Time seemed to pass in the blink of an eye.
Over the past few days, everything had appeared calm, yet the security in Roya had been steadily increasing with each passing day. The defector monk seemed to have already arrived near Roya, and even a wanted poster had surfaced, depicting an elderly man with a white beard.
"Poldo?" Adam sat in the carriage, gazing at the wanted notice presented by a monk at his door, the image resembling an old man with a white beard.
During these few days, Adam had been splitting his time between the Reflection Tower and the Bookhouse, immersing himself in various studies. Whether it was sorcerer training or knightly pursuits, both paths were advancing swiftly.
Additionally, his training as a bloodline sorcerer had recently gained prominence on his agenda. Adam had already started to sense the connection between his bloodline and vitality, and was able to channel life force imbued with his own will.
Throughout this period, Adam had also shared his concept for the "Invisible Blade" with Anthony, receiving affirmation. Anthony believed that Adam's idea had a high probability of success, and even recommended a few spells to aid in his development.
The spells Anthony suggested were amplitude-based, designed to enhance the physical attributes of oneself or others. According to Anthony's teachings, these spells worked by using mental energy to channel natural forces, stimulating the target's vitality and altering their life force's operational pattern for a time, thus creating an amplified effect. Essentially, it was akin to a temporary tonic tailored to specific needs.
Of course, there were spells that could permanently enhance a target's physical attributes, but these typically required substantial mental energy to solidify natural forces within the target's body, a far cry from Adam's goal of using his own mental energy to influence animals and shape their vitality models.
"We've arrived, sir," Kro's voice broke Adam's reverie as he stopped the carriage.
Today, Adam hadn't hurried to the Reflection Tower to continue his studies. Instead, he had come to the Rom family estate, where he met with Doug, whom he hadn't seen in a few days.
"How are things progressing?" Adam asked as he observed Doug, who seemed to have regained some of his color, no longer as frail as before.
But when it came to the matter of the elixir of immortality, Doug remained deeply concerned, and upon meeting, immediately inquired.
"I've uncovered some leads," Adam replied. "From my investigations, it seems that the elixir might require a non-human species as a material."
"A non-human species?" Doug's expression shifted slightly, but he didn't seem overly surprised. Having schemed for so long on the elixir, he had considered many possibilities and knew that most immortality formulas relied on non-human species as ingredients.
"But doesn't using a non-human species as a material inevitably alter the bloodline?" Doug wasn't easily deceived.
"Of course," Adam said with a serious tone. "Non-human species have long lifespans, a gift from their bloodlines, and their bloodlines are intrinsically tied to their sins." He paused, adding with conviction, "Alva managed to eliminate the bloodline and the sin, while preserving the immortality, successfully creating the elixir."
This deduction had come from Gold. If the immortality elixir truly required a non-human species as a material, yet didn't alter the bloodline, it meant that Alva must have found a way to separate the bloodline and the sin from the immortality ability after extracting it from the non-human species.
Once the sin—a force that inevitably altered the bloodline of those who harbored it—came into contact with the human body, it would transform the person into a non-human species. This transformation was irreversible, as confirmed by countless experiments on non-humans.
As for removing the sin, it was possible, but extremely difficult.
The Church of the Tears of God specialized in this very practice. Countless non-humans joined the church, devoting their entire lives to this arduous task, but only a few ever succeeded in ridding themselves of their sin. Moreover, removing the sin would also result in the loss of their bloodline, their long-lived vitality, their inherent strength, and even their special physical qualities, often severely harming their very lives.
If even professionals had to pay such a heavy price, the difficulty of this task was evident.
Therefore, Alva's key operation lay in extracting the immortality ability from the non-human species and transplanting it into himself.
Most immortality formulas involved extracting the immortality ability from non-humans, and in some cases, the sin was removed first, modified, and then implanted into the practitioner. The immortality ability was a byproduct of the sin, and as long as the sin took root in the flesh and life force, it would give rise to corresponding abilities.
What Alva did was a slight modification: he separated the sin from the immortality ability.
It wasn't a matter of suppressing or modifying the sin—it was nearly futile to do so. The only way was to separate the two. Though this was difficult, it wasn't impossible.
The stronger the non-human species, the longer their lifespan. Therefore, an immortality elixir that only sought the immortality ability without the sin required a powerful non-human species as its material. Otherwise, the effort expended would yield only a meager increase in lifespan, making the process hardly worthwhile.
Perhaps this was also why Alva had chosen Count Rony as his target, rather than an ordinary non-human species.
"So, what's the method of separation?" Doug asked eagerly.
"You're giving me too much credit, Mr. Doug," Adam replied with a smile. "Although I'm a student of Alva, you should know by now that it was the recommendation of Priest Shaya that led Alva to take me in. Even my training is mostly self-study, just me reading books."
"This immortality elixir seems to have some side effects, and Alva hasn't made it in a long time. He doesn't have any stock left at the moment," Adam's tone subtly shifted, lending a touch of conviction to his words, especially when he spoke the truth.
Doug had naturally spent more time getting to know Adam recently and could tell he was being honest. In the context of all the truth Adam had shared, the lies now seemed more believable.
"So what do you still need help with?" Doug asked, his tone calm, though he was clearly processing everything.
"It's still my strength," Adam replied, pulling out a gold coin bound with several chains. "Right now, my access has only been extended to the library, allowing me to see more material."
"Only when all the chains fall away will I be able to move freely inside, accessing enough material, including the separation technique from back then." Adam continued, his smile unwavering.
"The removal of these chains is tied to my strength. I need many test subjects for my experiments," Adam said with a grin.
"Test subjects? Are they human, or...?" Doug raised an eyebrow, curious.
"Nothing so extreme. I only need small animals for now," Adam quickly clarified, shaking his head to dismiss the idea of human test subjects.
Upon noticing Adam's clarification, Doug relaxed, leaning back slightly in his chair.
After concluding his conversation with Doug and confirming the exchange of the animal test subjects, Adam once again boarded the carriage heading to the Reflection Tower. His performance had seemingly eased some of Doug's wariness, shifting his impression of Adam to one of a talented yet somewhat naive youth.
Adam squinted. His value in Doug's eyes was already sufficient, so now he needed to focus on how to make Doug underestimate him, while for others, he needed to appear more impressive.
In recent days, Adam had been in contact with Will. It seemed that the situation with Adel had already connected with Sir Rube. As he had suspected, Rube had not reported Adel to the Church, but had instead engaged in negotiations. Clearly, Rube was keen on obtaining the help of non-humans.
Simultaneously, the information gathered on various non-human species continued to filter through Will's communication and slowly accumulated with Adam.
Rube's noble achievements had fallen during his grandfather's generation, from baron to mere knight. By the time it reached Rube's generation, he was left with a single shop, barely maintaining a modest living.
However, after some failures, Rube quickly expanded and established a powerful merchant guild. Recently, he had been in frequent contact with the Church, ostensibly to prepare for a noble crest upgrade, intending to leverage the Church's connections to request military sorcerers' help.
In reality, it seemed that Rube sought more. He was not content with merely restoring his baronial status—he wanted more.