Clang!
The heavy longsword slipped from her nerveless fingers and clattered to the floor.
A flash of white light blinded her.
The next moment, Elsa’s body, along with her blood-soaked dress, was just… gone.
Vanished. Wiped from existence.
Pandora stood frozen, her hands empty, her arms still locked in the posture of an embrace. Now they held only the cold air and the scarlet moonlight seeping through the window.
Elsa… she was just gone? Without a single trace?
A vast, hollow emptiness seized her, a feeling more suffocating than even the grief from moments before.
【Extraction yielded:】
【Flesh: 9 units】
【Flora: 2 units】
【Salt-Gold: 2 units】
【Ether: 0 units】
【Soul: 13 units】
【Current Alchemical Element Pool:】
【Flesh: 9 units】
【Flora: 2 units】
【Salt-Gold: 2 units】
【Ether: 0 units】
【Soul: 13 units】
【Known Alchemical Templates: 0】
The cold, mechanical voice of the System was a slap in the face, a jarring intrusion that yanked her out of her grief. She clung to the logic, the data, anything to not think about the empty space in her arms.
Nine units of Flesh… Elsa was always slender. Guess that made sense.
Flora and Salt-Gold had to be from her clothes. Salt-Gold… what a weird name for a mineral. Probably just the System’s term for metals and ores.
Ether… a complete unknown. The System had mentioned it before. Was the spike in ether concentration what caused all this? The mutation?
But the Soul… thirteen units of Soul.
That was where her careful, logical analysis shattered.
Her heart clenched, and a fresh wave of sadness washed over her. The number was so high. Was it because of her spirit? Or… was it because of that fierce loyalty, that desperate resolve, that final, relieved look in her eyes?
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The thought was a physical blow, a fist squeezing the air from her lungs.
“And Alchemical Templates… what are those?” she latched onto the term, a desperate attempt to distract herself from the Soul. Her focus shot to the line below the list, where the number for 【Alchemical Templates】 was a big, fat zero.
As if sensing her question, the System chimed in again.
【Templates are alchemical reference targets required for the “Assisted Alchemy” mode.】
【When the Host is able to fully and comprehensively understand and successfully craft an alchemical product on their own, the System will automatically record it as a Template for use in “Assisted Alchemy.”】
Assisted Alchemy… so that’s what that is… wait!
“Does the System have multiple modes?” Pandora’s thoughts sharpened, the gears in her mind turning faster now.
The System’s prompt didn’t disappoint.
【The System provides two Alchemy modes.】
【First, Assisted Alchemy mode.】
【Second, Myriad Alchemy mode.】
“Myriad Alchemy?” Pandora repeated the phrase, a shiver running down her spine. The name itself seemed to hum with a strange, mystical power.
【In Myriad Alchemy mode, the System will directly use the Alchemical Elements and Reference Object provided by the Host to conduct the alchemy. This process requires no intervention from the Host and is performed automatically by the System.】
【Note: After the alchemy is complete, the Alchemical Elements and Reference Object invested by the Host will disappear and cannot be returned. The Host will directly receive the alchemical product.】
【Note: All products crafted in this mode will carry the “Myriad” tag. All items with the “Myriad” tag possess a strict property of equivalent exchange.】
Equivalent exchange?
Another unfamiliar term. She’d heard it in a dozen stories from her old life. Usually, it meant you were about to get screwed. But what did “strict property of equivalent exchange” mean here? Weren't the 【Alchemical Elements】 and 【Reference Object】 she put in the price?
【Please explore on your own, Host.】
The System fell silent.
Pandora fell silent as well.
Great. Her System was a glorified calculator with a bad attitude.
Pandora stood in the center of the empty study, the moonlight outlining her solitary figure. She had the basics now. Assisted Alchemy was useless to her; she didn't know the first thing about alchemy.
But Myriad Alchemy… that was her ticket. She had the elements, but she needed a “Reference Object.”
Her gaze fell upon the lonely longsword on the floor.
“System,” she thought, her voice sharp in her own head. “Can I use this sword as the Reference Object for Myriad Alchemy?”
【Host initiates Myriad Alchemy request... Request confirming...】
【Does the Host confirm the use of ‘Handmaiden Elsa's Longsword’ as the Reference Object for Myriad Alchemy?】
Pandora took a deep breath, suddenly hesitant.
Confirm? Now?
No, it was too rash.
“Cancel!” she thought.
The voice in her mind cut off instantly. No fuss, no muss.
Pandora let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. But now she was certain: the longsword could be used as a 【Reference Object】.
But Myriad Alchemy also required her to invest 【Alchemical Elements】. All of her current elements came from Elsa. Based on the simplest understanding of equivalent exchange, the product made from just… her… probably wouldn't be that powerful, right?
The more you invest, the greater the return.
That simple principle had to apply here.
Her eyes swept the study, her gaze gradually sharpening.
She was the only daughter of Viscount Douglas. The future mistress of the manor. The things in this study… given the current circumstances, taking a little wouldn’t be too much, would it?
Not too much at all.
A grim smile touched her lips.
As if answering her own question, Pandora had already walked quickly to a heavy oak chair. She reached out, placing her hand on the cold chairback.
“Extract this,” she thought.
【Host initiates extraction request... Request confirming...】
【Does the Host confirm the extraction of ‘Expensive Oak Chair of Douglas Manor (1)’】
“Confirm!”
Another flash of white light, a little dimmer this time.
The chair vanished without a sound, leaving only a faint imprint on the floorboards.
