Lynn, who wanted to learn more advanced alchemy knowledge from Nico, never expected that the first thing he did upon arriving was not to study alchemy, but to teach Nicolas Flamel ancient magic.
After obtaining information about the ancient magic of the Purgatory Demon Golem from Lynn, Nico, with his interest greatly piqued, decided to learn this ancient magic. Although this ancient magic was not particularly powerful, its characteristics, similar to those of alchemical creations, made Nico decide to study it carefully.
It's likely that no one in the entire magical world would have imagined that the great alchemist Nicolas Flamel would ask his own apprentice for guidance on ancient magic. If outsiders were to find out, they would be utterly shocked.
However, as a demon king-level wizard, Nicolas Flamel naturally learned ancient magic much faster than an underage wizard like Lynn. In just one afternoon, Nico completed the process from learning the principles of the Infernal Golem to creating a fully functional one.
Lynn had arrived at Nico's hut at noon, and by evening, the Purgatory Demon Puppet crafted by Nico was already standing before him. Looking at this fire puppet, which was even more powerful than the one he had made, Lynn's face showed an expression of disbelief.
"Alright, I'll study this ancient magic more thoroughly later. Lynn, you're still a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and your summer vacation time is limited. Let's begin with the alchemy lessons," Nico said, waving his wand to put away the Purgatory Demon Puppet. He smiled at Lynn as he spoke.
Hearing this, Lynn's eyes lit up. Wasn't this the moment he had been waiting for?
Nico asked, "Lynn, did Valison teach you something new a few days ago?"
Lynn nodded honestly and replied, "Yes, Master. Over the past two weeks, my teacher taught me illusion arrays, as well as Legilimency and Occlumency."
"Illusion arrays? An advanced version of soul alchemy?" Nico pondered for a moment and said, "Then I'll teach you some advanced versions of time alchemy as well!"
With that, Nico asked, "Lynn, do you still remember the method of refining the Sands of Time that I taught you last year?"
Lynn nodded again and said, "I do!"
Even though Lynn hadn't practiced time alchemy again during the school year, having successfully refined the Sands of Time, he naturally wouldn't forget it just because a year had passed.
Nico smiled and said, "That's good. This year, I plan to teach you two alchemical formations designed for controlling and restraining enemies: the Time-Still Formation and the Time-Loop Formation!"
Just as an alchemical array is a pattern formed by a large number of alchemical runes connected in series or parallel, an alchemical formation is an aggregate composed of multiple alchemical arrays. The illusion array Lynn had learned a week ago was a type of alchemical formation.
In fact, the alchemical arrays Lynn enchanted on various alchemical items, when connected to form an aggregate, could technically be considered alchemical formations. However, alchemists prefer to refer to aggregates that can be directly used in combat as alchemical formations.
Nico explained, "Both of these formations use the Sands of Time as their energy source. Once activated, the time within the formation will be controlled by the power of the Sands of Time. In the Time-Still Formation, everything within its range will come to a complete standstill. Enemies trapped inside will be as if hit by a full-body binding spell, unable to move, and even their thoughts will freeze in time until the formation's effect wears off."
Upon hearing about the power of the Time-Still Formation, Lynn couldn't help but shudder. He asked, "Grandmaster, if the Time-Still Formation is truly this powerful, couldn't I just lure an enemy into it, activate it, and keep it running indefinitely? That way, I could trap the enemy in a perpetual state of frozen time, never to escape or reincarnate?"
Hearing this, Nico chuckled and said, "It's not that simple. If it were, the Time-Still Formation wouldn't be so obscure in the alchemy world."
Lynn nodded in agreement. As Nico had said, if the Time-Still Formation were truly unsolvable, no matter how difficult or costly it was to learn, alchemists would flock to it and regard it as a treasure in the field of alchemy.
Nico explained further, "In reality, the operation of the Time-Still Formation consumes an enormous amount of energy stored in the Sands of Time. After all, the power of the Sands of Time is to fast-forward or rewind time, not to stop it. The Time-Still Formation achieves the effect of halting time, which violates the natural rules of time."
Lynn thought for a moment and asked, "So, because the Time-Still Formation violates the rules of time, it requires a massive amount of energy from the Sands of Time to sustain itself. This means the formation can't actually be maintained for very long, right?"
Nico smiled and nodded. "Exactly. One grain of sand can only supply the Time-Still Formation with enough energy to operate for one hour at most. Moreover, the formation can only draw energy from one grain of sand at a time. It can't absorb power from multiple grains simultaneously. Even if an alchemist replaces the Sands of Time, doing so interrupts the formation's operation, giving trapped enemies a chance to break free. That's why I said its purpose is to control and contain enemies, not to kill them."
If the maximum duration the Time-Still Formation could maintain was one hour, then it wasn't as overwhelmingly powerful as Lynn had initially imagined. After all, even a standard full-body binding spell could immobilize an enemy for more than ten minutes, or even half an hour.
Perhaps the greatest advantage of the Time-Still Formation was its area-of-effect (AOE) control capability. Enemies trapped within it, their time frozen, couldn't be rescued early through any counter-spell. They could only wait for the formation's energy to deplete.
At this moment, Nico seemed to channel his inner Green. He pulled out an alchemy notebook from his pocket with a smile and handed it to Lynn.
"These are the alchemical runes and arrays needed to create the Time-Still Formation. Memorize them tonight. We'll officially begin teaching the Time-Still Formation tomorrow!" Nico declared.
The Time-Still Formation itself isn't overly difficult to refine. The real challenge lies in crafting the Sands of Time and mastering time alchemy. This is why Nico had asked Lynn if he still remembered how to refine the Sands of Time before starting the lesson.
It was also for this reason that Nico handed Lynn the alchemy notes, allowing him to study independently rather than teaching him directly as usual.
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