Chapter 18 The Pile of Treasured Scrap Paper
Anna's class was fascinating, delving into the ancient art of Alchemy with clarity and simplicity. The two-hour session ended in the blink of an eye, and as soon as the time was up, Anna bustled out of the classroom just as hurriedly as she had arrived.
"Alchemy... This really goes well with the Miracle Furnace," Richard touched his chin, pondering over the chalkboard. Alchemy encompassed a wide range, with Magic Potions and Magic Equipment being the most well-known aspects.
For these, formulas and a plethora of practice were required, and both were substantial Magic Stone burners. Magic Equipment, commonly referred to by Apprentices as Magic Tools, followed the same principle. Magic Models and practice materials weren't significantly cheaper than the formulas and ingredients for the Potions.
But this wasn't a problem for Richard.
Extensive practice could be compensated for through refining skills, and both Potion formulas and Magic Models could be directly refined too.
Moreover, according to Anna's account, although Alchemy was costly, it could also be profitable. Her Alchemy store in the Academy's commercial district brought her nearly a hundred Magic Stones in profit each month.
And that was when she hardly had the time to manage it.
"There should be books on Alchemy in the library, I'll check them out later."
As they left the classroom, Ali seemed eager to drag Richard to the commercial district, its prosperity seemingly igniting her inborn shopping enthusiasm.
"No thanks, I'm heading to the library."
Richard waved goodbye to Ali, who watched his retreating figure with a somewhat sullen stomp of her foot.
Back in the library, the librarian Fenna was nowhere to be seen this time.
Richard searched the Crystal Ball for books on Alchemy and suddenly, a batch of books listed as "unknown" caught his attention.
"Unknown? That's interesting."
He found the section holding the "unknown" books and noticed several Apprentices picking through them.
"Excuse me, senior, what are these 'unknown' books about?" Richard asked a young-looking Apprentice.
"Oh, a freshman?" the Apprentice seemed surprised, "These books are the notes of Wizards who died during the Wizard War. They're written in code, indecipherable to anyone but their authors. The Dean has placed these notes here to see if any Apprentices might chance to decode them."
As she spoke, she gestured to the surrounding Apprentices.
"We're all trying our luck."
"I see. Sorry to have disturbed you."
Having gotten the answer, Richard's heart pounded excitedly.
A bold idea struck him.
He picked up a notebook, the symbols within completely different from the Wizard Language, but Richard didn't attempt to decipher it. Instead, he tried using the Miracle Furnace.
[Raw Material: Unknown Wizard's Notes]
[Extractable Information: Physique Enhancement Potion Formula]
[Extraction Cost: 25 Spiritual Power]
[Insufficient Spiritual Power]
"As expected, even this secret text can be extracted," Richard thought, suppressing the excitement within him, his gaze towards the bookshelf was like seeing a gold mine.
He put the notebook back in its place and noted down the number; the Spiritual Power needed to extract from this particular notebook was currently beyond his reach, and he had to set it aside for the time being.
But with so many notes, Richard believed there had to be at least one that he could refine right now.
[Raw Material: Unknown Wizard's Notes]
[Extractable Information: One Hundred Thirty-Two Failed Cases]
[Raw Material: Unknown Wizard's Notes]
[Extractable Information: Three Hundred Forty-Two Diary Entries]
[Material: Notes of an unknown Wizard]
[Extractable Information: Experiences from mating with thirty-two Otherworld creatures]
...
As Richard continued his exploration with the Miracle Furnace, his expression shifted from wild joy to a somewhat bemused resignation.
What is it with these Wizards and noting down everything!
Richard rather angrily put the notes on mating experiences back in their place and then took note of their identification number.
Ahem, don't overthink it.
Richard was simply interested in the anatomical structure of Otherworld creatures.
After searching the bookshelf for quite a while, Richard finally found a set of notes he could extract information from.
[Material: Notes of an unknown Wizard]
[Extractable Part: Bloodline Alchemy recipe]
[Extraction Cost: 15 spiritual power]
[Proceed with extraction?]
"No."
Richard pressed the Crystal Ball against the book's identification tag, and with a flash of white light, a line of text appeared within the Crystal Ball.
[Wizard Apprentice Richard has borrowed book number n7891, borrow time three days, please return to the library to renew the loan after expiration. This book is free and allowed to be recorded.]
"Free books can be recorded, so books that need Magic Stones definitely can't be," Richard stroked his chin, "I wonder what method the Academy uses to prevent paid books from leaking out, could it be a Curse?"
However, Richard didn't dwell on it, as he was someone who abided by the rules.
Returning to his dormitory with the notes, Richard chose to extract from them. Another familiar blackout ensued, and by the time Richard awoke, the sky had already darkened.
"Let's see what this Bloodline Alchemy is about."
Richard absorbed the white light, thereby learning the reality of Bloodline Alchemy.
"To fuse the Bloodline of other creatures into one's own body, to be used at crucial moments to gain abilities or strength. And it's not just one type of creature; the Bloodline Alchemy can actually combine multiple creature's Bloodlines together, achieving an effect where one plus one exceeds two."
Richard glanced at the notes before him and suddenly thought of Saban, whom he had killed.
Saban's case seemed somewhat similar to Bloodline Alchemy. Could it be that the Legendary Knights from the legends were Wizards or even Wizard Apprentices who used Bloodline Alchemy?
With this in mind, Richard hastily retrieved Saban's arm bracelet. Comparing the content on the arm bracelet with the information in the notes, the rhythm of breathing recorded on the arm bracelet was very similar to that in the notes, where such rhythm was referred as the Breathing Technique, a method used in the first stage of Bloodline Alchemy to stimulate the Bloodline.
Recalling Saban exhaling white Qi from his mouth and nose, Richard slapped his thigh:
"Exactly! The essence of Legendary Knights is Bloodline Alchemy. The legendary Knights depicted as enormously strong with various special abilities are nothing but Wizards or even Wizard Apprentices who have used Bloodline Alchemy."
This discovery made Richard's pulse race; he became impatient and took the notes straight to the Academy library.
Introduction to Alchemy, Ancient Alchemy, On the Strengths and Weaknesses of Bloodline Alchemy... book after book about Alchemy was found by Richard, who now had a concept forming in his mind.
He wanted to construct a comprehensive Combat System centered around Alchemy.
A Wizard's means are ever-changing. If these means were imagined as a deck of cards, then each card would have a corresponding counter. Richard's idea was to rely on Alchemy as the core card to build his own deck.
What he was doing now was determining whether Alchemy was up to this significant task.
As he flipped through each book, various information about Alchemy was absorbed by Richard, and his understanding of Alchemy became increasingly comprehensive. His idea of constructing a Combat System based around Alchemy also solidified.
Magic Equipment, Magic Potions, Bloodline Alchemy, Magic Arrays... Alchemy covered a vast array of subjects, both broad and deep enough to serve as the core of a Combat System.
After going through all the borrowed books, Richard let out a sigh.
A Combat System outline, centralized on Alchemy and supplemented by various Spells, began taking shape in his mind. What he needed to do now was expand his knowledge to fill in the details of this outline.
But before that, there was something else he needed to complete.
That was to find a mentor from whom he could learn Alchemy.