul Cauldron.

I had done something much weirder myself by turning my own soul into a cauldron, but it had still worked in the end.

Anyway, as for my friends' alchemist cauldrons…

"Woah!"

Each one of them was completely unique, and somehow each cauldron resonated strongly with their personal elements… and even looked a little like them in subtle ways.

"Master said the Cauldrons couldn't be different from our 'true selves' or something," Celeste explained while holding hers carefully. "Mostly that meant they had to be made using materials and elements similar to what we are or what we have… or something like that."

"I see, I see," I nodded while rubbing my chin thoughtfully. "Interesting. Very interesting."

Celeste's cauldron was a large black vessel made of a dark metal similar to her demonic spear. It exuded a powerful demonic aura from within and was embedded with deep red rubies and other jewels that matched her usual color scheme perfectly.

Lastly, the cauldron possessed a bizarre shape that resembled the stretched head of an imp, complete with a devilish smile, a long beak-like nose, pointy ears, and jeweled eyes that seemed to watch everything around it with mischievous intent.

"It has a face?" I wondered aloud, leaning closer.

"D-Don't ask how that happened, okay? Because it just did!" she said, clearly embarrassed. Her cheeks turned slightly pink. "Ugh… it had to do with the Alchemy Spirit I slew and fused into it. It was a Mind-Stealing Alchemy Imp Spirit."

"Wow, I had no idea those were even a thing!" I was fascinated and could not look away. "Now… Celica! Oh?"

Hers was a deep dark metallic blue and shaped like dozens of metallic skulls lined tightly together in a circular pattern. Their eyes were bright blue jewels that glowed softly, and their open jaws constantly exuded thin streams of ghostly blue fire that never seemed to burn anything.

It seemed different from Celeste's creation yet still shared similar dark vibes, though it was clearly more aligned with Celica's Phantom Element.

As a Phantom Demon, she must have been among the very few people with such a strong natural elemental affinity toward Phantom and Death Magic… and I was very glad she used it to make puppets instead of anything darker or more dangerous.

Her magic had kind of leaned in that direction by accident because she loved building teddy bears and other toys. She used her ghostly magic to create thin, invisible threads that could control them so she could play with them more easily and make them move like they were alive.

It was interesting how magic was shaped based on what we chose to do with it… because otherwise Celica could have become something else entirely — something far colder and more frightening, maybe.

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