Although Helos was a transfer student who had joined the class midway through the term, the Basics of Alchemy course was not particularly difficult for her.
After all, while she was at Duke Olivia’s mansion, she had already finished self-studying most of the relevant foundational theory books.
Master Emilia’s teaching style was very meticulous. She started from the most basic properties of matter and gradually moved into the principles of elemental reactions and energy conversion.
To Helos, this was more like a systematic review of her knowledge and a way to fill in the gaps.
‘Thankfully it’s not math,’ Helos thought as she sat in the first row, pretending to take notes diligently while feeling secretly relieved.
If it were something like advanced mathematics or quantum physics, she would likely be lost on the spot, even with the memories of her past life.
However, self-studying was still quite different from being taught by a teacher.
Master Emilia possessed a wealth of practical experience. Many of the material processing techniques and experimental details she explained were things Helos had never encountered before.
In particular, the section regarding “Magic Catalysis” was a true eye-opener for her.
In the traditional alchemy of this world, many key steps required the help of magic to guide or accelerate reactions.
For example, using fire magic to precisely control temperature, using water magic for pollution-free extraction, or even using mental power to directly interfere with the microscopic structure of matter.
These were all things Helos was currently unable to do.
Although her silent oath was suppressed by her ring, her body remained empty, lacking even a single shred of mana.
‘Tsk, I really can’t get around magic, can I?’ Helos curled her lip helplessly.
Fortunately, the existence of Ultimate Alchemy compensated for this deficiency.
Some of the alchemy recorded within it seemed to skip the “Magic Catalysis” step entirely through a method she couldn’t understand, completing the alchemical process with a purer form of power.
At first, Helos had been curious and wanted to research the principle behind it, but she soon came to terms with it.
‘I don’t know how it works, but it’s useful, and that’s enough.’
Aside from the Basics of Alchemy, the courses Christ had helped her select—Monster Ecology, Ancient Rune Studies, and Imperial History—also benefited her greatly.
Monster Ecology gave her a deeper understanding of the habits and weaknesses of various magical beasts, which would undoubtedly be a massive help for hunting them in the future.
She might even catch a few and realize the dream of becoming a Legendary monster trainer!
Ancient Rune Studies sparked a strong interest in those twisted, ancient characters, which might eventually help her decipher the fragment Agatha had given her.
While Imperial History was somewhat dull, it allowed her to better understand the background of this world.
Thus, Helos spent her days “attending class” seriously. Once she returned to her dormitory at night, the focus of her life shifted entirely to that fragment of Ancient Alchemy.
The unlocking condition for the Enlightenment Arts alchemy branch was to successfully register and craft 10 different alchemy recipes.
This ancient book, filled with all sorts of whimsical and even “sinister” ideas, was undoubtedly her best path to completing that prerequisite quest.
She carefully transcribed the damaged blueprint of the Alchemy Bomb onto her notebook.
The structure drawn on the blueprint wasn’t particularly complex.
The core part was a spherical container used to hold magic stones, with the inner walls engraved with dense guiding Magic Arrays.
More than half of the detonation device’s design was missing, and she could only vaguely see that it seemed related to some kind of mechanical trigger.
‘Utilizing a Magic Crystal as a power source… triggering its internal energy through some kind of mechanism… Mm, the logic should be correct.’
The catalysis part would be handled by Ultimate Alchemy. What she needed to do now was to complete the mechanical trigger herself.
Helos rubbed her chin, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
If this thing could truly be restored, its power would definitely be nothing to scoff at.
No sooner said than done.
Helos immediately locked herself in her room and began her research, forgetting to eat or sleep.
Gavi once again took on the role previously held by Julius.
She stood silently by Helos’s side, handing her any material or tool she needed with perfect precision the moment she required it.
Although the lack of someone to bicker with or complain to made Helos feel a bit bored, Gavi’s efficiency and accuracy were indeed things that the idiot knight, Julius, could never compare to.
The process of restoring the recipe was much more difficult than Helos had imagined.
The style of the ancient book was filled with malice and chaos.
The descriptions of many key steps were vague and sometimes even contradictory.
The drawing method for the magic guiding Magic Array was also completely different from the modern alchemy system, filled with all sorts of seemingly meaningless twisted runes and eerie symbols.
Helos felt as if she were playing a high-difficulty jigsaw puzzle.
Based on those damaged fragments, she had to combine her own knowledge with the alchemical principles she learned in the academy’s classes to gradually speculate, calculate, and attempt to restore the complete recipe.
‘This rune… it looks like a mana stabilization structure, but why is it followed by an acceleration catalyst rune?’
‘Isn’t that self-contradictory?’
‘Could it be that the stability refers to pre-explosion stability, while the catalysis refers to the acceleration at the moment of detonation?’
‘And these materials… sigh, I should have let Milda come along.’
She grumbled frantically while researching, feeling as if her brain cells were dying off in batches.
However, the more difficult it was, the more her competitive spirit was ignited.
She completely immersed herself in the puzzle-solving process, even forgetting to eat and sleep.
As for the most core material for making the Alchemy Bomb—Magic Crystals—Helos fortunately had some on hand.
And they weren’t ordinary Magic Crystals, but superior alternatives with quality far exceeding the common ones.
Originally, she had crafted 10 Mana Cores in total.
Four of them were used as Gavi’s power source.
The remaining six had been carefully stored in a specially made box.
The energy contained within these Mana Cores was much more refined and vast than a Magic Crystal of the same size.
Using them as the energy source for the Alchemy Bomb was more than enough; in fact, it was arguably overkill.
‘Might as well use them for practice.’
Helos looked at the six cores in the box, which were emitting a soft glow, a dangerous light flickering in her eyes.
However, the ideal was plump, while reality was skeletal.
Because the Alchemy Bomb was not an inherent recipe within the Magic System, Helos could not use the “one-click crafting” function.
She had to fully understand the principles, structures, and steps before she could actually attempt to craft it.
Initially, Helos was full of confidence. After all, she was a genius youth—wait, a genius girl—with knowledge from two lifetimes and an external cheat system…
But after several consecutive days of hard work, her progress remained extremely slow.
Just for that damned guiding Magic Array, she had tried over a dozen different rune combinations, yet she still couldn’t achieve that “perfect energy closed loop” described on the blueprint.
The design for the detonation device was even more of a mystery.
The difference between this thing and a Hand Grenade was too large. Couldn’t it just be changed to a type with a pin that exploded when pulled and thrown?
She even took a special trip to the academy’s Archives to try and find some clues about this style of ancient alchemy among the vast sea of books.
The Archives were located next to the main building of the comprehensive research academy.
The lighting inside was dim, and the air was thick with the scent of paper and preservatives.
Rows upon rows of massive, ceiling-high bookshelves stood like silent giants, guarding the sleeping knowledge.
Helos moved through the maze-like shelves like a busy little bee.
She consulted a large number of texts on ancient alchemy schools, Magic Array construction, and the principles of mana explosions.
However, after searching a wide area, she found that all the records concerning ancient alchemy were vastly different from the style of the fragment in her hand.
Most of the collections in the academy were about potion making, metal smelting, or enchanting processes.
Although they were old, their theoretical systems were still built on the foundation of traditional magic and traditional alchemy.
The things recorded in the fragment she held seemed more like a form of “heretical” alchemy that had long since been lost, or perhaps even intentionally erased.
‘Did that Agatha person… dig this thing up from some forbidden ruin?’
Looking at the ancient book that appeared increasingly eerie, Helos couldn’t help but feel a sense of wonder.
Thinking about her research-obsessed roommate’s image, the girl couldn’t help but sigh.
‘Well, it’s normal when I think about it. It would be strange if a genius wasn’t a bit of a weirdo.’
But there was nothing she could do, as the clues seemed to end there.
Helos could only shake her head helplessly and leave the Archives.
It seemed that if she wanted to restore the recipe for the Alchemy Bomb, she could only rely on herself.
She continued to use all her spare time to work hard.
During the day, she absorbed the orthodox alchemy knowledge taught by Master Emilia, and at night, she returned to the dormitory to rack her brains over the ancient fragment that was as difficult to read as a divine script.
***
Time passed quietly in this busy and somewhat dull period of study and research.
When Helos looked up from her desk again, the sky outside the window had completely darkened.
A crescent moon hung against the deep blue velvet of the night sky.
She rubbed her aching neck, feeling as if her brain had turned into mush.
‘Still, there’s some progress.’
After these days of constant attempts, Helos had managed to find a bit of a rhythm.
While it wasn’t much, it was still a major step forward.
Now she just needed to collect some specific materials, and she could probably begin the next step of the experiment.
‘I can’t do any more… Let’s stop here for today.’
She looked at the draft paper on the table, which was covered in all sorts of crazy scrawls, and let out a deep yawn.
Helos collapsed onto the bed, looking at Gavi, who was tilting her head and watching her, and then out at the bright moon.
Suddenly, her stomach let out a loud growl.
“Gavi… I really don’t have any energy left. So, dinner… I’ll leave it to you.”