Experiment

High in the tallest tower of the academy, the Archmage Velgrin was preparing for an experiment. He'd been stuck at the pinnacle of the Archmage realm for over a century, and yet there was still no path in sight for progressing beyond that level. It was a problem not even the powerful cultivators of the Golden Era had been able to solve, and even thousands of years later there was no solution.

It was generally agreed upon that the two paths needed to be merged in order to reach the next level, but he'd cultivated to the level of Grand Knight several decades ago and had yet to find a way to combine the two systems.

Worse yet, despite his modifications, he only had a few decades left to live. Unless this experiment succeeded of course.

After hearing about some ludicrous theory proposed by a janitor years ago he'd been focusing more on the physical body, and realized what he had been lacking!

How could one dare attempt to ascend to a perfect state of being with an imperfect body?

Few managed to become Mages without resorting to body modification and one could not become an Archmage without it. The path was simply too difficult to walk otherwise. Even Knights often resorted to body modification when they hit a dead end.

As a result, Archmage Velgrin thought his body must be the issue. He'd modified it extensively to reach the levels he had, and it was hard to say whether he was even the same person as when he started on the path of cultivation.

As such, he'd developed a ritual that would give him back the body of his youth, a body that had never known cultivation. Although the janitor was a quack for suggesting there was a third spirit body, they had been right about one thing: there was more to the matter body that just the physical substance! He'd discovered a type of field laced over his physical body, a memory of what it once was.

It was this field that dictated how his body was composed. After a few experiments on mundane, he'd discovered that you could change the physical body by changing the field. As such, he planned to reset the field entirely, returning his body to its youthful state while retaining his dual cultivation levels.

Once he had his old body back, not only would his lifespan be reset, but he would be able to finally combine the two systems and reach the next level!

Of course, the procedure was not without its risks. All of the mundanes he had experimented on had died grisly deaths, but that's why he'd tasked his most beloved student with retrieving some very valuable materials.

"Teacher?" A voice like a lark sounded from behind Archmage Velgrin.

Standing at the door to his experimental laboratory was Selene Veyrin of the Dragon Clan. His student.

The two were like night and day.

Archmage Vegrin was a grotesque figure, hunched and gnarled, more creature than man. His thick cloak draped over him like a funeral shroud, but it couldn't hide the unnatural movements beneath as his flesh bulged and shifted on its own. His limbs seemed ill-fitted to his frame, joints jutting at wrong angles, fingers too long and too thin, always twitching. What little could be seen of his face was a horrific. His skin was a ruin of pale, peeling flesh, mottled with weeping sores and crusted pustules that pulsed faintly with every breath. One eye bulged, bloodshot and twitching, while the other was sunken and dark, like a hole burrowed into his skull. 

Selene on the other hand was gorgeous. Her skin was a warm, polished bronze with a smooth and unblemished complexion that looked radiant even in the dim lighting of the laboratory. Her face was soft, youthful, and gentle, with full lips and wide expressive eyes that gave her an innocent demeanor. Her long, flaming red hair, the signature of the Dragon Clan, was framed by the red silken Mage robes she wore. Even though they were loose, they couldn't hide her lithe and supple body, sculpted to perfection when the woman became a Knight.

"The materials?" Velgrin's voice rasped like the cries of the damned. "Did you succeed in gathering them, child?"

He still found it somewhat incredible how fast the young woman had advanced. He'd needed far longer to advance to the same level, and had already sacrificed most of his body by then. Of course, it wasn't like Selene didn't pay a price. It was just that the side effects were less immediately visible.

"Of course, teacher." Selene replied with a small bow. "I've brought them personally to ensure there would be no accidents."

With a flourish, she pulled a box of of nowhere. She then pushed forwards and it floated over to Archmage Velgrin.

"Excellent work." Velgrin rasped. "Your furnace may remain a while longer."

"Thank you, teacher, but that won't be necessary." Selene smiled warmly. "I am planning to break through to Archmage and will no longer have need of her."

Velgrin snorted in response. It really did make him jealous how easy the woman's path had been. An Archmage before a hundred? Ridiculous talent.

"The Dragon Clan will maintain our current arrangement regardless." Selene assured, misinterpreting the frustrated look on his face. "Also, once I have completed the harvest, I will have to trouble teacher to handle the cleanup."

"It shall be done." He rumbled, turning towards his experiment. "Now, leave me."

Selene gave the Archmage a final bow, before gracefully exiting the room.

Once she was gone, Velgrin activated the towers defense mechanism, locking out everyone but himself. The ritual he was about to conduct was already going to be dangerous, interruptions would not be tolerated. Even with all of his preparations, he couldn't guarantee his survival. None of the test subjects survived, not even the few Apprentices he'd experimented on.

Despite that, he needed to do this. He'd risked his life more times than he could count on his path to power. What was one more time, even if it was slightly more risky than usual. After all, how could he expect to break through a problem that had plagued Mages since time immemorial without at least putting his life at risk?

He was going to die eventually either way, so he may as well die pursuing greatness! He would endlessly regret it if he never even tried.

———————————————

Caelia had almost fallen asleep again when she heard a soft tapping on her door.

"Come in." She croaked, her voice raspy from age and disuse.

A moment later, the door opened, revealing Selene. She'd changed out of her flamboyant robes and was now wearing a far more modest black set.

"Good evening, sister. I'm sorry for not visiting sooner, I've been really busy these last few months."

"No, its good that your busy. It means the clan trusts you and has granted you responsibilities. You don't need to waste your time on an old woman like me." Caelia walked over and placed her wrinkled hand on Selene cheek. She was as beautiful as the day she become a Mage.

"How could that be? You are my one and only sister." Selene grabbed Caelia and brought her into a crushing hug. Of course, if Selene really wanted to crush her sister, it would have been trivial.

"You have always been my biggest supporter, Selene." Caelia said, her old eyes crinkling with tears.

"No, it's been you supporting me this whole time, sister." Selene said, letting the older woman go.

"You say that, but it has been a long time since you have needed me." Caelia said, tottering over to her desk. "But maybe today I will have finally helped you reach the next level."

Caelia tapped on the desk, opening a hidden compartment. Inside were dozens of scrolls made from parchment. She pulled them out, and began laying them out for Selene to see.

"Is this about the discovery you told me about earlier?" Selene asked, curiously glancing over the scrolls. Most of them she could understand with a glance, but there were a few that simply made no sense.

"Yes." Caelia said gravely. "I'm sorry for not saying more in my letter, but I was worried about who might read it."

She pointed to a particularly worn scroll which had clearly been edited dozens of times.

"I've found a new cultivation system."

Selene was silent. It was an extraordinary claim, one that would shake the very foundations of the world if it was true. But was it?

"Actually, part of why I didn't mention it in the letter is because I was worried you might think I'd become senile." Caelia muttered, sounding quite senile. "But its true! Look, memorize that spell there."

Caelia's withered finger jabbed at another parchment covered in formulas.

"Once you've learned it, cast it on me." Caelia sat down, the exertion getting to her. "It took a long time for me to develop a spell with my pitiful cultivation level, but once you use it, you will know I speak the truth."

Selene carefully studied the spell. It seemed to be a heavily modified diagnostics spell, though she couldn't figure out what the changes were supposed to do. Not only that, but she knew the original spell, and it was a Tier 2 spell! Caelia had somehow modified it to be somewhere between Tier 0 and Tier 1. Which was probably the limits of her magical abilities.

Selene sighed. Her sister truly was a genius blessed by the heavens. If not for Caelia's constitution, how could Selene have ever been considered a genius.

Although it probably took months or even years for Caelia to create the modified diagnostics spell, it took mere seconds for Selene to learn it. Even if Caelia was a genius, she was still merely an apprentice. Selene was a half-step Archmage, and after today she would become an Archmage proper. How could she not learn such a simple spell with a glance.

Without standing on ceremony, Selene cast the spell, causing both her eyes and Caelia to glow a faint orange. At the same time, Selene watched as a weak spirit body overlapped with her sister. Had her sister actually discovered a new cultivation system?

"What am I seeing?"

"I call it the Alchemy Body." Caelia sighed. "It's a new type of spirit body I discovered. If you cast a normal diagnostics spell, you should be able to see it is completely different from the Aura Body and Mana Body."

Selene immediately cast another spell before letting out a soft gasp.

It really was a brand new spirit body!

Although Selene had yet to reach the point of searching for the level after Archmage, she was well aware of the common theories thanks to her teacher. If there really was a third spirit body, no wonder everyone so far had failed to reach the next level. Almost everyone agreed that the two systems needed to converge, but if there was a third system missing, it would be completely futile!

Selene's body started heating up as her blood started racing, causing her to softly blush.

"Do you know what this means?"

"I do. I've even managed to find a way to create an Alchemy Seed." Caelia replied with a smug grin. "What you see on the desk is everything I know about this new system. Unfortunately I've not had the time or energy lately to delve any further."

"Have you told anyone else?"

The question seemed innocent enough, but Caelia wasn't enough of a fool not to notice the greed in her sister's eyes. She didn't mind though. Who wouldn't feel greedy after seeing this. Although Caelia didn't know about the troubles of Archmages, she wasn't so foolish as to not know the significance of a new cultivation system.

"The headmaster and some of his retainers know some of it." Caelia admitted. "I told him about my theories when I first discovered the Alchemy Body. That was before I developed the diagnostics spell or the method to form an Alchemy Seed though, so they all thought I was crazy."

Caelia suddenly felt waves of exhaustion begin to hit her.

"I'm not sure if he even remembers our conversation, but other than that, you are the only person on Thuun who knows."

The exhaustion grew heavier. Caelia had been holding on for months in order to deliver this message. Now that she had, she could die.

"Take everything. I have no hope of ever completing this path, but you can. It will be incredibly difficult to sense your Alchemy Body at this point in time, but I'm sure someone with your talents can do so."

Seeing that she had begun nodding off, Selene gently lifted Caelia and placed her on her bed.

"You need to-"

"It's okay, sister." Caelia smiled down at Caelia. "I'll complete your dream for you."

"Thank you. I love you Selene."

"I love you too Caelia. You can rest now."

Selene watched as her spell took effect and put her sister to sleep. Today had certainly been a surprise. She stole a glance at the desk. At her sister's life work. Perhaps it would be worth it to forgo reaching Archmage today. Even if it took her a decade to reach that level after giving up the opportunity she had, she would gain something much greater if she could truly set foot on the new path Caelia had discovered.