Chapter 1711 Steady Advancement <TOC> Chapter 1713 Farewell
Translator: SumTLMan
Not long ago, Antonio brought news from Cicero.
Cicero was also willing to undertake alchemical tasks, but he follows the blending school of alchemy. This means he takes longer to complete any alchemical work, and he only intends to accept one of the alchemical tasks.
This implies that the two remaining alchemical tasks will fall to Angel.
Cicero probably felt a bit embarrassed about pushing two tasks onto Angel, a “newcomer” in the Research Institute. As a gesture, he let Angel choose which two tasks he wanted to undertake first, leaving the remaining one for Cicero.
Cicero’s intention was clear. Out of the three alchemical requests, he was only undertaking one. So, leaving the most challenging one for him was not an issue.
However, which specific one to leave for Cicero’s alchemy depended on Angel’s choice.
Angel spent the past few days studying the customization requirements of the three individuals. With his own simulated alchemy and the alchemical patterns he drew, he had a rough idea of his inclination.
…
As the communicator lit up again, Antonio’s pale blue holographic image appeared before Angel.
“Lord Pat, good afternoon.” Antonio, as always, was elegant and courteous. “Lord, what can I assist you with?”
Angel didn’t respond verbally. Instead, he pointed to the table.
Looking down, Antonio saw three draft papers laid out on the experimental platform in front of Angel.
He recognized these three drafts instantly. They were given to Angel by Antonio, originating from the top three winners of the Novastar Competition. Each paper represented their respective requirements for customized alchemy.
Understanding flashed in Antonio’s eyes, “Lord, have you decided which two alchemical tasks you’d like to take on?”
Angel nodded, presenting the manuscript on the far left to Antonio. “Give this to Master Cicero, and I’ll handle the two other alchemical tasks.”
Antonio lowered his head to see the assignment Angel had chosen.
“A custom order from Trom?” When he discerned the alchemical task set for Cicero, a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes. “Lord, are you sure you want to entrust this to Moon Silver Master?”
Angel affirmed, “Yes… You seem surprised?”
Antonio shook his head, “Not necessarily surprised. It’s your prerogative to choose any task. I’m just a bit taken aback.”
“Why so?”
“When I inquired about Trom’s alchemical requirements, he fervently expressed his desire for you, specifically, to handle it.” A touch of regret flickered across Antonio’s face. “Ironically, the one you didn’t pick was his.”
Antonio paused, “Since you’ve made your choice, I’ll inform Moon Silver Master right away.”
With that, Antonio performed a courteous bow and gradually faded from sight.
After Antonio’s departure, Angel’s gaze settled back on the three manuscripts before him. From left to right, they corresponded to the custom orders of Trom, Onassis, and Hilary.
In reality, when comparing the requests of these three, Trom’s was relatively straightforward.
“Why the simplicity?” you might ask. It’s because of Trom’s request to craft an item of clothing as armor. What’s more, he even willingly supplied the hide of Cassone as the primary material… If all alchemy customizations were as straightforward as Trom’s, where even the main material is supplied by the requester, then every alchemist would likely breathe a sigh of relief.
However, Angel did not choose Trom. The reason is quite straightforward: it wasn’t suitable.
Angel’s forte lies in enchantment — the art of using external forces to enhance the effectiveness of magical materials. Furthermore, the runes and magic formations required for these enchantments demand a compatibility with the properties of the material being used. There are significant constraints; it’s not as simple as inscribing whatever you want.
Cassone’s hide inherently possesses a unique ability for absolute defense. During Trom’s competition, he dodged fatal attacks multiple times using this hide.
In essence, even without crafting, Cassone’s hide is already somewhat of a semi-finished product.
Finding a matching magical formation for such a semi-finished product in books is challenging. The only viable method would be to actively adjust the rune structure of the magic formation to achieve harmony with the hide.
Over the past few days, Angel filled pages with various magical data and rune structures, hoping to ascertain the feasibility of crafting the item Trom needed.
The conclusion? It’s craftable.
However, it might require several months, if not longer, to adjust the structure of the runes.
The effort and time required for this endeavor seem disproportionate.
Of course, Angel could forgo the tedious process of adjusting rune structures and force the crafting. But the outcome’s effectiveness — the harmony between the enchanted magic formation and the inherent defensive ability of Cassone’s hide — whether it would be complementary or redundant, remains a point of contention.
After much contemplation, Angel ultimately decided to abandon the task of crafting the custom item for Trom.
With a casual gesture, Angel summoned a small flame and incinerated the paper on the far left. Now, the only papers before him were those detailing the custom requests of Hilary and Onassis.
Hilary’s customization direction consisted of three proposals. First, she hoped to concoct a potion that would permanently free her from the effects of drowsiness, but this suggestion was already rejected by Midora and Regina.
The second direction Hilary proposed was to craft an item that would positively affect her drowsiness flaw. In other words, whatever was crafted, as long as it had a positive effect, would suffice. Because this request was quite ambiguous, it left a lot of room for creativity. However, whether it would ultimately satisfy Hilary was uncertain. After all, the “positive effect” she mentioned was merely a subjective perception, and it’s challenging for outsiders to gauge exactly what kind of positive outcome Hilary had in mind.
The third direction was a weapon.
For Hilary’s custom crafting, Angel already had a plan in mind. Thus, he merely reviewed the paper, ensuring that nothing was omitted, and set it aside to focus on Onassis’s crafting requirements.
Onassis had two customization directions. The first one was also for a weapon.
However, Onassis had many intricate and contradictory requirements for this weapon, such as “condensing in water, bursting in fire” and “projecting starlight, reflecting sunlight”, among others…
Reading through, Angel felt overwhelmed, reminiscent of anecdotes Jon had once shared with him, like “a vivid shade of black.”
Antonio remarked on this, “For such customizations, one only needs to choose one requirement and craft accordingly. For example, crafting an ice-based weapon that can condense in water, or a fire-based weapon that erupts in flames.”
If the final product doesn’t satisfy the client, it doesn’t matter. After all, the alchemist’s decision is paramount, and it’s up to the client to accept or reject.
Onassis’s first customization direction was overly complicated, with requirements spanning an entire page, which was quite vexing. However, his second request was straightforward, captured in a single sentence:
Any tool, as long as it pertains to philosophy.