Nicolas Flamel's Gift

"But just as I was walking out of the lab, disheartened, Perenelle called me to join her for dinner, just like the three hundred years, the hundred thousand days and nights before."

"In that instant, I finally realized what a stupid thing I had done! I threw away all the good things in my life, spending three hundred years on a stone! But it seemed I woke up too late. Both my wife and I had gone from being spirited young people to old folks with gray hair and faltering steps."

"From then on, I never thought about the Sorcerer's Stone again, focusing on living with Perenelle. Over the years, we've been to most of the countries in this world."

Nicolas Flamel took a sip of red tea, smiled at Adam's curious face, and continued:

"The Elixir of Life can only prevent one from dying of old age, but it won't stop aging itself. It's like the blessing Zeus gave to Tithonus. So, over the years, Perenelle and I have become osteoporotic and slow-footed..."

"We can't even eat food that needs chewing anymore. Fortunately, the Elixir of Life is a potion and not something else. Besides that, we can still drink things like red tea and hot chocolate."

"Despite our frail bodies, despite the fact that the people we knew have left us one by one, I still miss this world. I always fantasized about living forever with Perenelle in this world, but a few years ago, Perenelle told me: she was tired."

Speaking of this, Nicolas Flamel was a little wistful:

"Under my questioning, she told me that her sense of taste had long disappeared. Those red teas tasted like water to her. Continuing to live had made her feel exhausted."

"From that moment, I realized that perhaps we should have set off for the next stop long ago, but for some less important things, we stayed in a place where we shouldn't have stayed for so long."

"So when Dumbledore asked me if he could borrow the Sorcerer's Stone, I agreed, even knowing that it would be destroyed as a result."

"It's time for Perenelle and me to set off for the next stop. A life of hundreds of years of silence is finally about to usher in some unprecedented changes—the most gratifying thing is that Perenelle will be with me. There is nothing more gratifying in the world than this."

Nicolas Flamel couldn't help but laugh as he said this. It was obvious that he was genuinely happy.

Adam could probably understand Nicolas Flamel's meaning. For Nicolas Flamel, who had lived for more than six hundred years, his wife was the biggest attraction in this world.

Without his wife, continuing to live in this world would only mean being able to drink a few more cups of red tea and red wine that he had already drunk for hundreds of years. It would be meaningless.

If continuing to live in this world had become torture for his wife, then embracing death might not be a bad idea.

For this couple, death was just another great adventure.

This was the first time Adam had understood the meaning of this sentence so deeply.

At this moment, Adam dismissed the idea of giving Nicolas Flamel another Sorcerer's Stone. He really didn't need it anymore.

"I'm sorry for taking up your time to listen to the story of an old man like me."

"Please don't say that, Mr. Flamel, I'm honored,"

Adam said sincerely.

It wasn't just the intangible gain of being able to hear the life story of a legendary figure like Nicolas Flamel that benefited him greatly, but also the substantial gain of increased magic power.

Magic power is closely related to the soul and mind. Nicolas Flamel's legendary life story, even including his understanding of death, brought Adam more help than the knowledge Adam had learned this year.

"I'm glad to hear you say that."

Nicolas Flamel could see that this relative of his, whose blood relationship with him was already very thin, was not deceiving him. He smiled with relief:

"As a reward for fulfilling my last wish, I want to give you some gifts."

"...Gifts?"

"Actually, you can also think of them as inheritance. After all, you and your grandmother are the only ones in this world who are related to me by blood."

Adam blinked, watching Nicolas Flamel stand up and walk to the cabinet where he had placed the Sorcerer's Stone before, beckoning to him:

"Come here, please forgive an old man of more than six hundred years old who can't move such heavy things anymore... Good heavens, how old was I when I put them here? I was really energetic back then!"

Adam quickly ran to Nicolas Flamel's side.

"The gifts I want to give you are all in this cabinet."

Nicolas Flamel patted the cabinet next to him, then pointed to the books supported by shelves on the top layer of the cabinet:

"First of all, there's this book that changed my life."

As soon as he said this, Adam already knew what the book was. Sure enough, Nicolas Flamel continued:

"The Book of Abraham the Jew. Although the creation of the Sorcerer's Stone has proven to be just an accident, this book is still quite meaningful to me. I hope you don't use it to prop up table legs."

"I will keep it safe."

Adam nodded solemnly.

"You don't have to take it so seriously. I was just joking. It doesn't matter if you use it to prop up table legs."

Nicolas Flamel smiled. The second layer of the cabinet used to hold the Sorcerer's Stone, but now it held several small bottles filled with blood-red liquid.

"These are the Elixir of Life, and its recipe."

Nicolas Flamel took out a bottle from it, and then took out a small piece of paper, handing it to Adam.

Under Adam's wide-eyed gaze, Nicolas Flamel smiled:

"The existence of the Sorcerer's Stone is not a secret that can be kept well for many people. Although your connection with the Sorcerer's Stone is very weak, Dumbledore may not be able to detect it, but I have been with the Sorcerer's Stone day and night for more than six hundred years."

"Don't worry, don't worry that this old man who doesn't have many days to live will reveal your secret."

"This seems to be a symbol, child. One Sorcerer's Stone is destroyed, and another Sorcerer's Stone is born immediately after. An old couple gives up the Sorcerer's Stone to embrace death, and the Sorcerer's Stone reappears in the hands of a child in this world..."

"At the same time, this also seems to confirm my guess. The success of the Sorcerer's Stone is really just a coincidence, but it doesn't seem to be such a coincidence, does it? This world is so wonderful."

After handing the bottle of Elixir of Life and the recipe to Adam, Nicolas Flamel said:

"Take this, child. I hope you can avoid repeating my mistakes and use the life that the Sorcerer's Stone brings you on things that you think are meaningful."