Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Marina felt like she was the protagonist in the legends those barts sang about. She thought she was the chosen one.

She was indeed a rare one, as she had been saved by a mysterious person from demons in her village. Then, she had been taken in as a student by a stranger. After that, she overcame her problems, acquired knowledge, and reached the peak of her life!

Then, there was the turning point. She accidentally met her teacher's teacher, who gave her a gift. He was an even more mysterious and strong person than her own teacher. He was also the founder of the wizard tower!

The gift was a mysterious creature that was known as a mechanical doll. Even after all these years, Marina still didn't understand how a mechanical doll was made, but this didn't stop her from being excited to own one!

Marina found that, even though she could not reproduce her mechanical doll, it was still very helpful for her to have it. In fact, it proved to be the strongest alchemy a.s.sistant, which also provided her with loads of inspiration.

Marina had named the mechanical doll Archimonde. She also named the mermaid that the merchant had given her. The mermaid's name was Gina.

Then, with the support of her mentor Akkad, Marina created something that defined alchemy. She called it the alchemy table.

The first generation alchemy table was very simple. It was made from metallic cells that Marina had made based on her study of the cells of Archimonde. However, the extraction of metallic cells was very difficult. Therefore, Marina slowly figured out a way to copy metallic cells after observing the super regeneration power of Archimonde.

This ingenious method utilized copying, not producing. So, all of the metallic cells originated from Archimonde!

Alchemy tables could be controlled by every wizard apprentice via mind power. This allowed them to create and modify things according to their thoughts. In this way, alchemy processes that were previously too difficult to complete were all replaced by this alchemy table!

The first generation alchemy table was very simple, as it only had one application. Even though it was basic, it helped speed up the production process drastically, allowing for the production of some amazing products!

Thanks to this invention, the once rare guns and alchemy cannons started to become commonplace equipment at sea. The sailors started to use these guns to defend themselves against sea monsters.

For example, man-eating blood eagles and groups of black magical snakes were easily warded off and killed. These monsters didn't have any special abilities, but were very abundant.

Even with priests and holy knights...o...b..ard, these monsters were still hard to fight off. As the guns and alchemy cannons could damage them, this made them invaluable.

However, this kind of artillery was not so popular on land. Aside from some cities that were still buying alchemy cannons for protection, the guns were mostly bought as souvenirs.

One reason for this was that these things were expensive. So, they couldn't be bought in big quant.i.ties. Also, the Blood Knights' melee weapons were far stronger than the guns. Moreover, they offered no combat advantage, except for the fact that sometimes the alchemy cannons could be used to defend smaller cities.

In the 115th year of the San Calendar, alchemists' rose in strength and number within the Tuten Dynasty. They brought new many changes to the country, pus.h.i.+ng forward its evolution. Instead of having them filled by wizards and priests, the alchemists quickly took over all of the major positions of power.

The alchemists soon co-mingled with the wizards, since they had branched off from them. They were also welcomed by the people, as they brought positive change and wealth with them. After their arrival, many people wanted to become alchemists, as it was considered to be a miracle occupation that made people become rich overnight!

After the first generation of alchemists graduated from Akkad Alchemy College, some people stayed on, while others left for other cities. Though many people didn't have the potentials to become wizards or alchemists, they could still learn a large amount of knowledge during their time at the college. These people were awarded graduation certificates, but not alchemist badges.

However, even those normal graduates who didn't become alchemists were still in high demand by many n.o.bles and leaders. As such, a large number of graduates rushed into each city within the Tuten Dynasty, looking to be employed by such top powers. This influx had greatly impacted the country.

Strange new products had started to appear in the country, as some of the graduates had become pharmacists and established pharmaceutical workshops. As a result, many cures to different diseases had been created and spread around. This allowed many people who couldn't afford doctors to be saved.

Some of the graduates had become blacksmiths. They learned how to make iron tools and built blacksmith workshops. They also learned how to make gla.s.s products and clocks.

The popularity of workshops had quickly risen in the Tuten Dynasty in the past few years as well, causing the owners and the workers within them to become an important cla.s.s in the country.

Many of them also became builders, politicians, artists and doctors. As for the true alchemists, they became treasures to the n.o.bles, as every alchemist represented a large amount of wealth.

As for Akkad's most special students, some of them stayed at the college to teach or work for the studio. Some of them returned to their hometowns to build their own alchemy colleges, copying the model of the Akkad Alchemy College.

Some of them even built their own studios. These were the ones who were particularly drawn to explore more alchemy knowledge in an attempt to make more perfect and more powerful alchemy products.

It was during this time that many of the Tuten Dynasty's alchemy products rushed into the Alen Continent, quickly becoming popular in the human world and the orc kingdoms. As a result, countless wealth flowed into the Tuten Dynasty.

However, this gathering of wealth triggered changes within the cla.s.ses of the society. It also triggered many conflicts among other countries, as outsiders began to become jealous and crave such wealth for themselves.

Meanwhile, back in Tut City, Marina was staring at an alchemy table on the top floor of the Akkad tilted tower. Many mechanical arms were going through many processes. Archimonde would place parts on the table to be processed, then would take them out to a.s.semble them. Finally, a bionic arm was created!

"Good Job Archimonde!" Marina took off her gla.s.ses and let out a deep breath. "We finally created a bionic arm! As I expected, we were able to successfully use metallic cells to create it. This way, we can help disabled, armless commoners function as normal citizens again!"

This idea had been inspired by her teacher, Akkad, who took the right arm of the special magical beast Minotaur and modified it. This was not something that was easy to do! In contrast, this bionic arm that Marina had created could be used by everyone!

She was excited to think of this accessibility for commoners, but after some consideration, she tensed her face and murmured, "But, with this current production cost, its price is indeed a bit too high…"

Marina pouted. The arm could connect to the neuron only if every part were built by metallic cells. However, the metallic cells were very expensive.

This made Marina very sad and frustrated. Her idea for how normal people could use this arm was turning out to be impossible after all.

At this moment, the door suddenly opened. Heavy footsteps came in, and a blue-haired girl ran in from outside.

She rushed in and jumped into the bath. Then she went underwater, while bubbles came surfaced up to the water's edge.

"Gina, didn't I tell you to take off your clothes before entering the water?" Marina angrily ran into the bathroom.

She saw that the girl's legs were still covered by a dress, but had turned into a long fishtail. After hearing what Marina was just saying, Gina quickly giggled shyly.

"Okay, Sister Marina," the mermaid girl Gina said, while giggling.

As her fishtail moved, the water in the bath splashed in the air. The drops of water were moving like a dancing party, arcing over the tub.

As Marina dried Gina's hair with a towel, she asked, "Where did you play again?"

Gina was the mermaid that was saved by Marina a few years ago from the s.h.i.+p. She had grown up.

Maybe it was because she had lived in human society all of these years, but aside from some parts of her body being different than human bodies and her special ability to control water, she looked and seemed just like a human.

Although Gina considered Marina to be like a sister, she would still always do as Marina said. This made Marina feel warm towards her, since Marina had no real relatives.

Marina pinched Gina's nose teasingly. "Here you are, playing everyday. Today, you have to memorize beginner's alchemy! Did you hear me?"

In the luxurious palace in Tut City, the hall was illuminated by alchemy lights. The floor was filled with large stone plates, and the walls were covered with ancient paintings.

The Tuten Dynasty had their own religion, and every city had a different belief system and wors.h.i.+ped a different G.o.d. The G.o.d of Tut City was the t.i.tan G.o.d. However, since this generation of Tutens came from the city of Fanse, aside from the t.i.tan G.o.d in the painting, the two sides of the gate and the throne housed images of the G.o.d of War.

At this moment, a man in a dark red hood entered the palace gate, following behind the guards. He soon arrived in front of Tuten.

Tuten was already sixty years old. He was aging, and would soon die, as he was suffering from myriad diseases. As a result, Tuten looked skinny and weak.

"Kneel!" The guard shouted angrily at the person in red.

"Hehehehehehe!" A weird laughter came out from under the red robe. As the man looked up, a burnt and terrifying face emerged from under the hood.

"Are you asking the prophet of the True G.o.d to kneel? Do you want to disrespect G.o.d?" Tuten stopped the guards that were going to press the man in the hood.

He then asked in his husky voice, "Do you know the way of immortality?"

The man in the hood showed a fearsome smile, exposing his pale white teeth. He then replied, "Of course. The True G.o.d is omnipotent!"