The Alchemist
The Alchemist (錬金術士, Renkinjutsushi) is the first episode of the Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout anime series.
Summary
On Kurken Island, there lies a small village called Rasenboden where a teen girl named Reisalin Stout, also known as Ryza, lives. Ryza notes that everyday life is ordinary, but she seeks to figure out how to break it out of that boring routine.
Ryza tries to harvest a Kurken Fruit on her family farm and accidentally crushes it. She'd then curse the fact to her father Karl, who claims practice makes perfect, and within four to five years, she'll master the nimble fingers necessary to harvest the fruit. Later, Ryza gazes at the sky, and her mother Mio scolds her for lazing around again and claims she should be more like her father. However, Ryza gives Mio an excuse, leading her to believe she hates farming. Although Ryza tries to clarify her remark, Mio briefly lectures Ryza on their farm's importance to the island residents. Still, Ryza was fully aware of said speel and was tasked to deliver Karl a small tub of water.
Delivering water to Karl, she asks if his work ever bores him. Amused by the question, Karl tells Ryza to think about how the wheat they cultivate thinks. On the other hand, Ryza doesn't care what wheat thinks and thereby tries to dodge Mio's call by navigating through the wheatfield, but is still found by her. Ryza then blurts out that she has business in the Fairystone Forest, which is adjacent to the Kurken Port. Mio, though, realizes that it's just an excuse for Ryza to go on a pretend adventure and instead tasks her with an errand.
On her way into the village, Ryza walks by two children singing a song and soon runs into her friend Tao, who had pulled an all-nighter studying a book with diagrams. Despite being unable to read its contents, Tao is determined that he'd one day be capable of reading it. Lent then approaches them and confirms that he had some free time after completing his sword training. When Lent asked what they were doing, Tao mentioned he would purchase some supplies from Fressher, and Ryza was running errands.
After Lent decided to tag along with them, they soon reached Rasenboden and saw an argument between Fressher and one of the village elders. It's later learned by Fressher that a merchant from off the island would be arriving on the island and would open a shop there. This was also supported by the village noble, Moritz. More information regarding the merchant is detailed to the ignorant Ryza and Lent, who says the person owns many caravans and a shop in Ashra-am Baird. Once they purchase their items from the shop, Ryza becomes engrossed in the notion of the capital outside the island.
By dusk, the trio walks home, and Ryza thinks about leaving the island, which excites her as she hopes there's something unique to her. That night, Ryza declares that they will go on an adventure outside the island and will do it when the merchant arrives. Tao admonishes the idea as it's against the island tradition; however, Ryza believes it's ruining them. When Lent asks how they'll get off the island, Ryza claims they'll commandeer a boat and head to the Fairy Forest. Furthermore, if they encounter trouble with the local Pixie monsters, Ryza is confident Lent could deal with them, much to his chagrin. That night, Ryza had packed a small sachel with supplies and was excited to leave the island finally.
The following day, the merchant Lubart and his daughter Klaudia ride a wagon with several others following them. They would talk about the area, and Klaudia would mention its beauty. Riding in the back of one of the wagons were Lila and Empel talking about Rasenboden and the hope of finding tasty snacks there.
Meanwhile, Ryza, with Lent sitting by, harvests some Uni, and soon Tao carrying a sledgehammer, joins them. With everyone there, Ryza wastes no time and heads off to the port as Lent and Tao follow closely behind her. Down in the village, the trio hid from Agatha, the head guardian, accompanied by two guardsmen. It's suspected that the guardians would greet some visitors by the docks, making Tao believe their adventure was over. However, Ryza changes plans and runs off as Lent and Tao follow her. Close by, Bos accompanied by Lumbar spots Ryza and the group in the distance. Bos gives them a scornful glare, but immediately continues onward after that.
Down in the docks, the fishermen there complain that they can't fish because of the arrival of the new merchant. It was also there that Romy tried to stow away on a boat, but was refused because of said new merchant. Agatha and her two subordinates then arrive and reprimand Romy for her actions, then plan on heading to the port opposite side of the island where the merchants are set to arrive.
Elsewhere, Ryza shows off to Tao and Lent her row boat that the local fishermen use. Tao points out that the boat doesn't have a sail, which goes against traditional boats. Unamused by Tao and Lent's lackluster response because they're too wrapped up in the island traditions. Ryza proclaims they shouldn't be bound to such things as they're on an adventure and will visit many places, forbidden or not. One such place that interested Ryza was a shiny tower located north on the other island. Lent sympathized with Ryza's logic as he wanted to prove himself to his father that he was strong. Left with no other choice, Tao was forced to tag along. Wasting no further time, the trio gets on the rowboat and starts their adventure.
By a port, Agatha meets with Lubart, who learns that his daughter Klaudia has gone missing. Overhearing this conversation, Empel has Lila get close by in case a reward is posted to find the missing Klaudia.
In the Fairy Forest, Ryza and the group take a rest and soon find the remnants of a roadway. Despite Tao's fear of encountering monsters if they follow the path, Ryza assures him they have Lent to protect them, and Tao does have his sledgehammer for his protection. Heading onward while following the roadway, Ryza would eventually become fascinated by a group of large mushrooms. Just then, Klaudia appeared from the nearby bushes and asked for their help from a couple of monsters. The monsters were a couple of Blue Punis, and after Lent dealt with one of them, it gave the group enough time to escape.
At a safe distance, Klaudia introduced herself to the group and Ryza and then introduced herself and her friends to Klaudia. After Ryza explains her group's goal to Klaudia, they learn that Klaudia is the merchant's daughter scheduled to arrive in Kurken that day. Ryza then thinks aloud that finding a missing merchant's daughter and reuniting her with her father is a great accomplishment for their first adventure.
Heading back, Klaudia talks with Ryza about her scary encounter with some monsters, but Klaudia downplays it and says as she was lost, she encountered. Klaudia then shows Ryza a patch of Blue Clovers and lists some other flowers she found on the highway. Noting that she pressed some of them, Klaudia offered to show Ryza them later, and she would be pleased to see them.
Around dusk, the group is attacked by a trio of Pixies who first knockdown Lent and then cut his left shoulder. In a tight situation, Lila and Empel arrive and defeat the Pixies. To Ryza's astonishment, Empel's use of tiny explosive barrels left her awestricken. Once the monsters were dealt with, Empel and Lila lead the group to a run-down house that's believed to be remnants of the fallen Klint Kingdom. There was also a dead language inscribed on the side of the house that assured it was a safe haven from monsters. Tao recognized the writing on the house from his book and was interested that Empel could read it. Empel then uses a healing potion on Lent's arm that instantly heals his wound, and they decidedly head onward.
Led by Lila and Empel holding lanterns which no one in Ryza's group had ever seen before, fascinate the group. Lent was also tasked with holding an Exorcism Brooch that'd repel any monster encounter. Unable to contain her curiosity any further, Ryza asks Empel if he's a wizard; however, Empel corrects Ryza revealing he's an Alchemist and all of his items were made through alchemy.
Afterward, Ryza's group is reprimanded by Agatha, while Klaudia has the same treatment from her father. It's then learned that Lila and Empel were investigating the ruins of the Klint Kingdom. Lila then introduces herself as Empel's bodyguard, and Empel offers his alchemy services to the island's residents. Returning to the island via boat, Lubart approached Ryza, thanked her for saving his daughter Klaudia, and asked for their short duration to continue watching over her.
Arriving back at Rasenboden, Moritz formally welcomes and introduces himself to Lubart as the village elders watch in contempt. As that goes on, Klaudia learns from Ryza's group who Moritz is and that he holds the most power there because of his water monopoly. Later, Bos and Lumbar approached and chastised Ryza and her friends for their actions earlier.
That night, Ryza lies in her bed and reflects on what she learned and experienced on her adventure that day. The next morning, Lent and Tao meet Ryza and join her in visiting Lila and Empel. At their house, Lent requests to learn the basics of fighting, Tao asks to learn what his book says, and Ryza asks to learn Alchemy. Initially, they declined their requests because of their limited time; however, Tao's book interests Empel as its topic concerns structural mechanics. In light of learning, there are more books in Tao's underground library; Empel and Lila agree to Ryza's group requests, excluding Ryza. The reason why was only those with an aptitude for Alchemy could learn it.
Hence, Ryza asks if she can be tested if she has the aptitude for it. Seeing the determination in Ryza's eyes, Empel tasks her with finding a particular herb for him. Later, Ryza runs into Klaudia, who informs her that she'll be staying in a rented house with her father. In return, Ryza promises to show Klaudia some places around the island, like the Fairystone Forest or the Rainbow Grape Grove. Informing this to Klaudia gives Ryza an epiphany, who then remembers the herb she's searching for was at the Fairystone Forest and runs off there and finds it there. Realizing that the herb was one of the things she commonly saw in her childhood as an alchemic ingredient and wondered if other things there were also ingredients.
Upon returning to Empel's house, Empel reveals the herb's name as Nameless Grass and brings back more than he had wanted. When asked what she thought about her experience, Ryza claims it was fun, which makes Empel ponder for a moment, but continued with the aptitude test, making Ryza try Synthesising next.
By a large cauldron, Empel demonstrates how to create the most basic alchemic item, a Supplement. Empel then drops a Nameless Herb and a vial into the cauldron, explaining how Synthesising works, and Ryza attentively watches. When it was Ryza's turn to try, she successfully created a Supplement, and Empel commented how Ryza had passed the test.
Characters
- Reisalin Stout
- Karl Stout
- Mio Stout
- Tao Mongarten
- Lent Marslink
- Fressher
- Moritz Brunnen
- Klaudia Valentz
- Lubart Valentz
- Klaudia Valentz
- Lila Decyrus
- Empel Vollmer
- Agatha Harmon
- Bos Brunnen
- Lumbar Dorn
- Romy
Galery
Atelier Ryza Animation
Ep.1 - Klaudia Meets Ryza
Ep.1 - Empel and Lila
Ep.1 - Encounter with Pixies
Ep.1 - First Appear of Klaudia
Ep.1 - Lila first Appearence
Ep.1 - Reisalin and Karl
Ep.1 - Ryza at Intro
Ep.1 - Reisalin and Mio
Ep.1 - Reisalin and Tao
Ep.1 - Reisalin and Lent
Ep.1 - Ryza Approved
Ep.1 - Ryza Resting
