Chapter 212 Alchemist Association

[Based on the book, The Leader of R 18: Luna Rafflesia]

R 18 is the proudest institution of the alraune race in its history of existence. As a result of the achievements of this institution, Moku, the ancestor of the asuras, recognized the independence of the alraune race and became the only race freed from evolution obligations.

Even so, only a few people know that the foundation of R 18 is a copy of the Alchemist Association. Starting from the management form to the research methods, almost all of them originate or modify what has been done by the human Alchemist Association.

If all the monsters see that I am the mother of R 18 then the father is not Moku but the human Alchemist Association. Although this fact is denied by some monsters and even all alraune, I myself feel that there is no need to hide this.

If you look at the history of the name "alchemist", it must refer to the era when Mana God still ruled human civilization. This name is taken from the real name of the first-ever alchemist, Khemia Greco.

At that time, the use of mana and knowledge of the mana flow was still kept by the Mana God and his followers. So that humans still live under the physical limits of their bodies.

Khemia Greco is a street magician who performs magic tricks by mixing several ingredients found in nature. He started by bringing a rabbit out of his hat to create fire from his hand.

This very interesting Khemia Greco performance made his name very famous. Until one day he was invited to perform a magic show in front of a stupid king. But no one ever thought that this foolish king was a follower of Mana God.

The foolish king knew immediately that Khemia Greco was a fraud and not a real mage. But instead of making him angry, the foolish king was overjoyed with Khemia Greco's performance.

He found another miracle that could be created without the help of mana. The foolish king sponsored Khemia Greco and paid for all his expenses, he wanted Khemia Greco to create new magic every day.

Khemia Greco and the foolish king eventually became friends and the fraud magician lived in his kingdom. Until one-day Khemia Greco's presence could no longer be hidden, and the magic tricks he created grew splendor and magnificence.

At his peak, Khemia Greco succeeded in creating objects that could fly and explode in the air, creating sparks that could be seen for miles around. This magical object he called fireworks.

The Mana God which the foolish king worshiped ordered Khemia Greco to be brought forward. The Mana God did not see the objects created by Khemia Greco as entertainment but as a threat capable of shaking his power.

The foolish king faced two choices; sacrificing his comrades or fighting the Mana God. Without thinking, the foolish king immediately caught Khemia Greco and gave it to Mana God.

The foolish king never thought about what benefits he could get from Khemia Greco. He saw Khemia Greco as just entertainment, not something worth fighting for.

I was so grateful when the king of all monsters was Moku, not the foolish king.

Khemia Greco who was arrested was thrown into prison, the Mana God didn't want to kill him directly. He wanted Khemia Greco to create weapons for his troops that couldn't use mana.

Khemia Greco was unable to resist, the torture that a mage was capable of was many times more terrible than that of any executioner. He also ended up in a small and dark room, with the smell of moss and dust that seemed to announce how his life would end.

But one day a traitorous follower was thrown into the same prison as Khemia Greco. This follower already had an active mana flow and was capable of casting spells, but due to his betrayal the Mana God sealed them.

There are various versions regarding the identity of these followers. Some say that he was a loyal servant of Mana God but was imprisoned for stealing a mana scroll, some say that the follower was a merchant who sold counterfeit items to Mana God, and so on.

These various identities make the original names of the follower become varied. However, I myself prefer to believe the identity of the follower as Nicholas Flamel.

Apart from the fact that Nicholas Flamel's story makes more sense, it is also because there is an identification of the Alchemist Association trying to erase this name from history. But of course, with the existence of the Pandavas, human efforts to erase Nicholas Flamel's existence were in vain.

The early history of Nicholas Flamel cannot be found, the last record that I managed to find was from when Nicholas Flamel became a disciple of one of the Mana Gods with the title of Thunder God.

Before the arrival of Nicholas Flamel, Thunder God already had another student named Mary Ostanes who was famous for her beauty. The Thunder God had been in love with the beautiful Mary since she was a child but he waited for the right opportunity and for the love between them to grow by itself.

With Mana God's extremely long lifespan and slow aging, Thunder God and Mary Ostanes finally looked the same age. But Mary Ostanes never saw Thunder God as her partner but only as her father.

She has long been in love with Nicholas Flamel who is a dashing and handsome young man. However, the Thunder God couldn't accept this, he tormented Nicholas Flamel for years, and only because of Mary's begging Thunder God didn't kill him right away.

For the next story, there are also several different versions, but one version sticks out more than the other. In this version, Nicholas Flamel and Khemia Greco meet in prison and they become close friends.

Nicholas Flamel told his story to Khemia Greco and vice versa. The two of them finally agreed to work together to get revenge on the Thunder God and the other Mana Gods.

Nicholas Flamel sacrificed his body to Khemia Greco for research and became the first mana stream discovered by an alchemist.

This version seems forced to be true facts even though it gets some logical and data errors. Of course, if you remember how beautiful the friendship between Nicholas Flamel and Khemia Greco is described by this version it will make sense why this version of the story became more famous than the other version.

However, there is a new version of the story which I and other researchers at R 18 think is the true version of the story. Although not as beautiful as the story of friendship and sacrifice in the previous version, this version shows more truth in logic and data.

The initial story of Nicholas Flamel and the reason why he met Khemia Greco is exactly the same as before. But the two people's relationship is much different than what the previous version had depicted.

Nicholas Flamel was someone who focused his life on freeing Mary Ostanes from the clutches of the Thunder God. He knew Mary would have to pay with body and soul to give Nicholas a chance to live.

Meanwhile, Khemia Greco does not have the same virtuous motivation. He just wanted to create another miracle and research mana. In fact, it could be said that Khemia Greco never hated Mana God who locked him up, or the foolish king who betrayed him.

In his prison, Khemia Greco received special attention from Mana God and fulfilled all his research needs. There is only one research material that Mana God cannot provide, namely the body of a mage. His intelligence and invention made Mana God feel threatened and they kept Khemia away from the mage.

Nicholas used Khemia's invention and intelligence to make himself stronger than the Thunder God. Meanwhile, Khemia uses Nicholas to research the puzzle of mana.

This is just a relationship of mutual benefit and mutual use of each other, there is no friendly relationship as described in the previous version.

In the end, the two people managed to find what is called the mana flow. As a result, the deception of Mana God's majesty and oneness was cracked. The Mana Gods were no longer a group of gods but just ordinary powerful mages.

Nicholas wanted to use their discovery to become stronger but Khemia wanted to spread this discovery to all mankind. Nicholas didn't want any chaos due to the spread of this discovery but Khemia wanted to take advantage of the chaos to become the new leader of the world.

The difference in the perspectives of the two people caused friction. Their relationship, which was only mutually beneficial at first, ended and a split occurred. Even though Nicholas was stronger with his ability to control his mana, Khemia was far more cunning with all his tricks.

Nicholas was killed and Khemia used his body to make a potion that was still used by mages until the end of their extinction.

Mana Potion.

Khemia's victory over Nicholas became a reference for the alchemist's own morals. They become a group of researchers who are only concerned with results, not processes. It doesn't matter how depraved and wrong what they do, but if the results are satisfactory, they will still do it.

Sometimes I also feel envious of the alchemists' freedom to experiment widely. Without any limitations of morals, they are able to imagine and do things that have never been imagined before.