Ch. 7 - The Philosopher's Stone

CW: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Gore —------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Paladin collapsed in the library after crawling out of the tunnel in panic. As soon as he stood up, runes appeared at the entrance to the passageway, restoring it to normal flat ground. The only proof that everything was not a dream was the engraved seal that remained.

Paladin grabbed the scroll in his arms and heaved a sigh of relief after confirming it was still there. He was about to leave when he suddenly heard the sound of hurried footsteps from outside the door. Paladin paused and was about to hide, but it was too late.

An armored guard, fully equipped with a spear and a chain-sickle, spotted Paladin. He immediately pointed the tip of the chain-sickle at Paladin and shouted, "Who are you?! The dean ordered that all students have to be at the dormitory. What are you doing here?!"

Paladin subconsciously took a step back while racking his brain for a solution. Inwardly, he felt a little horrified.

‘The dean gave an order like that? Could it be because of the Ripley Scroll? Does he know something? Not good!’

The guard, who remained vigilant, suddenly noticed the ice chunks that had already melted halfway scattered all over the ground near the door. Inside the chunks of ice, there were pieces of meat and blood. He also saw a pair of eyeballs and a ball of hair. His eyes widened in surprise.

The light in Paladin's eyes burned ferociously as he sensed an opening. Paladin approached the table, picked up a porcelain bottle, blocked the guard's escape route, and hurled the bottle at the guard's head.

Bang! The guard fell unconscious on the ground without having the chance to let out a single sound. Without hesitation, Paladin took off the guard's armor and clothes and put them on. Confirming that there was nobody else in the passageway, Paladin stuffed the guard’s body into a large sack used to store books under the table. He then dashed to his room, the small attic, while carrying the sack.

"Take a look around! If you see a student or tutor going outside, they should be executed right away! This is the order of the dean!"

Paladin, who was running as fast as he could in the corridor, saw tens or even hundreds of guards gathered at the bottom of the castle, listening to their leader's command. The guards immediately heeded the command and started to search around while holding a big sword and a chain-sickle.

"I have to hurry up. I can't stay here any longer. I have to get away from this place." Paladin, still clad in full armor, made up his mind. He then moved his feet to run towards the tower.

With a bang, the dilapidated door was slammed shut. Paladin casually dropped the sack filled with the guard's body on the ground. Without saying a single word, he began to take off his armor.

"Haa, haa, hahhh…."

Paladin was wearing full armor that weighed about twenty pounds and ran quite far while carrying a man on his shoulder. He laid down on the ground, still in his sweat-soaked clothes. He was panting for air and feeling exhausted. But, there was no time to rest right now.

The Ripley Scroll was taken out by the Paladin, who determinedly spread it open. Without delay, he picked up a carving knife and decided to carve the circle drawn on the scroll onto the ground. Using his self-taught technique for many years, carving a mere magic circle was a piece of cake.

Paladin opened the carving knife as he took note of the parts where the four elements were situated in the magic circle. He then took a bottle of water from the table and poured a little water onto the engraved icosahedron. In a typical tetrahedron, a wooden stick was ignited and placed within. The soil he got from the flower pot was sprinkled inside the cube. With gritted teeth, Paladin proceeded to drag the fainted guard to the center of the magic circle and immediately jumped away. His actions caused a light breeze to blow at the last octahedron....

There was silence….

And more silence followed.

Nothing had happened so far. A panicked expression began to manifest on Paladin's face. He hurriedly examined the scroll while murmuring, "Why…. Why didn't the magic circle work? Why didn't it activate?"

As he examined every inch of the Ripley Scroll, Paladin's pupils contracted when he saw the figure of a human heart in the center of the magical circle, which symbolized God, the one who would control the spell.

"Yes, the heart! How can the heart beat if there is no blood? It requires my blood because I am its owner! A key drawn with my blood!" When he murmured this to himself, Paladin suddenly remembered an instructor's words he had eavesdropped on during a lecture. 'To activate the magic circle, you need to design a key to unlock and operate the magic circle. Choose wisely. What kind of key do you have in mind?'

Paladin became enlightened. He immediately picked up the carving knife from the ground. He promptly cut his finger and tapped it on the guard's chest. But then, he hesitated.

"The key…. What kind of key.... Ah! What if it has something to do with God? One that conveys the message of 'The Philosopher's Stone versus God…. Hahaha!"

Paladin's expression became vicious. Without further ado, he drew an inverted cross using blood on the guard's chest.

Bzztt bzzzt! The magic circle engraved on the floor flashed red and roared so loudly that it made his ears ring. Paladin jumped away quickly, watching everything unfold in a frenzied state.

The sound of the magic circle jolted the sleeping guard awake. The guard, who was suffering from a splitting headache, reluctantly opened his eyes. In the nick of time, he managed to catch a glimpse of Paladin, who was standing in front of him with eyes full of madness and desire and a happy smile. It soon became the very last thing he saw.

"Ugh!" The guard felt like he was being bitten by countless bugs. The pain even pierced through his bones. He couldn't stop himself from screaming.

Paladin took in the sight of the guard's body and blood melting rapidly, turning him into a skeleton in no time. The flesh and blood that had turned into smoke gathered in one place. It condensed into a small, almost invisible, reddish stone that fell to the floor with a crisp thud.

Paladin took a step forward and immediately picked up the stone. The shrill of restless souls could be heard distantly from the Philosopher's Stone. The ecstatic Paladin suddenly calmed down as a new question popped into his mind.

'The Philosopher's Stone was successfully refined, but I didn't gain much power from it. At best, it gave me the ability to freely disintegrate something. It appears to be a reintegration tool…. Wait! Fusion! Disintegration and reintegration…. Isn’t fusion the answer?!”

Paladin's eyes lit up. It would be fantastic if the Philosopher's Stone could be fused regardless of material, even with magical elements.

"Hahahaha! The idea of fusing it with magical elements is quite daring! This is simply the power of the gods! The power of the gods!" Paladin had a crazy expression on his face. It was obvious that he didn't have the slightest qualms about attempting his bold idea.

Paladin, on the other hand, was a little embarrassed. He was impoverished. He'd never seen a magic scroll, let alone a magic core that could store magical energy. Where would he find any magic elements to fuse?

Time had flown by. Paladin was so preoccupied with his anxiety that he didn't realize it was already morning. The first rays of sunlight pierced through thick clouds, entering Paladin's room through the window and shining directly on his table.

"Huh?"

Paladin suddenly smelled a faint burning smell. He was startled to see the magnifying glass on the table when he turned around. The magnifying glass concentrated the sunlight into a single point, making it far more powerful than before. The concentrated light burned a small hole in a white piece of paper. That burning smell definitely came from there.

"This..." The corners of Paladin's mouth gradually lowered as he focused his full attention on his hypothesis. He didn't possess any magic elements, but perhaps, sunlight could work? After all, the essence of the Holy See's holy magic was, to put it bluntly, similar to sunlight.

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