Sometime later, Vaan followed Sacha and arrived at her laboratory on the top floor of the academy’s fifth tower. The entire top floor was her lab.
“This is my lab as well as my workshop. I carry out all my research and magic tool production here,” Sacha gave Vaan a brief introduction of her place.
Considering Sacha’s poor appearance, many people would assume her laboratory to be a mountain of mess. However, the reality was the complete opposite. It was immaculate and well organized.
Everything was in the right place, making them easy to find.
Vaan didn’t find this too surprising. It was within his expectation.
Sacha Crane’s appearance may be poor due to a lack of self-care, but that doesn’t imply she was messy and lazy. She took her research seriously, and a messy environment would impact it.
The top floor had a simple design. The workshop occupied one half, and the laboratory occupied the other half. In the middle was a personal study space with several small bookshelves of Sacha Crane’s personal collection of knowledge.
Vaan briefly glanced at the Atomic Visualizer before he was guided over to the workshop section.
Nevertheless, his gaze did not go unnoticed as Sacha was quite conscious of her precious and new Atomic Visualizer, which she spent a fortune to acquire.
“I see. You are also curious about my Atomic Visualizer,” Sacha commented.
“If I have to be transparent, I was also hoping to use it, my Lady,” Vaan calmly admitted before adding, “With your permission, of course. I have a relatively important task that requires its use.”
“Studying the Curse of the Purple Umbala to develop a cure for it. Lord Helia has such expectations of me,” Vaan casually said.
But when Sacha heard it, she was startled. A few moments after, her eyes flickered.
If Vahn Cadieux truly had a sample of the Curse of the Purple Umbala, it would be something of interest—even for her.
Studying it under the Atomic Visualizer would yield interesting results.
“If you can produce a Rank 4 alloy, I’ll let you use the Atomic Visualizer,” Sacha promised before she added, “Of course, if you break it, you will have to compensate with a new one.”
If it was anyone else, Sacha might not have readily offered.
However, Vahn Cadieux had the ‘Delarosa Household’ behind him. Thus, he had the resource and the connection to acquire a new Atomic Visualizer—should he break hers.
“Alright,” Vaan smiled.
Right after, he used a quick glance to familiarize himself with the workshop.
Once he understood it had everything he needed, he quickly started by firing up the furnace to preheat. Then, he grabbed a heat-resistant stone bucket and dumped all his materials inside.
However, didn’t move the bucket into the furnace immediately.
Rather, he went over to the metal-cutting magic tool and used it to trim off some excess pieces from the Rank 2 metals before he threw them out.
“What are you cutting up some of the metals and throwing them away?” Sacha asked.
“Because they are not needed, my Lady. In order to produce the Rank 4 alloy, I need to use the right ratio of minerals for the mix. Otherwise, the metals are simply sticking together and not fused uniformly,” Vaan patiently and calmly explained.
“In other words, the strength of the alloy will vary, and magic won’t flow through it smoothly. It’ll be erratic or may even fail.”
“But all alloys are like this, Vahn. It’s the result of fusing multiple metals of different mana conductivity together,” Sacha stated with furrowed brows. “Or are you saying all alloys with erratic magic flows result from improper ratio fusion?”
“That’s right. At the very least, a good alloy should have uniform strength and smooth mana conductivity—That’s what I believe,” Vaan stated.
“But smooth magic flows only occur in true metal…” Sacha mentioned with a deep look. “For you to attempt the same thing in alloys, which are mixtures of different metals… You’re not just trying to produce a stronger alloy; you’re creating a new metal element!”
“You can put it that way, my Lady,” Vaan affirmed with a nod. It was basically alchemy.
After achieving the right ratio, he threw the heat-resistant stone bucket filled with metals into the hot furnace using a big clamp. He took the bucket of metal back out of the furnace sometime later after it melted.
Sacha glanced inside the stone bucket and noticed the melted metals had mixed on their own while inside the furnace, achieving a uniform purple color.
“Amazing! This is the first time I’ve seen such a uniform color among alloy mixtures with off-world metals,” Sacha exclaimed.
“Only the more common alloys like steel had uniform colors and smooth mana conductivities. None of the alloys that involved off-world metal had achieved such uniform color until now.”
“Is this what it means to achieve a perfect mixing ratio?” Sacha asked with bright eyes as if a new world had opened up to her.
“That’s right, my Lady,” Vaan nodded.
“Jamming a bunch of strong metals doesn’t necessarily always produce a stronger alloy. Sometimes it can be achieved with weaker metals. This is because metals have different densities. And when strong metals, especially off-world metals, are mixed, gaps are created by their density differences, which then can only be filled by weaker metals with lower densities.”
“This is something we have to consider when we use off-world metals in alloy production,” Vaan stated.
“I see… Density, huh? That can be measured by finding the size and weight, but have you seen what metals look like under the Atomic Visualizer, Vahn? Do you also know the origin of the word atomic and what it is?” Sacha suddenly quizzed him with a look of interest.
“Isn’t it based on atoms?” Vaan smiled slightly before saying, “A good Atomic Visualizer can help you understand materials at the atomic level. However, you shouldn’t believe in everything you see, my Lady.”
“After all, atoms make up everything,” Vaan made a small pun joke with a soft chuckle before saying, “The Atomic Visualizer can help you understand the fundamentals, but no further. After all, this is a world of magic.”
Having said that, he picked up a flask of Magic-Enchanting Solution and poured it into the bucket of melted metal.
In that instance, the Magic-Enchanting Solution easily flowed through the purple alloy mixture before it underwent a qualitative transformation, almost as if it was coming alive. It clumped together like a molten blob as its density increased, feeling heavier.
Shortly after, Vaan poured the gooey purple metal liquid into an ingot mold before dropping it into a cold water sink to cool rapidly.
Steam rose, and the water almost vaporized in an instant.
Nevertheless, he took the purple metal ingot out with the big clamp a few moments later and revealed it to Sacha.
“This…” Sacha couldn’t peel her eyes away from the purple ingot.
The aura radiating from it made her certain that the purple ingot’s quality had reached Rank 4. She didn’t doubt it.
However, she was slow to come to terms with reality.
In truth, it was probably not as simple as Vahn Cadieux made it out to be. Most likely, other factors involved in the Rank 4 metal’s successful production, such as timing.
“You… actually pulled it off,” Sacha uttered blankly before exclaiming, “How is this still a Rank 4 alloy? This is definitely a new metal element! A Rank 4 true metal! This is a groundbreaking breakthrough in artificing!”
“For you, my Lady,” Vaan offered the purple ingot to Sacha Crane.
“Y-You’re giving this to me?” Sacha uttered with astonishment, feeling conflicted.
She wanted to politely refuse, but she also wanted to throw it under the Atomic Visualizer and study it immediately.
“Yes, my Lady,” Vaan nodded with a smile and said, “I’m sure it will benefit you if you study it.”
“More importantly, I’ve run out of time, so I have to leave. I’ve been booked for tonight and can’t keep my clients waiting. If you don’t mind, I wish to drop by again tomorrow for the Atomic Visualizer,” Vaan stated.
“Of course! You’ll always be welcomed here, Vahn. Feel free to drop by anytime. Also, you have not called my name once. Please call me Sacha from now on,” Sacha entreated.
“As you wish, Sacha.”
“Great!”
…
Shortly after bidding farewell, Vaan left Sacha’s lab and headed for the witches’ dorm in the third tower…