The Mech Touch novel Chapter 7361

Chapter 7361: Alchemy Schools of Thought

"In fact, we are not conducting a single ritual per se." The ritualist explained. "We have actually incorporated dozens of smaller rituals to fulfill smaller objectives in order to provide more support for the main ritual. This is a major reason why we are able to limit the size and scope of our artificial Incubator."

"Other rituals?" Ves looked puzzled. "Where do they come from? Won’t they interfere with the main process?"

Zeron Khabeel confidently smiled. "Rituals can definitely interfere with each other if you do not truly know what you are doing, but it is our job to make them fit together like matching puzzle pieces. The main ritual is the only one that is derived from a myth established by the mutated voribugs. The minor rituals that we have attempted to integrate into the experimental design are completely different. They are based on old or ancient myths established by our distant ancestors. They may be archaic, but their age along with the extensive amount of documentation at our disposal has allowed us to gain enough mastery over them. We have already reached the stage where we can treat them as modules that we can slot into larger rituals."

That sounded like an important development. It clearly conveyed the success of the Ritualist Department. It had managed to systemize and demystify the practice of holding rituals to the point where engineers would feel right at home!

"Your department’s progress is impressive." Ves said with a clear tone of appreciation. "I can imagine that all of this development doesn’t take place in a vacuum. There has to be an acute demand for your rituals if there is a strong push for practicality. What are they most used for? Are they being adapted by cults and churches who have a great need to display the majesty of their beliefs?"

The ritualist softly laughed. "I think you would be surprised by my answer, Professor Larkinson, but that is actually not the case. The industry that makes the greatest use of rituals is actually the alchemy industry."

"Alchemy... industry?"

"Correct. The Alchemy Department is a close ally of the Ritualist Department due to this dependence. You see, much of the gains made by our alchemists are due to the discovery and successful reproduction of ancient alchemy formulas. We have discovered that these old formulas have such long traditions that they have long established their own myths. As long as modern-day alchemists adopt the right attitudes and do their best to reproduce them, they can achieve surprising successes even if the reagents and proportions are somewhat divergent."

That... sounded incredible!

Ves never knew that alchemy possessed such a strong association with rituals, but now that he thought about it, the explanation made a lot of sense!

"So because the alchemists are relying on the power of rituals, they can make a lot of mistakes in their attempts to reproduce an ancient formula, and still get a usable pill or elixir out of their efforts?"

"Yes, but it is not as simple as it sounds." Dr. Khabeel said with a more serious expression. "The outcome of rituals are always plagued with variance. It is difficult to homogenize the output and minimize the error rate. You can attempt to reproduce the same ritual twice and obtain two completely different elixirs at the end. This is an incredibly serious issue. When it comes to any form of pharmaceutical, deviations in dosage, toxicity and other factors are quite egregious. Different individuals also react differently to the same medicines. Think about what happens when both the former and the latter are inconsistent."

That indeed sounded like an incredibly huge problem.

A person with a ridiculously strong physique such as Ves or another Ascended Giant could easily swallow a barrel of raw sewage and experience no health problems at all. Their true bodies could already endure the hazards of phasewater. Many lesser toxins simply had no chance of weakening a body that could float comfortably in deep space.

However, many other humans were much weaker. Even if they practiced various forms of qi cultivation, hardly any of them strengthened the physique, as that was the least useful aspect in modern warfare.

A strong body did not help people improve their ability to pilot mechs or operate the control of warships.

This was why elixirs that exhibited undesirable variance had to be screened out in advance before they could be delivered to their end users.

All of this sounded like a headache to Ves.

"The Alchemy Department holds its personnel to the highest standards." Dr. Khabeel stated. "We are determined to never repeat the mistakes of the geneticists who recklessly blended alien genes with human ones during the later half of the Age of Conquest. We are also not as conservative as the adherents of the Chosen Human, for not everyone is naturally endowed with strength and potential. The alchemists under the employ of the RC try to set an example to everyone by maintaining a balance for the good of our society."

The sentiment sounded noble, but Ves doubted whether those alchemists would be able to stick to their bottom lines when their alien foes gained the upper hand.

"So a lot of elixirs end up getting trashed?"

The ritualist half-nodded. "Not entirely. I can tell you that every alchemical product undergoes strict screening. Only the ones that have passed the safety standards are distributed to others. The unqualified products either get recycled or are used to research new products. Even failures have their use. Accidents can easily create new toxins, but can occasionally produce novel effects. The greatest problem at the moment is that the failure rate is rather high. Our alchemists are doing their best to improve their output, but their lack of knowledge and experience is holding them back. They need more time. We all need more time."

That was a common problem for everyone, not just the members of the Red Collective.

This must be one of the reasons why the RC set the prices of elixirs so high. The demand was high, but the supply was far too inadequate.

"Is the Alchemist Department able to resolve these issues and meet the demand of the market in the future?" Ves asked.

"I would not get my hopes up, sir. It is difficult to become an alchemist. You must not only be intelligent enough to study modern biology and chemistry, but also comprehend cultivation science and incorporate its principles into your work. Our society is able to train biochemists in large numbers, but we have found that it takes a specific mentality as well as talent to transform them into qualified alchemists. Currently, the conversion rate is too low, and I do not expect to see a large improvement in the next three years."

Personnel shortages. Of course. Practically every RC department was short of talented and useful workers.

"I see. What about after that, assuming our civilization still exists?"

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