ARIOLA, ARIANA L.

12 – STEM H

ASSASSIN’S ENDEARMENT
Literary Reference: Alchemy of Souls

Alchemy of Souls, released in the year 2022, is a South Korean series written by Hong Sisters
that is set in Daeho, a fictional kingdom within South Korea that appears to be loosely based on
the country's Joseon era. The series is about the love and growth of young mages as they
overcome their twisted fates due to a forbidden magic spell known as the "alchemy of souls,"
which allows souls to switch bodies. One of the considered antagonists in this series is Naksu,
who is an assassin and is an elite warrior.

The kingdom of Daeho is known to be peaceful and magical, where people get to use the
power given by the heavens. Under the rule of King Go Seong, Daeho is divided into different
cities. These cities of Daeho are governed by a “gwanju” a high-ranking mage, along with the
other mages. They are the ones who ought to protect their land and the people with the use of
spells. There are four powerful mages' families in Daeho; Park, Seo, Jang, and Jin. The four
young mages of the family are known as the four seasons in Daeho, namely Park Dang Gu, Seo
Yul, Jang Uk, and Jin Cho Yeon.
 
Naksu, known as an elite warrior and an assassin to the people of Daeho, enters the
boundaries of Songrim, where she begins killing the guarding mages.
 
"So, you are Naksu, the Shadow Assassin who has been going around killing the mages
in the city."
 
"They call me Naksu, for wherever I go, heads fall to the ground." absurdly said by
Naksu while waving her sword. "A beautiful name, isn’t it?"
 
The people of Songrim were thrown into chaos as a result of her arrival, especially Park
Jin, the Gwangju of Songrim. Park Jin knows Naksu as an assassin. But to Naksu, she knows
Park Jin as one of the people who ordered to kill her parents. Her objective in coming to Songrim
was to avenge the unjustified death of her parents. Anyone who would interfere would meet their
life's end.

Cho Yeong, generally known as Naksu, has an unconditional love for her parents. She
had shared everything with her family when she was still a child. Since her mother was almost
always away, she was always with her father. Cho Yeong and her father were like two peas in a
pod. Naksu’s father, Cho Chung, was a constellation recorder mage for Cheonbugwan. Back in
the days, it was their bond to watch the constellations, especially Cho Yeong’s destined star.
They were always spellbound by the sight of the stars.

Their darkest point of life came when Naksu’s father was accused of using the forbidden
spell, the alchemy of souls, which led her parents to their death. Naksu cannot accept the fact that
her parents were killed where she witnessed this happen, tears stinging her face in shock. As they
were always true to each other, she knew that her parents were not guilty of the crime of which
they were accusing Naksu’s parents. With the young Naksu looking over her deceased parents,
she was approached by Jin-Mu, who actually offered to train her. He took Naksu out to the dark
recesses of the mountains, where she trained and honed her skills.
 Since she was still a child when she lost her parents, there wasn’t a way to give them the
justice they deserved. Naksu believes that the only way to bring her parents' murderers to justice
is to kill everyone involved. Many people labeled Naksu as an assassin. Little did they know that
she and her family were victims of injustice. Even after many years have passed, she cannot
forget the faces of the people who were there to see her parents get killed. She was eager to learn
to cast spells, even the highest level of spells. In particular, all the people involved were
powerful mages in Daeho. She trained so hard to overcome the powers of the people involved in
killing her parents.
 
As Naksu came back to Songrim, where she killed the mages, she was wounded and left
off entering the city. Suspiciously hiding from the mages, she bumped into a blind woman, not
knowing that the blind woman, Mu-deok, was a fortress of Danyangghok. She hurriedly grabbed
the woman’s hand and performed the forbidden spell, which is the alchemy of souls. Instead of
switching bodies with Mu-deok, Naksu entered her body and Mu-deok’s soul stayed in her.
Naksu’s body was left in a small house after performing the alchemy of souls. Eventually, her
body was found by the mages, who burned her body.

When Mu-deok was on the run, she bumped into Jang Uk, a young and powerful mage.
The young man knew that she was a soul shifter when he saw the glowing blue eyes of Mu-deok,
where Naksu’s soul was inside its body. Without hesitating about hiding a soul shifter and an
assassin, Jang Uk helped Mu Deok find her true body. In exchange, Naksu, the soul inside Mu-
deok’s body, should help Jang Uk become an elite warrior.
 
"Be my master until I’ve become a powerful mage."
 
"How can a lowly mage ask an assassin to become his master? It’s either you will be my
key to killing Park Jin or it'll be you that’ll be killed. "
 
"Then you can kill me," he said, "just after I’ve opened my gate of energy, unsheathed
my father’s sword, and become an elite warrior like you."
 
Mu-deok has taught Jang Uk the best ways to cast spells, even the highest level of spells.
Jang Uk was able to learn it easily with Mu-deok. Time passed by, and Jang Uk was able to
unsheathe his father’s sword. Mu-deok and Jang Uk became an inseparable duo. Mu-deok,
technically known as Naksu, told her story to Jang Uk. Jang Uk was able to understand why
Naksu had come to Songrim and become an assassin to avenge her parents. Without the two
realizing it, they have fallen for each other. Jang Uk has become overly protective of Mu-deok
without worrying that he is in love with an assassin and has the potential to kill him. Then Jang
Uk made a promise to Mu-deok if she unsheates her sword again.
 
            "If you ever use your sword to assassinate people, I promise to die in your hands as the
one who hid the assassin."

Jang Uk becomes a traitor to his uncle, Park Jin, for helping an assassin. Jang Uk was
eager to help Mu-deok get her parents the justice they deserved. He secretly gave the king an
unnamed letter saying that the gwanju of Songrim was immoral. The letter states that Park Jin
was abusing his power to gain more power as a gwanju. The former constellation recorder mage
for Cheonbugwan, Naksu’s father, knew the darkest secrets of Park Jin. The mother of Naksu
was raped by Park Jin, and bribed Cho Chung to not reveal it to the people, especially to the
king. Jang Uk also added that the family of Cho was killed, which was ordered by Park Jin,
framing them for using the forbidden spell. Naksu, who was known to be an assassin for Daeho,
was actually the daughter of the Cho family, seeking justice for her parents. This made the king
furious, as Park Jin was always transparent and honest with him.
 
            "An immoral person like you does not deserve to be the gwanju of Songrim." 
 
            "I order Park Jin, gwanju of Songrim, to step down from his position, lock his gate of
energy, and spend his lifetime in a prison."
 As Park Jin was imprisoned, Jang Uk, the inheritor, became the gwanju of Songrim. He
has also revealed to everyone that Mu-deok has the soul of Naksu. With the help of the ice stone,
Naksu would completely stay in the fortress body, Mu-deok, and live. Jang Uk also proposed to
Mu-deok.

"There is a very important ritual that we must perform." Jang Uk said, while kneeling in
front of Mu-deok.
 
"Master, as of today, I wish to end my training as your pupil. I am grateful for everything
you’ve taught me. I now have someone precious that I wish to keep by my side forever. I wish to
protect and cherish you. Thus, allow me to quit as your pupil. "
 
"I, Mu-deok, your master, will allow Jang Uk, my pupil, to quit."
 
"Be my wife, Mu-deok."