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Full Details at the top of Chapter 28.
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[Alchemy (FMA) (Active) Lv. 13: The Science of Altering Matter by Using Natural Energy.
Transmutation Circle (Active): The ability to create and activate a transmutation circle, enabling the user to alter matter while following the Law of Equivalent Exchange. ]
[Alchemy Mastery (Novice) (Passive) Lv. 89: You are a beginner in all areas related to alchemy. Be it the art of transmutation, poems, or other mythical sciences.
All skills falling into the alchemy category are 8.9% stronger.
All skills falling into the alchemy category are 0.89% cheaper.]
Alchemy is a useful ability but, at the same time, very disappointing. Because right now, Harry is the only person in his world able to use it. At least the Fullmetal Alchemist version of it.
No matter how, the only person capable of activating a transmutation remained Harry. It didn't matter whether he or someone else drew it. Only he could activate it. And he knew the reason. It was a matter of energy.
For him, his player ability made it possible to substitute the functionality of the skill so that he could work with it. But it didn't mean that it worked for others.
The Original Alchemy of Amestris is powered by the Dwarf in the Bottle, who now calls himself Father. He acted as the source of all alchemy in Amestris, or rather, the souls and energy of the people of Xerxes.
Harry had no interest in introducing such a concept to his own land. It was far too wasteful. He would need to learn alkahestry too.
They were actually using the flow of natural energy.
He also needed to learn more about alchemy. The skills he gained through his system were actually quite complex. For example, there were multiple methods of leveling them.
The most obvious one was constant usage, but based on the skill, the effectiveness was very different.
Skills that tend to be more physical and less reliant on a mental or metaphysical aspect were the easiest to level up through continuous repetition.
While they also slowed down with a higher level, not as much as a skill containing a mental aspect. That's where the second method of leveling skills came from: Knowledge.
Actually understanding how a skill works or is used properly gave the most experience but was the hardest method to level.
While he could swing his sword a million times and it slowly leveled up his sword mastery, understanding how to do something could only be done once.
And certain skills, like magical ones or alchemy, all based on more knowledge than the physical body, were harder to level up with repetition. That's a piece of information he gained from studying magic.
He had mainly leveled his magic masteries by grinding different spells thousands of times. But at some point, he had maxed out all the spells he had available, and his masteries were no longer leveling.
But the dragon Eldunari teaching him insisted that he experiment with his magic more instead of just relying on skills.
And the moment he figured out an alternate application for the Lumos Charm, even though the skill was maxed out, his charm mastery rose.
Later, he began to study actual knowledge and theoretical knowledge from his books instead of just learning the skills; physics, chemistry, biology, and other sciences helped raise his skills too.
Unfortunately, what he knew, he knew. That's also the reason why his alchemy mastery was far more leveled than his actual alchemy skill. All that scientific knowledge he gained added to the skill.
But he needed to study alchemy further. Maybe he had a source of information for that.
"Reneverate!"
The moment the spell hit Lust, lying on the floor, her eyes opened, searching her surroundings. "Uhh…"
She quickly got up, readying herself for combat.
"Morning Sunshine. Why so nervous?" The moment he said that, she turned around, directly looking at him and ready to attack. "I wouldn't do that. You are almost out of juice; if I killed you now, you would be dead."
"Why did you bring me away from Amestris? Where are we?" Lust asked, her eyes not leaving his.
"So you can feel it. Interesting. Indeed, we are no longer in the range of your father's soul network. Neither are we in the great dessert or Xing." Harry replied with a grin, directly revealing that he knew of them.
"You are aware of Father..." She said calmly, "You still didn't answer my question."
Harry put a finger on his chin and said, "Your question. Hmm, you could say you fulfilled your father's dream. You left the bottle."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lust asked dryly.
"Oh, right now you have crossed the boundaries between worlds and entered my own. No longer in the bottle that you and your father are trapped in." 'Come here, Tiamat. Let's give her a small show.'
The small dragon that had reached the size of a dog landed beside him.
"Are you trying to trick me? Clearly, this has to be some kind of Chimera." Lust pointed this out.
"Nope, this is my partner, Tiamat. She is a dragon." Harry smirked.
'Greetings, little artificial human at the bottom of the well.' Tiamat said it mentally.
"Tch… Why did you bring me here? What do you want?" Lust questioned, ignoring the dragon; she clearly remembers the magic he had used to take her out. Nothing of it resembled any form of alchemy.
Harry looked at her innocently and asked, "Why would you think I need something from you?"
"Because I am still alive. I would guess it's not information about our plans."
"Yep, that's true. I know quite a bit about you guys." It had taken a while to remember all the necessary details, but he had a rough idea of the plot that took a few months, including the abilities of the major players.
To be honest, beyond the resources he could get in exchange, there was not much interest in whether the villains succeeded or not. But since he knew the good guys would win in the end, why not be on their side and profit a bit?
"I want all your knowledge about alchemy." Harry stated it directly.
Lust chuckled a bit. "It seems you are not as well informed as you make yourself out to be."
Now Harry was confused. "What do you mean?"
"You obviously knew of my ultimate spell. But did you see any of us use any other abilities besides the ones we were gifted with?"
"I know Father can use alchemy; that much is obvious. Pride can too." Harry pointed this out.
"So you know of Pride too. When did you see Pride ever use alchemy?" She asked with curiosity in her voice.
"He did after absorbing... right. He absorbed an alchemist with his abilities and inherited his abilities." Harry realized that before that, that little monster kid didn't use any form of alchemy.
"And Pride is the oldest and most trusted of us." Lust chuckled. "We others are limited to our superhuman strength and our ultimate gifts."
"Is it a precaution so you wouldn't be able to overthrow Father? Like the fact that he has control over all alchemy in Amestris." Harry realized.
"Exactly. Father doesn't fully trust us. Which is not wrong. We have our own ambitions and desires. Look at Greed; he left years ago to pursue his own goals." Lust pointed this out.
"And what are yours?"
"Isn't it obvious? I want to see the pathetic, vain humans fall into chaos and despair. Their suffering gives me great pleasure." Lust replied seductively.
"Pathetic and vain, huh? It's sad. Your limited view. Once you pulled humanity into chaos and despair, you helped your father fulfill his goal. What would happen to you?" Harry asked.
She stared at him, but didn't reply. There was something unreadable in her eyes.
"Lust" is an interesting name. It's clear that whatever your father chose to create you wasn't the desire for sex. You clearly are lusting to hurt humanity." Harry said calmly, "My guess is because of the very reason for your existence." You lust for love, for acknowledgement, for belonging. And yet you were created to be discarded."
"Shut up." Lust said in anger, "Just kill me already. I don't know anything about alchemy, so I am of no use to you."
"In the opposite. Capable people are what I lack. Join me, Lust." Harry said, stretching his hand out.
"There is no way you would ever trust someone like me. This is just some trap." Lust rejected.
A piece of paper materialized in his hand. "This is one of my abilities. It's called a contract. The terms on this paper are binding and enforced through the universe itself. I offer you to always have a place by my side. I won't discard you like your father is planning to. You will always have a home with me. Help me build a powerful kingdom and reach heights beyond the power of whatever you, Father, ever could reach."
She looked at him for a long moment before reading through the paper. Then she signed it right beside his own signature.
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