The Mech Touch

Chapter 7361  Alchemy Schools of Thought

"In fact, we are not conducting a single ritual per se." The ritualist explained. "We have actually incorporated dozens of smaller rituals to fulfill smaller objectives in order to provide more support for the main ritual. This is a major reason why we are able to limit the size and scope of our artificial Incubator."

"Other rituals?" Ves looked puzzled. "Where do they come from? Won't they interfere with the main process?"

Zeron Khabeel confidently smiled. "Rituals can definitely interfere with each other if you do not truly know what you are doing, but it is our job to make them fit together like matching puzzle pieces. The main ritual is the only one that is derived from a myth established by the mutated voribugs. The minor rituals that we have attempted to integrate into the experimental design are completely different. They are based on old or ancient myths established by our distant ancestors. They may be archaic, but their age along with the extensive amount of documentation at our disposal has allowed us to gain enough mastery over them. We have already reached the stage where we can treat them as modules that we can slot into larger rituals."

That sounded like an important development. It clearly conveyed the success of the Ritualist Department. It had managed to systemize and demystify the practice of holding rituals to the point where engineers would feel right at home!

"Your department's progress is impressive." Ves said with a clear tone of appreciation. "I can imagine that all of this development doesn't take place in a vacuum. There has to be an acute demand for your rituals if there is a strong push for practicality. What are they most used for? Are they being adapted by cults and churches who have a great need to display the majesty of their beliefs?"

The ritualist softly laughed. "I think you would be surprised by my answer, Professor Larkinson, but that is actually not the case. The industry that makes the greatest use of rituals is actually the alchemy industry."

"Alchemy… industry?"

"Correct. The Alchemy Department is a close ally of the Ritualist Department due to this dependence. You see, much of the gains made by our alchemists are due to the discovery and successful reproduction of ancient alchemy formulas. We have discovered that these old formulas have such long traditions that they have long established their own myths. As long as modern-day alchemists adopt the right attitudes and do their best to reproduce them, they can achieve surprising successes even if the reagents and proportions are somewhat divergent."

That… sounded incredible!

Ves never knew that alchemy possessed such a strong association with rituals, but now that he thought about it, the explanation made a lot of sense!

"So because the alchemists are relying on the power of rituals, they can make a lot of mistakes in their attempts to reproduce an ancient formula, and still get a usable pill or elixir out of their efforts?"

"Yes, but it is not as simple as it sounds." Dr. Khabeel said with a more serious expression. "The outcome of rituals are always plagued with variance. It is difficult to homogenize the output and minimize the error rate. You can attempt to reproduce the same ritual twice and obtain two completely different elixirs at the end. This is an incredibly serious issue. When it comes to any form of pharmaceutical, deviations in dosage, toxicity and other factors are quite egregious. Different individuals also react differently to the same medicines. Think about what happens when both the former and the latter are inconsistent."

That indeed sounded like an incredibly huge problem.

A person with a ridiculously strong physique such as Ves or another Ascended Giant could easily swallow a barrel of raw sewage and experience no health problems at all. Their true bodies could already endure the hazards of phasewater. Many lesser toxins simply had no chance of weakening a body that could float comfortably in deep space.

However, many other humans were much weaker. Even if they practiced various forms of qi cultivation, hardly any of them strengthened the physique, as that was the least useful aspect in modern warfare.

A strong body did not help people improve their ability to pilot mechs or operate the control of warships.

This was why elixirs that exhibited undesirable variance had to be screened out in advance before they could be delivered to their end users.

All of this sounded like a headache to Ves.

"The Alchemy Department holds its personnel to the highest standards." Dr. Khabeel stated. "We are determined to never repeat the mistakes of the geneticists who recklessly blended alien genes with human ones during the later half of the Age of Conquest. We are also not as conservative as the adherents of the Chosen Human, for not everyone is naturally endowed with strength and potential. The alchemists under the employ of the RC try to set an example to everyone by maintaining a balance for the good of our society."

The sentiment sounded noble, but Ves doubted whether those alchemists would be able to stick to their bottom lines when their alien foes gained the upper hand.

"So a lot of elixirs end up getting trashed?"

The ritualist half-nodded. "Not entirely. I can tell you that every alchemical product undergoes strict screening. Only the ones that have passed the safety standards are distributed to others. The unqualified products either get recycled or are used to research new products. Even failures have their use. Accidents can easily create new toxins, but can occasionally produce novel effects. The greatest problem at the moment is that the failure rate is rather high. Our alchemists are doing their best to improve their output, but their lack of knowledge and experience is holding them back. They need more time. We all need more time."

That was a common problem for everyone, not just the members of the Red Collective.

This must be one of the reasons why the RC set the prices of elixirs so high. The demand was high, but the supply was far too inadequate.

"Is the Alchemist Department able to resolve these issues and meet the demand of the market in the future?" Ves asked.

"I would not get my hopes up, sir. It is difficult to become an alchemist. You must not only be intelligent enough to study modern biology and chemistry, but also comprehend cultivation science and incorporate its principles into your work. Our society is able to train biochemists in large numbers, but we have found that it takes a specific mentality as well as talent to transform them into qualified alchemists. Currently, the conversion rate is too low, and I do not expect to see a large improvement in the next three years."

Personnel shortages. Of course. Practically every RC department was short of talented and useful workers.

"I see. What about after that, assuming our civilization still exists?"

Dr. Zeron Khabeel shook his head. "Even if the Alchemy Department has resolved its initial problems, I do not expect their supply situation to improve as much as you are hoping. What you may not know is that its members are split into at least two different schools of thought. There is the Traditional Alchemy School and the Modern Alchemy School. The former advocates for the heavy use of rituals. The latter abhors them and tries to apply as many modern scientific methods and techniques as possible."

Ves could already understand the gist of this conflict.

"I see. The traditionalists are probably in favor of an artisanal approach to alchemy, am I correct? They are artists who seek to create more powerful alchemical products, so much so that they are willing to sacrifice consistency and efficiency in favor of hitting the jackpot."

"That is an astute view of yours. You are largely correct. The Traditional Alchemy School seeks to explore the limits of transmutation of matter. They are obsessed with creating the so-called philosopher's stone, believing that such an object will enable them to break past their current limitations and create elixirs that even gods may find useful."

In other words, the traditionalists were the 'Gloriana-type' of alchemists. They set their sights so high that they had already lost perspective of the needs of the masses.

"And the modernists?"

"The Modern Alchemy School seeks to introduce as many modern standards and methods to the field of alchemy as possible. The modernists are not necessarily opposed to traditions, but they are not blind adherents to them. They hate rituals because they require alchemists to waste their valuable time on production. This is why they are heavily invested in deconstructing existing rituals or applying a pure pharmaceutical approach to their field. Their goal is to convert manual processes into fully automated processes. So long as the latter can be achieved, it will become possible for factories to mass-produce simple pills and elixirs."

The obvious implication of the modern approach to alchemy was that it was mainly targeted towards the lower end of the market.

The difficulty of mass-producing high-grade alchemical products was too high. It was too unrealistic to completely separate skilled alchemists from the complicated process of producing a powerful elixir.

From this sense, the Alchemy Department was split between two bitterly opposed factions.

One of them embraced the artisanal approach and primarily wanted to meet the needs of the most powerful members of red humanity.

The other faction was rooted in modern values and sought to address the most basic needs of the masses.

Ves quickly understood the fundamental problem with this split.

A strong divide at this early stage would cause both factions to experience significant delays in their own endeavors.

Neither side would be able to accomplish rapid progress if they had to split resources between each other.

"Which school is dominant at the moment?"

"The traditionalists have a clear advantage, but the modernists have formed a strong core within the department." Dr. Khabeel answered. "I believe that the former will always maintain the upper hand. There is a belief among them that as long as they master more rituals, they will increase their overall success rate to the point where they can alleviate some of the supply constraints. The traditionalists also believe that the development of more powerful alchemical products is vital to their own self-improvement. The Alchemist Department is actually the highest consumer of its own output on a per capita basis. Not a day goes by without an alchemist imbibing his own product."

Of course. Alchemists mainly tried to improve the quality of their output in order to better satisfy their own needs. This personal motivation was so powerful that the Traditional Alchemy School easily achieved dominance.

Ves actually found it quite impressive that the Modern Alchemy School managed to gain a foothold at all. These were the only alchemists who still stuck their roots as modern scientists and maintained a strong sense of duty towards their society.

He could understand this divide quite well because it also played in his own work.

His elemental Carmine mechs promised greater benefits at the cost of affordability and convenience.

He could not deny that he had been motivated to commit to their development due to his personal needs.

If he wanted to develop a Carmine mech for himself, then he had better make the best one possible.

Though Ves had high expectations for his upcoming elemental Carmine mechs, he still was not quite sure whether it had been the right decision to focus on the upper end of the mech market.

As the two wars continued to pressure red humanity, the quality of life of ordinary people continued to decline.

Their ability to fight back against the aliens remained limited. They were both outnumbered and outgunned.

If Ves knew that the voribug race had mutated into a galactic-scale threat, then he may have made a different decision at the time.

It was too late for that, though.

Ves had already made his commitment. The least he could do was to see it through the end.