Taking over the Abyss

73- Reunion at First Sight

Your house felt... off.

It was the same feeling as being able to suddenly hear everything, your instincts trying to warn you of danger before your mind could catch up. Unfortunately for the human instincts trained by centuries of evolution in the wilderness, you had groceries that needed to be put away, danger be damned. You'd spent your previous life shaking your head at idiotic horror movie character blindly wandering into danger, but unlike them, you had a mastery over khemia to protect you.

Setting everything down on your kitchen counter, you sighed heavily. Hopefully it was another incident of your pet slimes managing to squeeze themselves inside your house. Maybe you ought to build a proper hutch for them... it couldn't be that hard. The sound of a shoe scuffing up your floor gave you some pause, but you pretended to be oblivious for the sake of it.

If they were here to rob you, your mecha figurine collection made from pieces of scrapped ruin machines (well, they weren't guarding ruins yet!) would be long gone. Which meant either your home intruder had bad taste, or they had something else in mind. You held a leek in your hand tightly. Since it was fresh produce from the surface, it cost quite a lot, but you were okay with breaking it if you got to have the classic experience of self-defense with a leek.

"If you don't come out, you might run into one of my pet slimes. They're cute, but their skin is acidic... it'll melt clean through your ankles before you know it~." You called out to your intruder. As expected, no response. Oh well. You'd deal with it in a minute. You put everything except your leek away.

Sadly, your leek didn't provide help much when a sharp knife pressed against your throat. "Put the vegetable down."

Reluctantly complying with the order, you gently set your leek down, still intending to eat it later. You could feel your mystery intruder scrutinizing your every move, before a hand snatched one of yours. Bringing it up to get a closer look, you heard him grumble angrily as he eyed the khemia inscriptions you'd drawn with special chalk along the back of your hand, and the eye you drew over an old scar on your palm.

The knife against your throat withdrew, and you were suddenly pushed away. Turning around, you saw the intruder holding it out threateningly towards you. His eyes were narrowed into a dangerous glare, pitch black irises with a red X mark in place of a normal pupil. Soft lavender hair framed his face hidden partially behind a hooded cloak, and you realized you had zero survival instincts, because you were seriously checking out some guy who broke into your house and was currently pointing a knife at you.

"Why are you in my house?" You asked the million mora question.

"You're the Cardinal Slime Enthusiast," he stated plainly. "An alchemist. I want your help."

Ah, your stupid signature name you used on alchemist bulletin boards. You scowled, crossing your arms over your chest. "How would you know?"

You saw one of his eyes twitch, in disbelief that's the question you were asking. "I followed you after you posted a note. Finding you wasn't hard for me."

"Well how come I didn't notice?" Your eyes widened as the knife in his hand suddenly flung at you, embedding itself into the wall behind you.

He pulled out another knife from underneath the cover of his cloak. "Next one goes between your eyes. I want your help. You're an alchemist who works at the palace, which means you're talented, but I've heard rumors about you specifically. You've preformed human transmutation."

The reminder of the sin you committed back in your academy days made you pause. A sense of dizzying calm came over you, "... How did you hear about that?"