No One Understands Alchemy Better Than I Do

Pondering something never seen before made Kas miserable; he furrowed his brows, analyzing the fragmented notes left behind by the rune smith before his death.

Radel requires the collective tempering of several rune masters; seek the Heart of the Mountains; on the last day of the Frost Moon, ignite the furnace at midnight, and when the ore glows red-hot, hammer it until dawn.

Chant the ancient ballads to beseech the blessing of the Ancestral God, requiring seven recitations of the Song of Forging, seven recitations of the Song of Furnace Fire, extinguish the flames with dragon blood, and quench with the ice of the Heart of the Mountains...

First of all, even if this thing were real, it is not reproducible.

The Frost Moon varies from place to place; in the Sorrow Mountains, it is October, but who knows when the dwarves' Frost Moon falls.

Midnight and dawn are even more ridiculous; different latitudes cause significant variations in the length of day and night. Perhaps it takes the dwarves five hours of hammering underground to reach dawn, while in the Sorrow Mountains, it might take eight.

Not to mention the subsequent blessings of the Ancestral God and the ballads.

This is a highly encrypted recipe, using various methods to mislead the reader's understanding.

The only thing of any value is the description of Radel.

It resembles red gold, yet is incomparably hard, remaining dim even under the shine of the sun.

This is contradictory; even the most precious Adamantine appears soft compared to meteorite iron of the same quality...

Wait, I seem to have fallen into a cognitive trap.

If Radel is a man-made metal, the key is not how the dwarves forged it.

But rather, how I can make a substance possess similar effects, extending the magical load-bearing capacity of weapons and armor.

I seem to have some leads...

"Baize, stop sleeping, damn it, and find me some ores with magical load-bearing capacity."

With a lead in mind, it was only natural for Kas to order around the unreliable shaman of the Black Ember Tribe, kicking awake the "mentor" who was snoring against his chair.

"Oh, oh, it seems you have some ideas; as expected, inspiration is always right."

Yawning, Baize quickly retrieved three different ores from his prized chest and explained them one by one:

"Adamantine, Mithril, and Dark Ore. Among them, Dark Ore has the highest magical load-bearing capacity, but it is not a metal; it is a crystal powder mineral similar to graphite, which the mages of the southerners use to draw high-level magic circles."

Clearly, the shaman intended to let Kas try his hand first. Although Adamantine and Mithril are rare, they are minerals that can eventually be found in bulk; only Dark Ore is unique.

"Can you heat and melt them? I mean, without the aid of sorcery."

Baize frowned, thinking Kas's request was too bizarre:

"For Adamantine, I might be able to think of a way, but Dark Ore can only be handled with the Blood-Ash Furnace; there is no way to reach its melting point through normal means."

"Then can't you think of a special way?" Kas glared at the shaman, who still wanted to explain the properties of the minerals. He had to admit, he was starting to get interested in this plan.

Alchemy, indeed, was much more interesting than refining copper.

"Fine... and then? What other requirements are there?"

"The melting process needs to be in a sealed state."

Baize shrugged his shoulders and ordered the Black Guard to prepare the equipment for melting the minerals; as long as there was a one-in-ten-thousand chance, he would not let it go.

A while later, the Black Guards returned carrying a strange device resembling an iron barrel. They opened the hatch at the bottom and tossed in crystals containing the essence of fire elements one by one.

The heating device looked very much like the oil drums used to smoke sausages back home in Kas's previous life; the steel-gray shell was very smooth, and a vertical iron pipe stood on top.

"Spent a fortune buying this thing from the southerners..." Baize patted the oil drum, sighing:

"We must admit that in terms of technology, the southerners do have their merits. This is a Sealed Heater, driven by fire element essence crystals, specifically used to extract high-value gases from unique minerals...

I was scammed by the damn Southerner Alchemy Association; this piece of junk is useless, and using it once costs a fortune."

"No, perhaps it is the key to turning the situation around."

Kas tossed the Adamantine into the device; the iron barrel was divided into a triple-layered structure.

The bottom was the furnace for heating, the middle layer held the minerals, and the storage layer above was further divided into many sub-layers of equal height.

When the minerals were heated, the gases would flow toward the storage layer above. Once the device cooled completely, the gases flowing into the top would pass through filter meshes of different specifications according to their weight, and then undergo further purification as needed. It was an extremely specialized piece of alchemy equipment.

Kas had no interest in the toxic gases produced during mineral processing; he had simply thought of something interesting.

The core principle of alchemy is [Transmutation], which refers to the conversion of base metals like "lead" into perfect metals like "gold."

The basic concept of this principle is that base metals possess a [potential] to become perfect metals, meaning the perfect form is obscured by crude appearances and impurities.

The process of alchemy is to use various methods to turn one substance into another, allowing base metals to shed impurities and become precious metals.

He did not know much about the alchemy theory of this world; after all, that Alchemy Apprentice Introductory Manual sold for the course was truly unscrupulous, even more watered down than university general education courses.

But as a liberal arts student who liked to ponder, Kas was interested in some anecdotes and had read a bit about mysticism, all thanks to that roommate who loved to ramble on about religion, theology, and philosophy.

"As above, so below."

Analyzing alchemy according to Aristotle's four causes, the efficient cause (the alchemist's operation) acts upon the material cause (base metal), stripping away its imperfect accidental properties to obtain the formal cause (precious metal), thereby achieving the final cause (the perfect metal—the Philosopher's Stone).

The plan he was pondering was to use the efficient cause (the operation of heating metal and separating impurities) to act upon the material cause (ores with magical load-bearing capacity), stripping away all irrelevant properties to find the formal cause (magical load-bearing capacity), and achieving the final cause (endowing other ores with magical load-bearing capacity).

This might not be simpler than refining a perfect Philosopher's Stone, but Kas thought it was worth a try.

The pursuit of alchemy is not to create a giant bomb that can destroy the world, but the transmutation of life itself from the base to the perfect. He was very interested in this process, which was full of metaphysical implications.

The precious Adamantine melted bit by bit in the high heat, and a large amount of gas surged into the topmost storage layer, but Kas didn't even spare it a second glance before tossing these two pieces of trash to the Black Guards.

"Continue."

Mithril.

"Continue."

Dark Ore.

"Continue."

Emerald Rock.

"Continue."

It was not until Baize was on the verge of a breakdown, the surface of the Sealed Heater began to melt, and the Ash Tribe's reserves of fire elemental crystals were nearly exhausted that Kas finally put an end to this bottomless extravagance.

Plan: Transmutation
Status: In Progress
Inspiration: The necessary conditions for the appearance of a thing are all causes.
The first is the archetype from which a thing takes its form;
The second is the belonging of the form or model, that is, the matter;
The third is the initial source of change or rest;
The fourth is the end, that is, the purpose for which a thing is what it is.
I must say, compared to the mystical bullshit of "as above, so below," I think I prefer the ramblings of a drunken philosopher.

Kas thought to himself.

Why isn't it finished yet?