Alchemists do not need self-cultivation

The professor gracefully raised the booklet in his hand and smiled at Isaac.

"Your power also comes from this book."

"what?"

Isaac was a little confused. Ever since he met this guy called Professor, he had been talking about things like "phantom books," and now he was saying that his abilities came from books.

“I obtained this book by chance. Although its location and origin are unknown, it was already a ‘phantom manuscript’ when I found it,” the professor explained. “The part I found clearly says ‘Chapter Two’ on it. I suppose if I collect all the missing chapters, it will become a ‘phantom book’ with supreme power.”

“What ‘phantom book’ and ‘phantom manuscript’? I don’t understand any of that,” Isaac frowned. “Are you trying to say that the little book you’re holding is the source of your alchemy?”

“Yes, the knowledge contained here is simply too tempting~ I want to collect all of its chapters.” A look of longing suddenly flashed across the professor’s face. “I call it the Book of All Things, and some of its chapters are in your hands.”

Isaac: "..."

He seemed to have sensed that something was wrong.

"Um...may I ask you about that little booklet you're holding...does it contain anything about human transmutation or something like that?"

"Huh? You know that?"

"...Could you please turn to page six and see if there's a pig in the bottom left corner?"

"Ok?"

Following Isaac's instructions, the professor turned to page six of the book.

Just as Isaac had said, there was indeed a strange-looking pig in the bottom left corner of the book.

This time it was the professor's turn to be curious: "How did you know?"

"That's right, back then, when Calvin was bored, he drew a 'Peppa Pig' on it. Of course, it was just a draft and hadn't been officially published yet, so I just left it there without erasing it."

"That is to say..."

"You're the author of this book!?" the green-haired girl next to the professor exclaimed.

"Hmm, so the second chapter is in your hands. Then can you give it to me?" Isaac stretched out his hand. "After all, my purpose in coming to this world is to retrieve the book I wrote. It's really troublesome that it's in your hands."

"...How many chapters have you written in total?"

“Actually, there aren’t many. Including the introduction, there are four chapters in total. The one you got happens to be the most troublesome one, which contains all the taboos of alchemy,” Isaac said. “The others are fine, but I have to destroy the chapter you have.”

This was not only unexpected by the professor, but also by Isaac.

He just wrote a textbook; do you think textbooks have become sentient beings now?

The professor smiled slightly and said slowly, "If possible, I very much hope that you can finish writing this book as soon as possible."

"Stop joking around, this is a teaching material. Slow and steady wins the race."

"Textbooks?"

The little girl suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

"You want everyone to know the knowledge contained here?"

“Not everyone, but the goal is to train them on a large scale, at least enough that even a fool could understand it,” Isaac said with a smile. “But Professor, you have quite a talent. Chapter Two was clearly meant to warn students not to break taboos, and it barely touched on alchemy. Yet you learned alchemy just from those simple explanations. You have quite a talent.”

"No, I didn't learn it."

The professor held up the booklet in his hand and said.

"This book alone can activate alchemy."

"what?"

“So I told you long ago, this is a phantom book,” the little girl interjected. “It’s a book from an ancient library that should have been burned or lost. It’s a phantom book that shouldn’t exist in the world, containing all sorts of ‘powers’ such as lightning strikes, the summoning of monsters, and the secrets to obtaining demonic power.”

"...My teaching materials have truly become magical."

“I understand your thoughts, but it would be such a waste to destroy it. Could you please grant me a few days to finish reading the book?”

"You wish! This book must never fall into the hands of anyone in this world."

As Isaac spoke, the crimson lightning in his hand began to flicker.

Since the contents of Chapter Two must be destroyed anyway, it doesn't matter if these two are destroyed together.

"What a pity."

The professor tugged at his white bowler hat, a strange smile playing on his lips.

"I thought we could become companions."

"I don't want what you think, I want what I think."

He stretched out his hand and snapped his fingers. In an instant, a ghostly blue flame ignited where the professor and the little girl were standing. The temperature was so high that the surrounding air began to distort.

When the flames died down, the two figures were no longer in front of Isaac.

Nothing was left but the charred ground.

"...Did they escape?"

However, it wasn't a complete loss; at least we learned the specific direction of the investigation.

Chapter 966: The Trajectory of Growth

"A phantom book...? Is it a power unique to this era? Or unique to this world?"

Isaac crouched down, looking at the charred ground he had burned.

The two people from earlier escaped, and Isaac could sense that their auras vanished at the same time, rather than using an illusion to get away.

This is probably the power of the phantom book activated by that guy who calls himself 'Professor'.

However, by some twist of fate, the textbooks I wrote became what they called "phantom books," which made things rather complicated.

An ordinary person could become an alchemist simply by holding his original manuscript, and judging from the strength that the professor displayed, he was only one step away from becoming a national alchemist even in Amestris, and he didn't seem to be taking it seriously.

"So the only way to find my teaching materials is to look for transmutation reactions... That's troublesome."

The textbook he wrote, including the introduction, has four chapters. Although he doesn't know what effect these four chapters will have as a magical book, it's very likely that they have created four alchemists in this era. If someone is impatient, they would probably use their alchemy skills to flaunt their abilities everywhere, but if someone like the professor clearly prefers to hide in the shadows, it will be very difficult to deal with them; finding them will take quite a bit of effort.

With these doubts in mind, Isaac walked along the road to the place where Edward and Nona had agreed to meet.

Upon arriving, they found Edward sitting inside, looking quite wary.

"Oh, it's you."

Edward breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the person who came was Isaac.

"What about those people?"

“He’s gone,” Isaac said. “Alphonse seems to be doing quite well too. The rocket model has successfully completed its test flight, and they should be able to find investors.”

"That's good."

"Let's go back now, Miss Nona. Where do you live?"

"...I have no home."

“I think so too. If the Gypsies had a home in Germany, they wouldn’t have been sold off.”

Isaac turned to Edward and asked, "What do you think we should do?"

"How about... we hide in Alphonse's house first?"

-

In this world, Isaac and Edward both stayed at Alphonse's house. It was a bit troublesome for the three of them to live under one roof, but fortunately Alphonse's house was big enough.

Now that Nona has joined the family, the house's capacity has reached its limit.

"I'm so sorry, I might have to trouble you during this time."

“No, no, there’s just one empty room left,” Alphonse said with a smile. “I heard from Isaac that Edward rescued you, right?”

"Ah, yes."

Nona nodded.

Isaac had specifically instructed her not to reveal anything about alchemy, so when Alphonse asked her a question, she deliberately omitted the scene of Isaac taking action.

"I never expected Edward to be interested in a girl like you."

Alphonse laughed, but beneath the smile lay a meaningful sense of nostalgia.

"That Edward guy, how should I put it, he always seems to be indifferent to everyone, doesn't want to get close to anyone, and is always talking about things from another world."

"another world……"

Nona seemed to ponder this.

She had seen a glimpse of something when she touched Edward, something that happened in a world different from this one.

When Nona touched Isaac, she saw the same thing. It seemed to be two similar worlds, but unlike Edward's beautiful memories filled with people's smiles, the scenes Isaac saw always seemed to be filled with constant war.

Two identical worlds, yet the two people see completely different scenes.

"Alright, I'm leaving now."

Alphonse stood up from his seat and gave Nona a hearty smile.

"We'll soon have our own factory, and we'll have a lot to get busy with from now on."

"it is good……"

Just as Alphonse left his house, Edward also came out of his room, wearing a leather trench coat and seemingly preparing to go out.

Seeing this, Nona followed.

"Edward...did you grow up here?"

"No, not really. I used to live in England with Isaac and my dad. When the war reached London, it took us a lot of effort to escape. After that, we came to Germany. I don't know where my dad is now."

Edward explained with a smile.

"armor……"

"Ok?"

“I saw...you walking with the armor, and a kind smile. That must be your mother. And there was a village nestled in the beautiful grassland. You say these are all stories, but these are all what I ‘saw’.”

Edward, who was walking ahead, paused, a hint of melancholy flashing in his eyes.

"What is the world you live in... really like?"