Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Golden Oak Commoner College was an ancient castle in the Kingdom of Eric. It was not a supernatural college like most, instead it housed and taught the common folk. The place was bustling with men and women walking on the lawn or sitting under trees to study or chat. It always appeared very populated.
However, under the castle there were many secret institutions and labs where alchemy warlocks, wizards, and scholars gathered. There were also theorists, both supernatural and ordinary.
Inside the alchemy gaslight powered underground lab, there were many giant machines, alchemy tables and long iron desks covered in charcoal pencils and papers. For the last century, charcoal pencils had gradually grown more popular until they replaced quills altogether. The young people preferred newly invented ink pens, but charcoal pencils were still the most popular because they were cheap and easy to erase when mistakes were made.
The underground lab was enormous and had complete alchemy facilities and systems. Each alchemy table was a different type. This qualified as a mid-sized alchemy workshop. Only the kingdoms and churches with lots of funds, power and talents could establish large-scale alchemy workshops.
At the moment, lab members, both supernatural and ordinary were standing in the rusty hallways, or on the desks, or leaning against the stairs, looking in the distance. They were looking at what the human being was doing at the center. They all looked tense, but they also looked expectant.
“Holy and beautiful Goddess!”
“Please shine your gleaming light on the ground!”
Alpha slapped the magic tone machine and heard the sound of the cassette tape fading away. It was an upgraded device which had gained popularity over the last couple of years. Through it, people could listen to news, operas and music from all over. It worked kind of like a radio, but both magic tone machines and magic news machines were operated by receiving concussion signals from mind power. However, this device couldn’t receive enough channels, only wealthy people with high social status could afford them. Besides, there were only few broadcasting channels available.
The magic tune machines sold by Hollyma had a screening system embedded in them to prevent them from receiving mind power ripple signals from foreign channels. Some countries around the Hollyma Kingdom often publicized their own gods on the broadcasting channels, and they also tried to smear the Hollyma Kingdom and the Master of the Night. Alpha had reconstructed his magic tune machine and was broadcasting the news from the Kingdom of the Church of Light.
*Click* Someone pressed a button.
“Over the past several days, civilian riots have erupted in Allahbell Province in the Ahenaten Kingdom. The royals of Sumerian and the military decided to suppress them violently. Many civilians were killed. Several mercenary organizations fought back…”
*Click*
“The mining alliance in the Grachhus Kingdom was disintegrated. The mining resources are declining, and the Grachhus Kingdom had to…”
Alpha changed the channels a couple of times. He then turned back, exhilarated. Frank and Willbert gave each other a high five and jumped up.
Frank couldn’t be more excited.
“We did it! We really did it!”
More than a hundred people in the lab were amazed. Cheers broke out, and everyone was elated.
Willbert patted Alpha’s shoulders.
“You’re a genius, Alpha!” he said. “You’re indeed the favorite alchemy warlock of the Steam and Engine Goddess. You can even accomplish something like this!”
“Of course, I can. This is nothing to me!”
“We’ve taken the first steps to making it possible for commoners to use alchemy tools!”
The reformed magic tune machine didn’t have any supernatural creatures providing power to it, yet the alchemy device inside the machine was started, and it was still operating.
The foundation of alchemy was alchemy lives. From Floating-space City to alchemy tools, all of them were invented because of people’s exploration of alchemy lives, and each alchemy tool contained the lessons and principles from alchemy lives.
The new magic tune machines worked the same way. They were the embryonic form of alchemy lives, but they lacked intelligence, just like plants. The instincts they had were instincts given by alchemy warlocks. Those alchemy devices were like their organs, which could receive the special ripples from mind power concussion and broadcast them.
They also needed to consume energies. Their batteries were supernatural creatures. Supernatural creatures extracted source forms from their consciousness and combined them into mind power. Whenever they used such supernatural power, they needed to mediate by connecting to a magic network to recover. Mind power was a name used by towers. It was also called divine power, magical power, power of death and some other names.
Alpha’s idea had been that they could replace supernatural creatures with an energy source. Supernatural creatures used their mind power to control the alchemy tools, and all they needed to do was to create a device controlled by machines for them to use alchemy tools to control supernatural power.
They stole the fragmentary project blueprints and theories from the Kingdom of Eric, and they also referred to suggestions and experiments from lots of supernatural creatures and scholars. After a couple of years, they’d finally created a special crystal.
It wasn’t a philosopher’s stone that was made of lots of source forms. Instead, it was a special crystal that could find and store mind power, divine power and magical power. Supernatural creatures could infuse their power into the crystals, and they could connect to the magic network to meditate for recovery, after which they could store their power again. It would take an ordinary apprentice several times to fill a crystal.
“It’s still going to cost a lot, and besides, we still need supernatural creatures to charge them,” Frank admitted after the initial excitement.
Alpha nodded, looking slightly discontent.
“You’re correct, but this is only the first-generation product, like the first-generation alchemy table. Who in the past could have imagined the functions and abilities of the alchemy tables today?”
“We’ll definitely be able to mass-produce these fabulous devices, and we won’t need supernatural creatures to charge them in the future to get more power, and thus stimulate more powerful alchemy tools.”
“What should we name these stones?” Willbert asked. “We should give them a name.”
Alpha opened the magic tune machine and took out the translucent crystal in the insert slot. It was only as large as two fingers. Everyone was looking at him, especially the ordinary scholars. They felt that the light coming from the crystal wasn’t the light of power, but the light of hope.
“The power doesn’t belong to divine power, and it doesn’t belong to the supernatural, and it doesn’t belong to priests and gods. It’s the magic power that belongs to all the commoners. I’ll call it magic crystal!”
After the magic crystal was invented, commoners were also able to use supernatural power. The reforms carried out by Alpha and Golden Oak College made special alchemy tools available to commoners.
Frank, Alpha and Willbert then spent a long time reforming and perfecting the manufacturing system of magic crystal alchemy tools.
Frank and Alpha established new magic crystal alchemy workshops in the Kingdom of Eric, admitting many like-minded wizard apprentices and alchemy warlocks. They started to produce magic crystals and all kinds of alchemy tools.
After the tools were purchased or put into the market, many civilians in the city were crazed with excitement about them. Everyone in the city was talking about the products, and many wealthy families and merchants bought them in bulk.
“Gosh! This is such a crazy creation!”
A crowd was watching a friend as he used a magical mining machine at the door of the alchemy workshop. They were so amazed that they all opened their mouths wide.
“You’re right! Everyone can use them! It doesn’t matter who you are! It doesn’t matter whether you’re blessed by God or not! Everyone’s equal before the magic crystal alchemy tools!” Frank shouted on the stage.
“Commoners can also use them. All you need is a supernatural creature to charge it!”
A merchant raised his hand. “How long can I use it for?” he asked.
“I’ll buy the glass alchemy table, then I can recruit some ordinary people to help me produce!” said an excited carpenter workshop owner.
Carpenters had been gradually replaced by alchemy workshops these days as the products made by alchemy workshops were cheap, artistic and of good quality, which stripped them of their competition. An alchemy table that could be used by ordinary people fascinated them.
“I’ll buy it! I’ll buy it!”
“I want a small steam engine car that even an ordinary person can drive. If I have it, I can use it to transport goods and feed everyone in my family,” said a chubby worker who was also excited.
“I want one…”
Officials in the city who had only recruited professionals and supernatural creatures before, began to admit ordinary people. Some banks also widened their choices
An amazing phenomenon emerged in the Kingdom of Eric. Ordinary people started to assume the positions that could only be filled by supernatural creatures. They could drive steam engine cars, airships and alchemy ships. Ordinary workers were also able to operate the alchemy machines on the assembly line to process the products and to manufacture all sorts of daily necessities. They could become pilots of airships, and they could operate magic crystal cannons and sorcery tools.
They could become operators of magic news machines, anchors of news broadcasts, maintenance workers of the city alchemy facilities, managers of the city system. They could even become managers of wizard towers. They could regulate the weather, cleanse the soil and operate mining equipment. These were all jobs that were originally allocated only to supernatural creatures.
Everyone who entered the Kingdom of Eric was amazed by what they saw. Many people were thrilled by these new crystal alchemy tools. Merchants flooded in, and ordinary people were willing to pay for those alchemy tables with everything they had. Although they couldn’t make any object they wanted, they could make specific alchemy objects that could make their lives easier.
Frank, Alpha and Willbert stood at the top of the clock tower in the capital city of the Kingdom of Eric. They watched as the city was bathed in the golden light of the sunset. From the top of the clock tower, they could see the whole city laid out before them, vivid and surreal.
This once flatlining city had regained its vigor. Not only that, but it was far superior than before. The entire Kingdom of Eric was reborn, and all the changes had happened because of them. They had fulfilled their first goal, which was to include the common people from the Kingdom of Eric in this era.
“We’ve taken another step forward. The Kingdom of Eric has only one city and eight villages, but despite its small size, we’ll make the entire world part of the Kingdom of Eric!” Frank yelled.
He was standing precariously at the edge of the clock tower, embracing the dawn.
“The newest students from Golden Oak College will learn how to make magic potions that only the Harvest Goddess priests and warlocks knew how to make using the alchemy tables. They’ll be able to make some simple supernatural alchemy tools using the alchemy tables.”
Alpha looked calm, but his eyes gleamed with pride. “In the future, maybe someone will be able to improve even more upon our creation. Even ordinary people can become the leaders of the supernatural era.”
Willbert wore a long sword at his waist. He was kneeling, and he looked very relaxed.
“I’ll help you guard our dream,” he promised.
As they stood at the top of the clock tower in the Kingdom of Eric, they all began to laugh at the same time.
Unfortunately, good things never last long. Before they could completely push forward with their magic crystal plan, the armies and fighting airships from the Kingdom of Hollyma began to invade the Kingdom of Eric. Many soldiers and priests from the Master of the Night gathered at the border between the two kingdoms.
The Kingdom of Hollyma coveted knowledge of how to make magic crystals, and the royalty didn’t want to see the rise of the commoners. They wanted to monopolize the magic crystals and the tools they could create. Magic crystals would let supernatural creatures master greater power, and they could also greatly improve the military power of the Kingdom of Hollyma so that they could completely outpower the Kingdom of Rosa d’Oro, which always had territorial conflicts with them.
The royalty of the Kingdom of Hollyma and the Pope of the Master of the Night religion had discovered the magic crystals, after which they’d immediately realized the great potential they had. If commoners were able to use the power of God, then the authority of the ruling class would be threatened. They were also angry that such power had been mastered by a neighboring country they’d been ignoring all this time.
“We have to have this kind of power in our hands. We can’t let the commoners tarnish the power of God!”
“No! They’re not tarnishing the power of God. The power they have is the power of demons.”
“We need to punish the Kingdom of Eric for using the power of demons. We need to punish the followers of demons. We’ll annihilate those blasphemes using the power of God.”
