Ezra stepped into the circle, and the moment his foot settled at the center, the platform beneath him lit up in a deep red glow. The light spread outward in a smooth motion, and a sharp wind followed, brushing past his coat and pushing lightly against his body as if testing his balance.

Across from him, the illusionary version of Stoke appeared.

He looked to be in his late teens just like the others.

Ezra’s eyes moved over him carefully, not rushing, not skipping details. From the first opponent up to now, there was a pattern he had already begun to notice.

Looking closely... Most of these alchemists I have faced so far are all around eighteen to twenty years old.

Stoke stood still, his white hair resting neatly, his white eyes fixed forward. His build was slim, but there was no weakness in the way he carried himself. His shoulders were steady, and his stance showed balance.

He was definitely fit.

Not just in appearance, but in the way his body held tension, ready to move at any moment.

Ezra’s hand hovered close to his space bag.

The air between them stayed quiet.

Seconds passed.

Neither of them moved, Ezra continued watching and calculating.

The light turned green.

Both of their hands moved at the same time.

They reached into their space bags, each pulling out a steel bar and throwing it upward in a clean motion.

Clap!

Their palms came together almost in sync.

Cognis surged through their hands, and the alchemy circles formed between their palms, lines connecting quickly as the structure stabilized.

His fastest...

Ezra thought calmly, his focus centered on his own timing, yet his hearing picked up the subtle differences.

He could tell...

Stoke was also performing his alchemy, but there was a slight gap in their action.

Ezra’s alchemy circle stabilized faster, slamming his hands onto the ground the moment the steel bar dropped.

The metal reacted immediately, melting and reshaping into a revolver.

Stoke followed a fraction behind, his own alchemy completing just after Ezra’s.

Bang!

Ezra fired, the shot... clean and precise with perfect accuracy.

Stoke tried to move while his gun was still forming.

"He tried to dodge..."

He muttered, watching closely.

Stoke shifted slightly to the left, but the bullet was already there. It grazed along the side of his scalp, tearing through flesh as blood sprayed outward in a thin arc.

Instantly, the illusion broke apart into dust.

"Ehh..."

Ezra tilted his head slightly, noting the change.

"If he had managed to dodge that shot..."

He recalled the image clearly...

Stoke gripped the revolver, about to take aim.

The fight could have gotten a bit hard.

The door to the next floor appeared and Ezra walked forward without hesitation.

His steps were steady, his gaze sharpened again as he approached the next circle.

The illusionary version of Elder Fredrick appeared.

Ezra narrowed his eyes slightly observing the clone as the light turned green.

Both moved instantly.

Steel bars flew upward, hands clapped, Cognis surged and Alchemy circles formed.

The speed between them was close.

Unlike Stoke, where the gap could be clearly felt, this time the difference was much smaller. From the moment they reached into their space bags, to when they pulled out the steel bar, threw it into the air, and clapped their hands to initiate the alchemy, everything happened almost at the same pace.

Although, you could say that, at that early stage of the process, Elder Fredrick was on par with Ezra’s speed, but when it came to the formation of the alchemy circle and the final step of completing the transformation...

There was a slight delay. Small, but enough.

He was just a bit slower and that small difference was already enough to decide the outcome of the fight.

At the same time, Ezra also observed something else.

Elder Fredrick was not like the others in their mid-teens.

This version of him was a bit older, not in his late teens like Stoke or the rest, but in his twenties as a peak Novice Alchemist.

That presence alone made the difference obvious.

There was more weight behind his stance, more control in the way he moved, and even the timing of his actions felt more refined.

Ezra understood that immediately the moment he sensed it.

That was why...

He chose a different gun.

The Colt 1911 formed in his hand the moment the alchemy completed.

With no hesitation, he fired.

The bullet cut through the air sharply, heading straight for Fredrick’s head with clean precision.

Fredrick leaned to the left, the movement... fast and controlled that the bullet only grazed his right ear, tearing through the edge as it passed by.

There was no pause in Ezra’s firing.

Bang!

He fired again already knowing Fredrick would evade the first shot.

So, the second one...

Dropped lower. Aimed directly at the knee joint which the clone of Fredrick didn’t expect.

His body was still adjusting from the first dodge as his balance slightly shifted.

There was no time for him to react.

The bullet pierced through his leg, body dropping immediately, one knee hitting the ground, but even then...

He still managed to react.

The moment his knee touched the surface, his hand moved, and he fired his own shot.

Ezra’s eyes observing every motion like a hawk and sense sharp.

Bang!

He shot the incoming bullet mid-air and without stopping...

Bang!

A final shot followed.

This time...Straight to the head, Fredrick’s body snapped back.

Everything ending within 3.02 seconds.

The illusion broke apart into dust, scattering into the air before fading completely.

The door to the next floor appeared.

He walked forward calmly, placing the Colt 1911 back into his space bag as if nothing significant had just happened, his brows twitching a bit.

"How many guns will I end up creating because of this trial..."

He muttered quietly, letting out a small sigh.

"My resources are getting wasted."

He scratched the back of his head as he moved toward the next circle.

Elder Paul appeared.

The difference was immediate.

His gaze was sharper and presence pressed forward more clearly.

This is surprising...

Ezra thought, his eyes narrowing slightly with interest.

Immediately, the light turned green.

Both of them moved instantly, hands diving into their space bags, steel bars pulled out and thrown upward, palms clapped, Cognis surged through their bodies, flowing into their hands as the alchemy circles formed between their palms and they slammed their hands down at the same time as the steel bars dropped.

The metal melted and reshaped...

Guns formed.

After that quick process, Ezra fired first.

This time, Paul reacted.

His hand moved quickly, his gun lifting just in time.

He shot down the incoming bullet, barely managing to intercept it before it reached him.

Then...

He returned fire with two shots in quick succession.

Ezra responded immediately, firing again without hesitation.

His reaction speed is fast...

Ezra analyzed calmly, watching every movement closely.

He adjusted his approach instantly.

Instead of focusing on a single point...

He spread his shots.

Head, Right shoulder, Left shoulder...

Bang! Bang!

The bullets struck almost at the same time.

One pierced through Paul’s right shoulder, another entered his eye.

For a brief moment...The illusion showed something unusual.

A faint expression.

Shock, almost like confusion, then it vanished.

Ezra let out a slow breath, raising his hand to wipe the sweat forming on his forehead.

"That was a bit interesting... At least now I can understand why they call them the best talents... a little."

He spoke quietly to himself.

For someone who had not experienced as many real life-and-death battles as Ezra and co had...

Paul’s defensive ability was still impressive, but there was a flaw.

A clear one.

The illusion’s knowledge was limited.

It operated based on what a Novice Alchemist of that era believed in, and that belief...

Restricted the mind on the possibility of more rounds in a handgun without it being a one round multiple effect gun.

Ezra remembered clearly.

The revolver Paul used clicked empty after the fifth round and that was why his six to seventh bullets pierced through him.

Ezra’s eyebrow lifted slightly as he turned and walked toward the door leading to the seventh floor.

Outside...Everyone stood staring at the tower.

The reactions had shifted from excitement to disbelief.

"Hey..."

Spence poked Bess lightly, his eyes still fixed on the tower.

"What’s the time since that kid and Nina entered?"

"Calm down."

She slapped his hand away, though her own expression showed she was just as shocked.

She quickly checked her watch.

"...Twenty-five minutes."

She answered, looking back at him.

"He’s impressive."

Henry spoke calmly, his arms folded as his gaze remained steady.

"How did he pass that floor so easily?!"

Tracy pointed toward the glowing window; her voice filled with disbelief.

"I struggled like crazy there... and he just passed it like that?"

She ran her fingers through her hair, clearly unable to understand what she had just seen.

"Puff..."

Priscilla covered her mouth, though the laughter still slipped through after overhearing Tracy from where she stood.

"You overrate yourself too much."

She said with a grin.

Tracy’s expression tightened, she almost turned to glare at her, but stopped midway.

Linda stepped closer and rubbed her back lightly.

"Sorry..."

She said softly, but her eyes told a different story... ’If it had been her, she would have done better.’

"You!!"

Tracy turned, glaring at her understanding what that look meant.

Linda only laughed.

Around them, the conversations continued, voices overlapping as everyone spoke about how Ezra had already reached the seventh floor.

Keith stood slightly apart from the group, his shoulders relaxed, his posture loose as always.

"That was way faster than me..."

He muttered as he kept his eyes on the tower, his gaze following the glowing windows as they changed. He slowly raised his hand and stroked his chin, his brows lowering slightly as if trying to break down what he had just seen step by step.

"But you did move fast too,"

One of the girls standing close to him said, turning her head toward him while still glancing back at the tower from time to time.

"You reached the sixth floor quickly, and even when you got to the seventh floor, you entered it without much delay."

Another girl nodded, folding her arms as she joined in.

"Yeah... it was only when you got to the seventh floor that things started getting harder for you, and that was where you spent most of your time."

The first girl spoke again, tilting her head slightly as she added her own thoughts.

"If you weren’t so lazy, I’m sure you would have passed that floor faster."

Keith’s hand paused mid-motion; his fingers slowly lowered from his chin.

He looked at them, lips pressed together as he bit down lightly.

That last sentence didn’t feel like praise, not at all.

At Vera’s side...

"Nina is falling behind."

Nathalia spoke quietly, her eyes fixed on the tower, her brows slightly drawn together as concern crept into her expression.

"She will be fine."

Zack replied immediately, his tone calm and firm, as if there was no need to even question it.

"But why are we making such a big deal about that boy getting to the seventh floor that fast?"

Lyra stepped into the conversation, her arms folding as she leaned slightly to one side, her expression carrying a hint of curiosity.

"I’m sure I can reach that floor faster."

She pointed her thumb at herself, a smug look forming on her face as if she had already decided the outcome in her head.

"It is a big deal... to me."

Zack spoke again without hesitation, adjusting his glasses as he shifted his posture slightly.

The reflection on the lenses caught the sunlight, briefly hiding his eyes.

"Unlike the earlier floors, from the fourth to the fifth floor, the difficulty changes completely."

He continued, his voice steady as he began to explain, not rushing his words.

"Elder Paul is not a simple Gun Alchemist to face. He focuses more on defense. With his reaction speed, he is able to shoot down incoming attacks accurately, almost without wasting movement."

He paused briefly, folding one arm across his chest while his other hand remained near his glasses.

"If you are not skilled enough, you will be led into his rhythm and once that happens, you would lose from exhausting your Cognis."

He shifted slightly, his gaze narrowing.

"Elder Fredrick on the fifth floor is similar although, He’s fast at dodging bullets and even faster at countering immediately after. That alone makes the fight difficult."

Zack exhaled slowly.

"So, in the end... the only method left for me was to drag both of them into a stalemate."

Nathalia and Lyra listened quietly now, their earlier expressions fading as they took in what he was saying.

From the side, Gena noticed the conversation and moved a little closer, her steps small and careful, not wanting to interrupt but clearly interested.

"That’s why my time dragged longer than I wanted."

Zack continued, his tone turning slightly heavier as he recalled the fight.

"Especially against Elder Paul... it turned into a cycle. Round after round...I would shoot... he would block...He would create bullets... reload... and repeat."

He let out a breath, raising his hand to rub his forehead.

"Argh...That went on for hours."

His voice carried a bit more frustration now.

"Then I reached Elder Fredrick and had to repeat the same thing again and it lasted even longer."

He shook his head slowly, his brows tightening.

"In the end, I had no choice. I had to increase my Cognis output beyond what I planned."

He lowered his hand, looking toward the tower again.

"I could have waited for him to exhaust his Cognis... but if I even did that, mine would also drop too low and then... I would lose immediately on the seventh floor."

"Even if it would have been faster."

He exhaled again, longer this time.

His eyes shifted slightly toward Ezra’s position in the tower.

"Tsk... How did he even manage to pull something like that?"

Zack muttered, his teeth clenching slightly as annoyance crept into his voice, unable to hide it anymore.