Chapter 5

At the Kyoto school.

Roark returned later that evening with the kids. They were tuckered out but had a great time no less. When they were sent to their dorms, he checked on his wife and child. Lefi has been absorbed in motherhood, since she never though she would have children again.

"Hi Hon, how was it?" she asked.

Roark was a little dazed from it. "Well, I saw things I never thought I would see. One was a stall getting struck by lightning as the vendor claimed that if his wares were fakes it would occur… and NO I didn't summon it nor oblige!" he said in his defense. "Second, I saw Ryoto there with the baby dragon… how on earth did that kid gain such a responsibility… at the same time…"

"You wonder why lady Tiamat didn't bring him here?"

"I married you for a reason," he laughed, but, it is true isn't it? He thought it would be common or known for a dragon to see the Tooru family, knowing they would be safer among them than others. Isn't that supposed to be?

"Something wrong?" she asked.

"I just maybe over thinking things, but I tell you. I met a kid with heavenly restrictions clearing out the games. He only took one grand prize and left the rest but still… he was beyond Kira"

Lefi froze to this. Kira is one of the best when it comes to heavenly restrictions. Catching up to her is their son Damian who has grown stronger in recent months, something about not falling behind to Suiryu the model.

"Still, this kid was doing things that I never thought possible. He played a dart game and the vendor tried to swindle him out of money. The kid took him on fearlessly, he had to pop seven red balloons with seven darts in one motion. He did it, and I barely saw HOW he did it. One of the balloons was on the roof of the damn tent!" he then paused. "But, it was him alone and those he called his siblings. One girl… she had Yua's glare. The kid himself he had Yua's look of 'I'm going to cause trouble' and he relished the trouble he made… I thought… they might have been a connection. However, Ryoto said that the kid was his cousin. So it can't be, can it? Yua was the only Tooru to survive. She never had a sister…"

"You are grasping at straws, aren't you Roark?" Lefi asked gently. She just finished feeding the baby when she placed him over her shoulder to burp.

Roark paused but sighed to it all. "I just thought we would have seen her by now… at least had the chance to speak or even…"

"Had that been the case, would you have been able to hold back? Yua won't know it is us, right? How could she know? If she did, she would have found us by now"

As usual, Lefi was right. Still, the terms and conditions they had to agree to in order for this return to happen… it just didn't sit well with him. "I just feel… so frustrated with this already. I'm not me, I'm not in my body. I had to hijack this and everyone else here are more or less in the same position. Very few of us look like what we did before…"

"Yes, at the same time, this has worked in our favor. Considering we don't look like what we use to, no one suspected us of being Toorus, not even Kenjaku. That in itself is a victory," she decreed.

She got him there on that one. "I still want to kill that bastard and offer his head to Yua when we see her… but we were told to hold off on that."

She nodded. Lady Tiamat has her way with things as well as ideas as to how to get the results she desires. Roark knew this and didn't need to be reminded, but still, it was the principle of the matter.

"I got to figure out this kid, Ryoto… there's just something off about him and I can't put my finger on it."

Lefi nodded. "Well, if push comes to shove, call a parent teacher conference!" she suggested.

Roark paused. "Oh? I never considered that, but… I don't want his parents to come here, assuming their child has done wrong or something… I feel terrible that he is isolated from the other students until we know he has his power under control"

"It can't be helped, but he interacts with the students later too, when he has a meal, I see him sit with Kiyoshi Itadori."

"Perhaps we can get more information from Kiyoshi…"

"Don't drag the students into this!" she protested. "It's one thing to look out for them, but it's another when you try and use someone he considers a friend to spy on him!"

"It's not spying!" he protested. "I just… want to learn more about him…"

"Then ask him yourself, cut out the middle man. Gods, Roark, you can't over think things like this. Also these are teenagers, you're lucky they are talking to you to begin with."

"Fair point" He won't push the matter anymore, so instead, Roark checked on his cousin Yami.

#

"There's… a lot more assistance here than usual…"

The lab was packed. People that Roark has never seen before and yet… why does everyone feel different to him. "Hey, Roark!"

Yami called him through the crowd, they were able to get outside through the back and yet, Roark peered at his cousin oddly. "I don't recall inviting them!" he protested.

His cousin sighed. "I had to take responsibility for the time being. These are the alchemists recently… uh… reformed." He said in a polite tone.

"Reformed huh?" Roark asked.

He peered back and sent a small shock throughout the lab. None reacted to it. "Anyone else would have jumped at the shock I just sent through the floor and tables, they didn't react… what gives?"

"Uh… Roark… you recall Trigun, correct?" he asked. Roark nodded to this, he is aware of him. "They are ALL like him now… but… refined"

"Huh?"

Yami explained the recent raids from a week ago. He worked with a dragon and his offspring who found the alchemists and have… reformed them. However, they are all like Trigun, a curse corpse and yet, not quite. "If anything, think of it as… what's that show again… that time I got reincarnated as a slime? Yeah, they used those things, the slimes devoured the alchemists, but then gained their bodies and minds. Despite how human they look in there… they are literally walking, human slimes."

This… didn't set his mind at ease the least bit. "So… why are they here?"

Yami explained that the dragon they worked with sent them to Yami for studying as well as to see what other use they can be. At the moment, they literally experimenting on themselves to see what can be done. "They are using the notion that they have become human slimes, as such, there are benefits to it." Yami tried to explain, but Roark was still concerned about this.

"Such as…" he asked in a worried tone.

"Master! We have an idea!"

One came barreling out of the lab in excitement. Yami waved Roark along as they went into the lab, everyone was gathered around and in aw of what was created. Within a beaker was a potion of sorts, and yet…

"So, what is this?" Roark asked.

The former alchemist explained. "This is a potion that has been attempted to be replicated over and over again… a potion of agelessness!" he said with excitement. "The one who drinks this, will never age beyond their current status. So, if someone drank this here and now, what you are is how you will remain!"

"We have made something similar, but the effects last two months, depending on the materials used and quality. More often you had to get something really rare, such as the left ear of an elf."

Roark paused, he turned to Yami who nodded. "They too exist, however our family was mainly taught to focus on curses and utilize that energy. The divine were not in our realm of speck at the time nor were we to interfere by the sounds of it." Yami explained.

"But… did the family KNOW about them?"

"Very little. There have been one or two divine users in our family, but they perished rather quickly. There have been elemental connections for they are neither curse or divine and can go either way. But other than that, we have little information on the matter."

"So… how did this potion work? What materials did you use?" Roark asked.

"US!" the alchemist explained. "The master has granted us a magnificent gift, we have the egos of these alchemists and right now, we are very excited, we are able to craft the materials we need with our bodies due to the slime structure we have. And something called 'Hive creation'. Essentially, any creature divine, curse, ect, we are able to replicate them using ourselves as a medium. In other words the ingredients we need, we can make from our bodies. Our creator explained we can do this in moderation, especially once a week we can craft a potion like this. That's good enough for me!"

Yami leaned in. "Even in death, an Alchemist is still an alchemist."

"Same goes for jujutsu sorcerers." Roark whispered back.