“The Hermetic School?” Hearing Annan’s question, Bishop Daryl held his bald head in distress, “Annan, you may not know, I left the capital quite early. So I have never heard of what you just said.
“Or rather… the ‘Hermetic School’ I know is not necessarily the one you asked about. Maybe it’s just the same name.”
“And what about Nicholas Flamel?” Annan pressed on with his questions.
Hearing the name, Daryl frowned slightly.
His expression gradually became serious. He propped up his belly, sat up from the sofa in struggle, and took away the leisurely demeanor of a chubby otaku. “Where did you hear the name?”
“It’s the Hermetic School. Their leader is a man who calls himself ‘Nicholas Flamel’.”
Daryl repeated, “You have said it yourself. It’s a self-proclaimed name.”
“That’s true. But that Nicholas has long curly white hair, dark green eyes, and is a Gold Rank Wizard from the Alteration School.” Annan said slowly.
As Annan met Daryl’s gaze, he noticed that Daryl’s face quickly turned ugly after hearing his words.
“Tsk…” Daryl frowned suddenly.
He rubbed his bald head, which was so smooth and reflective, with a sigh.
The Fatty Bishop stood up from the sofa, touched his stomach, and paced around the room.
He thought for a long time, frowned tightly, and said to Annan in a low voice, “If it’s really him, you better be prepared.”
“I have to go,” Annan shrugged and poured himself a cup of black tea, “Silver Sire personally ordered me to go. Hmm, your tea is great.”
“That’s why I just told you to be prepared, but I didn’t tell you not to go.” Daryl glanced at the tea and said casually, “I still have two cans of tea leaves over there. Just grab it when you leave. I rarely drink it myself. No, wait, the point is Nicholas – how much do you know about him?”
“Senior Salvatore and I suspect that he may be the Jade Tower Master of Denizoya Kingdom more than a hundred years ago.”
Annan rubbed his brows and said with some distress, “I speculate that he may have developed the Hermetic School Sage’s Stone. Then he used Sage’s Stone to counteract soul power consumption, so he got immortality.”
“Impossible.” Daryl replied without hesitation, “No way.”
“Why?”
“He is indeed the founder of ancient Sage’s Stone technology, and he is indeed able to craft the Sage’s Stone by himself. But that is not the final version of Sage’s Stone. Instead, it is a lite version.”
The fat bishop shook his head, “Do you know about Elixir? They’re the same kind of Alteration product. The full version of Elixir requires a rare golden mistletoe fruit, and the cost is too high. That’s why Alteration Wizards work on keeping the costs down and creating a budget version of Elixir.
“The Sage’s Stone he ‘improvised’ is the same.”
That is to say, the beggar’s version of Sage’s Stone? Annan immediately understood.
No wonder Salvatore, a Bronze Rank Alteration Wizard, could also make a usable semi-finished product.
It turns out that Nicholas has lowered the production cost and difficulty in making it.
Annan couldn’t help but ask, “Thus, he called the Sage’s Stone he improvised as “the Hermetic School Sage’s Stone”?”
Daryl nodded, “Yes. It’s because he has always called himself ‘the Second Hermes’. He hasn’t given any Sage’s Stone to anyone, so no one knows exactly in what way his Sage’s Stone is flawed. But what he made is definitely not the real Sage’s Stone.”
“Why are you so sure?”
“It’s because even the deities cannot artificially create the Sage’s Stone.” Daryl answered with confidence in an unquestioning tone.
“…even the Silver Sire?” Annan asked.
“Not even the Mysterious Lady. It’s not a question of difficulty, and it’s simply impossible.”
“Why?” Hearing Daryl’s tone being so certain, Annan was a little confused.
Daryl hesitated for a moment, then stopped. “I can tell you, but you can’t tell anyone else.”
“Is it related to the Silver Sire?”
“It’s related to all upright deities. It might even be about the world.” Daryl replied solemnly, “Do you still want to hear it?”
Annan hesitated for a moment. He was well aware that some knowledge was better not known for his safety, but he still followed through with his desire for knowledge, “Yes.”
After all, Senior Salvatore was still researching Sage’s Stone. He wanted to help his senior gather any helpful information he could.
Sure enough, even the wizard tower would struggle to gather secrets related to the upright deities.
But then again… What’s the status for Grandpa Daryl?
“You have a special status, so I won’t let you swear to keep it secret. Although this secret is important, it is actually very brief.”
Daryl took a deep breath and said slowly, “Sage’s Stone is not a product of this world.”.
“What?”
“It isn’t from the very beginning. Sage’s Stone can replace any perfected element. Do you think such a thing may exist by nature? The reason Sage’s Stone can’t be replicated is simple. Its main raw material fundamentally doesn’t exist in this world.”
Daryl replied solemnly, “Do you know Father Flint, Your Highness Annan?”
“The Deity of Fire and Creation?”
“That’s right. Father Flint’s name came when he ignited the flint before becoming a deity. But do you think that merit alone is enough to become an upright deity?”
Just as Daryl said this, Annan vaguely noticed something. “You mean…”
“You have guessed it right. What Father Flint ignited was not the world’s first flint, but the world’s first ‘Sage’s Stone’.”
Daryl said slowly, “From then on, this world has ‘elemental power’.
“Can you understand? That is to say, the purpose of trying to copy the Sage’s Stone is not as simple as ‘getting immortality’ or ‘resurrection’. What he wants is to create a world unique for himself.
“In fact, Nicholas didn’t die because of ‘overuse of the elemental power’ but was murdered. This matter was more or less known to the world’s bigwigs at the time. But it was a righteous murder because Nicholas did a taboo thing that is absolutely not allowed.”
“Is he trying to create a new human?” Annan blurted out.
He felt that he was becoming more and more familiar with the plot.
Daryl looked at him in surprise, staring for a long time before slowly nodding.
“Yes. Strictly speaking, it is an ‘artificial and independent entity without relying on any parental and maternal samples. To be more precise, it is not a copy of anyone nor a child of anyone. Nicholas just made a human out of thin air.”
So, it happens without using any human genetic samples at all? Annan was stunned for a moment.
How did he do that?
“So he ended up failing? Creating a monster?”
“No, he succeeded.” Daryl paused and replied in a deep voice.
