It had been a while since Victor Wang spent a whole morning reading in the library. At lunch, he surprised Lisa by ordering her favorite estate-style grilled pancakes and satisfying salad, eliciting a rare flicker of genuine surprise.
That afternoon, as promised, Victor Wang returned to Albedo's laboratory. After knocking and receiving a "come in," he entered and found Albedo frowning deeply at the same "juicer" machine from the day before, clearly deep in thought.
Sucrose was nearby, conducting her own experiment. Klee wasn't present today.
"You're here. Go ahead and buy these materials first." Albedo handed him a prepared list.
The materials weren't rare, but the quantities were… intense: 30 Flaming Flower Stamens, 30 Mist Flowers, 15 Cor Lapis, 15 Electro Crystals, 90 Dandelion Seeds, and 60 Fungal Spores.
The market price for Flaming Flower Stamens and Mist Flowers was around 2,000 Mora each. Cor Lapis and Electro Crystals were 3,000 Mora apiece.
Dandelion Seeds weren't commonly sold, but the Angel's Share might have them. Last time, a thousand seeds had cost 300 Mora per seed; this time, with a smaller batch, the price would likely go up.
Fungal Spores, imported all the way from Sumeru, were 3,000 Mora each.
Victor Wang did the math—nearly half a million Mora in total. He could afford it, but still asked, "Do we really need this much?"
"Margin for error. No guarantees this will work," Albedo replied, glancing at him sideways with the faintest trace of a smile. "I've already used up this month's research budget, so… it's all on you."
"If it's too much, you can halve the quantities. But if it succeeds and there's not enough material, the energy storage will be limited, and so will the number of uses. Your call."
Victor Wang had assumed that someone like Albedo—a master alchemist who could bring drawings to life and resurrect withered branches—would guarantee success. But now, he was being told the experiment might not even work, and it would still cost over 400,000 Mora?
Alchemy really isn't for ordinary people. It burns money like wildfire.
"I'll go pick them up now."
As Victor Wang turned to leave, Albedo added, "Mention the Knights of Favonius at checkout—gets you a ten percent discount."
Victor Wang waved without looking back.
Once he'd left, Albedo pulled out two bottles of luminous blue liquid. He still couldn't think of any low-grade material rich in Hydro, so earlier this morning he'd taken down two Oceanids to obtain their Cleansing Hearts.
Adding these would significantly increase costs. But since this experiment intrigued him personally, he decided not to charge Victor Wang.
...
The rest of the materials were easy to acquire—only the Dandelion Seeds involved a bit of drama. When Victor Wang entered the Angel's Share, he once again ran into Diluc, covering Charles' shift.
After a brief exchange, Victor Wang got the seeds he needed—and Diluc even extended an invitation to an upcoming banquet at Dawn Winery.
Victor Wang thought for a moment, then accepted. Carrying his bags, he returned to the lab.
The whole shopping trip took just over an hour.
Albedo took equal amounts of elemental material from the seven types and designated this as one alchemical unit. He then placed it on the synthesis table along with a piece of Magical Crystal Chunk.
Closing his eyes, he made a series of hand gestures and began the process.
From Victor Wang's perspective, the seven materials vanished at once in a flash of blinding light—and before he could react, a loud explosion rocked the synthesis table.
He instinctively stepped back, but the blast, tinged with icy, fiery, and electric smoke, was contained within a cube of Geo energy. Inside the barrier, things gradually calmed down.
Sucrose flinched at the sound and quickly checked her own materials—then realized it came from Albedo's side.
"As expected… dangerous."
Albedo swept away the ashes. The synthesis table remained intact, but the only thing left atop it was the Magic Crystal Chunk.
Victor Wang frowned. "What happened?"
"In theory, the first step to creating this device is compressing the materials—shrinking them while allowing them to store their original elemental power. Then, I'd fuse them into the Magic Crystal Chunk and shape it into a usable form.
"But seven types of elemental energy include both complementary and conflicting forces. If timing is off, one element can become fuel for another, or they might clash. Either way—it fails.
"And when elements clash, a chain reaction is inevitable. The end result? Explosion. A violent one."
"I was very careful. Didn't expect it to blow up anyway…" Albedo rested his chin on one hand, thoughtful. "Maybe the synthesis table couldn't handle it? Let's try again."
He swiftly placed another full set of materials on the table. Again, a bright flash—and another explosion.
"Looks like the synthesis table isn't a viable vessel. That complicates things."
"If the table can't take it… what about a stronger alchemy container?" Victor Wang knew a little alchemy—but just a little.
"It's not that simple," Albedo explained. "The synthesis table is compatible with most recipes. People only avoid it due to size or shape limitations. Rarely does it outright fail. When that happens… well, it means things are about to get expensive."
"?"
"In this case, we'd need to try different vessels, rituals—an infinite number of combinations. If you want to give up, now's the time."
Albedo's gaze shifted to the remaining materials.
Victor Wang took a deep breath. When he first learned about the endless possibilities of alchemy, he was excited. Humans fear the unknown but also crave it—who wants a future that's already preordained?
But now, being asked to fund the creation of an entirely new alchemical formula… all he felt was fear.
"Let's at least use the materials I've already bought. Too early to quit now."
"Then I won't hold back. I'll start by testing a few common vessels and rituals. To avoid operator error, I'll run each trial twice."
Albedo grabbed a piece of chalk and drew a hexagram in an empty corner of the lab. Victor Wang noticed the floor there was stone—not wood—likely reserved for ritual drawings.
He placed a full alchemical unit within the hexagram and began chanting, "Earth, fire, water, wind—heed my command. Reshape the four, reforge the five."
The reply was a loud boom.
He set up another batch with new incantations: "Stars above, ever-changing skies—by the Seven's rite, let new paths arise!"
Another explosion.
Albedo jotted down notes filled with technical jargon and arcane symbols. Victor Wang peeked—none of it made sense.
After analyzing the failures, Albedo dragged out a heavy alchemical furnace, dumped the materials inside, and began heating—guiding the process with his will.
Boom.
He added water, heated again.
Boom.
After an hour, more than half the materials were gone. Sucrose, long since numb to the blasts, carried on with her own experiment. Albedo logged his fifteenth failed attempt.
Fifteen tries. So, this is what being an unlucky gacha player feels like… My cursed relic must be setting my success rate to 0.98%.
But Albedo, the unshakable alchemist, maintained his composure. He said evenly:
"We've exhausted the conventional methods. If the issue isn't the vessel or the ritual, it might be the materials. If that's the case… we may need to challenge the Anemo, Electro, Cryo, Pyro, and Geo Hypostases—and locate the elusive Dendro Hypostasis."
I do know where the Dendro one is… but in-game, Mondstadt is 8 or 9 kilometers from the desert. That's 900 kilometers in real life… Not that it matters—I can't beat them anyway. Victor Wang winced.
"For now, let's try unconventional methods with the remaining materials."
Albedo didn't seem discouraged. He placed a set of materials directly on the desk—no runes, no setup—and began to sing to them: "Da… da-da-da-da… da-da-da-da… da… da…"
BOOM!!!
This one was louder than all fifteen before.
Albedo had… sung the alchemy materials into an explosion.