Infinity in the Void – Freedom in the Abyss

You know, the thing I hate about humanity is bureaucracy. I spent the better part of the week getting permission from Brazil's semi-anarchy government.

When your culture involves many different cultures plus a murder cult as the head, outsiders don't get in easily, even if that's the Amazon rainforest. Combined with so many people, my brainwashing is basically useless.

Still, I got through by the good old try-and-true method of just ramming my ship into the coast. That got their attention really quickly. Heh.

Anyway, I'm finalizing the list of the ones I'm taking with me. A little below a thousand so I just let Utopia handle the selection. For my silver knight, this doesn't even take less than point one percent of his computation.

I'm bored...

So, I might as well look at the list... Theodore Franklin... is one of the rejected, due to his hotheaded nature.

Theodore... am I familiar with a Theodore? I'm not so sure about that, just last year alone my usage of the World of Chalk was a bit high, two hundred and something... I spam my powers quite a lot.

"Utopia, bring up all the Theodore in the academy."

"[As you Command, Your Highness.]"

The list appeared on my computer, which I did a quick scroll through... stopping at one name.

"Theodore Aubrine... Canadian... current status is... Returned."

Then it all came back to me— ouch, forcefully reawakening my memories hurts my brain a bit. He was my second friend, or fifth? Does the vigilante duo in Las Vegas count?

"Utopia, find out what happened to this one.", I ordered.

"[In Babel's database, he was last recorded to defeat a Herald of The Demonic Reverbaration by making a mountain collapsed on them, on the seventh of October last year.]"

He has the power to concentrate bad luck, right... I think he also has a crush on me... fuck, this is going to get awkward real fast.

"Where is he now?", I asked.

"[It seemed like he suffered from some sort of Curse from that Herald and had to amputate his right arm, from Doctor Jack Rippa's medical report. Then he met up with some of the surgeons from the Sanctum of Steel to get a cybernetic arm, from Doctor Kawl Chern's medical report.]"

"Did he join the cult or something? And is there a Grand Array controlling the Sanctum of Steel?", I sighed.

"[As far as the logs go, he seemed to be resting in a secluded environment in Alaska. With the only person checking up on him being Jack Rippa.]", he reported, 

Hah... I was looking forward to teasing him. Shame...

He continues, "[As for the presence of another Grand Array, there is none who possess the same capability as me, Your Highness.]"

That's definitely some good news.

"Utopia, who do you think shows the most talent in the bunch you selected.", I change the subject.

"[Out of all thirty students, I find two most promising individual.]"

He showed me the files of two students, Gai Gartena the Gem Holder of Utnapishtim, Noah's Sumerian counterpart, and... wait a fucking minute... Armillys... Gem Holder of Guan Yu, the Chinese God of War... this girl challenged me before.

And I think she's not human. Well, there is one way to check... but I won't. This makes things more interesting.

I let a cat jump onto my lap, caressing it like a supervillain.

Hmm? Someone is knocking on my door.

"Come in, the door isn't locked.", I said as Utopia closed all the files.

Oh, it's Evelyn. That petite science professor.

She rushed over to my desk, "Hello! Sinclaire, can I ask you about Alchemy? I've been so busy with work! I haven't introduced myself fully! I'm Evelyn Oppenheimer!"

J. Robert Oppenheimer... the man who created the atomic bomb, is said to be comparable to a God Slayer in terms of destruction. And Evelyn here is his great-granddaughter, who is said to be the reincarnation of the Father of the Atomic Bomb, the one behind the creation of the anti-matter missiles, the R-Type, too.

I smiled, "Calm down now, what do you want to see me for?"

I pat her dark brown hair, which she shook me off.

"I want to learn about Alchemy!", she excitedly jump up and down.

"Well, let's start right away then.", I stood up and went to get the whiteboard I stole from Nyarla... huh, I guess I do miss them.

"First off, we will start with the basis of Alchemy.", I drew the human body with a circle in the middle of the chest and one on the head, "Body, Soul, and Mind."

She eagerly nodded.

"Alchemy is the study of the material and spiritual world, about how they link together and interact. As you probably know, Alchemy split into Chemistry and Physics, specifically Quantum Physics."

Evelyn raised her hand, "Question, why is it Quantum Physics specifically?"

"Because you need to understand the building blocks of the universe in order to turn lead into gold.", then I sighed, "That's beside the point, there are two endpoints for Alchemy."

"Two?", she tilts her head.

"One is the creation of the transmutation device known as the Philosopher's Stone.", I smiled, "Which the Nazis successfully created."

Evelyn stayed quiet this time, as it was a dark chapter in the history of humanity. Over three million Jewish people were sacrificed to create a single Philosopher's Stone, and many more were used to find the process. Well, there is also that guy.

"As for the other, which I am aiming for, is the Synchronization of Body, Soul, and Mind, which laid more towards the spiritual aspect of Alchemy.", I chuckled, as it is something I can do anytime with the Contract of The Golden Order... I'm just unsure if I'll be myself after the ritual.

"So, those are the two goals of Alchemy. And now I'll start explaining how to do Alchemy."

Evelyn nodded, taking out a notebook to write.

"The basic concept of Alchemy is equivalent exchange, how do you perform equivalent exchange?", I asked her.

"In Chemistry, you use a catalyst to start the process, changing one substance into another that has roughly the same weight.", she answered.

"Very good.", I nodded, "For Alchemy, it is something similar. But you need two catalysts for the exchange to proceed."

I pointed at the Soul and Mind, "The Soul and Mind are the key ingredients. You use your Mind to kickstart the process and the Soul as the flame for the reaction."

Then the realization hit her, Evelyn widened her eyes, "So every time you use Alchemy... you are burning up your soul?!"

"Yep, but don't worry, you can substitute Soul for something else. White phosphorus, which used to be the element of the Soul. The purity might not be desirable but it is still possible.", I pulled one book out from my shelf, "But I think you are focusing on the wrong thing."

"Huh?", she looks at me.

"It is the Mind that you should be focusing on. After all, what shapes the world around us but our own psyche? Like the creation of Relics, Alchemy is much the same."

"By imposing our Will upon the World...", she muttered.

"...We can change it in our image.", I finished.

"Read this.", I threw the book to her.

"This is...", she read the title, "Defiled Divinity by... Sinclaire Apocalypse."

Then she looked at me, "Oh woah, you wrote this?"

"Yeah, it's a book about the Mind in Alchemy, rejected by five different publishers for some reason. You are the first one to read it.", I shrugged, "So have that copy."

She opens the first page, "Man made God in their own image...."

"Because only humans can think of an omnipotent being.", I spoke out the rest.

"You are surprisingly poetic.", she giggles, "Thank you for lending it to me!"

"Nah, you can keep that copy.", Utopia already had back-up copies, "Let's continue. I'm not really good at explaining things so let's do something practical."

"Yes!", she excitedly holds the book.

I opened up Ouroboros Omniscia, taking out a steel pipe. Sinclair really put everything in here, I found a Tamagotchi yesterday.

"There are two ways to perform Alchemy, first is the type that I use which is very hard for people to understand without my book. So I plan to introduce the second way."

I took out a piece of paper from the coffin.

"That coffin really stores everything!", she exclaimed, "What does it have?"

"I don't know, it's a gift from someone I have a good deal of connection with.", she is me, of course.

I rolled the paper out onto the table. Evelyn inspected it, rather she was taking in every bit of detail.

"This is an Alchemical Ritual Circle, you can use this to help with the Mind."

"These... aren't Runes.", Evenlyn muttered, "These are just made to look like Runes, yet they don't have any meaning to them."

"Look closely.", I pointed at one of the symbols.

"Oh... dots... these Runes are made of dots!", she excitedly said, seeming like she realized it, "The number of dots collerate to the number of atoms inside an element!!"

"This one is a five-ring Circle, containing Carbon, Magnesium, Sodium, Gold, and Silver.", then I pointed at the middle, "Phosphorus is the element that is always needed and have to be put in the center."

I got this from that Alchemist Hunter girl, pretty easy to figure out once I got the direction.

"Now, I'll demonstrate.", I put the steel pipe on the piece of paper, using my nail I cut and sliced my palm a bit - dropping a bit of blood onto the pipe.

"Why are you using blood?", she asked.

"Because blood contains a part of the Soul. This is the easiest way to add Soul to the ritual.", I explained, "Now..."

"First, imagine the thing you want to apply Alchemy to. Then Deconstruct to the atomic level.", the circle glows, then the pipe turns into white particles, atoms bunched together but had yet to take shape.

"Then imagine the thing you want it to become, and Reconstruct it.", the particles condensed, rearranged into a gold pipe that's a bit smaller.

"This... anyone can do it?"

"With all things, practice and training will yield results.", not me though, "And this is how I do it."

Grabbing the gold pipe, I turned it into a copper pipe in an instant.

"You are a Gem Holder, right?", I smiled.

"Yup! Thomas Edison!", she proudly announced.

Huh, shit. She is going to steal my idea, isn't she? The most successful and greatest thief in human history, the Father of Invention himself. And right before me is the great-granddaughter of Oppenheimer and has the power of Edison.

"You exchange his Soul instead of yours. Since you are the host, you should be able to exchange his instead of yours."

"Hmm, that's an interesting approach!", she nodded.

After this, Evelyn constantly as me different questions for an hour straight. It is pretty fun teaching people something I grew a fascination with. Still, I have to admit she is a genius, her thirst for knowledge is borderline madness.

Leaning back on my chair, I stare at the sunset. The field trip is something I look forward to, but I don't think I am enough to keep them in line, too many variables.

...hah... I need help with this.

Taking out my phone, I dial a familiar number.

[Hello? Who is this?], her voice came out from the other side, groggy. She must've just woken up.

"This is Charlotte, I need your help.", I spoke out loud.

[Charlotte?! Oh! Of course! What do you need me to do!?], she's awake now.

"Can you come to Libertas in three days? I need you to help me manage some students.", I leaned back on my chair, spinning on it.

[That's easy! I'm coming over right now!!], I heard the sound of a sliding door.

"You don't need to rush.", I smiled, taking out a cigarette and smoking.

[We haven't met each other for five months! Uuu... I want to meet you so bad!]

She's always this ball of energy, huh. I quite enjoy her company.

"Just take your time, I won't disappear anytime soon."

[Well! See you!]

"Let's talk in person next time, Mitsuki."