NOVPUBChapter 720: Chapter 106 Who Do You Think I Am?
Chapter 720 -106 Who Do You Think I Am?
The decor of Freya’s room was nothing like what Aiwass had imagined.
He had thought that Freya, as an alchemist, would be a very meticulous person.
Not to mention that the villa served not only as a residence but also as a research facility…
It should have been bright and clean, with everything placed in an orderly manner.
But upon entering the room, it indeed had the atmosphere of a researcher.
...
However, it had nothing to do with being neat and orderly.
In a corner of the room was a single bed, and in front of that bed was a desk piled with books, documents, and reports.
The quilt on the bed hadn’t been folded at all, just casually thrown to the side.
There was no chair in front of the desk; in fact, there were visible marks on the bed where someone had been sitting.
Opposite this small space for living, there was a huge five-tier shelf that took up an entire wall of the room.
The left side was filled with books and documents; the right side was lined with jars and bottles of various kinds.
On the lowest shelf, there were wooden boxes that were either open or closed, looking like they were from a storeroom.
In the center of the room stood two massive metallic devices.
One was copper-colored, seemingly related to liquids because behind it was a huge transparent spherical vessel, which was empty now, giving off a strong steam punk vibe; the other was a silver-white metal counter resembling a cooking island, with all sorts of automated devices running on it, looking quite modern.
At the corner of the counter that resembled a modern experimental station, Aiwass even spotted three crucibles that looked like they had been unearthed from a ruin.
They had an impure black casing, the material resembling smooth stone as well as dull metal.
Inside one of them, there was an ominous, bubbling green liquid brimming to the top.
Beneath each piece of equipment on the floor, there was a circular ritual array engraved.
Under the containers that were emitting smoke, those ritual arrays were operational.
They shined with a rainbow-like glow, faintly showing semi-spherical protective barriers in the twisted air, completely isolating the inside from the surrounding environment.
In another corner of the wall lay a low, ugly metal furnace.
Made of black iron, it was about six or seven meters long, only half a meter tall, and less than a meter wide.
Inside, there was the warm glow of a fire burning something unknown.
“…So this is what the great alchemist’s workshop looks like?”
Aiwass murmured to himself.
The style inside was a mishmash of everything.
The purely wooden villa looked quite elegant from the outside, and even from the entrance to the hall, it had an artistic style.
But upon entering this largest master bedroom, the inside was a total mess.
However, Freya was quite proud of it, “These are all good stuff.
All my hard work and collection over the years are here.
I’ve carefully designed this system for several years, and now it’s finally able to run stably.”
As she spoke, she proudly introduced her experimental laboratory, “This mana furnace here, is a second-hand Lightforge Furnace core component that I got when I was doing business with the Dwarves in the Eternal Frost Empire.
I modified the fuel system inside it, so now it can be connected to The Great Tree, using The Blood of the Sacred Tree as fuel.”
“…Ah?”
The first sentence from Freya directly confused Aiwass, “Isn’t that illegal?”
Is this…
stealing electricity?
The Lightforge Furnace sounded like it consumed a lot of energy.
Then Freya directly used The Blood of the Sacred Tree as fuel…
“It’s fine.”
Freya said confidently, “I asked specifically about it, the fifth ring is the research zone.
I have a quota here…
I’ve reduced the operating power consumption of the furnace, and it’s absolutely stable running below the maximum allowable line.”
At this point, she seemed very happy.
That feeling even made Aiwass think of Yulia—she was currently studying alchemy too.
Could it be that alchemists all have this style?
“With this Lightforge Furnace, I can automatically drive these ritual magic circles without material cost, and evenly supply energy to these devices.
You can’t see the wires because I’ve hidden the supply lines under the floor, and when I need to change them, I just pry the floor open to fix it.
After all, the houses here are living, so once the floor is put back down it will heal by itself.”
Freya said, excitedly taking Aiwass over to the brass device.
It was about two and a half meters tall, with the control panel at Aiwass’s face level.
To operate it, Freya had to use a box as a footstool.
She stroked the device, boasting, “This I salvaged from the ruins on the sixth level.
It’s an ancient Elf technology, used to extract The Blood of the Sacred Tree to provide a portable energy source.
I think it can also be used to efficiently refine other liquids.
I went through a lot of trouble to get it.
“Once this thing runs, it can separate fifty liters of liquid as needed.
Impressive, isn’t it!
Many plant essences—those extreme concentrates that usually require second or third Energy Level botanists to make—are hard to buy outside, but with this, I can do it and save a lot of money.
I don’t have to go through alchemic separation and purification layer by layer, which also saves a lot of time…”
“After I asked you to bring it down, how many times have you actually used it?”
Master Yanis commented sarcastically from the side.
“There were quite a few times,” Freya argued with conviction, “The main issue is that this device isn’t small.
It can extract fifty liters of liquid at once, but usually, I only need a few milliliters.
“The efficiency of this machine in extraction and purification beats the combined efforts of three third Energy Level botanists and three second Energy Level alchemists working tirelessly in shifts day and night.
It’s definitely good stuff, I just can’t fully utilize its effect.”
“If you ask me, it’s useless, better to get rid of it as soon as possible.”
Master Yanis sharply criticized, “It takes up too much space, and the energy consumption is too high—why do you keep it running warm when you never use it?”
“You don’t understand, this kind of ancient technology, once completely shut down, may never restart.
It took me about half a month to boot it up when I got it.
The technology was phased out over two thousand years ago, and I reckon not many of today’s elf craftsmen can repair it.
Keeping it powered on is the way to extend its service life.”
Freya didn’t even continue making forced conversation with Aiwass but instead turned to Yanis to seriously discuss, “Not to mention anything else, if such a good thing were to break while in my care…
So even if it’s not that useful, I at least need to maintain it.
Anyway, it used The Blood of the Sacred Tree as fuel two thousand years ago, and the current fuel isn’t much different, the operating environment is quite stable.”
“Elf relics?”
Sherlock was somewhat perplexed, “Why would the Holy Nation still have that sort of thing?”
“Oh.”
Freya looked back at Sherlock, and her tone and demeanor cooled instantaneously.
In that instant, her demeanor even made Aiwass think of the fake smile that hung on Professor Moriarty’s face.
She pushed up her glasses and explained, “The Holy Nation was not ‘Holy Nation’ from the very beginning.
Elves are not like humans, with complete adaptability to all nine Paths, but they are not purely creatures of Devotion, either.
“Aside from the Path of Devotion, Elves also have strong adaptability to Balance and Dusk.
There are also small amounts of Beauty, Love, and Wisdom.
This means that under their original form, the elf society must have developed with a balance of those three Paths—that also implies that ancient Elves must have been adept at Alchemy and Necromancy.
It’s just that later on they abruptly gave up a large portion of their legacy and embarked upon a religious state that focuses on Devotion.
“But the Path of Dusk signifies engraving; Elves cannot destroy history, they can only store it to the side.
And that’s what the ruins of the sixth and seventh levels are about.
There are many discarded legacies and techniques inside, which you can visit, but typically you are not allowed to take anything from within.”
!Necromancy?
Aiwass, listening on the side, suddenly realized.
He indeed had forgotten about this.
Given the elf adaptability to Balance and Dusk, under normal development, they should have established a magnificent alchemical civilization, and they should have also been very skilled at Necromancy and Preservation Arts.
But in fact, about two thousand years ago, elves almost completely abandoned all technology and also gave up the legacy of Necromancy and Preservation Arts!
In the thirteenth Ring, many cultural specimens are preserved there.
Inside are many elf technologies Aiwass has never heard of.
!Upon further reflection, many of the high-quality undergarments popular in the modern world come from elf craftsmanship. 𝓃ℴ𝓋𝓹𝓊𝓫.𝒸𝓸𝓂
That’s why that pure, soft yet resilient Blessed Silk Cotton is known as “Elven Silk.”
Besides stockings, there are also sleevelets, underwear, hats, and Ceremonial Cloaks—they are all considered high-ranking clergy attire and preserved.
And according to the alchemical techniques of this age, it’s difficult to mass-produce clothing of this quality…
not to mention it has been popular since the empire era at least.
From this perspective, could it be that human Alchemy, Necromancy, and Preservation Arts actually come from the legacy of the elves?
Considering the ancient races from the same period, whether it’s Dwarves, Giants, Dragons, Lizardfolk, or Serpentfolk, they seem not to excel at these things.
Even if those techniques were reinvented, elves, living longer and adapting stronger, should have also come up with the same things.
While Aiwass was pondering this, Sherlock then asked, “Then how did you manage to take it away?”
“Me?”
Freya chuckled, but there wasn’t a trace of joy in her false smile.
It was a fake smile similar to Professor Moriarty’s yet in a sense completely opposite—Professor Moriarty’s fake smile was absolutely undetectable.
Only those with keen intuition could sense a hint of danger, but Freya’s smile made it clear to anyone that she didn’t want to smile at all.
“Because I offered the elves a price they could not refuse.”
She answered with a laugh, “I promised to use this device to develop a medicine that can slow down or even cure Amberficate.”
“…Cure Amberficate?”
Lily couldn’t help asking, “Can it really be done?”
“Of course.
Who do you think I am?”
Freya looked at Lily, her smile becoming a bit more sincere.
She lightly stroked her unusually smooth golden hair and announced with an indisputable tone, “I am Freya Morley, the one who reverses life and death!
I am the daughter of James Moriarty!
“Because I am a genius!
I am the genius!”
