25 Tour

When Ethan left the middle-sized alchemy office he was in, the sight that greeted his eyes truly made him forget the era he was currently in.

He had appeared in a corridor made from glass in a kilometer tall building, allowing him to see the landscape outside.

It was a gigantic kingdom made from silver and glass, with hundreds of different magic objects all around it, extending far beyond the horizon.

There was a very faint spiritual barrier covering the whole place, seemingly disconnecting it from the spirit world. As Ethan looked at the high skyscrapers, he couldn't help but think of his previous world.

However, even when compared to the technologically advanced world Ethan previously lived in, this place was still more astounding.

'This level of technology… They most certainly have an Angel of the Savant Pathway. But that Angel must have had lots of help in designing this place.'

The entire kingdom was filled with technological gadgets, from flying spheres that looked like vehicles, to robots walking around the corridor he was in.

Becoming increasingly shocked by the techno-magical wonders he was seeing, Ethan turned to Eilen and asked, "How do you have such advanced technology? And since you do have it, why not share it with the rest of the world?"

Eilen calmly smiled and gently replied, "The magical wonders you're seeing were accomplished by the Angel of Alchemy a few thousand years ago. "He" received a revelation from The Absolute Arcane, helping "Him" in creating this marvelous kingdom.

"The reason we don't disclose our technology is thanks to the God of Steam and Machinery. If we did that, he would certainly take the credit and steal some of the Authority of the Pillar of Alchemy. You don't need to know what Authority is for now, just know it's something important."

Eilen talked to him with a lot of intimacy, like they had been friends from the beginning.

Ethan kept observing and noticed there were five towers with different designs to them, they extended to incredible heights, piercing the clouds. Four of them had big statues depicting different figures.

'Are they the towers that represent the different 'Pillars'?' With Ethan's attention focused on them, Eilen strangely seemed to have noticed he was looking at the five towers, even when Ethan had a 360º vision.

"The ones with statues are the residences of the four Angels. The closest one to us, the bronze one, belongs to the Pillar of Alchemy."

Every tower had different colors and designs. There was a bronze tower connected to a white one, which was also bigger than it; then there was a chromatic tower that was connected to a black one, also bigger than the bronze and chromatic; lastly, one of the towers was far taller than all others and completely transparent, but some of its outlines could still be seen.

From the way the youngster said that the Alchemy tower was bronze and that it was the subsidiary of the white one, Ethan could guess that the white tower was Creation, and the black was Destruction, both with their own subsidiaries. The transparent one might be related to that Angel that had just come to inspect Ethan from before.

Walking through the corridor made from glass, he soon reached a platform made from silver filled with different runes. Eilen gestured for him to stand on top of the platform, which soon started descending down the skyscraper.

When finally reaching the first floor, Ethan noticed he was in a big lounge filled with robots that were just like him. He noticed at least a hundred of them.

"What are these mechanical dolls used for?" He asked Eilen.

"They? Well, we use them for all sorts of things. From manual labor to help during research, they are far easier to create than the Superior Reserves."

'So you can produce these en masse? Why haven't you taken over the world yet?'

"Unfortunately, they can't be taken out of the Mystical Kingdom, as their source of energy comes from the Sphere of Energy underground."

Walking out of the building, Ethan stood on the streets made from concrete, there were many mechanical dolls and objects all around him.

They slowly walked up to the bronze tower in the distance, and on the way, Eilen tried his best to introduce everything he could to Ethan.

When they finally reached the bronze tower, Eilen turned to Ethan and told him, "We are here to take your key of entrance to the Mystical Kingdom, it's best you don't lose it, as such a thing will bring you a very hefty fine."

Ethan nodded and followed him inside the building. The sight that entered his eyes when entering was incredibly mystical. The whole place was made from bronze, it had a very tall hall with many different lights floating by themselves a bit below the ceiling.

There was a big table made from bronze with a dark haired woman seated behind it, seemingly being some kind of attendant to the place.

As Ethan and Eilen entered the building, she quickly noticed them and paid some attention to Ethan, her eyes shining a purple color.

Coming to the front desk the woman was seated upon, Eilen looked at her and calmly said, "I would like to talk to the third Alchemy Master."

She looked at him and slowly replied, "Thirtieth floor, knock before entering. You don't want to repeat the same accident from before."

Eilen tersely nodded and gestured for Ethan to follow him, going up to another platform, this one made from bronze, to reach the thirtieth floor.

As the platform stopped in front of double doors made from bronze, Eilen knocked on it a few times and waited.

The double door soon opened to show a big laboratory inside. The place was filled with cauldrons, books, alchemy equipment, scrolls, among many machinery related objects.

An old man was sitting on a reclining chair on the side of a big window, he had a black book in hands, seemingly very immersed in it.

He didn't lift his eyes to address the person who knocked on his door, "Eilen, what do you want? I thought I told you not to disturb me for unimportant matters anymore."

Eilen friendly smiled and slightly bowed down, "Good evening, Lord Lanen"

After the greeting, he looked up at the old man called Lanen and respectfully said, "I have come here to introduce a new member of our district"

Hearing that, the old man looked up from his book and started observing Ethan's mechanical body. He soon lost his interest and started reading his book once again.

"His spirit body is very balanced, almost perfect actually… You may give him the position of Experimenter." Hearing this, Eilen looked at the old man Lanen in front of him and respectfully bowed.

"Yes, Lord Lanen."

Lanen soon addressed Ethan as he kept reading his book, "Are you a mysticism expert? It's been a long time since Eilen recommended anyone to me."

Ethan thought for a second on the best answer and replied, "I'm a mysticism researcher. My field of study revolves around ritualistic magic and the different Beyonder Pathways."

While Ethan never truly called himself a mysticism researcher, his reserve of knowledge was already enough to be considered a true expert in many fields of mysticism, so saying that couldn't be considered a lie.

Lanen looked up at him and amusedly asked, "You study the Beyonder Pathways, huh? Well, why don't you enlighten me with some of your current research?"

The old man seemed very doubtful about Ethan's remarks of studying the different Pathways, seemingly believing few would be able to do that.

After all, it was incredibly difficult for someone to study a single Pathway, so doing so to many would be far-fetched at best.

Ethan grasped the hidden meaning behind the old man's words as easily as looking through a transparent river. He soon responded:

"I have a complete understanding of all Pathways up to Sequence 8, going as far as comprehending the different symbols used in ritualistic magic to describe them. My current objective is to create ritualistic spells that could approach the effects of different Pathways."

Some of what Ethan said was actually true, he really wanted to create ritualistic spells that could replicate some of the effects of the many Pathways. The only problem was that such a thing was completely impossible, at least for now. Even when he had knowledge of not Sequence 8, but Sequence 6 of all Pathways.

Ethan imagined that he might be able to create certain ritualistic spells that replicated specific effects when a price was paid, but such a thing would only be possible when he became a demigod.

As Lanen heard him, he couldn't help but laugh for a few seconds, "Kid, you're very ambitious for a Sequence 7. I doubt a common Saint could accomplish what you're saying, but you still dare have that as your objective?"

Lanen paused for a second and soon said, "However, I must say, having a complete understanding of all Sequence 8s is very advanced already.

"As an Experimenter, you'll have access to your own office in the Third District of Alchemy, just like Eilen. I wonder if you can actually accomplish anything with such huge ambitions."

Lanen came back to reading his book once more and gestured with his hand towards one of the drawers at the side of the main desk in the center of the room.

The drawer soon opened and a bluish-silver crest flew from it, one that looked just like the 'key' he used to come to this place before.

"This is the Key of Arcana, I imagine you know what it does. When you want to leave, recite the phrase 'High Council; I implore you. Hear my plea. Take me out of your kingdom.' This will bring your Spirit Body back to the place where you left your Ether Body. Do not lose the key, it'll be your identification, losing it will cost you ten thousand pounds."

Ethan picked the silvery-blue crest and seriously asked, "How am I to access it in the outside world?"

At this point, Eilen, who was quiet until now, answered him, "The key will have a direct connection with your Spirit Body, you can decide whether it'll be with you or not. The only way you can lose it is by having it taken away from you by a Saint level existence."

Hearing that, Ethan relaxed a bit and nodded. As Lord Lanen was getting annoyed at them interrupting his reading, they quickly left the bronze tower.

Eilen looked at Ethan once again and said, "You can buy a Superior Reserve now if you want. Using your current Inferior Reserve will also cost you at least a hundred pounds a month. Of course, you can obviously use any currency you wish."

Ethan thought for a second and asked Eilen, "Do you have a place where I can buy ingredients here?"

He wanted to get the ingredients for all Sequence 8 formulas he already had, even if it would cost him a lot.

Eilen nodded, "Follow me."

Walking on the streets that were just like the ones from a modern city, Ethan reached a big building that looked like a warehouse.

Eilen stopped in front of the big building filled with people and mechanical dolls coming and going, "You can buy any ingredients up to Sequence 7 directly here. Any higher than that and you'll be asked to sign a notarized contract that states you'll not sell the ingredients to anyone."

Hearing him, Ethan went inside the building and started looking for the ingredients that he wanted. It was just like a supermarket from his previous life, but everything was protected by solid glass that seemed to be bulletproof.

When he found the ingredients that he wanted, Ethan would ask one of the attendants how he would buy them, receiving the answer that he could pay using points gained through accomplishing missions, selling ingredients, or sharing knowledge: the Arcana Credits.

As Ethan didn't have these credits, he couldn't buy the ingredients he wanted.

"If you want to, I can buy them for you and you'll pay me in pounds" Eilen said as he realized Ethan's conundrum.

Ethan nodded and thanked him, receiving a note that stated he could use his own Key of Arcana to transfer the ingredients over to the outside world after paying a small amount of Arcana Credits.

Eilen also offered to help him with this and paid the fee for him. Ethan gratefully accepted and readied his ingredients to be transferred through his Key of Arcana later.

Ethan had bought a total of three sets of ingredients: Sheriff, Midnight Poet, and Instigator.

They would cost him a total of 1900 pounds. After getting what he wanted, Ethan decided to proceed to the Mission Hall owned by the Pillar of Alchemy.

Eilen still accompanied him there, as if being his best friend, which mildly disturbed Ethan a little bit.

When he reached the place, he noticed it just had a big wall filled with many requests in the form of runic inscriptions, many people were standing in front of it and looking at the missions.

He wanted to get a mission to earn Arcana Credits and buy even more ingredients.

Looking at the many missions he could choose from, Ethan finally noticed one he could easily accomplish: "Hunt a Sequence 7 Psychiatrist situated in Backlund."

He asked Eilen how to accept the mission and received the answer that he could just touch the wall and think of it.

As he did as instructed, Ethan soon received a lot of information about the mission he wanted. It had knowledge about who the target was, his backing, his abilities, his residence, and many more.

The only thing he needed to do was think of accepting the mission and it would imprint a part of his own mind in it, allowing for him to receive the rewards after completion.

He did so and quickly accepted the mission, the reward he would receive would be 100 Arcana Points. This amount was enough for him to buy four sets of Sequence 8 ingredients.

Being satisfied with his choice, Ethan went back to the skyscraper he initially came from with Eilen. The teen also used some of his Arcana Credits to pay a month of rent for Ethan, it wasn't more than two credits for a month.

When he finally entered his own rented residence, one that was very similar in interior to the residences in the Victorian era, but with a slightly modern charm, he seated on a white leather sofa in the living room.

Using his Key of Arcana, he recited the necessary incantation and his Spirit Body left the mechanical doll he was using.

He would immediately pay the teen for all his troubles in using Arcana Credits and helping him.