Now that things have happened, it is impossible for Maka to regard Sarah's appearance as a reference anymore. No matter what kind of genius girl there is, it is impossible for her to have such profound eyes, let alone have her arm cut off at shoulder height and still have a calm expression on her face.
Putting aside everything else, doesn’t she feel pain
Maka himself is the kind of person who has a very high tolerance for pain. At the beginning, he could even resist the Cruciatus Curse that could cause people to go crazy. But even he couldn't remain calm in that situation, or even frown.
"So, are you my friend?"
Although Maka's words sounded full of suspicion, his actual thoughts were not like that.
He took the initiative to find a way to get Sarah into Hogwarts, and the whole process was filled with his personal persuasion from beginning to end. It is possible to say that he accidentally caused trouble for himself, but it is nonsense to say that Sarah managed to get into trouble.
Therefore, Maka was not as full of suspicion about this girl...or rather, the person who "looked like a little girl" as he showed.
He asked just to regain the control of the conversation.
"So, you are not willing to help me?" Maka's words did not shake Sarah too much, at least not on the surface. "In that case, forget it."
"No, I didn't say I won't help," Maka glanced at the formation formation on the floor, then waved her hand and said, "You don't want to explain it first, and I don't want to express my position first, so why don't we just put this aside first?" Put that aside. Um... By the way, before we reach an agreement with each other, I think we can talk about other topics first—"
He said, pointing with his chin at the bald prophet he put aside. The old man was still lying motionless with his eyes closed, showing no intention of waking up.
"For example, can you explain to me what you did before?" Maka asked curiously, "Is it a certain method of using alchemy? Or something else... According to my speculation, this old gentleman seems to be able to do it. Short-term prediction..."
"That's not 'prediction'... it's 'prediction'."
Sarah didn't object to Maka's suggestion to change the topic. However, she immediately denied the inference of Maka, who had actually fought with the opponent, and also used another quite similar vocabulary to define the bald old man's ability.
"Prediction?" Maka raised an eyebrow, "How do you say it?"
"He is an alchemist," Sarah said with certainty. "I didn't notice it at first, but the moment he took off his hood, I was sure - you can look at his neck."
Upon hearing this, Maka immediately made a move, and the unconscious old man immediately floated to his side.
At the time of the face-to-face confrontation, he hadn't noticed it yet, but now just by looking at it, he found that there seemed to be some kind of tattoo-like pattern printed on the other person's neck. And when he pulled open his collar, several familiar symbols quickly came into his eyes.
"This... is also a refining formation?"
Judging from the exposed part of his neck, the old man's back and even body were probably tattooed with large swaths of alchemical symbols and lines. As for the effect, Maca is basically invisible.
"Not all...he should have at least two alchemical formations on his body," Sarah said softly, "The first one is called the 'astrological circle', which is a formation that uses celestial bodies to predict the future. This kind of formation It is not counted in the refining formation."
"...is it a constellation?" Maka nodded and said thoughtfully, "I remember that you read a few Latin words about constellations at that time."
"The basic formations of alchemy are very easy to be interfered. Although there are formation structures specifically designed to resist interference, the effect is limited. And after using spiritual refinement to impose strong resonance on the opponent, words alone can greatly The earth interfered with the other party and even temporarily tampered with the formation."
Astrology has been around since ancient times.
Even if the stars in the sky are very far away from us, even Muggles know that almost all of them are stars more terrifying than the sun.
In the magical world, whether it is alchemy or magic, they have tried to utilize their majestic magic power that has reached the earth across countless years in various forms - but it is undoubtedly extremely difficult.
Therefore, only divination that found another way and indirectly used the mysterious power of the stars to deduce the past and the future through various calculations and perceptions was successful.
When Maka heard this answer from Sarah, he quickly agreed with it.
"Hmm..." Maka, who was thinking about the wonderful effect of the astrological circle, suddenly remembered another point Sarah just mentioned, "You said there are at least two alchemical formations? What is the other one? ?”
Maka's question somehow made Sarah hesitate slightly. That trace of hesitation was very inconspicuous, and if you didn't pay attention, it would definitely be difficult to detect, but Maka still noticed the momentary erratic look in Sarah's eyes.
"It is the control formation of the alchemy doll. In alchemy, it belongs to the intersection of knowledge between material refining and spiritual refining."
"… Yeah?"
Maka immediately thought of those weird black-robed cultists, but he also checked carefully and found that although the souls of those cultists were very different from ordinary people, their bodies were still the same.
Of course, he knew very little about the "Alchemy Doll", so he couldn't draw a conclusion.
However, Maka doesn't care so much about those black-robed believers now.
"Alchemy Doll..." He looked at Sarah's surprisingly plain face and asked intentionally or unintentionally, "Can you tell me something? How can it be counted as an 'Alchemy Doll'?"
Nowadays, if you talk to other wizards about alchemy, most people will only think of Nico Flamel and his magic stone. The refining of gold and the elixir of life have almost become the supreme representatives of alchemy.
It is undeniable that that is indeed the pinnacle of alchemy, even in ancient times. No one can deny that Nicol Flamel, a genius alchemist who has lived for more than six hundred years, has made achievements that are astonishing in the world of alchemy.
However, that is only the culmination of the general direction of "refining matter" in alchemy.
"The production of alchemy dolls belongs to material refining, and in the end it involves manipulation, which is related to spiritual refining." Sarah said softly, "As for the definition of alchemy dolls... there is nothing to define, everything can Any movable object that can be controlled by an alchemist from a distance can be considered an alchemy doll."
"Even a lump of iron?"
Maka just gave an example jokingly, but Sarah nodded seriously.
"As long as the alchemist who made it thinks it is, it is."
Regarding Sarah's frank answer, Maka couldn't help but feel a little complicated deep down in her heart. He did have a conjecture based on this, but it was difficult to express this conjecture directly.
But just when Maka was hesitant, Sarah actually took the initiative to speak—
"Professor McLean, please don't look at me like that," she pursed her lips and said, "Your look is too rude for a woman... Also, I am not an alchemy doll."
This time, Maka didn't take over Sarah's words. He neither affirmed the other party's words nor tried to deny them, let alone laugh off the topic.
Regarding the existence of Sarah, this was undoubtedly the most likely inference he had obtained so far, and he could not just throw it away based on the other party's words.
However, even if he doesn't want to give up this speculation, what can he do
Sarah and Maka looked at each other quietly. The former never tried to use her spiritual refinement in front of Maka, and the latter did not use legilimens or soul rules to touch Sarah's thoughts.
Perhaps, at this moment, the two people's moods are unexpectedly similar - neither of them is willing to compromise easily, but they also do not want to use certain means to force the other party to give in.
"Didn't you want to silence me with the story of saving the children at first? Why don't you mention it at all now?" Maka thought secretly.
There was a long silence in the Room of Requirement.
To be honest, Sarah's current silence makes Maka a little helpless. If she had still maintained her original attitude, Maka wouldn't be as depressed as she is now.
"Okay, okay, I lose this time."
After such a period of stalemate, Maka finally had to temporarily give up.
Because Sarah has her own right to insist on not telling. Without any threat, Maka has no reason to force her to tell her secret.
"If you don't want to say it, just say it! In short, I have to thank you for what happened today. I believe those children will also express their most sincere gratitude to you." He shrugged and said, "Well, I owe you once. We will repay you as appropriate."
He used the word "discretionary" very seriously, and it was obvious that he still refused to make any promises casually, because favors are never easy to repay.
"You go down first! By the way, I suggest you go to the campus hospital and lie down for two days -" Maka smiled and said, "If you don't want to expose any problems anymore."
Hearing Maka say this, Sarah couldn't help but sigh slightly. She didn't say anything, just nodded slightly, then turned and walked towards the door of the Room of Requirement.
But just when she took a few steps and hadn't even touched the edge of the door, her steps stopped again.
"Professor Maclean, since you want to know so much..."
Sarah turned her back to Maka and paused for a moment.
"Please don't make me regret the decision I made today..."