The most shameless alchemist in history

This gives one a sense of a hero's decline. While all the young people are obsessed with gunpowder, firearms, and machinery, Dure has a special affection for the ancient discipline of alchemy. Now, outside the library of Maple Leaf Academy, he hears people talking about alchemy.

The use of the word "shadow" made Dure feel as if he had traveled through time, reliving the glorious era when alchemy once ruled everything in the pages of history. This caused the pores on Dure's body to open instantly, and cold sweat broke out.

"Did you see that?" The refined man calmly observed Du Lei's every move. The frail boy remained standing in front of the faceless statue, his chest heaving violently, his hands clenched into fists, and his whole body trembling.

If an outsider saw this scene, they would definitely think that this guy had gone completely mad, but the man knew clearly that the moment Dure stood in front of the statue, his consciousness was sucked into the vortex of history and glimpsed the darkest moment in history.

"That's right, that's right." Du Lei's body convulsed, his face turned ashen and pale, his breathing became rapid, and he could not speak fluently. He was completely different from before, but this only lasted for a few breaths.

"What did you see?" the man asked again after confirming that Dure had indeed seen something.

"I saw it." Dure's mental state was still unstable. If Lance saw him like this, he would be very surprised, because in Lance's memory, Dure was always a calm and reliable person who could always formulate a strategy in the first place.

"Don't rush, calm down. What do you see? Is it the sky, the sea, light, or an endless plain?" The man offered several options, trying to guide Dure to describe what he saw. It was clear that he cared a lot about this.

“It’s a city.” It took Dure a long time to calm himself down. He took a deep breath and slowly answered the other person’s question.

"What city?" A glint of light flashed in the man's eyes, and he immediately pressed for an answer.

"Didn't you see?" After regaining his composure, Du Lei realized that he didn't recognize the man in front of him, and the other man seemed a little anxious, which aroused his suspicion, so he immediately asked back.

"What I saw was a babbling brook, beautiful girls washing clothes by the brook, a clear sky, green grass, and young riders riding by on horseback," the man roughly described the scene he saw.

"Wasn't what we saw different?" Dure nodded, recalling the scene he had just witnessed. There was no stream or girl in sight.

“Yes, everyone sees something different, so tell me, what’s wrong with the city you see?” the man asked, looking into Dure’s eyes.

"A riot broke out in the city, and the army entered to suppress innocent civilians. It was chaotic," Dure described the scene he had just witnessed.

"Was the army entering the city the Iron Wheel Fort incident eight years ago?" The man pondered, quickly finding relevant information in his mind.

Dure frowned, not understanding what the "Iron Wheel Fort Incident" referred to.

"Ironwheel Fortress is a fortress in the northern part of the Mountain Kingdom, bordering our Snow Kingdom. Due to historical reasons, the Snow Kingdom and the Mountain Kingdom have always been in a state of hostility. Therefore, the Mountain Kingdom has deployed heavy troops to defend Ironwheel Fortress, and the Iron Lion Legion has long been in a standoff with the Silver Frost Legion," the man explained.

“The Silverfrost Legion?” Dure chewed on the name. The Silverfrost Legion was not unfamiliar to him. He had encountered a Snowfield Wolf attack while traveling by train to Maple City and passing through the snowfield. It was the Silverfrost Legion that came to their rescue.

"Yes, it is the Silver Frost Legion, one of the three elite legions of the Snow Kingdom. They are responsible for the defense of the southern front of the Snow Kingdom. The Iron Lion Legion is the elite of the northern front of the Mountain Kingdom. It is the second largest legion after the Divine Mountain Guard, which protects the capital of the Mountain Kingdom. They are especially good at mountain defense."

The man was very knowledgeable and had a great understanding of the Land of Snow and the Land of Mountains.

"I see. Then what does the Ironwheel Fortress incident refer to?" Du Lei nodded and continued to ask.

"The Mountain Country is composed of two major ethnic groups: the Mountain Clan and the Iron Clan. As can be seen from the country's name, the Mountain Clan holds a dominant position, while the Iron Clan is located in the north of the Mountain Country. They are the same ethnic group as the Iron Clan of the Iron Country, but they have been stationed in the Mountain Country for historical reasons."

The man continued to explain that the geopolitical situation in the Mountain Kingdom is extremely complex due to its geographical location, and most people simply cannot understand it. If it were Lance, he would probably have fainted and passed out long ago.

"So the Ironwheel Fortress incident was caused by a conflict between the Mountain Clan and the Iron Clan within the Mountain Kingdom?" Following the man's train of thought, Du Lei quickly sorted out his thoughts.

“That’s true. The Iron Clan is also known as the descendants of the Iron People. They worship the Iron Dragon, while the Mountain Clan worships the Mountain Dragon. There is a big difference in their beliefs. It’s just that their geographical environment binds them together, so conflict is inevitable.” The man nodded.

"Even though they both believe in dragons, can they have disagreements and conflicts because of the different dragon species? As for dragons..." Dure recalled the scene he had just witnessed. He wasn't as straightforward as Lance; he wouldn't tell the truth without knowing the other party's background.

His answer was only a part of what he saw.

"What happened to the dragon?" the other party immediately seized on this key point and asked.

"It's nothing, just curious. By the way, do dragons really exist in this world?" Du Lei shook his head and immediately changed the subject.

“There are dragons.” The man nodded affirmatively.

181 Memory Scene

After Dure entered the library, he realized that the man who had been talking to him was the librarian, Winster, who was also the history teacher at the college. Although Winster looked gentle and refined, without any sense of muscle or imposing presence, he was only in his early twenties.

To become a teacher at an academy of Maple Leaf's caliber at such a young age is certainly no ordinary person. Furthermore, his erudition astonished Dure. No matter the subject, Winster could speak fluently about it; he was practically a walking, talking library.

"Professor Winster, does that mean the faceless statue is a tribute to the first person in the world to use alchemy?" After talking with Winster, Dure finally understood the origin of the unique statue located at the top of the steps.

"It's either a commemoration or a punishment, or perhaps not. Bringing alchemy into this world brought both prosperity and destruction." Winster shook his head, revealing a complex and contradictory attitude towards alchemy, one that was both affirmative and negative.

"But why is it that I have hallucinations only when I stand in front of this statue, even though I'm fine when I stand in front of other statues?" Du Lei asked again.

“It’s less of an illusion and more of a glimpse into the past,” Winster corrected Durrell’s wording.

"Seeing the past" is something Dure finds somewhat incomprehensible.

“What you saw was the Ironwheel Fortress incident, which is the real past, and what I saw was the girl I dreamed of in my youth. These are all real events, so they are not illusions, but just images from my memories,” Winster continued.

“The scenes I’ve seen in my memories are all real, but I’ve never been to Ironwheel Fortress, that’s for sure.” Dure shook his head. He’s not even fourteen years old yet, and eight years ago he was not even six. He remembers clearly that he was in Hot Spring Village back then.

"Do you believe your memory?" Winster suddenly asked.

"What did you say?" Dure seemed not to have heard clearly.

“It’s nothing. It just so happens that eight years ago, an alchemist passed through Maple City. He heard that there was a stone statue at Maple Leaf Academy commemorating the first nameless alchemist in history, so he came to see it. Originally, the statue had a face, which was drawn by the craftsman based on his imagination,” the man said.

"But why is it gone now?" Du Lei was very curious about this question and immediately asked.

"It is said that the alchemist stood in front of the statue for a day and a night. When he left, the statue became what it is now, without features, its face empty. And from then on, the statue gained this strange ability to let people see things from the past," the man continued to explain.

"So, whether it's the faceless alchemist or the ability to see illusions or past events, it's all the work of that passing alchemist. What's his name?" Dure pressed on with this question.

"I've asked about this before, but the only person who knew the answer just smiled and said nothing." The man seemed somewhat helpless about it.

"Who is the only one who knows the answer?" Dure asked again.

“It was the old dean. Eight years ago, I was only thirteen years old and an apprentice. I wasn’t at Maple Leaf Academy. The person who knew the most about Maple Leaf Academy was naturally that elusive old dean.” Winster answered Durei truthfully.

"The old dean is Elune's grandfather." Dure had heard a bit about the academy and knew that Elune, whom he had met before, was the dean's granddaughter. That was why she was so unrestrained in the academy, and Charlotte didn't dare to do anything about her.

“That’s right. Miss Elune is the old headmaster’s only granddaughter and a very talented young woman. However, her personality is a bit too extreme. But that’s not her fault, after all, her parents are like that.” Winster knew a lot about the academy and knew about Elune’s situation.

"Her parents?" Dure was taken aback; it was the first time he had ever heard anything about Elune's parents.

“Forget it, that’s all in the past, and it wasn’t a good thing anyway, so let’s not bring it up. Your name is Dure, right? You seem to be very interested in alchemy.” Winster shook his head, glossing over the issue of Elune’s parents, but judging from his expression, the topic was unpleasant.

“I’m interested in all subjects, alchemy is just one of them. But Professor Winster, is the library still open so late?” Dure cleverly changed the subject of alchemy as he looked into the library, which was at least seven or eight meters high.

The huge bookshelves were neatly arranged with books, and there was a staircase next to the bookshelves. To get the books on the upper shelves, you had to use the stairs. Standing in the library, Du Lei felt as if he had entered a giant forest.

“Normally the library is only open during the day, but…” Winster smiled, then paused.

"But what?" Du Lei immediately pressed, his heart already pounding with delight at the sight of so many books.

“However, if you can answer my question, it’s not impossible for you to stay in the library to read at night,” Winster said slowly.

"What problem?" Dure frowned. He didn't think that someone as learned as Winster could have any problem that Winster didn't know but he himself knew. This was completely misjudging the subject.

"What exactly did you see in history?" Winster's expression suddenly turned serious as he squinted and scrutinized Dure's eyes.

This put immense pressure on Du Lei. In that instant, he suddenly realized that the person standing in front of him was not a gentle and refined teacher, but an extremely dangerous individual. This feeling of unease made him involuntarily take a step back, his body taut and straight.

"Hahaha, don't be nervous, I was just joking. What you're seeing is your memory, not mine. I don't have the habit of prying into other people's memories, so please go ahead." Winster's expression softened immediately, and he said with a smile.

"What?" Dure was a little confused by Winster, completely unable to figure out what he was up to.

“I told you you can go read books. The library is open for you all day long. Of course, only the first floor is open, because I am only responsible for managing the first floor, while the teachers on the upper floors are managed by seven other teachers. So let’s start with the first floor. I’m looking forward to seeing how far you can go.”

Winster pointed to the bookshelves in front of him, speaking casually when he mentioned the first floor. However, Durei felt a chill run down his spine as he looked around. The massive bookshelves, each three meters tall, were all numbered, with ten bookshelves per row, and there were at least twenty rows of bookshelves on the entire floor.

He'd go crazy if he tried to read all the books here!

182 We're going to be late.

As the morning sunlight streamed through the window and shone on the boy's profile, he was asleep, leaning against the bookshelf. A multitude of books were scattered haphazardly on the floor, making him appear as if he were submerged in a sea of ​​books. The candle on the chandelier had solidified around its edge and was about to dry up.

Birds perched on the windowsill, chirping and chattering, but this was not enough to wake the boy from his sweet dream. However, when he heard light footsteps some distance away, his tightly closed eyes suddenly opened, and at the same time he sprang up from the ground, stooping back a step.

"Don't be nervous. This is the Maple Leaf Academy library, not a dangerous jungle. There won't be any suspicious people here. Even in this environment, you still maintain a high level of vigilance at all times?" The person who walked over was none other than Winters, the librarian of the first floor of the library. He spoke in a gentle voice.

"Oh, it's Teacher Winster. Is it already dawn? Yawn, I fell asleep without realizing it. That's really not good." The boy yawned lazily, squinting at the window. The bright sunshine lifted his spirits; it was a rare and beautiful day.

"Du Lei really loves reading. Did you finish reading all these books last night?" Winster asked, pointing to the mess scattered all over the floor.

"I'm sorry, I was so engrossed in reading yesterday that I put the book aside after I finished and forgot to tidy it up. It just ended up like this without me realizing it. I'll tidy it up right away." It was Du Lei who realized that there were dozens of books messily placed next to him, and he immediately picked them up and prepared to put them back on the bookshelf.

“It’s okay, I used to do this kind of thing all the time. By the way, speaking of which, Durei, you’re a freshman, right?” Winster suddenly asked.

"Sigh, it's hard to imagine that someone as serious as Mr. Winster would make such a mess of books. Yes, I'm a freshman, so what?" In Du Lei's memory, Winster was someone who could tidy up everything perfectly, even though he had only known Winster for less than a day.

However, Dure couldn't help but admire Winster's attention to detail; it's not easy for one person to manage such a large library so well.

"Since you're a freshman, you should be attending your first class today, right?" Winster said with a smile to Dure, who was standing on tiptoe, sorting books and putting them back on the shelves. But the shelves were too high, and he was struggling due to his limited height, making him look quite comical.

"Oh no, class is a disaster! I have class today, how could I forget? I'm going to be late!" Du Lei suddenly remembered this. He glanced at the wall clock; it was already 7:55, less than five minutes before class started at 8:00.

"It's not good to be late for the first lesson, and today's teacher should be Ms. Nono. I advise you to get there early, given her temper." The image of a beautiful girl appeared in Winster's mind, and for some reason, he cast a sympathetic look at Dure.

“But here…” Du Lei looked at the mess on the ground, all of which he had caused. It would be irresponsible of him to leave without cleaning it up.

“Leave this to me, you go quickly.” Winster gestured for Dure to leave quickly and pointed to the time.

"It's really too much to ask you for this, Professor Winster," Dure still hesitated.

"Consider it a favor you owe me. Trust me, you don't want to see Teacher Nono's wrath," Winster urged again.

"I understand. Then I'll leave this to you, Professor Winster. Goodbye." Dure had also sensed something was amiss. Winster didn't seem to be trying to scare him. With a bad feeling, he immediately ran out of the library. As he left the library, the brilliant spring sunshine poured down on him.

"Durey is quite an interesting young man," Winster remarked as he slowly walked to the library entrance, watching the direction Durey had left in.

“He’s also an unfortunate young man, cough cough.” Someone spoke behind Winster, but only a blurry black figure could be seen in the corner. His voice was hoarse and hesitant, with a sense of weakness. In fact, one could tell from his black cloak that he was indeed thin.

“Unfortunate? There are too many unfortunate things in this world. He just happened to encounter several at once,” Winster sighed.

“Perhaps when all the misfortunes come together, it becomes a lucky thing,” another voice rang out from the corner on the other side. The voice was charming and alluring, clearly belonging to a very attractive woman. In fact, a woman soon walked over.

She wore a fiery red bodysuit that accentuated her curves, and had long, wavy, wine-red hair. She looked like a blazing flame, a flame full of passion and beauty.

"Perhaps." Winster shook his head. He was a cautious man, and cautious men never make hasty judgments.

"That great moment is drawing ever closer." A sickly man, shrouded in a black robe in the darkness, looked up at the sky. The sky was bright and clear; with the arrival of early spring, the cold winter was gradually being dispelled, and the ice on the rivers was about to melt—a season of renewal for all things.

Meanwhile, outside the No. 4 teaching building of the academy, students entered the classrooms one after another. These were all freshmen who had just enrolled. They were not familiar with each other and had only met once before in the previous test. Now they had entered Maple Leaf Academy after passing through many rounds of screening.

They became classmates here, and went to different classrooms to take their seats. Lance and Kelly parted ways when they reached the second floor. According to the previous class division, Kelly had class on the second floor, while Lance and Dure had class on the fourth floor. Lance hesitated at the classroom door.

"What happened? Dure didn't come back all night last night. I don't know where he went. Could he have been kidnapped and murdered? After all, he's offended so many people since entering the academy. Let me count: Charlotte, Elune, the young lady, and..."

Lance was very worried about Dure's situation. After all, they had gone through the entrance exam, and without Dure's help, he would never have been able to stand here. Now, he had finally achieved his wish to become a member of the academy and enter the classroom of Maple Leaf Academy to start attending classes.

But Dure has yet to appear, which inevitably leads Lance to make some uneasy speculations.

"No, Dure must have been captured by them! Waaah, my dear friend, we still have great ideals to fulfill, how could you abandon me? I will definitely avenge you!" The more Lance thought about it, the more serious the consequences became, and he was almost about to burst into tears.