Chapter 44

Good morning from my room in the Myosui Dormitory. It's January 3rd. I'm Herman. It's morning, or rather, it's still around 11:30 PM, but I'm up, so it's morning. I'm going to take a bath in the morning. It's cold, but I've only been wiping my body so far. I've never taken a morning shower in this life, but since water comes out when you turn the tap, I'll do it. No shampoo, but I'll rinse my body with water and wipe it with a cloth. Phew, that's refreshing. Well, shall I go eat breakfast?

There were already a few people in the dining hall. ...Nobles really wake up early, huh. They're all men. Maybe women take more time. But that's fine. What should I have for breakfast today? ...I'll go for bread and soup. Please. ...There are two pieces of bread on the plate. The soup is warm, so they must have heated it up for me. I'll gratefully take it and sit down to eat. ...The bread is hard. It doesn't feel like it has any yeast. ...But, at least I know there's flour. I want to make pasta with this and eat it in the soup. The soup is made from oak meat. It's quite delicious. ...But it doesn't seem to be made with bones. It's tasty because of the meat's fat, but there's no bouillon, so it must be hard to make broth. I finish my meal in less than 10 minutes and return to my room.

It's 1 AM, ...but it's fine to go early. I want to see the learning building, so I'll head to the Dawn Faction's Building 5, Room 0802. ...I also want to see the field and experimental area, so I'll go there first. It's right behind the learning building, so I won't get lost.

So, I've come to the field and experimental area. ...Where is the field? There are a lot of buildings I don't recognize. I'll peek inside. ...It looks like a regular house. ...Is it a house that was built for a construction practice and left there? It looks like a sample. I'll go a bit further. There are various buildings everywhere. There's a two-story building that looks like an adventurer's guild and a five-story building that looks like a warehouse. There are so many. This is what we'll be making. The Dawn Faction seems interesting.

It's a good time to head to Room 0802. Is it on the 8th floor or the 1st floor? I think it's on the 1st floor. The basement was 09, after all. So, I've come to Building 5 of the learning building. As expected, the 0800s are on the 1st floor. I found Room 0802 right away, so I'll go in. Excuse me. ...No one is here. Well, it's still 30 minutes early, so no one would come this early. I'll wait.

So, it's 5 minutes before the class starts. ...No one has come. Not even the teacher. I guess I just have to wait. ...Right on time, the teacher came in.

"Oh, there's already a student here. Then I have to start the class. Well, since you're the only one, come over here. We'll do magic manipulation training here. ...But, you know, choosing magic manipulation for your first class shows that you've done your research. You must have asked other alchemists, right? Usually, most people go to the Eternal Light Faction, the Illusory Mystic Faction, or the Life Creation Faction. But this is the right choice. Magic manipulation is the foundation of everything. You need to manipulate magic for everything. The training here will never be a waste."

"Thank you. An alchemist recommended this to me. ...I'll do my best."

"Ah, --- this is the tool to learn magic manipulation. There's a magic stone here, right? Put your hand on it. If you can get a sense of it, it'll be faster than me explaining."

"I understand."

There's a large water tank, about half filled with soil, roughly 2m x 2m x 2m. The outside is surrounded by a transparent material like glass. I don't know if it's embedded in a grid or attached, but the magic stone is unnaturally embedded in the transparent part. I'll touch this and see if I can understand something. ...Ah, I see, I feel my magic being absorbed by the soil. If I can move it by moving my hand, ...!!! It moved! Oh, this is fun. The soil is wriggling.

"Wow, you're a civilian who did your research. Occasionally, there are civilians like you. You seem to have understood how to use this alchemical item right away. That's right. This part of the magic stone acts like a wand. Now, imagine your alchemy array. I know you don't understand it yet, but try talking to your talent. Ask it to show you the alchemy array. It should appear."

...Suddenly being told to talk to my talent? Should I just let go? ...It feels a bit different. When it was sword talent, I just let go and swung it, but this time, I feel like I need to call it. ...My talent, please show me the alchemy array. ...No, I don't understand. I'll try to deeply connect with my talent. ...Is this what it means to talk to it? I don't know, but I'll try to dive deep into my talent. Show me the alchemy array.

"...That was quick. You have quite a talent. ...A circle with a hexagram. And it's a special type. Your alchemist talent is 7, isn't it? It's quite well-distributed. Look. This is your 7-star alchemy array."

I don't know how it moved since I had my eyes closed, but I'll look at my alchemy array as instructed. There's a circle, and inside it, a hexagram, not two equilateral triangles, but the parallel sides of the triangles cross at the center. Moreover, the vertices branch out. It's hard to describe, but it's a hexagram like that. But, how did you know my talent is 7? And what does special type mean?

"Why did you know my talent is 7?"

"Ah, I'll explain. First, an alchemy array is just a circle when you have one talent. As you have more talents, more lines appear inside the circle. Yours has six straight lines in the circle, so it's a 7-star talent. ...Occasionally, there are people with fewer lines than their talents, but that's a special case. You can't have more lines than stars, but sometimes you can have fewer. It's like being told by the gods that you're not suited to be an alchemist. Well, if you were told you have more than 8 talents, you should blame the gods. But it's still a great talent. Especially, the lines crossing at the center are good. With six straight lines, what do you think is the maximum number of intersections?"

"...Um... 15 points?"

"That's right. 15 points. The number of these intersections is important."

"In my hexagram, it's 13 points."

"That's right. The more intersections, the more blessed your talent. More stars are indeed better, but those with fewer intersections in their alchemy array are not considered great alchemists. There are reports that the recovery amount of a magic recovery potion is affected. Even among 3-star alchemists, those with crossing lines have more recovery than those with parallel lines. The difference in recovery amount can't be explained by magic manipulation skills alone. From that experiment, it was concluded that alchemy arrays with more intersections have greater output. Your alchemy array is a hexagram. A regular hexagram has 6 intersections. But yours has 13 points. It might be smaller than a 15-point array, but it has much greater output than a regular hexagram. With 13 intersections, it's a very good talent. It's the third-best 7-star talent. ...Among those with 0 points like a hexagon, 13 points is a good talent. Plus, a hexagram is more beautiful. It's a better alchemy array than a 15-point one focused on efficiency. It will shine especially when embroidered."

"Thank you. ...I have to embroider this, don't I?"

"Ah, everyone with many stars struggles with this. You should struggle too. But I recommend having a well-embroidered one. Especially a 13-point alchemy array. The output is completely different from a simple embroidery."

"The output changes with simple embroidery...?"

"Ah, it changes. It changes dramatically. You don't have to allocate magic manipulation to the alchemy array anymore. The more talents you have, the more valuable it is to have a well-embroidered one. ...I understand what you're thinking. Everyone struggles with this. Think of it as the burden of the holder and make sure to embroider it well."

"I understand. I'll do my best to embroider it."

"Ah, you should definitely do that. Now that you can call out your alchemy array, try changing its shape freely. You can consider half of the Eternal Light Faction and the Illusory Mystic Faction classes as complete. Now, it's playtime. Have you seen the experimental field?"

"I have. There were many buildings."

"Those were made with alchemy. Magic stones are used to reinforce the strength, but if the raw strength is enough, you can build them in this sandbox. Try building something. How about imagining your old house? Use magic manipulation to move the soil like that."

So, I played with the soil using magic manipulation for about 30 minutes. It's so much fun! Finally, I feel like I'm doing alchemy. I create and destroy new things, creating and destroying panoramas as if I were a creator. It's incredibly fun. But 30 minutes is too long. I'm feeling a bit dizzy from lack of magic. The teacher is laughing. I made various things, including a miniature of a triangular tower from my previous life. It was really fun. I wish I had more magic.

"You made a lot. You have a good imagination. Especially the triangular tower was great. It's interesting. I want to think about what it could be used for."

"I'm tired. I wish I had more magic. I wanted to make more. I'm almost out."

"Your magic is a bit more than average. You've been using this alchemical item for about 45 minutes. Some people are out in 10 minutes, and some can use it for 3 hours without a problem. The average is about 30 minutes. But with a good alchemy array and a bit more magic than average, you're doing well."

"Is that so? What should I do for the next two hours?"

"Well, you can ask me anything. About alchemy or anything else. Don't hesitate."

"I understand. Are you a noble?"

"Originally, yes."

"Is noble food delicious?"

"Is it delicious? Not really. Have you had the dining hall's soup? I thought it was better than that."

"Is noble food heavily spiced?"

"What, you know about that? Yes, it's heavily spiced. I preferred civilian food. I didn't like the overly spicy dishes."

"Is that so?"

"Hmm? Did you guess correctly? Are you that into food? Did you get a cooking talent? ...Or are you consumed by gluttony?"

"I don't have a cooking talent, and it's not about gluttony. I think even if there's better food, I'm fine with what I have."

"Enriching meals is also part of an alchemist's job, especially in the Dawn Faction. However, I don't think there are many in the Dawn Faction who focus on cooking."

"Then I want to join the Dawn Faction. I want to eat better and try various foods. Is that a good enough reason?"

"I think so. Each of the 10 alchemists has different goals."

"What does the Dawn Faction basically do? I heard that all factions ultimately aim to eliminate aging."

"Ah, I think that's correct. The Eternal Light Faction is simple. Their ultimate goal is to create an elixir of immortality. I don't think there's a clearer goal than that. The Life Creation Faction is a bit different. They aim to create new life, creating copies of themselves. They think they can continue for generations. The Iron Welcome Faction believes that slaying monsters can strengthen both the body and soul. They hypothesize that as long as they slay monsters, the body and soul can remain young. ...The answer is still unknown, but the Iron Welcome Faction has created accessories that can surpass stars in combat, so they might not be wrong. The Illusory Mystic Faction is also quite unique. They think that if humans can fully understand and analyze illusory beasts, they can transcend into illusory beasts. Illusory beasts are said to have no lifespan. So, they want to turn humans into illusory beasts to achieve eternal life. The Nether Light Faction believes that becoming an undead eliminates aging. They are a troublesome faction, trying to summon high-level undead, but they are said to be the closest to true immortality. They are not just immortal but truly undead, so they are incompatible with the Eternal Light Faction. And our Dawn Faction believes that living a rich and easy life can extend human lifespan. Some of the higher-ups think it can continue indefinitely, but I believe humans have a lifespan. Still, even without eternal life, I want to live a rich life."

"So, my goal is to enrich the food life, right? For now."

"That's fine. If you have free time, come to our seminar. You might be busy with classes in the first year, but you can attend faction seminars. Come if you have time."

"It's on the 5th to 8th floors of the management building, right? What's the seminar called?"

"The Fertility Society. It mainly deals with year-round crops, spices, and water management. If you come, we can include cooking in the seminar content. It's better to eat delicious crops, and I want to bring a new wind to the Dawn Faction. Adding content is just right."

"A new wind?"

"Yes. The Illusory Mystic Faction is currently booming. Recently, it was proven that illusory beasts have a significantly long lifespan. Judy Mendosa published a paper on it."

"Really?! Judy?"

"Oh? She taught you the basics of alchemy?"

"Yes. I was researching the Marma Ternorof and found a large scale of a Marma Ternorof."

"Oh, so your discovery sparked a new wave in the Illusory Mystic Faction. ...You're not joining the Illusory Mystic Faction, right?"

"Right, Judy said she might see me if it didn't go well, but it did. ...I'm not that interested in illusory beasts, so the Dawn Faction is better for me."

"Got it. Are you going into research? Or will you go to a domain after three years?"

"I'm not sure about three years, but I want to open a shop in a magic realm somewhere."

"I see, I see. Well, you have the qualifications. Your goals are clear, and your research theme is not far from the seminar content. It's a good thing. In about 8 days, there's a gathering, a New Year's one. Will you come?"

"If it's not a bother, I'd like to."

"Sure. I'm Melanie Cassel. What's your name?"

"I'm Herman."

"Herman, huh. Well, I think there's a schedule on the 5th floor. Come if you can."

"Got it."

"Alright, the class is still going. What's your next question?"

After a long Q&A session, the class ended. Now, it's the Nether Light Faction's class in the afternoon. The location is Building 6, Room 0703. I have an hour to get there, but it's next door, so I don't need to run. I wonder what the next class will be like.

Whether it was interesting or not, it doesn't matter.

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If you could also leave a comment, it would help me, a layman reader, improve my writing.

...Probably.