Once prepared, Jean headed to Ryza's place on his own.
Although he had previously intended to have Medea replicate the Holy Grail's spellcraft, replicating a spellcraft of this magnitude would likely take at least half a month.
Therefore, he had no choice but to ask Ryza to try and solve it, including this aspect.
Walking down the now-familiar main street, despite only a few days having passed, the entire street had become even more magnificent and vibrant, with all sorts of imaginative creations displayed on the street surface.
This couldn't help but fill Jean with anticipation for the upcoming Creation Festival.
---
Arriving at Ryza's place, it was still as cluttered as ever, and Ryza herself looked much more haggard.
Thus, before discussing business, Jean channeled a wave of life force into her, which made her state improve a little.
"Sorry about that. I've run into some technical difficulties with my entry for the Creation Festival, and I haven't made any progress. But you've come at just the right time; I really need to switch gears. Staying stuck in a dead end like this just won't do."
Hearing that it was a technical difficulty, Jean gave up the idea of helping and turned to state his own request.
"No problem. Although the specific spellcraft isn't clear yet, it's always right to replicate a copy first."
After a brief inspection, Ryza activated the alchemy array, preparing to begin the highest-level item replication on the jade disc.
However, just a few seconds later, the light of the alchemy array extinguished, and Ryza stepped back.
"Ah, this... sorry, there was an accident. Let me check."
Following this, Ryza began a deeper inspection of the jade disc.
"Oh, oh, oh, I understand now. There is still a consciousness stored inside. Although the self of this consciousness has disintegrated, its form of existence means that even though it has become a fundamental spellcraft, it still exists. And things with consciousness cannot be replicated through alchemy."
Ryza, who called this characteristic of alchemy an unsolved mystery, indicated that she was powerless to replicate it in this regard.
Then, she began to attempt to analyze the entire spellcraft.
---
Jean sat in the guest seat, and after playing with all the little alchemy toys on the table twice over, Ryza finally completed the analysis of the Third Magic spellcraft.
"Finally figured it out!"
She leaned back against the backrest, a look of complete satisfaction appearing on her face.
"So, can it be generalized?"
"Eh? Let me think... probably not." Ryza took a sip of water and continued to explain: "The essential function of this thing is as a means to reach the origin of the world. Some scholars believe that all worlds initially started from a single point, and this point is the cause of everything. Just like Laplace's Demon; if one knows all the causes, one can naturally calculate all the effects. This is the foundation of omniscience and omnipotence."
But then Ryza used her fingers to make an X: "This method seems feasible, but in reality, it has been attempted by countless people, and ultimately, no one has truly succeeded. That said, there are always some who, upon going there, manage to bring back a gift, and what you call soul materialization is precisely that gift."
"In other words, leaving the Root, without someone bestowing this gift, it is impossible to achieve soul materialization?"
"No, no, no, it can be achieved. In fact, it's quite easy to achieve. The soul can inherently interfere with reality to a certain extent, so in a broad sense, the soul is itself a form of matter. The difference is that the function of infinite energy, like a perpetual motion machine, would not exist."
"Then, if I want to materialize a soul, what is required?"
Seeing Jean's somewhat anxious appearance, Ryza thought for a moment: "It requires an extremely massive amount of spiritual energy. The soul materialization in this magic borrows the authority bestowed by the origin of the world, filling in spiritual energy sufficient to satisfy the mass-energy equation in a conceptual way. Therefore, these energies can be used at any time; since it's a conceptual filling, it automatically refills. This is the truth of infinite mana."
"Isn't that just exploiting a bug?"
"You are right. The nature of authority is not much different from a bug in the world."
---
In the end, the results of Ryza's investigation caused Jean's wish to revive Esdeath to temporarily subside. If the amount of spiritual energy required in the absence of the Root were used, even a stone could be turned into a sentient being; it simply wasn't worth it.
As for returning to the Type-Moon World, one would face the situation where the awakened soul would be unable to leave the Type-Moon World.
However, this potential conclusion instead solidified one of Jean's ideas: to have her resurrected as a human being.
Rather than some strange spiritual entity like a materialized soul.
Since she died for her pride, then let her be resurrected with her pride.
Thinking of this, Jean's heart felt much lighter. Since this path was blocked, it was time to take the Third Magic and exchange it for a reward. With three extra people at home, not having money in his pocket wouldn't do.
Also because his pockets were empty, the upgrade of White Wind and the fusion of kuji kanesada would have to be put aside for now.
---
Bidding farewell to Ryza and leaving the Alchemists Workshop, Jean took out the commission letter and notified the client that the mission was completed.
Soon, Jean's phone rang, and inside was a man's voice. The way he spoke, methodical and orderly, made Jean imagine the image of a scholar.
According to the address obtained from the phone call, Jean soon arrived at the client's location.
Surprisingly, this place was on the same street as Ryza's Alchemists Workshop and was also an Alchemists Workshop, but this Workshop looked much quieter and lacked the busy crowds.
And the person greeting Jean at the door was a very unexpected figure: golden hair, half a head shorter than Jean, and one arm was a prosthetic limb made entirely of machinery.
This person was none other than the Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric.
"Hello, you must be the one here to submit the commission, right? Come in, my master is already waiting."
Although puzzled by the gender of Edward's master, he still followed him into the interior of the Workshop.
"Master, I've brought the guest over!"
Pushing open the innermost door, Edward's loud voice shouted, and soon the voice from the phone scolded him.
"Ed, haven't I told you? You cannot make a racket in the Workshop, especially when there are guests."
Then, a man walked out wearing a white robe, his cyan hair tied into a braid draped in front of him—the kind of 'ma'am, your hairstyle is dangerous' housewife hairstyle—with an effeminate beauty, and said:
"Hello, Miss Jean, I am the client for this mission: Van Hohenheim Paracelsus. You can just call me Hohenheim."
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