I think you can't even imagine the happiness of a warlock.

The tavern Chen Zhou chose was a very ordinary-looking roadside tavern.

Regular customers gathered in small groups. The dim lights and faint incense made them feel relaxed, and faint music echoed in their ears.

It was a pity that the atmosphere of the young alchemist who was preaching on the stage was incompatible with this time.

But just as the other party who failed to reap the investment was about to leave, Chen Zhou, who was somewhat interested in the so-called "element alchemy", immediately stopped the other party.

What made him curious was that while magic technology was obviously focused on the elemental changes in the material world, how could alchemy become more concerned about pure matter.

This doesn't sound like a trend of thought that would arise in a magical world like Asta. Instead, it is more inclined to the chemistry of Blue Star?

"There are many schools of alchemists, and each one has huge differences, ranging from body aberrations to bomb-throwing to artificial life."

Just announced on the stage, the young alchemist named Rufus is one of the variant alchemists named "Energy Researcher", specializing in elemental blending and elemental alchemy, and Asta's side. Far from mainstream thinking.

So after hearing the invitation from the water djinn transformed by Chen Zhou, Rufus, who thought his views were recognized, readily accepted the invitation and came to the bar of the tavern with him.

"boss."

The sound of music was faint, as if it was coming from the device next to the boss's ear behind the bar, so the boss was so absorbed that he failed to notice the guests in front of him.

"boss?"

Chen Zhou stretched out his hand and waved it in front of the other party to no avail, and sat helplessly on a chair that looked older than him.

However, only a tragic sound suddenly sounded, and before he could sit on it completely, the wooden chair was already broken due to unknown reasons.

"..."

Now the boss, who was obsessed with the music in his headphones, finally noticed the two guests in front of him.

"I'm sorry, customers. The chairs in the shop are old and they are not far from falling apart. I hope they didn't hurt you."

To apologize, the boss had to give each of the two guests a glass of ale for free, and then sent someone to clean and replace the chairs with new ones.

"Why did it break?" Looking at the remains of the wooden chair, the boss was puzzled. It hadn't been long since he bought it?

Chen Zhou thought that the main problem might be his weight - the illusion could solve the visual aspect but could not change his essence.

But he didn't know how to explain how a person who looked like only fifty kilograms could explode into a weight of two hundred, so he decided to simply keep silent.

After turning the new chair 90° so that his tail was not blocked, he introduced himself to the alchemist Rufus.

"I am Cen, a water giant spirit descendant from the star realm. I am very interested in the elemental alchemy you just mentioned." But before talking about alchemy, Chen Zhou looked at the mechanical device next to the tavern owner's ear, "This is the Norton Kingdom. Is there also technology to put the device to your ears and listen to music?”

Rufus, who had just introduced himself in a lecture, re-identified himself as an alchemist and energy researcher from the Alchemy Association. His specialty is the element of air.

Regarding the outer world adventurer's question, he explained seriously: "It was the product of the previous communication between the Star People and the Alchemy Association when they appeared. It uses specific symbols to transmit sounds. It is regarded as a series of "Blessings" spells. New application. "

This version of hanging on the ear to listen to music is called a "hanging speaker", which is the product of a combination of arcana and alchemy.

Chen Zhou was amazed. If he gave those people of the stars a little more time, they might not even be able to build a magic ship that could actually fly into the sky instead of relying on a steam magic machine to travel across the sea.

It's a pity that they can't come to Asta in a short time due to personal reasons...

"Thanks for the answer. I'm new to Norton Kingdom and I don't know much about the things and situations here. I'm just more interested in alchemy."

After saying that, Chen Zhou continued to ask: "What is the elemental alchemy you are talking about? Can it create matter out of thin air?"

Hearing this, Rufus nodded, of course he could.

The memory of elemental alchemy can be traced back to the ancient Holy Roland Empire. At that time, their alchemists developed the technology to create the special magic material of the water elemental plane - Zhenbing.

This shows that elemental alchemy can not only create pure elements, but can even create more complex and powerful substances.

Unfortunately, the only problem is the imbalance between effort and benefit.

As far as Rufus himself is concerned, he can almost transform a bottle of air or similar gas out of thin air through elemental alchemy, but it requires at least the equivalent of a level 2 or above and below level 3 magic.

"What's the difference between this and using magic to create a piece of air?" 』

Lily in the backpack subconsciously complained.

"Who? Who's talking?"

Chen Zhou covered the backpack that had been lifted up at a corner: "It's nothing, just a flying magic kitten."

"Hey, Carnival Dragon is not some magical cat..."

However, because the backpack was closed, Rufus could not hear Lily's protest clearly.

That was probably the opponent's magic pet. He ignored the complaint and said, "Ahem, there is not much difference in appearance, but the principles between the two methods are quite different."

"So what difference does this very different principle bring to them?" Chen Zhou asked.

"..."

"no difference."

Rufus was a little embarrassed. This was the main reason why the alchemists of the Alchemy Association did not approve his funding application.

"But...but this doesn't mean there will be no difference between the two in the future! The characteristic of magic is that you get more rewards according to the effort you put in, while alchemy can obtain higher returns through continuous chain reactions."

And the culmination of this path is the lifelong pursuit of the legendary alchemists - the Philosopher's Stone.

At least one thing that Rufus and all the alchemists in the Norton Kingdom can be clear about is that it is destined to never complete the Philosopher's Stone based on matter and chemical reactions alone.

However, for the sake of more convenient alchemy, the Norton Kingdom chose to give up the miracles that alchemists can achieve and make more general changes.

"The end point of elemental alchemy is the Philosopher's Stone, which is a miracle that contains all elements and all elements. It can create anything from scratch with just one Philosopher's Stone, even the true ones recognized by the Church of Fortune. Gold and silver are no big deal.”

What Rufus pursues is the Philosopher's Stone, which contains everything.

To do this, he must gather all people or things that are proficient in the 4 elements!

"Can gold be made from just one stone?" 』

Lily poked her head out excitedly from her backpack. She was going to build an entire golden nest and cover it with amber honey!

Philosopher's Stone: The alchemist learned how to create the Philosopher's Stone. Once a month, he can spend 1 day making a philosopher's stone.

[Quick Check on Lesser Artifacts] Philosopher's Stone

Aura: Strong transformation system; Caster level: 20;

Position: None; Weight: 3 lbs.

This rare magical item looks like a fragment of black stone. If the stone is broken (Break DC 20), it opens a magical passage. Any character with a Craft (Alchemy) skill trained at level 10 or above can transform any base metal (iron or lead) into silver or gold through this alchemical channel. A philosopher's stone can convert up to 5000 pounds of iron into silver (worth 25000gp), or up to 1000 pounds of lead into gold (worth 50000gp), but this magical channel can last up to 24 hours, so all transformations must be done within Proceed within 24 hours. The Philosopher's Stone also has other effects. If you mix it with any healing potion, you can prepare the <Elixir of Life>, which has the same effect as the 'Full Resurrection'.