The wind howled outside, but the endless research in the workshop left Ron feeling both exhausted and fulfilled.
Clearly, in this Extraordinary World, true security could only be achieved through mastering power.
At dawn, as the first rays of sunlight spilled onto the laboratory floor through the window, Ron put down his Alchemy Tools.
He rubbed his sore shoulders after six hours of continuous work.
On the workbench in front of him, dozens of metal plates were neatly arranged, each engraved with runes in different configurations.
Some had already oxidized and changed color, while others retained their original luster.
"After so many attempts, there’s finally progress," Ron murmured to himself, cautiously picking up the last metal plate.
The rune configuration on this special alloy differed subtly from the dozens of previous attempts.
In earlier experiments, Ron had tested various rune combinations, but none achieved the desired isolation Effect.
Some runes caused the metal to overheat and melt, others made it extremely brittle, and some could not form a stable Energy Field at all.
But this last one—marked as Ψ-23—showed delightful Traits in testing.
When Ron injected two mutually repelling Energies into it, the metal plate successfully isolated them into two completely separate regions, without any leakage or interference.
Ron picked up a specially-made glass rod and carefully touched the runes on the left side of the metal plate.
The metal emitted a faint blue glow immediately, but this light was limited to the left half, while the runes on the right remained completely inert.
"The Energy isolation layer is theoretically feasible."
Ron detailed the observations in his notebook:
"But the duration still needs improvement."
He glanced at the hourglass on the wall; the isolation effect of this metal plate could only last about five minutes once activated, far from meeting practical application needs.
Ron opened the thick notebook on the table, densely packed with detailed data from previous experiments and reasons for failures.
Every failure brought new insights, and every mistake paved the way for ultimate success.
"The key to the isolation layer lies in the arrangement of runes, not the runes themselves."
Ron muttered, his fingers sliding over the lines of small text in the notebook:
"It’s like building a dam; the way the stones are placed is more important than the stones themselves."
This research into the metal isolation layer originated from the information about Black Wizards he had read in the Library some time ago.
The ancient texts mentioned that during the Awakening Process, Black Wizards were gradually eroded by polluted Energy, leading to personality distortion.
However, Ron noticed a detail:
A few Black Wizards could remain rational for quite a long time, even growing continuously stronger.
They often wore some special amulets or equipment or used other unique methods to create a "buffer zone," slowing the direct impact of pollution on the soul.
"If a perfect isolation layer could be created..."
Ron pondered, a cautious light flickering in his eyes:
"Theoretically, it should be possible to completely separate two Energy Fields, allowing no interference."
This idea sparked his interest in researching the isolation layer.
Pursuing power requires constant calmness and rational thinking; Ron never considered stepping directly onto the path of a Black Wizard, which represented irreversible distortion and madness.
"Power only has value when it is under Rational Control." This was a creed etched in the Library of Consciousness.
Ron checked the parameters of the Ψ-23 metal plate once more, then carefully placed it into a specially-crafted wooden box.
He then took down another notebook from the shelf, bearing the words "Soul Steel Data."
During the past week’s full School lockdown, aside from various daily practices, he had been working on two research lines in parallel:
On one hand, the energy isolation layer experiments; on the other, the preliminary analysis of that precious piece of Soul Steel.
These two studies seemed unconnected, but in Ron’s plan, they would perfectly merge at some point in the future.
The analysis of Soul Steel’s Traits was exceptionally complicated.
This mysterious metal had extremely high plasticity and Magic Conductivity, yet it was also highly selective, seeming to "perceive" the intent and capability of the handler.
Ron had already spent dozens of hours attempting to establish preliminary "communication" with this metal, allowing it to gradually adapt to the characteristics of his Spiritual Power.
"If the principles of the isolation layer could be successfully applied to Soul Steel..."
He gently caressed the rare metal, glowing with a silvery-gray sheen:
"Perhaps it could create a whole new type of Alchemy Item, with unprecedented Traits."
But he hadn’t fully determined what kind of tool it would be specifically.
Ron was not someone who acted solely on intuition; every step had to be based on thorough research and rigorous experimentation.
He closed his eyes, letting his tired brain rest for a moment, but his thoughts drifted involuntarily to those records he had seen in the Library.
"...The Awakening process is essentially a process of fusion with polluted Energy. As the Awakening Level increases, they gain stronger Erosion abilities, but at the cost of their sanity."
Ron recalled those textual descriptions while contemplating a question that seemed almost heretical to a normal Wizard:
Is it possible to acquire the power of a Black Wizard while completely avoiding its negative impacts?
Theoretically, if the Awakening process could be confined within some external container instead of one’s own soul, it might avoid direct personality Erosion.