Dragon Raja: Reboot

Chapter 105 The Flammel Lineage

Steam rose from the teacup, filling the principal's office with the aroma of tea.

Angers sat behind his desk, staring blankly at the pot-bellied old man who, for the first time in decades, had left the attic and stepped into the principal's office.

"What the hell? What day is it today? Is Manstein getting married?" Angers asked incredulously.

He put down his teacup and began to peruse the various applications Norma had recently received on his behalf, trying to find the marriage application from Director Manstein.

What other reason could possibly drag this old man out of that attic filled with glamorous magazines and Westerns, besides his son?!

This is simply a miracle!

The vice-principal, his face dark, walked up to the desk without any politeness, downed the black tea in his Angers cup in one gulp, smacked his lips, and said disdainfully, "I really don't know how you could like this kind of stuff."

Angers watched the old man gulp down his tea like a cow chewing on a peony, completely clueless about tea ceremony, and said with a headache, "Why aren't you drinking the sparkling wine I brought you on your own turf? What are you doing here?"

"Didn't you ask me for help?" The vice principal, with his large belly protruding, sat down on the desk without ceremony. "Now I'm here."

Angers got up and walked to the bookcase, opened a hidden compartment, took out a bottle of whiskey, and then took out two glasses, handing one to his old friend.

"You're a bit early," Angers said, shrugging as he poured wine for the watchman. "The Gattuso family's representative hasn't even left yet. So, what do you want with me? The Chinese say you don't visit a temple without a reason, and your behavior today is a perfect example."

The vice principal said dismissively, "Don't try to impress me with your Chinese. It was my idea to promote Chinese education in the college. Your Chinese isn't as good as mine."

"Alright, alright, so what exactly do you want from me?" Angers clinked glasses with him and raised an eyebrow.

The vice principal downed the whiskey in one gulp, but remained silent, his eyes fixed on the wooden floor.

Angers grew increasingly curious about what had happened to this guy. Logically speaking, there were very few things in this world that could touch this guy's heartstrings. In the past, besides his beloved son, there was also a female student. After that female student died, this old friend became more and more withdrawn.

His condition today is, if not unprecedented, extremely rare.

"Someone dug up my teacher's grave," the vice principal said slowly.

The wine glass in his hand crashed to the ground, and Angers stared in disbelief, completely oblivious to the glass that had fallen to the floor.

"What...what did you say?!"

"Well, that's not quite accurate." The vice principal scratched his head and continued, "It should be said that he pried open the door to my teacher's grave, but stopped at the door and only took a pair of alchemical tools guarding the entrance."

"He sounds like a righteous thief who knows his place and is polite. Did he leave you a note to say hello?" Angers said, shrugging.

"Stop joking, I'm not kidding you!" the vice principal said, displeased.

"Oh, then go on." Angers shrugged nonchalantly.

"...I feel like you still think I'm joking with you."

"Nonsense! Listen to what you're saying! Someone robbed your teacher's tomb? Who is your teacher? A Grand Alchemist of the Secret Society!"

"Uh, praise is praise, but don't flatter me to death. You bunch of bastards even looted the White Emperor City of the Bronze and Fire King and killed the king on the alchemical throne. No matter how awesome my teacher is, he can't compare to the great His Majesty Norton."

Upon hearing this, Angers paused, stroking his stubble thoughtfully, and said, "That sounds like it..."

"Right!" The vice principal shrugged, and to prove he wasn't lying, he didn't hesitate to badmouth a teacher who had been dead for over a hundred years.

"Alright, even if you're not lying, why aren't you going to re-install a doorway on your teacher's grave? What are you doing here with me?" Angers asked, puzzled.

The vice principal retorted irritably, "What's the point of installing a door? They've already locked onto the location; what door can stop modern technology?"

"Then... relocate the grave?" Angers suggested.

"I don't want to personally experience the alchemical array set up by my teacher," the vice principal decisively shook his head.

"So what exactly do you mean?"

"Find someone! Dig out that bastard who dug up my teacher's grave!" the vice principal said viciously.

"Good idea! But where do we look?" Angers asked helplessly. "By the way, where exactly is your teacher's grave?"

"...near the academy."

"Oh, school... what did you say? Near the academy?!" Angers' eyes widened immediately.

The vice principal sighed, "Didn't you ask me before why I've stayed at the school all this time? Part of the reason is to guard my teacher's grave. Not just my teacher, but my teacher's teacher, my teacher's teacher's teacher... they're all in that grave. Oh, of course, those from generations ago are just cenotaphs now."

"Would you mind disclosing the exact location?"

"Remember that fairy lake? It's at the bottom of the lake."

"You suspect they are students from the college?"

"There's no doubt about it, it definitely is!" the vice principal said decisively.

"Alright... I'll have Schneider check if any students have gone out into the vicinity of that Fairy Lake in the last few days," Angers said with a wry smile.

The vice-principal suddenly said fiercely, "You old bastard, don't you dare steal from me! Don't blame me for not warning you, there's an alchemical array in that grave that my teacher personally set up when he was alive. I'm not even confident I can break it perfectly myself!"

Angers said guiltily, "How could I possibly rob the graves of a Secret Service veteran? You're overthinking it."

"That had to be for the best," the vice-principal scoffed, then suddenly added abruptly, "There's nothing good in that grave. All the good stuff is with me. Do you think I'd just let all that good stuff sit buried in that tomb?"

Angers said regretfully, "Oh, that's a real shame."

"You son of a bitch, you still want to rob my teacher's grave!" The vice principal immediately became agitated.

"Calm down, calm down!" Angers quickly poured the vice-principal a full glass of wine. "Drink up!"

"But how come a student would suddenly pry up your teacher's grave?" Angers asked curiously.

"How was I supposed to know? Everything had been peaceful for the past hundred years. Who knew that a few days ago I received a warning, ran over to check, and found that some rascal had opened the 'gate' of the grave and taken a piece of alchemical material from in front of it." The vice principal raised his glass in annoyance.

"Alchemy items?" Angers thoughtfully poured wine for his old friend.

"To be precise, he's half-crippled. Have you heard of the legend of King Arthur?"

"King Arthur? Of course!"

"Legend has it that King Arthur obtained a sword from the Fairy Lake that could cut through iron like mud, that's the one."

"Oh! The King's Sword, such an awesome thing is just a cripple?"

"The sword's 'living spirit' has disappeared, and its vital core is incomplete and cannot be retrieved. Of course, it's a crippled product." The vice principal shrugged and downed his drink in one gulp.

"Oh, that's a real shame," Angers sighed, refilling his old friend's glass. "Speaking of which, the night is so beautiful tonight, would you mind telling me a few more little secrets about your Flammel school?"

Few people know that Kassel College also has a Department of Alchemy Principles. Unlike the "talented" Equipment Department, this department has only one member, namely the students' beloved Vice Principal.

Within the Secret Society, the successive mentors of Flamel were the society's chief alchemists. If the mentor of Flamel said that he only knew the basics of alchemy, then the other alchemists would have no choice but to kneel down and say that they knew nothing about alchemy.

The vice principal squinted slightly and said slowly, "I'm in a good mood today, so I'll give you a little hint."

"Wait, you're in a good mood because your teacher's grave was almost robbed?"

Knowing he shouldn't interrupt his old friend at this moment, Angers was still taken aback by the rascal's "respect for his teacher and the Way".

"Tsk, what do you know?" The vice principal curled his lip. "That old guy really beat me hard when he forced me to learn alchemy."

Angers was speechless; they were indeed a wise teacher and a talented student.

The vice principal said lazily, "You should know something about the name Nicholas Flamel, right?"

"Of course, let's skip the basics," Angers nodded.

The Flammel lineage traces back to the enigmatic Nicolas Flammel in the history of alchemy.

He was born in 1330 and claimed to have died in 1427, but when people later dug up his tomb, it was empty.

He spent most of his life as a scribe in Paris, which gave him access to a variety of ancient texts, including alchemical texts. At that time, printing was not yet widespread in Europe, and the reproduction of ancient books mainly relied on copying.

One day, Nicolas Flamel acquired an ancient book called the Book of Abraham. Using his alchemical knowledge gleaned from other ancient texts, he deciphered the book's secrets, unlocking the door to ancient alchemy. From then on, elemental transformation became effortless for him, and he became incredibly wealthy overnight, building fourteen hospitals and churches in Paris.

Years later, when people opened the basement of the church he built, they found that it was covered with mysterious symbols from the ground to the roof. These powerful symbols were like trapped dragons and snakes, and no one could decipher them. Newton even tried to translate his works into English.

In the history of alchemy, Nicolas Flamel is widely regarded as the last master to open the door to alchemy.

People generally believe that he has concocted the legendary elixir of immortality and is still alive in this world. For centuries, people have seen him still appearing in the streets and alleys of Paris.

According to the Secret Society's historical records, the first mentor, Nicolas Flamel, joined the Secret Society in the early 15th century. He lived a long life but was not immortal. His successors were all named Nicolas Flamel, and this lineage continues to this day.

Throughout history, Flamel's mentors never shared the secrets of alchemy with the Secret Society, fearing that alchemy would be misused in ways unrelated to the fate of humanity. However, for many years they have kept their promise and supported the Secret Society from behind the scenes in their fight against the dragons.

Therefore, it should be said that Flammel's faction was an ally of the Secret Party, not a member.

The Flamel lineage has always been highly respected, but for some reason, there have been some problems with the succession in this generation. It was this "filial" good-for-nothing who inherited the mantle of his predecessors. However, his performance in alchemy and the purity of his dragon blood are still worthy of the great Flamel name.

Angers didn't know the concentration of this guy's bloodline, but he knew that this guy's bloodline was definitely above his own!

His Word of Power is [Discipline], a powerful Word of Power numbered 106 in the Word of Power sequence list!

With the massive alchemical matrix he built underground in the academy, he can suppress everyone in the entire school!

Among the people Angers knew, only the Word of Power possessed by a certain old guy from Tokyo could surpass the vice principal.

The vice-principal gathered his thoughts and began to introduce Angers to his great lineage of teachers.

"In the ancestral manuscript left by my teacher, it is recorded that my ancestor accidentally obtained an ancient book that recorded the truth of the world. This mysterious document is called the Book of Abraham the Jewish Abraham. He spent twenty-one years preparing to interpret the book, and finally, with the help of a Hebrew scholar, he barely managed to interpret most of the book word by word."

"It can be said that this book laid the foundation for Flammel's current status."

The vice principal snatched the entire bottle of whiskey from Angers' hand.

"What exactly is recorded in that book?" Angers asked.

"I haven't seen it, but this is what the patriarch's notes say—it has three sets of seven pages each, including the first page. The seventh page of each set has no text, but on the seventh page of the first set, there is a drawing of a magic wand being swallowed by a giant snake." The vice principal said boldly to the bottle.

"The giant serpent?" Angers raised an eyebrow. "Is that the Ouroboros you mentioned?"

"I'm not sure, but that's what my teacher said. He believed that the book was a divine revelation left by Ouroboros, the king of magic."

"Divine revelation? Your teacher believes Ouroboros is a god?"

"Alchemy and the power of words are considered the ultimate forces of the dragon race. The one who masters the ultimate alchemy is naturally a god."

"Ouroboros is the Dragon King?" Angers exclaimed in surprise. "Wait, could Ouroboros, the King of Magic, be the King of Bronze and Fire?"

In the realm of alchemy, Ouroboros symbolizes the unity and eternity of the universe, and also represents cycles, immortality, and restart.

Alchemists worship him as the King of Magic, while in the world of dragons, the one who has mastered the ultimate alchemy is the King of Bronze and Fire. Angers has every reason to suspect that the two are actually the same person.

The vice principal put down the bottle, touched the wine lees on his nose, and remained silent for a long while before saying:

"Norma, leave this room and leave the two of us alone for a while."

"What time is it?"

"About half an hour."

"Understood. For the next 30 minutes, the principal's office will be outside my surveillance range."

After Norma finished speaking, all the equipment stopped working, including the cameras and recording devices placed in hidden locations, which were all locked.

Angers frowned and said, "Is this really necessary?"

"Of course it's necessary. What I'm about to tell you is a top secret that Flamel's lineage discovered and has kept hidden from outsiders until now," the vice principal said calmly, tapping his forehead. "A so-called top secret can't be stored in the system or on a hard drive; it can only be stored here."

Angers, flattered, exclaimed, "Am I the first person in history?"

"Yes, you're the first. No one in the Secret Service has ever received Flamel's approval; you're the exception," the vice-principal shrugged. "Can you feel my favoritism towards you?"

"I can feel it, it's such a deep love," Angers exclaimed, getting up to take out another bottle of whisky he had been keeping for a long time from the liquor cabinet.

Upon seeing the whiskey in Angers' hand, the vice-principal's eyes widened, and he cursed, "Damn it! I remember you said you'd already finished this stuff!"

Angers raised an eyebrow and said, "Don't worry about such details; a night like this deserves a drink!"

The vice principal grumbled and cursed until he downed the first glass of wine, at which point he finally exhaled slowly and managed to gather his thoughts.

At this moment, the principal's office is located outside the campus, and even the smart lights have been turned off, leaving only an old-fashioned candle lamp.

The shadows of the trees swayed on the high windows, and the candlelight was quiet and dim, making it look like the depths of an ancient church.

The vice-principal spoke in a low, cold voice about the "truth" that Flamel's lineage had kept hidden for hundreds of years.

"First, I must tell you that in the 'divine revelation' received by my ancestor, the first Flamel, the great King of Magic, Ouroboros, was the King of Alchemy, predating the King of Bronze and Fire!"

The exploration of Flamme's lineage up to Ouroboros is all secondary setting content, not a linear storyline; it's connected to previous plot points.

(End of this chapter)