Chapter 200: Making money too quickly can make people lazy

A brand new research journey. Under the personal guidance of Professor Graham, Helos began her brand new journey.

During the day, she would appear on time in Teacher Emilia’s class with Gavi, taking diligent notes, studying those orthodox alchemy theories that had long been systematized and standardized by imperial scholars.

She would also go to the Archives to look up materials, and share their “study insights” with Agatha in the Cafeteria, seeming no different from any other student in the Academy devoted to research.

And when night fell, she would put on that brass badge, pass through the noisy front hall of the Alchemy Center, and step onto the deep, dark stairs leading underground.

Here, she returned to her true self—a “heretical” researcher holding Ultimate Alchemy, attempting to restore lost ancient techniques.

During this time, Professor Graham provided her with unimaginably immense help.

This Underground Workshop was almost completely open to her.

Whether it was the rare materials stored on the shelves, priceless in the outside world, or the precise alchemical equipment that required high-level mages to operate, as long as Helos applied, Graham would approve without hesitation.

“Need ‘shadow crystal’ powder? No problem, I’ll apply for it for you.”

“Need permission to use the ‘mana analyzer’? Of course, I’ll schedule an appointment for you right now!”

“Want to test a material’s heat resistance? …Alright, take it easy though; the repair cost for that thing isn’t cheap.”

He was so generous it made Helos feel a bit overwhelmed. Graham fulfilled almost every one of her research needs.

What benefited Helos even more was Graham’s own profound alchemy knowledge, vast as the ocean.

The title of Master Alchemist truly wasn’t given for nothing.

During her process of restoring that ancient, incomplete book, Helos encountered countless bottlenecks.

Those twisted runes, fragmented blueprints, and contradictory descriptions often left her staring at a draft paper all day, lost in thought with no clue.

And every time this happened, Graham would always appear like a ghost from nowhere, leaning over her workbench.

“Hmm… The structure of this rune looks like it was used in ancient times to ‘constrain’ mana. But why are you insisting on engraving it together with a ‘fire element’ array?”

Once, when Helos was scratching her head over a fragmented blueprint, Graham just tilted his head, glanced at it, and pinpointed the problem.

“Professor, but that’s how it’s drawn on the blueprint.”

Helos pointed at the nearly worn-through parchment, looking helpless. “See, the lines here are clearly connected.”

“Then haven’t you considered,”

Graham pushed his thick glasses up; his eyes behind the lenses shone with a wise light, “that the ‘fire’ here might not refer to ‘flame’ itself, but rather a ‘catalyst’ concept?”

“Catalyst?” Helos was stunned.

“Correct.”

Graham casually picked up a piece of ore from a nearby shelf: “For example, this ‘fire demon stone.’ It doesn’t burn itself, but the energy contained within it is pure and scorching.”

“If you combine this ‘constraint rune’ with the powder of a ‘fire demon stone,’ supplemented by this structure that looks like ‘instant-extinction demon stone’…”

He quickly sketched a few strokes on Helos’s draft paper with his feather pen, recombining those seemingly unrelated fragmented parts.

He pointed at the revitalized structure diagram: “See? Isn’t this a ‘directional element release’ structure? It doesn’t represent the fire element itself, but is used to guide the shaping of the fire element.”

Helos stared dumbfounded at the blueprint that Graham had brought to life with just a few strokes. It felt like a bolt of lightning had struck her brain, instantly clearing everything up.

She had been stuck in a mental dead end, trying to explain everything using the orthodox theories taught by Teacher Emilia, forgetting that the thinking behind these ancient alchemy techniques was inherently unorthodox.

And Graham, with his vast knowledge and unorthodox imagination, only needed to glance at those incomplete recipes to extrapolate and deduce conclusions closest to the truth.

This made Helos admire him immensely.

“Professor… you’re just too amazing!”

“Hahaha, it’s nothing.”

Graham felt a bit embarrassed by her undisguised admiration, scratching his messy hair. “I’ve just read a lot of miscellaneous books.”

With such a master-level mentor assisting from the side, Helos’s research progress could be described as “by leaps and bounds.”

In just a few months, she successfully excavated and restored several relatively simple alchemical items from the “ruins” of that incomplete book.

Like an alchemical item called [featherlight boots].

By carving miniature wind-element rune arrays on the soles and using a special “windchime stone” as the mana core, it allowed the wearer to gain a feeling of lightness as if stepping on air for a short time.

While it couldn’t achieve true flight, it was more than sufficient for enhancing jumping ability and landing cushioning. Most importantly, even she could use it.

There was also a little gadget called a [glimmer prism].

It could absorb and refract surrounding light, creating small-scale visual distortions. Although the effect was brief, it had unexpectedly wonderful uses as a diversion or cover during escapes.

What satisfied Helos the most was a communication tool called an [echo stone].

It consisted of two specially treated pieces of “same-magnetic ore.” As long as both parties held one piece each, no matter how far apart they were, they could transmit simple information by tapping the stones to produce specific frequencies.

This was practically the otherworldly version of a “pager”!

Helos excitedly registered these restored recipes—[featherlight boots], [glimmer prism], [echo stone]—one by one into the index of her Ultimate Alchemy.

Adding the previous [mana core], [Dawn Dew], and [alchemy bomb], she had now successfully mastered six completely different alchemical recipes.

Now, she was only four recipes away from unlocking the [Branch of Enlightenment] alchemy she needed.

One evening, when Helos finished the final stability test for the [echo stone], the sky outside the window had completely darkened.

She let out a long sigh, rubbed her slightly sore neck, and began cleaning up her workbench, which was piled with various parts and blueprints.

“Professor, Agatha, I’m heading back first.”

She called out to the two still buried in research at the other end of the workshop.

“Oh! See you later, Sisi! Don’t forget to bring me a serving of the cafeteria’s steak rice tomorrow!”

Agatha waved without looking up. In front of her, a bottle of liquid bubbling with purple foam emitted a dangerous aura.

Professor Graham also looked up from a pile of documents, a gentle smile on his face. “Helos, be careful on your way back. See you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, Professor.”

Helos smiled in response and left the workshop with Gavi.

The smile on Graham’s face never faded. He watched the girl’s figure disappear at the top of the stairs, his eyes behind the lenses shining with a fatherly, kind light.

He smiled and waved until the heavy iron door clanged shut slowly, completely isolating the sounds from outside.

The workshop returned to its usual quiet, with only the faint sizzling sounds from Agatha’s experiment in the distance.

Not long after, Agatha also finished her experiment, bid farewell to Graham, and left the workshop.

The smile on Graham’s face faded like a receding tide the moment the iron door closed.

That gentleness and kindness vanished without a trace, replaced by a bottomless coldness and calm.

He slowly turned around. Those tired eyes now became sharp and clear, with none of the previous haziness.

Now, the workshop held only him.

No, not just him.

“Hehehe…”

A hoarse, icy laugh emerged without warning from the shadows behind him.

The laugh seemed able to seep into a person’s bones, dropping the temperature of this already underground workshop by several degrees.

A figure cloaked in a blue cloak emerged slowly from the deepest darkness like a ghost.

He leaned on a worn-out staff made of withered wood; the blue magic stone at the top emitted an unsettling glow.

If Helos were still here, she would instantly recognize this suddenly appearing man as that strange old man who had given her the “dark star iron” for free at that mysterious shop!

Yet, upon hearing this laugh, Graham’s face showed not a trace of surprise.

He simply turned around calmly, without the slightest hesitation.

The moment he saw the visitor clearly, he immediately straightened his stained mage robe, then respectfully knelt on one knee, deeply bowing his head.

“Envoy.”

His voice was filled with undisguised reverence.

“Rise, Graham.”

The old man in the blue cloak addressed as the “Envoy” stroked his beard, his raspy voice echoing in the empty workshop. “How is the plan proceeding?”

Graham slowly stood up, but he still maintained a humble posture.

A glint of something hard to detect flashed in his eyes. That face, usually seeming a bit muddled, now wore a smile full of calculation.

“Everything is proceeding according to your calculations, sir.”

“Those so-called orthodox, foolish alchemy theories are completely incomparable to your guidance—she has already been led by our teachings.”

“Very soon, we will complete the ‘guidance’ of Her Holiness the Saintess…”