Harry inhaled as he stretched his arms. He was sitting in a comfortable chair, his neck moving slightly as he felt tension creep in. He had spent several days in this room. He only came out to eat, sleep, spend a little time with Rias, or go to the bathroom. The rest of the time, he simply spent in his room.
This place was inside the Hyoudou mansion. When Issei's house was modified to become a mansion, he had donated some money to create a large underground room where he had his workshop. One wall was filled with magical schematics and information related to magic, from unimportant things like the functions of certain types of magic, to more interesting things like the information he had discovered about the Evil Pieces.
Days had passed since he entered and began analyzing Fenrir's fangs, horns, and skin. The most special of all, of course, were Fenrir's fangs. Interestingly, these teeth possessed tremendous anti-magic and anti-divinity abilities. They were not only capable of destroying the bodies of gods, but also their cores, the so-called divine souls.
Although that wasn't entirely correct. Thanks to the analysis he learned from Fenrir, the information Rias had learned, which was gradually entering the divine realms, and the lessons from Athena and Nezha, Harry was able to conclude that gods are beings with enormous spirituality, much greater than that of humans. And since spirituality is linked to a being's soul, some things were clear.
First: no matter what race they were, they had the potential to become gods. No matter how small the probability, it would never be zero. The soul sublimation that was happening with Rias was actually the ascension of a soul to a higher plane.
Thanks to all his research, Harry discovered that the soul not only contained a person's memories, mind, and psyche, but also used the body as an anchor. It was possible to transfer a soul into another body, but in the end, it would be like an inferior copy of the original. There would even be repercussions, such as the eventual slow rotting of the soul.
And that's where he understood how the gods could survive the destruction of the gods' bodies. The so-called soul sublimation caused a soul to ascend to a higher plane, thereby improving, strengthening, and changing a being's soul, thus preventing the soul from dispersing when the body was destroyed. And since the soul reached a higher dimension, it meant it could interact with the world as a mental body. In this way, the individual would acquire a superior and, likely, unlimited source of energy.
It was as if the soul became analogous to a perpetual motion machine.
Fenrir's fangs, therefore, not only damaged the body, but also the higher soul of a divine being. In this way, he could kill gods.
Therefore, Harry decided to use these fangs to create weapons. But Harry wasn't a blacksmith by any means, but he didn't want others to do the work either. For that reason, he decided to use something that was used to create the Excalibur swords, resulting from the destruction of the original sword...
Alchemy.
But even if he knew where to start, things were never easy when it came to divine things or things that could harm divinity. That's why he spent so many days at his workshop, only leaving for important matters.
The general understanding of alchemy was that it was about equivalent exchange, but that wasn't entirely correct. At least, it wasn't everything in alchemy. Furthermore, magic was undoubtedly needed to be able to use alchemy.
In this magical art, there were three important and practically obligatory points:
Understanding, destruction, and reconstruction.
Understanding: Understanding the structure and inherent properties of the atomic or molecular composition of the material being transmuted, such as the flow and balance of kinetic and potential energy within it.
Destruction: Using energy to break the physical structure of the identified material into a more malleable state so that it could be easily reconfigured into a new form.
Reconstruction: Continuing the flow of energy to reform the material into a new form.
These steps were the basics of alchemy, but despite being called basic, very few could perform them correctly. After all, the correct application of this art requires not only a thorough understanding of chemistry and ancient alchemical theory, but also a kind of natural talent for recognizing and manipulating physical objects with energy, which requires uncommon levels of intelligence and aptitude.
Having researched the raw material, the things it could do, and its potential, Harry had already completed the first part of the alchemical process: Understanding. Then, in the center of his workshop, he created a circle with different carvings, beginning the second part: Destruction.
Manipulating his magic, he guided it toward the alchemical circle, causing it to glow black. But, despite being called destruction, the process was not simply about destroying the raw material. The form called destruction had as its first step the cleansing of the raw material before deconstructing it into a dark substance.
This process was called nigredo (blackening).
When Harry observed that Fenrir's great fang had undergone the cleansing process by his magical energy, he proceeded to continue, manipulating his magic to break down the physical structure of the material until it reached a state of a dark, malleable substance.
Then, when he reached that point, he increased his magical output, continuing the process. If the first step was the cleansing and physical deconstruction of the raw material, then the next step was the refinement of this material to remove any impurities. At that moment, the black substance changed color to a grayish hue as it slowly cleared, while the alchemical circle glowed white, further illuminating Harry's workshop.
This minor process was called Albedo (whiteness).
After the process was complete, the substance turned pure white. Harry narrowed his eyes seriously. Now it was time to move on to the next major step: Reconstruction.
Honestly speaking, Harry could easily explain the alchemical process, but it was difficult to do. It could take hours, even days. But he had no problem doing it; it was something he loved doing.
The reconstruction process consisted of two minor processes: Citrinite (yellowness) and Rubedo (redness). Citrinite was the first process of reconstruction, causing a yellowish light as the material began to process into shape. And this was a key process for the formation of any object. If the alchemist didn't have a clear image and didn't concentrate, they could end up with something completely amorphous.
Harry began to sweat a little as he concentrated, beginning to move his magic to manipulate the alchemical element as it took the form of a bastard sword. The sword wasn't solid, but a yellowish substance, almost like a sword-shaped jelly.
Finally, a red light expanded from the center of the sword as the substance hardened and took on a tooth-white color. There were no ostentatious details on the red-glowing blade; it was a simple white blade with a guard bearing two small, gaping wolf heads. Harry hadn't made a hilt; there was no need for it. He focused on the blade's details; the hilt might as well be ordinary.
When the entire process was finished, Harry stood up and walked over to pick up the sword before he used Transfiguration on a chair and turned it into a small practice dummy. And when he swung the sword, it pierced the dummy like paper, and the sword was unharmed.
But Harry frowned.
"I used the basic alchemical processes. The sword is good, but it can't really be considered excellent... Ugh..." Harry didn't look satisfied. While the sword could harm and kill gods, it didn't look like a sword to be proud of.
"While this sword is a complete and well-achieved process, it seems I'll have to use all the major and minor processes to achieve something of Magnum Opus rank," Harry shook his head.
Magnum Opus was a category that emerged because of the Philosopher's Stone. This category was for all objects created with alchemy that achieved a perfect, superior result and had impressive properties.
The three major processes were the same, but the minor processes would increase.
From first to last, the minor processes were: Calcination, Dissolution, Separation, Conjunction, Putrefaction, Congealing, Cibation, Sublimation, Fermentation, Exaltation, Multiplication, and Projection.
"Ugh..." Harry sat down in front of the alchemical circle, slightly annoyed. "I didn't want to go through all those annoying processes when I can simplify some of them with my amount of magic."
"Well, you can't expect anything less from a god-grade material, can you?"
"Honestly... If Albus saw me now, he'd probably spit blood upon hearing these methods," Harry smiled, remembering that some of these processes weren't in his world, at least not for the vast majority of wizards. He also thought that Flamel hadn't told Albus about some of these processes so he wouldn't create another Philosopher's Stone.
"Right! Enough games!" Harry slapped his cheeks lightly before beginning the new process with another Fenrir fang.
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