"Is this little amount enough?"
Ian looked curiously at the Hourglass Sand inside, which seemed detailed enough to be counted with the naked eye. He hadn't yet reached this stage in Alchemy practice from Teacher Morgan.
"Of course, it's not enough. It's insufficient for Albus and even more so for your large clock. The amount of Hourglass Sand determines how much of the time scale we can influence."
Nicolas Flamel put away the apparatus and returned, taking the damaged Time Converter from Ian's hands. "However, Hourglass Sand isn't the issue we need to consider right now. It's the materials needed to repair this Time Converter, many of which have completely vanished from our era."
"Including your clock." Nicolas Flamel's tone was full of indescribable heaviness. He had felt the limitations of the era more than once.
"I do know a substitute formula for making this type of Magic Metal... capable of creating an alloy called Wulu." Ian pointed at the missing corner of the Time Converter.
"Hmm?"
Nicolas Flamel looked at the Little Wizard with some suspicion.
Under his gaze,
the Little Wizard took out parchment and wrote an alchemy formula, intricately filling 6 sheets of parchment. As Ian handed each sheet to him, Nicolas Flamel moved from confusion to incredulous astonishment by the time Ian handed over the last sheet.
"Did you get this from tomb raiding as well?"
For Nicolas Flamel, who understood Ian's level in Alchemy, the only plausible explanation for the formula was the treasure gained from grave robbing.
"Pretty much."
Ian thought about it and nodded slightly.
Teacher Morgan lived in the Misty Illusion Realm, where all the inhabitants were deceased, akin to the conditions of tombs. So the formula could indeed be considered a find from grave robbing.
"Hiss~~~"
Nicolas Flamel took more than ten deep breaths. Had Ian not held him and smoothed his back, he might have just fallen stiff, overwhelmed by the shock.
"Is it too late to learn tomb raiding now?"
Despite Nicolas Flamel's more tranquil disposition and disdain for worldly desires, he couldn't help but regret not opening his eyes earlier in life after being stunned by Ian's finds.
"That's hard work..." Ian recalled his fatigue from raiding Senior Tom's family tomb, genuinely expressing how Nicolas Flamel rendered speechless.
Even with such gains.
He wouldn't complain about hard work.
He'd cheerfully work twenty-four hours a day for such finds!
"Right, speaking of this Time Converter... could you take a look at how it relates to Hourglass Sand?" Ian, continued the conversation while pulling out a handful of Mystical Black Sand from his Money Bag.
He genuinely took out only a small handful.
Nevertheless.
When Nicolas Flamel saw the Black Sand sliding to the ground from Ian's small hand, this time he couldn't help it. Clutching his chest, he suddenly fell backward.
Elderly people do sleep well. If they lie down, they can sleep... Thankfully, Ian promptly rushed behind Nicolas Flamel and supported him, preventing the Alchemy Master from slipping into a baby-like slumber.
"Hourglass Sand is an alchemy creation, while the Black Sand you dropped is its raw material. Their origin is a mystery. My teacher only showed me a few grains once."
After catching his breath, Nicolas Flamel immediately crouched down and started picking up the Black Sand that had slipped from Ian's hand like an hourglass.
He dropped.
Nicolas picked.
Watching the six-hundred-year-old man being careful like someone picking up grain during famine, Ian tossed the entire handful of Black Sand onto the office floor.
He had plenty more in his Money Bag...
"What are you doing?"
After helping Nicolas Flamel pick up the Black Sand from the floor, Ian noticed that instead of tending the Black Sand, Nicolas Flamel went directly to the crafting table and started working.
Nicolas Flamel slowly retrieved items from a wooden box marked by years: rusty iron pieces, gemstone fragments emitting peculiar glows — then he began to craft
as the unique clang of metal smelting and the fierce glow of fire encompassed the room. This was indeed an art-level alchemy scene, as Nicolas Flamel soon molded several blanks.
The molds were of various shapes, some resembling sharp shovels, others resembling delicate crowbars. He inscribed Magic Runes on them while responding to Ian's question.
"You must have raided Merlin's tomb, right? You must have... You raid Merlin, and I'll raid Arthur Pendragon; I happen to know where Arthur Pendragon's tomb is."
"He had many wizard followers back then, so there must be good stuff in his grave." Nicolas Flamel's voice was firm and impactful, showing he was deeply affected.
"Ah!!?"
Ian finally realized what Nicolas Flamel was crafting—tools for tomb raiding! As the Magic Runes continued to be inscribed, the grave-robbing tools gradually took shape. Their surface gleamed with cold, metallic sheen under the dim light, astonishingly capable of operating automatically without being manually used!