Rebirth: Tyrant's New Reality

"I have no dissatisfaction in my loss," Sierra said with a smile.

"Honestly, I wasn't expecting that fierce of a contest when I sensed that you didn't have any bloodline," Sherly said with a wry smile and shook her head. "But your combat build is awesome. Your physique and superpower also boost the majority of Dark and Water-attributed skills and powers, and them… sigh, it was truly tough."

"What was that skill at last?" Tifani asked curiously.

"Stop!" Sasha shouted with a pout. "Can you all leave already? Arkhen and I need to practice alchemy!"

"Brother Arkhen doesn't mind it, hehe," Meya said with a sneaker as she turned to Arkhen. "Right?"

Arkhen was refining a 9th-grade ingredient, Sand Prism Flower, but he still nodded while focusing on the flower with a smile. "I don't mind."

"You!" Sasha's face turned red.

Everyone laughed while Yosin said with a grin, "You need to learn how to focus even amidst the noise."

"I can focus, alright?! I know about the competition," Sasha said with a dark expression.

"Fine, fine. Y'all, go somewhere else," Arkhen said with a smile while shaking his head.

…

After everyone left, Arkhen and Sasha continued practicing.

Two days later…

'Phew, finally managed to make a perfect-grade class-9 pill,' Arkhen thought.

[Congratulations! You have completed the main quest]

[Congratulations! You have been rewarded with a Divine Pill Box].

'Nice. Finally, it's done.'

[The next main quest will appear tomorrow].

"Arkhen, the competition will start tomorrow," Sasha said as she looked at the three pills floating in front of Arkhen. "Will you be able to craft decent class-10 pills and potions by then?"

"Haha, even if I can't, I can learn that while participating in the competition," Arkhen grinned. "Alright, now we need to sleep."

"Yeah, Gotta get some rest before the competition starts."

…

The following day, the entire Royal Academy was in full-on festive mode with lots of people of various races. All participants were called at the Mega Avenue of the Royal Academy. Meya and Sierra had to go inside Dream Fragment, and they were more than willing to go because of the benefit they got there.

On the other hand, Arkhen and Sasha arrive at Mega Avenue at around seven in the morning.

At 7:30, the first round began.

The first round was a simple screening round where everyone was required to craft one potion or pill of class 9! They had to make one class-9 alchemy craft, pill, or potion in 30 minutes to pass the round.

There were five hundred tables in Mega Avenue, with five hundred supervisors standing at each table. Participants came in batches of five hundred.

If one failed to craft a class-9 potion or pill within 30 minutes, they could kiss goodbye to the competition.

Arkhen and Sasha were in the first batch and entered the Avenue after the start of the competition were announced. Arkhen got a table no. 83, and Sasha got a table no. 164.

After arriving at their assigned tables, Arkhen and Sasha took out ingredients and started crafting.

In the first round, everyone had to bring their own ingredients.

After twenty minutes, Arkhen was done crafting a perfect class-9 potion and turned to his supervisor, "I'm done."

The supervisor was a lady with long brown hair and wore a staff uniform consisting of a simple long white robe with mystic green and golden patterns having the Royal Academy's symbol.

The lady walked in front of the table and picked up a potion that Arkhen had prepared. After opening it, she first smelled it and then tasted it before nodding with a smile at Arkhen, "Congrats. You pass."

Sasha was also done and quickly walked towards Arkhen with a grin and showed a V sign with her hand, "Let's go."

*Rumble!!*

Suddenly, everyone heard a loud rumbling thunder roaring in the sky as dark clouds with golden lightning gathered!

A mysterious atmosphere descended, causing everyone to cry out in surprise!

"Alchemist's Blessing!" Sasha shouted and quickly looked around before soon spotting a bouldering floating upward in the sky.

"What's that?" Arkhen questioned as he also looked in the direction where Sasha was looking and saw a cauldron floating up.

"Alchemist's Blessing would invoke whenever you managed to craft an Unbounded item," the staff lady answered Arkhen while looking at the floating cauldron. "The condition to craft an Unbounded item varies and is extremely hard. No one knows what is needed for that, so it's always a matter of luck in tandem with effort."

*Crackle! Boom!*

A golden lightning bolt struck the cauldron, making it glow instead of destroying it!

"Each lightning bolt that strikes that cauldron will increase the effectiveness of whatever that's inside by 100%," the staff lady continued before she murmured. "That thing will sell at a sky-high price depending on the effect of whatever that's inside."

*Crackle! Boom!*

The second lightning bolt struck it. Now, whatever that's inside that cauldron had its effect increased by 200%!

Everyone eagerly waited, but the next lightning bolt didn't strike, and the clouds dispersed.

"Everyone! I want to auction this potion liquid inside my cauldron!" A man looking in his mid-twenties said with a red face, indicating his excitement. "It has enough liquid for three class-9 Blood Pump Rotor potions!"

Everyone gasped, even Sasha.

"Damn! Three class-9 Blood Pump Rotor potions with 300% of their original effect..." Sasha bit her lips. "Even I am tempted to get it."

"What's the effect of that potion?" Arkhen curiously asked.

The staff lady shot a surprised glance at Arkhen. It was one of the most used class-9 potions here. Everyone who had a bloodline must possess at least a couple of those potions in their storage rings.

"Hehe, it can recover your Blood Essence quickly and increase the recovery speed of your normal blood and Blood Essence for an hour," Sasha said with a grin. "Since those three potions will have 300% of their original effect…. You can literally become an invincible war machine for an hour."

"Now that does sound tempting to get," Arkhen laughed.

Everyone started bidding in the middle of the competition! Even staff members joined in!

However, a beautiful woman with big melons, a big butterfly-shaped hairstyle on her head, and wearing a white kimono-like robe arrived.

She clapped her hands such that it produced a loud rumbling sound and drowned everyone else's voice, and created a unique space where all voices were suppressed!

No matter what everyone spoke, it was suppressed such that not even the person beside them could hear it!

"Stop this nonsense and continue the competition! And you! Since you passed the round, then stand there where everyone who passed is staying. You can auction your potion in an auction, not here."

The staff members also embarrassedly smiled.

…

"Who is that woman?" Arkhen asked as he and Sasha walked out of the competition ground and stood in another section where everyone who passed was standing.

"She is the current head of the Shiraishi family, one of the five council families, and also the one presiding over this competition," Sasha said. "In the 2nd realm, they are the Royal Family of the Empire, while the Royal Family here is instead one of the five council families."

"Eh? So other families can become Royal Family?" Arkhen was surprised.

"Yes. It depends on the strength and capability of the family every century. My family was also a Royal Family twice since the Empire was founded," Sasha said with a smile.

"Interesting. I never heard of an Empire like that," Arkhen said as he lightly chuckled. 'Velshi, what's Luna's status?'

[Three or four days more].

'Alright.'

Like Sierra, Luna also died once in the last trial and had to redo it.

…

After three hours and thirty minutes, the first round was over. 90% of the people passed because the standard of the competition was already high, and those who couldn't craft class-9 potions or pills didn't participate in the first place.

The 3118 participants stood on a big ground and looked at five people floating in the air in front of them. Aside from them, thousands of audience surrounded the whole Avenue, with the competition broadcasting everywhere in the academy and the Empire's capital.

"The second will be held at a different place," said the Shiraishi family head as she looked at all participants before waving her hand and taking out a silver stone with patterns.

The platform where all participants stood started shining a bit, with patterns appearing on the surface.

'Teleportation?' Arkhen guessed.

"I'll only say once, so listen," Shiraishi's family head continued afterward, "The second round will start once you teleport to the new location, which will be in a vast and dense forest filled with dire beasts up to 10th grade! All of you will be scattered around in the vast forest, but each of you will be monitored, and everyone will be able to see you because of the floating mirage stones everywhere and also via the badges we gave you."

"To pass this second round, you will have to find ingredients in the forest and ascend the giant mountain that you will be able to see. Ascend that mountain and craft a class-9 item at the top of that mountain without using a cauldron! The time limit is two hours! Good luck."

After saying that, the Shirashi family head activated the teleportation formation and caused everyone on the platform to disappear.

In the air, several giant screens appeared with 3118 sections, showing each participant's actions!

"Arkhen, Sasha. Good luck," Sherly said with a sweet smile as she and Yosin sat beside each other on a sofa on the terrace of their student council building.

Tifani and other heirs also arrived after the 2nd round started and sat behind them in other sofas as they wished luck to Arkhen and Sasha before constantly teasing Sherly and Yosin.

They were teased so hard they didn't dare to look back to show their faces!