tanoraqui:

I can’t quite get over Al being one of the most powerful alchemists in Amestris, possibly the world. Potentially there are others like Izumi, who have seen the Truth and just kept quiet about it? But…unlikely. Narratively speaking. And having seen the Truth automatically puts you several steps up over most other alchemists out there, so Al is, objectively speaking, in an elite club of four living alchemists right now, one of whom can’t practice alchemy anymore (hi, Ed) and so doesn’t really count. With flame alchemy, Mustang is another whole level of danger, but Al and Izumi are right there at his heels in terms of ability to Casually Wreck Your Shit. Yet there she is, a simple housewife, and there he is, a well-dressed young man with an eager smile who probably still picks up stray kittens whenever he finds them…who is, in a traveling party of himself and two superhuman chimeras, absolutely the most dangerous one. “Stop right there, or the prettyboy gets it!” snarls a bandit with a knife to Al’s neck. “Please stop,” says the prettyboy anxiously, and presses his hands together. A fist of earth knocks the sword from the bandit’s grasp, and another his feet from the earth. “I don’t want to hurt you.” If he didn’t just sweep the man’s feet out from under him with a well-placed kick - you know he trained that old body right back into the shape he’d had his metal one in. He looks like the sort of young man you would be delighted to bring home to your mother. He could probably level a city, though it might take a couple hours. Second only to his teacher (maybe) and the Flame Alchemist himself. I love Alphonse Elric.