Chapter 401: Founder of the Mana Alchemy School: Nicolas Romé

Looking at the serious Elisa, Lan Qingyou finally understood why the other party harbored such great hostility towards her.

Initially, looking at the other party's performance, she thought it was because she had stolen the other party's limelight and because of that Emerald Tablet thing, which was why she was so hostile towards her.

But now it seemed that wasn't the case.

Materialism School, Mana Alchemy School...

These two schools, to put it simply, were two different concepts of Alchemists.

The Materialism School advocated using the transformation and harmonization of materials to perform alchemical transmutation.

For example, extracting the required medicinal effects from herbs and mixing them with the medicinal effects of other herbs was the most typical material harmonization.

Another example was turning stones into gold or other minerals one needed, which was the most classic transformation process.

On the other hand, the Mana Alchemy School advocated using external materials as little as possible, instead using one's own magic power for alchemical transmutation.

Although one's own magic power would also be used in this process, the proportion was extremely small.

And the Mana Faction aimed to increase this proportion, thereby breaking away from the reliance on materials and reaching the point of 'Ex Nihilo Creation' using magic power.

Of course.

Although the two schools didn't seem to get along, and it could even be said they were like water and fire due to their concepts, both factions had a consensus...

And that was the phrase Albert frequently kept on his lips—[Alchemy is omnipotent].

But there was a problem here.

That was, whether it was the Materialism School or the Mana Alchemy School, they were merely the terms used in the alchemy circle of the Karim Continent a thousand years ago.

Although it was possible for Transmigrators to know, there shouldn't be many people who would make an issue out of this.

And even fewer would become hostile towards her because of this kind of thing.

But now Elisa had admitted she was a person of the Mana Alchemy School, so there was only one answer!

"Nicolas Romé."

Looking at Elisa opposite her, Lan Qingyou spat out a person's name from her mouth.

"Yes."

Seeing Lan Qingyou's thinking had finally caught up with hers, Elisa revealed a gratified and proud smile on her face.

Then, who was Nicolas Romé? Why would Lan Qingyou know this name?

Speaking of this question, one had to refer back to that "Albert's Alchemical Notes".

In the notes, apart from recording some of his own insights and formulas in Alchemy, the two people Albert mentioned the most were two individuals.

One was his mentor, Zosimos Baham, the constructor of the Baham Formula in the "Glyphology" Lan Qingyou studied previously.

The other person was his lifelong best friend and biggest rival, Nicolas Romé.

According to Albert's notes, he was born into a ducal family and was trained as a Title Heir before becoming a student under Baham.

Whereas Nicolas Romé was a commoner who supported his family by transcribing documents for people.

But because Romé had good talent, coupled with his proficiency in calligraphy and painting, during one time he was transcribing a book for Baham, he was exceptionally accepted by Baham.

Thus, the two of them had their first intersection.

Although there was a huge gap in their statuses, during their studies, the two quickly became best friends because of their similar ages and aligned interests.

In the following dozen years or so, whenever one of them had a research topic needing a breakthrough, the other would offer their full assistance.

In this friendly atmosphere, the two supported each other and completed many research subjects.

This not only allowed the two to accumulate a lot of wealth in a short period of time, but also brought them immense prestige.

Not to mention in the alchemy circle, even throughout the entire empire, many people knew that two Alchemy geniuses had been born on the continent.

After all, many of their researches would be operated by the steward of the Duke's mansion shortly after success, rapidly commercialized and rolled out.

While making money, it also allowed more people to enjoy convenience.

Therefore, some busybodies called the two 'Twin Moons of the Empire', using the moon which represented Alchemy.

Meaning that there was only one sun in the sky, but their empire had two.

However, the good times didn't last long.

Due to some academic differences, the two ultimately parted ways and went their separate paths.

That's right.

This difference referred to whether having more materials was better, or more magic power was better in Alchemy.

It could be said that Romé was a genius. Relying on himself, along with the help of Albert and Mentor Baham, he perfected his theory, which was enough to overthrow the rules of Alchemy that had been operating for thousands of years prior.

Although neither Albert nor Baham looked favorably upon this theory.

After all, Alchemy without a material foundation wasn't a long-term solution in the end.

In fact, it was exactly as the two had thought.

From the day Romé's 'Mana Alchemy School' appeared, it became a niche theory outside the mainstream.

Although he also accepted many apprentices to conduct research, there were no effective breakthroughs afterwards.

This situation continued until the two of them cooperated again later.

However, as for how they specifically cooperated later, Lan Qingyou was unclear.

After all, it wasn't written in the notes either.

But the reason the other party was hostile towards her should come from this.

"So, are you trying to avenge your Teacher or something like that?"

Lan Qingyou slowly lowered her Magic Broom to be level with Elisa and looked into the other party's eyes.

"You indeed obtained Albert's legacy. Unfortunately, you guessed wrong this time."

Elisa curled her lips dismissively.

Previously, when she heard the term 'Equivalent Exchange' coming from the other party's mouth, she wondered if this Tower Witch might be a disciple of her Teacher's arch-rival.

After all, this term was a vocabulary Albert comprehended during his research.

She didn't expect she actually guessed right.

"Although I studied Romé's theory and indeed treat the other party as my Teacher, what does the grudge between Romé and Albert have to do with us outsiders who came from Blue Star a thousand years later?"

Eh!

It's not because of Romé and Albert?

Lan Qingyou was stunned for a moment due to her incorrect guess.

"Then you are..."

"Didn't I say it before? A duel, a duel using Professor Samael and the Emerald Tablet as stakes."

Elisa repeated her words from yesterday again.

Except, unlike yesterday when she spoke with an impulsive tone, today she was much calmer.

So...

"However, because Professor Samael refused, let's just use your Emerald Tablet as the stake."

"No... so I said, why must it be a duel? Is it because of the Emerald Tablet? It really is because of that World Artifact which is useless apart from some text, right!?"