Helos took the fragmented copy of *Ancient Alchemy*, which emitted a stale, old aura. The writing on the cover had long since blurred, leaving only nine twisted ancient runes that could barely be identified.
The pages were yellowed and brittle, looking as though they might crumble at the slightest touch.
“Thank you, Agatha.”
Helos thanked her newly-acquired roommate. “I’ll make sure to study it well.”
“Hehe—you’re very welcome!”
Agatha waved her hand, her face once again reflecting the fanaticism of a researcher.
“If you actually manage to restore any powerful recipes, you must share them with me! Especially the ones related to explosions!!”
Having said her piece, she dove back into her own room. Following the loud *thud* of the door closing, one could vaguely hear the clinking and clanking of bottles and jars colliding inside.
Helos looked at the closed door and shook her head helplessly. It seemed her future life at the academy was destined not to be boring.
She took Gavi back into her own bedroom.
The room was not large, but the layout was very cozy.
A comfortable single bed was placed against the wall, and next to it was a wide wardrobe, which was more than enough to hold her meager few sets of clothes.
What satisfied her most was the large desk by the window; the light was ample, making it very suitable for performing all kinds of delicate research work.
Since the people from the trading house had not delivered her items yet, Helos had nothing to do for the time being.
She simply sat at the desk and carefully opened the copy of *Ancient Alchemy* that Agatha had given her.
As Agatha had said, the contents of the book were indeed incomplete.
Many pages had large areas of damage or stains, and the text was not in the imperial common tongue, but a much older, twisted form of pictographs.
Fortunately, there were translated notes written in the imperial common tongue on the side.
Although the annotator themselves seemed to only have a partial understanding of many things, it was at least enough for Helos to barely grasp the general meaning.
She skimmed through a few pages and was quickly deeply attracted by the content.
The alchemy recorded in this book possessed a completely different style from the ones she had previously seen in the duke’s mansion library or the content provided within *Ultimate Alchemy*.
It did not seem to focus on making potions or performing material purification, but instead placed its emphasis on how to use alchemy to directly interfere with mana or even warp reality.
For example, one page recorded a recipe called [Phantom Dust].
By mixing Moonstone powder with the wing scales of a certain hallucinatory butterfly in a specific ratio and then “activating” it with mental energy, one could create a powder capable of producing realistic illusions.
The annotator speculated that these illusions might even cause a substantial mental shock to those with weak mental energy.
Another page recorded the production method for a peculiar item called the [Coin of Fate].
It was said that after this coin was tossed, the result of its heads or tails was not entirely random; rather, it would be influenced by the user’s subconscious, thereby “foreseeing” or “guiding” the direction of the future to a certain extent.
‘Do these things… really count as alchemy?’
The more Helos read, the more startled she became. The contents of this book felt less like a rigorous science and more like a type of eerie magic that utilized alchemical principles.
Many of the recipe steps were filled with erratic leaps in logic, and some parts even contradicted themselves, as if the creator was a madman who enjoyed playing pranks.
However, it was undeniable that these peculiar concepts greatly broadened Helos’s thinking. In particular, the large number of records regarding combat-oriented alchemical items made her eyes light up.
For instance, there was a type of [Sluggish Gel] that could be scattered on the ground, making enemies who stepped on it feel as if they had fallen into a quagmire.
There was also an incense called [Incense of Frenzy]; it was said that the scent emitted after it was lit could cause creatures within range to fall into a brief state of frenzy, unable to distinguish between friend and foe.
Although these things all seemed a bit sinister, they were undoubtedly very practical.
Speaking of which…
Helos suddenly remembered the unlock condition for her [Branch of Enlightenment]—successfully register and produce ten different recipes.
She had previously been struggling to find a sufficient number of valuable new recipes.
She already knew the ordinary potion recipes in the duke’s mansion library by heart, and the recipes that came with *Ultimate Alchemy* did not seem to count toward the unlock conditions.
‘Maybe… I can try to deduce and restore several recipes from this book?’
Once this thought emerged, it was like a wildly growing vine, instantly occupying her entire brain.
Although most of the recipes in this book were fragmented and their principles were strange, for a “cheating player” like her who possessed several years of practical experience and the assistance of *Ultimate Alchemy*, restoration was not entirely impossible.
Moreover, these recipes looked much more interesting than those ordinary healing potions!
No sooner said than done.
Helos immediately perked up and turned the book back to the beginning, starting to study it carefully page by page.
She tried to find some recipes that were relatively complete and had materials that were easier to obtain to try out.
After some careful consideration, she finally locked her gaze on a fragmented blueprint depicting a certain explosive device.
This blueprint recorded a method of using a Magic Crystal as the core energy source to create a truly alchemical bomb.
This was different from Agatha’s “liquid explosives” that sought to completely move away from mana.
The core principle of this bomb was to use a specific catalyst to instantly detonate the massive magical energy contained within the Magic Crystal, thereby producing a violent explosion.
‘This is great!’
Helos’s eyes lit up.
The “homemade fragmentation Hand Grenades” she had made before were, in the end, just a desperate measure.
This bomb with a Magic Crystal core was not only powerful, but as long as the production process was handled properly, its stability was far superior to the former.
This would be very useful to her. Whether it was clearing a path during an adventure or serving as a trump card in battle, it could be put to great use.
Most importantly, the core material needed to make this bomb—the Magic Crystal—was considered valuable, but in a place like the Imperial Capital, it was relatively easy to get ahold of.
At the very least, it was much more reliable than those recipes that required “hallucinatory butterfly scales” or “dragon tears.”
‘I’ve decided on you! My first research goal!’
Helos made up her mind, intending to immediately begin deducing and perfecting this recipe.
However, just then, the sound of knocking on the door rang out again.
This time, the voice of a trading house worker came from outside. It turned out that the daily necessities they had purchased yesterday had been delivered.
Helos could only temporarily put down the research in her hands.
The young girl opened the door and directed Gavi to move the various large and small packages into the room, then began to organize them.
The bedsheets and quilts needed to be laid out, the toiletries needed to be neatly arranged, and the various jars and bottles of alchemy equipment especially needed to be carefully categorized and placed.
Even with an efficient assistant like Gavi helping, Helos still felt a wave of exhaustion after they had finished organizing everything. It was mainly mental fatigue.
She looked out the window at the night view of the Imperial Capital, which was as brilliant as a sea of stars, and let out a deep yawn.
‘I won’t… eat dinner. I’m going straight to sleep.’
After all, tomorrow would be her first official day of classes as a new student of the Royal magic academy.
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Time for the next alchemy arc.