Chapter 1536 The Talk of the Town <TOC> Chapter 1538 Alchemical Formula
Translator: SumTLMan
The resonant chime of a bronze bell emanated from the main square of Achillea Comprehensive College, reverberating throughout the entire institution.
As the bell tolled, the hands of the wall-mounted clock audibly clicked, finally indicating ten o’clock.
The eyes of everyone seated in the circular classroom cleared instantly at the sound of the bell, and they focused on Angel, who stood at the center of the room.
Angel had initially thought he would be nervous, but when the moment arrived, he found himself exceptionally calm.
Clearing his throat, he started with a straightforward introduction. “I believe those of you who chose to attend my lecture have some understanding of who I am, so I won’t dwell on introductions,” Angel paused for a moment, “However, before we get into the heart of the matter, let me lay down some ground rules for the class.”
Setting classroom norms had been advised by both Midora and Farina.
Boorish and self-righteous individuals exist everywhere; they are prone to posing irrelevant questions and voicing their conceited opinions at inopportune times. To circumvent such issues, establishing clear classroom rules was the best approach.
Without explicit permission for questions or discussions, anyone breaking these rules could be removed from the class, or even expelled from Achillea Comprehensive College.
After laying down the rules, Angel visibly noticed the inflated pride of some individuals in the room gradually diminishing.
Casting a cursory glance at these individuals, Angel then transitioned to the main subject at hand.
“The pursuit of alchemy differs for each person. Even though the research department has tried to define alchemy, I believe that everyone here, despite outward agreement, holds their own unique perspectives internally. Otherwise, the factional disputes would not have escalated to this point,” he said.
“Regardless of whether you see alchemy as creation, equivalent exchange, biological transformation, or even essence extraction, particle transgression, and so on, all these perspectives are correct; it’s just a matter of the angle from which you’re looking at it.”
“Even philosophically, you could approach it from that perspective.”
“The angle I want to discuss today is from the interaction of matter and energy in alchemy.”
Angel simply introduced the topic as “Energy and Matter” and began to eloquently speak.
Van Nathan is probably the most skilled in alchemy among all those attending the lecture today, as he himself is also an alchemy instructor at Achillea Comprehensive College. In Van Nathan’s mind, Angel is quite young, and even if he fortuitously obtained some lineage, his exposure to alchemical knowledge would likely be superficial. He expected the lecture to focus either on some enchantments or on dissecting some magical formations.
Van Nathan had braced himself to hear a lecture on runes and magical formations.
To his surprise, Angel actually began with a grand theme in alchemy and dissected it layer by layer. Although enchantments were also the focus of this lecture, Angel did not isolate them but used them as examples to elaborate on the essence of alchemy itself.
This astonished Van Nathan.
To comprehensively and thoroughly dissect a grand theme in alchemy from multiple angles, one needs a visionary perspective and a holistic understanding of alchemy; it’s no small feat.
The challenge lies in the fact that the instructor must have a broad grasp of all areas of alchemical knowledge.
In other words, whether it’s mineralogy, pharmacology, or even the niche field of life transformation, a comprehensive understanding is required.
Those willing to discuss such a topic, and do so in a way that offers deep insights, are generally the alchemists who have the most prolonged accumulation of knowledge, the richest experience, and the oldest age, such as Midora, Fingernail Granny, Gandalf, and others.
How could it be possible for Angel, an alchemist who is not even twenty years old, to analyze such a grand issue in alchemy from such a lofty perspective in his very first lecture?
In the depths of his heart, Van Nathan felt both astonishment and a sense of absurd amusement.
He didn’t believe that Angel could master this subject matter.
Although Angel’s discourse seemed sound at the moment, Van Nathan believed that as soon as people from different alchemy traditions with varying core principles started asking questions, Angel would inevitably show his true colors.
Van Nathan’s skepticism was shared by some of the more experienced alchemists in the room.
For Angel, the only way to save face now was to strictly enforce “classroom rules” and prevent anyone from questioning him; that way, he could ambiguously slide through the situation.
Just when they thought Angel wouldn’t give them an opportunity to challenge him, he paused abruptly: “Next, I’ll give you five minutes to ask any questions about what I’ve previously discussed. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me now.”
Van Nathan was dumbfounded. He initially thought Angel wouldn’t entertain any questions from start to finish. Yet, at the moment when the crowd’s confusion peaked, Angel allowed questioning? Although it was just for five minutes, Van Nathan believed that if even one person took the leap to inquire, Angel would likely falter under scrutiny.
Was Angel recklessly naïve, or was it sheer ignorance?
“Begin,” said Angel, setting the stage for questions. Surprisingly, no one seized the opportunity to challenge him right away.
Did no one want to be the proverbial “bad guy”? That was Van Nathan’s initial thought.
After a moment of silence, a slightly chubby, cherubic-faced girl stood up and addressed Angel, “Honored Wizard Pat, my name is Bolie, and I’m curious about some of the things you discussed earlier…”
Bolie’s questions focused on a few scenarios Angel had brought up concerning the interaction of energy and matter, specifically asking about certain methods for handling rune connections.
Angel provided succinct answers to Bolie’s questions.
She then proceeded to ask several more questions in the same vein, ranging from intricate details to overarching principles, all of which were touched upon.
Angel didn’t hesitate and provided succinct answers to all the questions Bolie wanted to know.
To Van Nathan, many of the questions raised by Bolie were completely foreign to him. But Angel’s responses not only enlightened Bolie but were also comprehensible to Van Nathan. This testified to Angel’s mastery over runes and magic formations, which was beyond imagination.
When it came to enchantment, Van Nathan had to admit that Angel likely stood at the pinnacle of contemporary enchantment studies.
However, Bolie was, after all, studying enchantments and aligned well with Angel’s own specialization. What if someone from a different school of thought were to ask a question?
For instance, what about the alchemists of the blending school? It appeared that Angel hadn’t produced any alchemical work from that perspective.
As Van Nathan was pondering this, a familiar alchemist from the blending school asked Angel, “What kind of interactions between matter and energy exist in the process of blending?”
This question set off a ripple of murmurs across the classroom.
Even Van Nathan furrowed his brows.
The question wasn’t an earnest inquiry to fill a gap in one’s understanding but was posed to test another’s knowledge using what one already knows.
This was essentially putting the cart before the horse.
In this class, Angel was the instructor, and he was a student. To question the instructor in a pedagogical tone was something that even Van Nathan found extremely inappropriate.
Everyone was waiting for Angel’s reaction; some even speculated that given Angel’s youthful exuberance, he might lose his temper and create an awkward situation.
To everyone’s surprise, however, Angel seemed to not pick up on the confrontational undertone and calmly responded:
“This is a fundamental question. Generally speaking, there are four types of interactions between matter and energy in the blending process.”
The art of blending, in essence, is the act of fully bringing out the unique qualities of materials. Through the formation of different materials, the distinct characteristics of a certain material are fully revealed.
The process involves energy interactions, generally present in three stages: before, during, and after the induction of these unique qualities.
Angel succinctly explained the details of each stage, cutting straight to the chase. As for the fourth situation, it is the most peculiar one involving energy interaction — that is, when the material itself contains special energy. During the induction process, this special energy will interact with both the material itself and the materials in the external environment.
Although not everyone present specializes in blending, they understood what Angel was saying. This shows that the complexity of the topic did not stump Angel.
However, as soon as Angel finished speaking, the impatient alchemist immediately asked, “What kind of energy changes would occur if a magic bloodstone is used in the fourth situation?”
The crowd furrowed their brows. While consecutive questioning is normal, it was clear he was trying to lead Angel into a trap. This is because magic bloodstones are a highly specific entity — all ores tainted with magic blood energy can be called magic bloodstones, ranging from low-level animal magic blood to the highest-grade demon blood.
For this reason, while magic blood energy is a collective term, its complexity makes it extremely difficult to generalize.
“This is clearly an attempt to stir the pot,” Van Nathan frowned, looking towards Darren.
Like Van Nathan, Darren is also an alchemy instructor at Achillea Comprehensive College, specializing in blending. Although skilled in alchemy, Darren is somewhat arrogant.
In Van Nathan’s view, Darren is probably envious of Angel’s fast-track to the Research Institute and is trying to pick a fight at this opportune moment.
Van Nathan himself might have his doubts about Angel’s alchemical prowess, but he would never employ such a tactic to set a trap.
The question of magic blood energy is far too complex. Even the strongest blender and alchemy master of the Research Institute, “Golden Touch” Matthew, would likely have to undertake a comprehensive study to systematically answer this question.
Moreover, Angel specializes in the school of enchantment techniques.
After Darren posed the question, everyone felt the atmosphere in the circular classroom grow somewhat tense.
Watching Angel fall silent, Darren stroked his wave-like black beard, appearing quite pleased with himself.
After half a minute, Angel looked up at Darren: “I’ve taken some time to consider this question because I’ve been debating whether or not to answer it.”
The crowd looked at Angel with skepticism, interpreting from his words that he might know the answer.
Angel continued: “Since the question time is limited to five minutes, I don’t want to disrupt the flow of my lecture. If I were to answer this question…”
Angel hesitated for a few seconds: “Then only about half a minute would remain, during which time I could probably only answer one more question from someone else.”
The crowd: “…”
Chapter 1536 The Talk of the Town <TOC> Chapter 1538 Alchemical Formula