Alchemy Principles of Type-Moon World

Volume 45: Alchemy Apprentice from the Fourth War: . The Fifth Atomic Element

The park by the estuary was gradually shrouded in darkness. The last glimmer of sunset had vanished, and darkness quietly took over the world. Gilgamesh had departed long ago, perhaps leaving Xing Qingfeng with time to think.

The surroundings became quiet, with only the cold wind whistling in my ears, carrying the moist scent of sea water, making people feel a bit chilly.

Xing Qingyu stood up in the cold wind, dusted off the bench, and prepared to go home. He walked along the winding path toward the park exit. The shadows of the trees beside the road swayed under the dim streetlights. The street lights gradually lit up, stretching his shadow out very long, as if it would merge into the endless darkness.

Along the way, Xing Qingfeng could clearly sense the presence of at least four or five Assassins. These assassins roamed around Fuyuki City like ghosts, seemingly omnipresent and constantly monitoring his movements.

"What's going on with this Assassin..." Xing Qingfeng couldn't help but grumble in a low voice, "Could it be that some ninja participating in this Holy Grail War can also perform the clone technique?"

"Whose Servant is he anyway? He does nothing all day long but stares at others." Xing Qingfeng subconsciously forgot about the time when he was scared by these Assassins and ran away with his pancake cart. "I thought they would assassinate their Master at every turn."

But...why can I feel Assassin's gaze so clearly? But I don't feel it so clearly when facing the gaze of ordinary people?

Assassin, as a Servant, should have been more secretive about his existence, so how could he detect it so easily?

"Is it because of his special nature as a servant?" Xing Qingyu's doubts grew deeper and deeper.

"If the previous conjecture is correct, then when the Servant perceives me, is it also a kind of information exchange? Why is the interaction between the Servant and me easier to perceive..."

"What kind of interaction is this..." A term suddenly popped up in Xing Qingyu's mind, "Social relationship...?"

"Really... there's no evidence, only conjecture..." Xing Qingqi sighed, putting the question aside for the time being. "There are more and more conjectures, but there's no basis to prove them. I can only let my curiosity continue to grow. It's really unbearable..."

He quickened his pace, the cold wind whistling in his ears, and the doubts and thoughts in his heart were as unstoppable as the wind on this winter night. After crossing the dim streets, Xing Qingfeng finally arrived at the door of the Matou residence.

When he opened the door, he found that Diarmait was not slumped on the sofa watching TV as usual. It seemed that he had found something else to do.

Ever since Kenneth's three magic furnaces were taken away from him, in order not to affect his daily research, Kenneth forbade Diarmait from going out to provoke fights.

This made Diarmait a useless man who spent his time fishing during the day and watching TV and drinking at night. His only hope was to wait for a duel with Artoria, or for his lord to be suddenly attacked so that he could protect him loyally.

He didn't seem to realize that he was hoping Kennedy...Kenneth would be attacked.

Xing Qingwu didn't stay in the living room for long. He picked up two pancakes from the coffee table and ate them while walking towards the wooden stairs leading to the second floor.

He was indeed hungry.

As Xing Qingqi walked up the stairs, his mind was still reeling from the thoughts and questions he had pondered along the way. He took a bite of the pancake, chewed it, and pondered, before he knew it, he had reached the door of the second-floor laboratory.

Pushing open the laboratory door, he was greeted by a brightly lit room, where various precision instruments were neatly arranged. Newton was standing in front of a large experimental device, pen in hand, recording something on a data sheet.

It seems he really likes the various equipment spirits he got from Kenneth.

"Teacher, do Servants have actual bodies?" Xing Qingqi asked while chewing a pancake. "Or, in other words, what is the difference between the composition of Servants and normal people?"

Newton looked up at Xing Qingyu with some surprise. "It's been less than a day, and you've already found a clue to the problem? Not bad." He put down his pen, turned around, and began to answer Xing Qingyu's questions.

"The so-called 'flesh' of the Servant is actually composed of ether," Newton explained. "Ether is the necessary medium for the Servant to form a body, and it is also the necessary medium for the fusion with the four elements to form a body."

Newton looked at Xing Qingyu and smiled slightly, "Think carefully about what the properties of ether are similar to." He did not continue to explain, but let Xing Qingyu think for himself.

Xing Qingfeng fell into deep thought, trying to combine Newton's explanation with his existing knowledge.

"Ether..." he muttered to himself, "First of all, ether isn't absolutely necessary. It can be transformed from other substances, and it can also be replaced by other things."

"Just like when the true ether dissipates, there is ether created by the First Law to serve as a 'replacement'."

"I also know that Servants can actively transform into spirits, transforming into ghostly beings..."

"It feels a bit contradictory," Xing Qingfeng said. "It's just like the so-called 'ether' (a hypothetical concept in physics)."

"You're still too partial to certain subjects. Take some time to study more." Although he criticized Xing Qingjiu, Newton's face was full of affirmation. "You'll still need enough practice and training to fully unleash your talent."

"But it just so happens that I'm going to tell you about the fifth element that I told you you didn't need to understand."

"Actually, with so many phenomena on the table, your first consideration should be whether there's a field influencing them." Newton opened a drawer, took out two magnets, and placed them on the table. "If you don't fully integrate knowledge, it's no different from being stored in a book in your head."

Place a magnet on white paper, sprinkle a layer of iron powder around the Newton, tap the white paper a few times, and the iron powder will outline clear lines around the magnet, extending from one pole of the magnet to the other.

"Although they're not completely equivalent, we can use this model to facilitate understanding. Do you understand?" Newton asked Xing Qingfeng. "Don't consider it a correct model, but you can use it to assist in understanding."

"What do you think the so-called ether is here?"

"...die-hard fan?" Xing Qingwu answered tentatively.

"That's right." Newton waved his hand to brush off the iron powder on the paper, turned around, took out a can of metal powder and placed it in front of Xing Qingfeng, "Look, this is nickel."

Sprinkle nickel powder on white paper and tap the paper gently. The nickel powder will draw lines around the magnet that are exactly the same as the iron powder just now.

"The so-called ether may not refer to a single substance, or it may not be a substance, but a phenomenon?"

"That's right," Newton explained. "Of course, this is just an analogy. Don't consider the ether as a real substance, but it's enough to explain some phenomena."

Newton took out a small wooden stick and poked the lines made of nickel powder, disrupting them. Then he gently shook the paper, and the originally disrupted lines returned to their original shape.

"Sometimes we find that purely physical phenomena without any magic power seem unable to harm Servants. It seems that only Servants or substances carrying magic power can affect or harm Servants."

Newton placed another magnet on the paper, and the lines of nickel powder instantly changed noticeably. The lines quickly rearranged themselves to adapt to the new magnetic field distribution between the two magnets.

"But this phenomenon isn't absolute." Newton took out an alcohol blowtorch and pointed it at the magnet on the table. "Does this mean I can't influence Servants without magic?"

The flames burned the magnet, causing it to lose its magnetism in the high temperature, and the surrounding nickel powder naturally scattered and lost its previous regularity.

"It's just that we haven't found the key to the problem."

"Then we should consider whether this property comes from the properties of the 'ether' that constitutes the Servant's body, or from some other phenomenon at work." Newton turned to look at Xing Qingfeng, "What do you think?"

"The ether is affected by a certain field, forming the structure of the 'Servant's body'. Servants use this to directly interfere with other matter. Therefore, if you don't interfere with this field, it will be difficult to interfere with the structure of the so-called 'Servant's body'."

"Because the Servant's body only captures the surrounding ether and forms it into a specific structure, it does not destroy this field but simply destroys the structure formed on the surface, so naturally it has no effect."

Xing Qingfeng suddenly realized something was wrong. "Wait, isn't this very similar to the ether hypothesis that has been proposed in physics?"

"The so-called ether is a medium that fills space. Although it cannot be felt by human senses, it can transmit the effect of force."

"That's right. Then it was linked to the wave theory of light proposed by that dwarf Hooke, and became the carrier of light waves," Newton said. "Later, in the hands of Lorentz, the ether was reduced to some kind of abstract symbol. Apart from carrying electromagnetic vibrations, it no longer had any other movement or changes."

"In the end, it was completely disproven."

"Ether was originally just a substance that aided thinking. At its peak, etherology developed, but its existence was ultimately disproven."

"What magicians call ether is actually something similar to magic, but slightly different from regular magic. Although it's usually called ether to distinguish it from magic."

"But fundamentally, the two have very similar properties and can be categorized into the same general category. There are many phenomena that prove this, such as: when magic power is compressed, aether gathers, and when it is fired and focused on a target, aether splashes out."

"The so-called fifth element, ether, is not much different from the physical ether," Newton said. "It is both a hypothetical substance used to aid thinking."

"It exists only to facilitate theoretical thinking, like magnetic lines of force, distinguishing it from magic. Even if it doesn't exist in reality, we can still use its existence to facilitate theoretical advancement. On its own, it has no use."

"Just like in Lorentz's theory, the ether has no other physical properties except being the carrier of electromagnetic waves and the absolute reference system. They are completely imaginary products—"

"—That is, the fifth imaginary element, ether."

"So, what does the soul represent here?" Xing Qingqi asked, "Is it a 'magnet'?"

"Think about it yourself. That's all I can say." Newton shook his head. "I won't discuss the nature of the soul with you."

"Come on, I've already pushed it this far, teacher, do you really have to strangle me and watch me burn with desire for knowledge?"

"Then go practice a few more questions. I won't solve this problem for you. As a deceased person, I absolutely cannot influence your judgment on matters like this."

"If you can't help yourself, do a few more exercises. You still lack empirical experience. You've come up with a lot of conjectures, but you still lack the experience of independently completing empirical tests."

"When you are able to independently design experiments and complete empirical evidence, the fallacies in your conjectures will be negated by real-world phenomena, and the answers will naturally become clear to you."

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"Haa..." Xing Qingyu collapsed on the sofa, drinking beer and watching TV, so as to divert his thoughts from the mystery that he could not solve for the time being.

"So you're going to the Einzbern base tomorrow to deal with Saber?" Xing Qingfeng emptied his beer can. "The Holy Grail War is almost over."

"Diarmuid and I will go to Einzbern this afternoon, leaving him to deal with Saber."

"You're not going to be there?"

"It's pointless. Just leave Diarmait alone. It doesn't matter who wins. In the end, it will all be up to the knight to finish the job."

"I might as well take advantage of this time to educate my useless student."

"It sounds like you care about that kid a lot," Xing Qingqi tossed a can of beer to Kenneth, "Do you mind if he steals your relic?"

"It doesn't seem like a big deal." Kenneth thought for a moment, "Actually, you can't say that the kid is completely without talent."

"He just didn't see anything clearly, neither his surroundings nor himself."

"Do you look like such a generous person?" Xing Qingfeng looked at Kenneth in surprise. "You're still talking about taking your three magic furnaces, but you're going to let him go so easily if he stole a holy relic from you?"

"You think I don't know how stingy you are?"

"Fuck! Do you know what level of magic furnace that is?" Kenneth cursed angrily. It was hard to imagine that he, who was once obsessed with aristocratic etiquette, could do such a thing. "As for Weber, of course I won't let him go just like that."

"I don't want to get involved in the Clock Tower's trivial matters anymore. I plan to leave these trivial matters to other people when I return."

"Anyway, if Jazz ends up like that, he won't be able to win the Holy Grail War." Kayneth smiled. "Ha, let that kid sign a contract to sell himself, and then hand over the chores to him bit by bit. Tell him that this is to cultivate his growth."

"In the end, I'll push all the trivial matters onto him, and then tell him that this is giving him resources to show his talents. This kid will definitely work for me loyally then."

"Then I'll be free to do what I want."

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It can be regarded as a secondary setting to explain some problems, using the magnetic field as a metaphor to explain why the servants are not harmed by modern weapons.

There are inevitably many secondary settings involved here, and I have tried my best to avoid any contradictions with the original work. If you have any questions, please feel free to raise them. I will refer to them and make modifications. Thank you!

New author, new book, please vote and give suggestions!

Volume 46: Alchemy's Apprentice from the Fourth War: . The True Messiah

"The Fuyuki City government announced that it will strengthen supervision of natural gas companies..."

At this moment, in the spacious living room of the Matou residence, Xing Qingjiu was lazily sitting on the sofa, holding a can of beer in his hand. The slightly cool metal can felt a little damp in his hand.

Sunlight streamed in through the window, illuminating his slightly tired face. He took a sip of his cold beer, the air thick with the faint aroma of alcohol. He stared at the screen, his eyes wandering aimlessly, appearing somewhat bored.

"The Holy Grail War is almost over," he muttered to himself. "After the teacher takes care of Gilgamesh and that Alexander tonight, it should be gone."

The living room window was open, and the slightly chilly breeze that flowed in reminded him that it was early winter, and it also slightly dispelled the lazy smell of alcohol in the living room. Xing Qingjiu suddenly felt something was wrong and frowned.

"Strange, did I miss something?" He scratched his head and carefully recalled the Servants who participated in the Holy Grail War, "Saber, Lancer, Archer, Rider..."

"Hmm? Where's Assassin?" Xing Qingyu suddenly sensed something was wrong. "What's this? Is his presence so low that I subconsciously forgot about him? He's truly Assassin, even the teacher can be influenced by him."

He stood up, feeling the chill of the breeze more pronounced. He walked to the window and closed it slightly, leaving a gap to let in fresh air.

"If Assassin's Master could sense that the Holy Grail War would end tonight, he would definitely take some action..." Xing Qingqi casually threw the empty can out of the window, watching it land accurately in the garbage bag in the yard. He smiled with satisfaction, "With an intelligence network covering the entire Fuyuki City, what choice will he make..."

"Thinking about it, there don't seem to be many targets..." Xing Qingwu stood up, walked to the cupboard, opened the door, and took out the golden cup that Gilgamesh had given him. He weighed the cup in his hand, feeling its weight and texture, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

He placed the cup in his bag, straightened his collar, and walked out of the Matou residence. The air outside was crisp and cold, and the early winter sun shone obliquely on him. Xing Qing looked up at the sky and took a deep breath.

"Oh no, someone is going to be in trouble. Now we have to go to the special seats to watch the game."

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After contacting Kiritsugu Emiya, Kayneth and Diarmait set off for the forest outside Fuyuki - the Einzbern family's base in Fuyuki.

It was early winter afternoon. Sunlight filtered through the bare branches, casting dappled shadows across the ground. The branches swayed gently in the chill wind, making a dry rustling sound, like a crowd of bloodthirsty spectators booing for the coming battle. The sky, clear as day, turned to overcast and gray, as if casting a heavy atmosphere over the duel itself.

Upon learning that Fuyuki's Greater Holy Grail could not possibly fulfill his wish, Emiya Kiritsugu simply gave up. He possessed considerable self-awareness, realizing that continuing to participate in the Holy Grail War would only result in more unnecessary bloodshed and sacrifice. As for Emiya Kiritsugu's employers, the Einzbern family, upon learning of Newton's participation in the Holy Grail War, informed him of his withdrawal from the war.

Although he has not given up his ideals, he has a wife and a daughter, and his mentality has long been unable to return to his former determination in nearly ten years. It is probably only a matter of time before he reconciles with himself.

He stood at the gate of the Einzbern stronghold, lost in thought. A chilling wind brushed against his face, bringing a biting chill that made him pull his collar tighter. The woods were empty, without a single leaf. Only the bare branches swayed in the cold wind, as if telling him of the loneliness of winter.

"Since we've given up the Holy Grail War, let Altria do whatever she wants." Kiritsugu Emiya thought, his eyes falling on Kayneth and Diarmait who were slowly walking not far away, and he left silently.

He knew that as the culprit who had bombed the hotel where Kenneth was staying, it was best for him not to show up at this time. He allowed Ellie and Altria to face the enemy while he retreated to a distance and quietly observed everything.

After leaving the base, Kiritsugu walked along the path deeper into the woods. The cold wind grew stronger, rustling the hem of his coat like a battle flag fluttering in the wind. The dead branches on the ground creaked under his feet, as if responding to the heaviness in his heart.

Behind him, the Assassins hiding in the shadows were also nervously watching the upcoming duel.

"I hope this all ends well." Kiritsugu murmured softly and continued to walk forward until his figure disappeared into the depths of the woods.

Behind him, the cold wind continued to howl, the branches still swaying. The Assassins gradually emerged from the shadows, silently encircling the entire forest.

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Gilgamesh drank his wine while waiting for something.

A few days ago, this was a bustling warehouse street, the seaside docks ablaze with lights, and workers busily moving all kinds of goods. However, the cold-weapon battle destroyed all of this. The once bustling and noisy place was now only dead and dilapidated.

As night fell, the moonlight shone on the ruins ravaged by battle, making it look particularly desolate.

The broken stone walls cast mottled shadows in the moonlight, and the remains of the collapsed warehouse lay across the ground like the bones of a giant beast. The ground was covered with deep and shallow pits, and in some places, charred wood and metal debris could be seen.