TALES OF A WITCHER - Season 6 Episode 28

“Could it be that… you’ve extracted the Philosopher’s Stone successfully?” Archer asked in a trembling voice.

The hall suddenly fell into pin-drop silence; it was perhaps an answer that everyone wanted to hear.

The Philosopher’s Stone the culmination of alchemy and the rumors claimed that it had the ability to transform anything, which was the very reason why alchemy was called the art of philosophy. When used as a medium, it could transform a generic metal or lead into gold, creating unlimited wealth; it was also the origin of the term “turning stone into gold”.

“A stone that can transform everything… it was simply an invention of the ancient alchemist who wanted to be lazy,” Kyle waved a hand and said, “And, what I’m about to show you is the mystery of the world.”

He pulled out a strange-looking pipe, which was made of crystal glass, from his bag and generously displayed it in front of the alchemists.

Everyone, including Retnin, was stretching their neck to take a peek at it. The pipe was as thick as two fingers and was sealed at both ends. It contained some matte-looking, brownish-red powder that looked just like some dried soil at first glance. It was hard to imagine how that powder had gotten inside.

Kyle asked for a glass of clean water before he picked up a green alum stone from the table and used it to smash one end of the pipe, shattering it into pieces.

This caused a stir among the crowd.

Even Retnin was feeling greatly distressed; the immaculate transparent color showed that the tube was obviously made from first-class crystal glass, which must have taken the craftsman a lot of effort to make into such a symmetrical shape. Yet, Kyle simply smashed it to pieces. However, he realized that Prince Roland was not lying when he claimed that the domain had developed crystal glass since the Alchemist Workshop of King’s City would definitely not produce this type of strange vessel.

The water was quickly provided and Kyle poured the powder into the glass of water, and then the color of the water gradually turned into a yellow-green hue and the powder disappeared.

“Do you have any lead bars here?” he turned around and asked. “Give me two of the best quality.”

“Hang on!” Rayleigh said, “Since it’s an alchemic reaction, it shouldn’t matter who does it. I’ve seen some street performers who’re very good at covering-up; switching bronze royals into gold royals in front of a crowd… I’m not doubting you but it’s better to be cautious on such an occasion.” He looked at two of the other chiefs and said,”What do you think?”

“Indeed,” Archer slowly answered.

Retnin hesitated. It was obvious that Rayleigh was doubtful and comparing Kyle to the street performers was indeed quite disrespectful. However, he had to support the Alchemist Workshop in this situation. “I… agree as well.”

He was expecting the Chief Alchemist of Border Town to be furious. However, Kyle Sichi simply smiled and said, “Of course, there’s no difference if the last step is carried out by either the alchemist or the apprentice. Just as I mentioned, the essence of alchemy is simple, orderly and straightforward. Who would like to do it?”

“I’ll do it.” Retnin was so excited that he did not dare look at Kyle, but he was not able to resist his curiosity towards learning the art of turning-stone-into-gold. “Can the glass of yellow-green liquid really transform the lead into gold?”

The apprentice quickly presented the materials—some green-and-white colored refined lead rods which were usually kept in a cotton-lined wooden box. They would be considered the best of the inventories. Retnin picked one up and carefully put it into the glass. To his surprise, he saw a golden tint appear on the surface of the lead bar!

He could feel his hands trembling uncontrollably.

“Look! It looks like something is growing out of it!”

“It’s golden… Oh God, it’s gold in color!”

“Is that gold?”

“It could be copper as well!”

The sounds of discussion behind Retnin grew louder. He turned around and realized that all of the alchemists and students were staring intently at the changes happening in the glass on the long table, with eyes wide open. They sounded surprised and unconvinced. All the while, Archer was looking lost and confused.

He was feeling the same at that moment… “Perhaps Kyle was right—alchemy is truly constant itself, completely simple and concise; and any self-assumed chaos is simply caused by making a wrong choice.”

In that case, what’s all of the decades of study for?

When the lead rod was lifted from the glass of water, there was already some filament blooming on the surface, resembling coral.

“These are all… copper!” Rayleigh was biting his lips and yelling with his last-ditch effort, “It’s impossible for you to know the way to transform stone into gold!” It makes no sense! Otherwise, you’d have bought the entire Kingdom of Graycastle with gold royals, instead of simply becoming a Lord’s Chief Alchemist of a small town!”

“I’m choosing this path, not for the gold royals but to understand the world.” Kyle’s voice seemed to come from far away. “If you don’t believe, you can always examine it… I think as the Chief of King’s City, you would know the differences between copper and gold pretty well, so do you?”

However, there was no reversal to be incurred for a post-verification, a piece of the gold wire was sliced off and baked on a plate in the fire. It quickly melted indicating that it was gold. It was obviously not copper because copper would darken into an ugly solid mass under high temperature, while the flowing metal solution on the plate looked as bright and golden as the sun in the sky.

True gold fears no fire.

It was indeed real gold.

The hall already seethed with excitement!

“The alchemic formula for turning rock into gold does exist!”

“Lord Kyle, what were the symbols you wrote down on the paper just now?” Was that part of a higher-level formula?”

“Where exactly did you acquire all the knowledge from?”

“Lord Chief, do you still accept any student? I’m willing to start as an apprentice!”

Kyle Sichi extended his arms, intending to suppress the cheering noise. “Listen, everything you have seen today comes from a more ancient subject. It not only includes all the possible alchemy formulas but also discloses the mystery formed within the world! From it, you can even predict those alchemy formulas that have never been seen before, and turning stone into gold isn’t an exception! I could teach you all this, as long as you follow me to the Western Region!”

“To the Western Region?” Retnin became stiff, looking at Roland Wimbledon, His Majesty, who was sitting off to the side with a smile… “Is that the true purpose of why they’re here?” However, it was too late for him to realize how effective it would be. The enthusiasm on the scene had totally gone out of his control. Imagine that who wouldn’t want to work for the association if he could master the art of turning stone into gold? Perhaps, none of the alchemists in the hall would stay, and the hundred-year-old Alchemist Workshop of King’s City had unexpectedly crumbled within a day.

Retnin noticed that Kyle was slowly walking towards him.

“Do you still remember the apprentice who wanted to configure the molten gold solution 27 years ago?” He leaned forward and whispered, “After failing the test twice, you took away his money and banned him from ever passing through the door of the association… In fact, the failure was mainly caused by a lack of acid concentration, which should have been provided by you.”

“You were the apprentice who was audited by me…” Retnin said in shock—the pieces of memory in his mind were overlapping with the silhouette in front of him.

“That’s right.” Kyle nodded. “I’m just claiming what I deserve.”