Advancement and Recollection

The next day, when Edward woke up in the morning, it was still dark outside. Everything around him was pitch-black when he opened his eyes. Out of habit, he reached toward the bedside. A soft lamp lit up. He felt around but could not find his phone, so he simply got up and stopped looking. Something more urgent was waiting for him.

Still half-closing his eyes out of habit, he put on his cotton slippers and staggered into the bathroom. He lifted the toilet lid and began relieving himself. After finishing, he gave himself the habitual shake and felt something strange. But half-asleep as he was, he paid it no mind.

After flushing, he walked to the sink, fumbled for his toothbrush and cup, squeezed on some toothpaste, and began brushing. Why was the toothpaste tube made of tin? It had been ages since he had used toothpaste in a tin tube. When had he bought this at the supermarket? As he thought this, he found the toothpaste quite good—minty, cool, and refreshing. He wondered how his hair looked and whether he needed to wash it; he still had work later... But it did not matter whether his hair was messy, right? Once he took over the shift, he would be alone anyway...

The moment he raised his head toward the vanity mirror, the reflection was not the greasy old man he had once been, with disheveled hair and stubbly cheeks. Instead, it was a handsome young man with sharp features and brown hair, staring back with sleepy blue eyes and a mouth full of toothpaste foam.

"Aah!!!!!"

Edward screamed at the mirror, bending over and stretching out his neck until the veins stood out. Fortunately, the handsome guy in the mirror made the same movements. Otherwise, Edward would have thought he had encountered something supernatural. Fortunately, the house had been built with excellent soundproofing, and the neighbors lived far away. He had not startled the entire street or the guards atop the city walls awake before dawn.

After a bout of heavy breathing, Edward's memories finally became clear: I am Edward Smith, a twenty-two-year-old Alchemist Apprentice from the White Hawk Duchy on the New Continent, and a transmigrator...

The moment he finished thinking that, he slapped himself twice.

"Serves you right for recreating your Previous Life bedroom. Serves you right for going with a nostalgic Previous Life-style decor. Look how badly you scared yourself..."

After slapping himself, he suddenly recalled a line from a horror transmigration novel from his Previous Life: "I am a transmigrator. Every time I look in the mirror, I always feel that the person inside is not me, so I rarely look in mirrors!"

Then he burst out laughing, looking every bit like a lunatic...

He changed into rubber slippers, turned on the valve, and warm droplets showered down from the showerhead, jolting him awake. His mind became even clearer. As he showered, he began recalling the events of yesterday.

Something was off about his condition today. He had never experienced this kind of memory confusion before. Could it be because of the alcohol?

After drinking, some people liked to cry, some liked to laugh, and some liked to make drunken fools of themselves. But Edward, in his Previous Life, had loved talking most when drunk—or, more precisely, rambling and bragging. He had not expected that habit to follow him through transmigration. Yesterday at noon, he had shared two glasses of Brandy with Uncle Delton. It was fine liquor Delton had brought from Middle Earth. Yet neither in this life nor the last had Edward been much of a drinker. Searching through the memories of this life, he realized he had never actually drunk alcohol before.

Halfway through drinking, he had become slightly tipsy. Two beautiful women had come in... and then...

At this point, Edward nearly slapped himself twice again. Had he not decided never to stand out and to develop quietly and discreetly? What had been with that inexplicable excitement after drinking? He had even thought himself clever at the time. What had been with that sudden bout of chuunibyou syndrome? In one careless move, he had sold off the fruits of two years of hard work. Still, that princess had paid quite a lot. Hopefully, she would not pay too much attention to him. If you bought something good, just enjoy it in private. Do not come looking for trouble with me later.

After seeing them off, he had closed up shop. He seemed to have been very sleepy then and had skipped dinner. He had returned to his bedroom and fallen asleep.

So drinking really did cause trouble. He could not drink again in the future...

As Edward thought this, he suddenly felt something strange. When he concentrated, time seemed to slow down. Without even raising his head, he could seemingly sense the droplets above him falling slowly, as though he were watching them in slow motion. They fell, bounced back up, and burst into several tiny splashes. Without deliberately drawing his Mental Power into threads, he could clearly sense everything within several meters around him. Vaguely, he could even perceive the scene beyond the wall opposite him.

Delighted, Edward hurriedly immersed his consciousness in his sea of consciousness. It was no longer a gray and murky place. It now seemed broad and desolate, like a Night Sky without Stars. Beneath his feet, a Mana Spring gave off a faint glow as it slowly rippled.

Had he advanced?

The thought filled Edward with joy. He had been stuck at the peak of the Apprentice stage for half a year already. He had believed that his bold gamble back then was the reason he could not advance, and he had regretted it deeply. Yet after a single drinking session, he had muddle-headedly advanced to become a Full Alchemist. It truly was joy falling from the sky. The drunken chuunibyou episode and his near-comatose sleep last night now made sense as well. They had been signs of unstable Mental Power.

With that thought, he hurriedly dried himself off, ran back to his bedroom, sat cross-legged on the bed, and entered meditation.

Only two hours later did he slowly awaken. His Mental Power had stabilized, and the Magic Power in his sea of consciousness had also stably liquefied. There were no signs of it reverting to a gaseous state. However, the Magic Power in his sea of consciousness had merely liquefied, meaning its volume had shrunk. Its total amount had not increased much. When he would be able to fill his sea of consciousness with liquid Magic Power again was still an open question.

Moreover, the Apprentice-stage Meditation Method restored Magic Power far too slowly. Fortunately, the effects of his gamble were still there, allowing him to replenish Magic Power continuously.

After Edward awakened the memories of his Previous Life, he had felt that his talent was too poor. The reason was that he absorbed too little Magic Power while meditating, and his Magic Power grew too slowly. In cultivation novels, that would mean his innate talent was too poor and the quality of his Spiritual Root was insufficient.

What could he do about that? Edward had boldly performed a self-inflicted Human Transmutation, adding a "Spiritual Root" to himself.

Strictly speaking, it did not count as Human Transmutation. Edward had merely used a transcendent magical material he had discovered to implant a continuously operating Mana Gathering Array beneath the skin of his back.

That Excalibur had been an experimental product from before he implanted his "Spiritual Root." At first, it had merely been a tiny Precious Sword the size of a toothpick. Once infused with Magic Power, it became capable of slicing through iron like mud. In the end, he used his pitiful amount of Magic Power to let the sword grow a little every day. Eventually, it became what the Knight Princess held in her hand. Though it lacked the "invisible" property of a Noble Phantasm, it fully deserved its name: Steel Severing.

Although the Magic Array that had been operating continuously gathered only a negligible amount of Magic Power—so little that even those sensitive to Magic Power could not detect it—that thin trickle constantly washed over Edward's body. It caused his sea of consciousness to expand bit by bit at all times, until half a year ago, when it stopped operating because his sea of consciousness no longer expanded and his Mental Power no longer increased.

As a result of being washed by Magic Power over a long period, Edward's body had also changed. His strength gradually increased, excess fat gradually vanished, and the definition of his muscles began to emerge.

Fortunately, the process had been gradual. He never had to suffer the embarrassment of misjudging his strength and twisting a spoon in half while eating.

Nor had his muscles become as exaggerated as the governor from his Previous Life. In the end, he became the sort of person with eight-pack abs and a V-line who could eat all he wanted without gaining weight.

Thinking of this, Edward could not help sighing. Had I finally become the kind of person I envied, hated, and resented in my Previous Life?

Fortunately, his hairline had not changed. He had not become some adorably foolish superhero who went bald and got stronger, nor had he turned into a thick-haired werewolf howling at the moon.

All this made Edward believe that Alchemists were also a type of "Warlock."

As for how Edward had managed to create Carbon Nanotubes, that was another story. Edward felt that until he created a genuine Avalon, he could not reveal it even if it killed him.

Having sorted out his thoughts, Edward felt refreshed and invigorated. The sky outside was faintly brightening, and the neighbor's rooster began to crow. A new day had begun.

PS: New author, new book. Please support me.