"... Just... That's it?"
In Maka's mind, things like "alchemy" should be very "mysterious".
Before this game, he had read a lot of information on this and deeply realized the complexity and ingenuity of this knowledge. Theoretically speaking, as long as you have enough information and accurate enough theories, anything can be obtained through the transformation of the refining formation.
In addition, the "little game" left by Nico Flamel and Sarah's spiritual refinement left a deep impression on him, which made him even more interested in this event that gathered a large number of alchemists. Looking forward to it.
However, when the judging panel announced the titles of the first batch of competitions and when the contestants began to calculate on the draft paper, Maka was stunned.
At this moment, above the judges' bench, a huge curtain swaying in the wind is being spread out of thin air under the influence of a magic spell. The words on it can be clearly seen even hundreds of meters away -
"Convert raw galena into copper spoons."
Seeing the players in the field bending over and calculating their movements in unison, Maka was completely confused.
"Um..." He turned his head in surprise and asked Professor McGonagall beside him, "Professor, isn't this the sixth-grade alchemy topic at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in the United States?"
Yes, although Hogwarts does not include alchemy as an elective course, the same cannot be said for other schools. Just like Ilvermorny mentioned by Maka, they provide students with teaching content on this subject.
"Yeah, what's the matter?" Professor McGonagall nodded and said, "The difficulty of this question is to use the formation formation to construct the shape of the spoon. I think... the more detailed it is, the higher the score the judges will give..."
"No, no, that's not what I'm talking about..." Maca said dully, "Although my knowledge of alchemy may not be sufficient, but... putting a subject like 'lead-copper conversion' that has a certain alchemy formula in this place. In a big competition, isn’t it a bit too childish?”
"Ah, um..." Professor McGonagall nodded slightly when he heard this, "I know what you want to say, but..."
"It's just that this is the level of most alchemists in the world right now—"
Fat Noah, who was sitting in the seat diagonally behind Maka, suddenly bent over and came closer.
"Our old man said that there are too few alchemists in the modern magic world, and at least half of them are potion masters." He said, "Alchemy... now Even the table of alchemy symbols is not complete, but there are still a lot of amazing-looking alchemy formulas and alchemy formation drawings left behind, many of which can be seen but not used!"
After Fatty complained like this, Maka understood a lot. Thinking about it, if he were asked to make a rune array diagram when the Phoenician magic text list was incomplete, although it could be replaced to some extent with other combinations of magic texts, the difficulty of constructing it would undoubtedly be much higher than the original diagram. cut.
"So..." he said thoughtfully, "the ability to flexibly use the remaining alchemical symbols to draw more precise and effective alchemy formations is a reflection of the ability gap among modern alchemists?"
Just when Maka suddenly thought about the polarization in the strength of modern alchemists, Sarah's voice suddenly rang out.
"The topic chosen by the judging panel is very reasonable." She said softly, "The essence of alchemy is to transform something into something through the 'understanding', 'decomposition' and 'reconstruction' of matter or spirit. A process of making something of value to others... Fundamentally, 'giving a sip of water to someone who is dying of thirst' means the same thing as 'giving a gold coin to a poor person'."
Sarah's words actually made it very clear. What she meant was - no matter how inconspicuous the conversion process and results are, as long as someone needs it, it is valuable.
However, even though Maka knew these things, she still lost a lot of interest in the game in front of her. After all, he didn't intend to study alchemy in depth. When he thought about having to watch the judges evaluate the copper spoons, he felt sleepy in his heart.
"Forget it, after all, this is just the first round of screening," he thought secretly, "At least I have met a few wizards who seem to be quite capable before, and I think they will become more and more exciting as time goes on... "
Among today's alchemists, the top ones are much higher than the average. Even if Nico Flamel, the world's top alchemy master, is recognized as having passed away, at least there are still some other geniuses. Based on this calculation, this competition is still worth looking forward to.
…
In the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets, Enns, who had lost consciousness, finally sat up in a daze, leaning on the cold ground after being in a coma for a long time.
After he looked around, the deep darkness around him quickly brought him back to his senses.
With a rustling sound in the pitch black darkness, Enns touched the wand he had dropped on the ground. When the words "fluorescent flash" resounded throughout the empty secret room, a soft light spread quickly, sweeping away the darkness around him.
"...How long have I been unconscious?"
He frowned and tried to remember, but he couldn't figure out a specific time.
"By the way, did that Slytherin shadow say anything else before that?" Enns shook his head and thought carefully, "Well... don't get lost in the power? No, there should be more in front of you. There are other…”
At that time, in order to move his "heavy" body to the green shadow, he spent a lot of energy, and in the end, his consciousness even became blurred. But he remembered the last words left by Slytherin particularly clearly.
After a while, Enns, who was sitting on the ground, nodded suddenly.
"He said, 'Go into the secret room behind me'... and then... and what about Rowena... Oh, it should be the Ravenclaw Tower on the west side, right?"
Thinking of this, Enns couldn't help but stand up from the ground, and quickly returned to the deepest wall of the secret room, regardless of the traces of mud and dust already covering his body.
"The secret room behind you?" He stretched out his hand and knocked on the wall. The thick texture returned to his hand, and the joints that hit the stone wall ached faintly. "Isn't this the secret room... Is there another one behind it?"
After a short pause, he took a few steps back, then waved his wand at the wall.
"The Alajo hole opens."
The unlocking spell was not meant to be used against the wall, and regardless of whether there was something wrong with the stone wall itself, it was a matter of course that his spell did not take effect.
After lighting the extinguished light ball again, Enns raised his wand and checked the wall several times. But no matter how you look at it, it is an extremely thick brick wall, no different from walls elsewhere.
"Hmm..." He couldn't help but feel a little depressed about this, "The cutting spell can cut rocks, but cutting hard objects is something you only learn in the fifth grade... No, there might be some mechanism to open the secret door. ?”
Thinking of the previous encounters in the Hufflepuff Chamber of Secrets, Enns naturally came up with such speculations. It's a pity that there is no universal truth in this world? The so-called "secret door mechanism" he was looking for naturally did not exist.
After groping back and forth on the wall and in the corner for a long time, Enns finally reluctantly chose to give up temporarily.
"What Slytherin left behind should be correct, then..." he thought to himself, "Yes, the less this wall has not been damaged, the greater the possibility that there is something left inside..."
Thinking about it this way, although the self-comfort element in it was quite strong, it still allowed him to regain some patience. But what should we do next
He has experienced so many things in this secret room and suffered a lot. If he was allowed to go back like this, he would be extremely unwilling.
Enns touched his trouser pocket, still hesitating.
There are not many lucky chocolates left, so if you can't get the replenishing elixir, you will naturally eat one less. Besides, there are dual restrictions on dosage and time for taking Fuling Potion. Even if there are more potions, he will not make fun of his body even though he knows that there are proven side effects.
After seeing this ruined Slytherin Chamber, whether to use the precious lucky chocolate here became a real problem.
If you enter the "secret room within a secret room" on the other side of the wall and find that someone has already climbed in, you will regret it.
In fact, although Enns is very smart, his exposure to the magic world is still too little. If another wizard faced this problem, why would he hesitate
That's the secret room left by Salazar Slytherin. There are so many people in this world who can't even take a look at it!
Fortunately, after thinking about it for a while, Enns decided to take a gamble. At least he still vaguely remembered that Slytherin seemed to have mentioned something like a "gift", right
He waved his left hand, took a deep breath, and then took out a piece of chocolate from his pocket. The light emerging from the tip of the right cane fell on the tinfoil wrapped in chocolate, reflecting a hazy golden halo.
It's as if something good can happen just by looking at that halo - this is the power of the Elixir of Fortune.
Peeling off the golden tin foil, Enns stuffed the chocolate into his mouth and chewed it hard. And the next second, when the first ray of sweet chocolate syrup mixed with saliva slid into his throat, the wonderful feeling of taking the elixir invaded his whole body again.
"Oh, sure enough there is something behind..."
Just when he was about to stretch out the wand in his hand and try to do something, a strange feeling immediately froze his arm.
"How... hmm? Who?"