Alchemist summon is this world's version of Synchro summon. Instead of calling it a Tuner, it is called a Prima, which is short for Prima Materia.
And as mentioned before, Alchemist summon is no different from Synchro summon, only varying in its lore and background story.
If Synchro represents the industrial era where humanity transitions into a more modern age, like moving from the medieval era straight into a steampunk era, Alchemist is a bit different. It represents what humans call forbidden knowledge.
This is quite hard to explain, but I will try to make it easy for you to understand. Alchemist summon technically should not exist; this world has absolutely no concept called Alchemist summon.
After all, the cards themselves are already the result of alchemy, making the term Alchemist summon sound like saying Chai tea (get it? Tea tea?).
And yes, as always, because traditional alchemy was nothing short of a deadly gamble back then, combined with the passage of time after the war with the Demon King, traditional alchemy knowledge was classified as forbidden.
And the more it was forbidden, the more people sought it out. Traditional alchemy was tested for all sorts of things. Knowledge that shouldn't have existed came into being through the sheer belief of humans, as they believed there was some forbidden knowledge they had yet to discover.
That was the very first step in forming what is known as Alchemist summon.
Granting it existence, granting it a name, and granting it a reputation, Alchemist summon gradually materialized with each use of traditional alchemy. The more equivalent exchanges occurred, a part taken from that person would be used as material to create an Alchemist summon.
Eventually, it officially became a system, a new artificial card system was born. However, there is a problem.
Because it was granted the reputation of being the forbidden knowledge of alchemy, it has always been trapped in that completely white world, remaining unrevealed to humanity.
Therefore, it is still waiting, waiting until someone opens the gate connecting the human world to that gate of truth so it can fulfill its purpose of existence.
It is a new type of card summoning. You only need one Prima monster and one normal monster. When the total levels of both equal an Alchemist monster, you can summon it onto the field with a power that feels more scientific compared to this magical world. (However, since this is no longer a game, I am not sure whether you need the Alchemist card ready in your extra deck or not).
And yeah, the person who unlocks this summoning style is a villain, though I won't spoil it this early. But still... I didn't think I would see it this early.
At this point, the Alchemist summoning system might be complete, but it is not the time for it to appear yet when many events beneficial to the protagonist haven't occurred, and Aelith hasn't grown strong enough. If it were to be unlocked, I fear the whole world would be shaken.
Especially since the power system is still in its infancy. It is like minding your own business using DM cards when suddenly 5Ds cards appear out of nowhere and torment all the DM players. I am afraid both Mirlen and Juris, the two Sages of this world, wouldn't even have time to understand what is happening before being overwhelmed.
Therefore, it must not appear early, especially when I and other important characters are not strong enough.
"Hm..." Hex looked at the traditional alchemy circle before him, contemplating something.
Perhaps he was wondering what this thing was used for. After all, this was the first time he had seen an alchemy circle with such a strange energy source.
"It is another type of summoning for card dueling, senior."
Both Alice and Hex looked at me, and Hex raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Explain further."
"It is similar to Fusion, senior. The difference is that instead of needing a Fusion spell card, you just need the energy circle of alchemy to immediately summon a monster using just two monsters without using Fusion," I said bluntly.
There was no need to hide anything anyway. Even if I kept it to myself, I doubted I would get stronger since I am not an important character.
Plus, I am more used to Dimension summon because its summoning method is extremely easy and powerful.
"There is actually a method like that? How do you know?"
"Reading books."
"There are books about that?"
"There are many kinds of books: books that have been read and books that haven't been read."
"...Fair enough." Hex seemed to accept my words.
Although my explanation was quite lacking, it was more than enough. Let them find the method themselves and discover it on their own. If I revealed too much, they would notice my non-existent book.
Returning to the main issue, I looked at the drawings on that pile of paper. It is best to erase it.
Although it was a bit surprising to find it here, thinking about it, it makes sense. The villain who unlocked this summoning format had to search for many years, so it is understandable why it would appear in this era. Plus, this version is still incomplete. I remember there are a few more steps to truly complete it, but doing so is very difficult, so erasing it won't be an issue.
...The problem is whether the people from the academy will allow it.
"Senior."
"I know."
"Huh?"
Hex's eyes looked at me knowingly.
"The world probably cannot get used to these summoning methods yet. Peace has not lasted long, and having something affect the power system already means it is best to erase it or seal it. Otherwise, it will be troublesome if some bad guy exploit this one day."
"Besides, I am not a serious person like the student council or the teachers. At most, I will just report this to the principal. After all, he is very good at keeping secrets."
...Is that true? Is the principal really good at keeping secrets?
"Looking at you, I can tell you don't believe me. To be honest with you, I don't trust that old man at all either." Hex sighed, pulling a face that screamed how much of a drag this was.
"Umm... Why do both of you seem to dislike the principal so much? I thought he was quite kind and gentle during the opening ceremony?" Alice asked curiously.
Hex and I looked at Alice, then looked at each other, and then looked back at Alice.
So innocent. I wish she could keep that personality...
Of all people, Principal Mirlen is humanity's strongest mage, but he is also the sleaziest old man the world has ever produced.
Look at Juris, the current Sage. The old man dumps all the work on him and enjoys being the principal while Juris works like a slave, constantly traveling everywhere to handle business, to the point where Juris wants to strangle the old man.
The academy teachers go without saying; they look calm, but they want to tear him to pieces, let alone the Guardians who are still students of the academy.
"You will understand when you grow up, junior." Hex sighed and patted Alice's head.
Seeing Alice still confused and clueless, Hex walked over to the pile of paper and pulled out a card.
"Fireball."
A super simple spell card. It seems Hex is the type of person who dislikes showing off and prefers using versatile and easy-to-use things.
Right after that, the papers with drawings, the notes, and finally the alchemy circle were all burned away. And so, the Alchemist summon that had just peeked out to see the sun had to return to that completely white world...
"Alright, the mysteries here have all been solved, and I heard some shocking information. It was worth coming here just out of curiosity." Hex stretched, then pulled me and Alice out of the room.
"As for you two, normally coming here on your own without an adult or someone strong enough would mean having your credits deducted."
"Ah... Sorry?" Alice said, her eyes looking pitifully at Hex.
"Don't look at me like that, I don't like kids."
"Oh."
"But eh, I am not the disciplinary committee either, this isn't my business."
"What a wonderful senior. Do you need me to kiss your hand to show my appreciation?" I said.
"No thanks, spare me."
He scratched his head, then pointed his hand at the pile of cards below.
"Take whichever cards you kids like. I am taking this whole pile to hand over to the academy in a bit anyway."
"...Are you a saint reincarnated? If I had known, I wouldn't have thought badly of you." I looked at Hex, my face full of admiration.
"Take them quickly. Oh, and by the way, although these cards are masterless, their feelings for their old master remain. Subduing them won't be easy." Hex scratched his head, leaning against the corner of the wall to watch.
I then looked over at Alice, but she didn't seem interested at all.
"I will pass. I don't like horror stuff, and subduing monsters can endanger your life."
Hearing that, I also looked at the cards. Most were below level 5, the number of level 4s was very small and they weren't strong either. Almost every monster card here had under two skills at most.
'As expected of old cards, there are really very few worth using.'
I sighed, intending not to pick any until I suddenly noticed a card.
Ghost girl (Lv. 3)
Type: Ghost
Atk: 500
Hp: 1000
Race: Undead
Passive: Invisible Body
Skill: Scare
A level 3 monster that was pitifully weak. Normally I wouldn't care about it before coming to this world.
But now, I am Igor Snowy, an ice user. And if a ghost girl combines with ice, what do you get? Needless to say, right? If you don't know, go to the Wiki and read about Japanese Yokai.
Only this one was usable. I picked it up and looked at Hex.
Hex then walked over, pulling out a Special card.
"Chest."
A chest immediately appeared. He gathered the cards and tossed them inside like throwing away trash, then recalled the chest.
...Why are your cards all containing super, super ordinary spells? Although I don't deny you dislike showing off, you could at least flex a little bit, what's the harm?
"Alright, head outside, kids. The business here is all wrapped up." Hex said and walked out. Alice and I looked at each other and followed.
As soon as we stepped outside the old dormitory, Alice and I took a breath of fresh air.
"What time is it?"
"12:12. It's just in time for you guys to go to class." Hex said.
"What?! It's already 12:12?!" Alice was startled, not expecting time to pass so quickly.
"Thank you, senior, for saving us. If you need any favors in the future, just let me know." I said to Hex with a smile.
"Don't worry about that." Hex answered half-heartedly, his face completely unserious.
If you knew that you would be overworked to death in the future just like Juris, would you still be able to say that?
I smiled inwardly, resolving that even if he didn't ask, I would still help.
Thus, Alice and I left together, leaving Hex standing there observing.
Hex watched for a while and then sighed.
"Kids these days are quite reckless, huh."
Then he reached into his pocket, looking at the Winter Shogun card. Compared to the other old monsters here, this card was indeed the strongest, but it didn't fit his deck at all.
"Oh right, Jane seemed to mention something about a classmate needing a warrior monster, right?"
Since both Hex and Jane were from the Solomon class and only two years apart, while also being Guardians of the academy, helping or asking favors from each other was normal. Although it was undeniable that Jane had something scary about her that made an introvert like him a bit anxious, as a senior, it would be foolish not to treat his juniors responsibly.
"I think she mentioned his name to me, what was it again... Oh right, JustRey, what a strange name." Hex remembered the black-haired student who looked a bit emo, with blue eyes and a gun kept by his pants.
...He probably doesn't use the gun to shoot his own head, right? Because I saw him pointing the gun at his head a few times. Do emos like doing that kind of thing?
"Whatever, why think too much, if I'm giving it, I'm giving it." After saying that, he put away the card and left.
Meanwhile, Alice and I headed to class.
Alice's two hands clutched each other, sweating slightly. She looked at me, intending to say something, but then stopped.
"What's wrong?" I turned and asked.
"Huh?! Oh, it's nothing! Let's just keep going!" Alice was startled, her face a bit tense as she walked ahead of me.
"...If you want to thank me for something, I don't mind."
She suddenly stopped, turning her head to look at some point.
"...How did you know?"
"It's easy to guess by looking at your face."
"..." Hearing that, Alice took a deep breath and looked at me.
"...Um, well, even if you already know, I still have to say it out loud for you to hear... Umm... Thank you for saving me back then."
A gust of wind blew past, making her hair sway in the wind. The sunlight shone on her face, highlighting this moment. If it were someone else, they might be impressed by how cute she was.
I was too, just a different kind of impressed.
'What the heck? The effects appeared right on cue? And this positioning, this perspective, this stance... Isn't this the event that appears when her affection level increases to a certain point?'
It's true that although this world is realistic, it can't be helped that these things exist, and they function exactly like the game.
...Will it work on monsters too?