The sudden explosion was caused by the failure to get boiling potion in the crucible that was stirred in time. Everyone was focused on the content of Arthur's conversation with Isaac, and the incident happened like this.

A big hole was blasted into the wall of the church, and the library collapsed halfway. Fortunately, Arthur was quick and Anne was not hit by the falling bricks and stones. All three children were frightened.

The laboratory was completely destroyed. Isaac was like losing his soul, sitting in a daze among the rubble of the ruins. It took him a long time before he and Anne were taken away by Clark, a pharmacist who rushed over to hear the news.

William once again witnessed the outbreak of family conflicts. His father and uncle were quarreling, and Mr. Thomas even threatened not to return to the family's manor in Grantham. After calming down, the two brothers entered the room and talked in secret like last time - this time William was watched by the butler and was not allowed to eavesdrop, but they parted again unhappy.

William was full of doubts, but these doubts were not answered. Because Arthur left Grantham in a carriage that night, and did not even say goodbye to him.

Later he heard from the milkman Old John that Arthur made a special trip to meet someone before leaving.

Isaac, the crucible.

Either driven by curiosity or jealousy, William sneaked out of the house by a tragic act (after Arthur left, Mr. Thomas turned a blind eye to this), and planned to ask Isaac for a clear question.

He was originally going to the direction of the church library, but suddenly he remembered that the secret laboratory had been destroyed in an explosion; so he slipped to the shop of Clark Pharmacist on the High Street, but was told that Isaac went out before dawn and had not returned yet.

An unprecedented sense of frustration almost defeated William. Fortunately, he quickly regained his momentum and finalized a bold action plan: turn from the eaves of the next building to the second floor, then open the window and enter the small attic where Isaac lived.

Everything went smoothly and no one found his trace. The pharmacist and his sister were still busy working for the shop downstairs and had no time to go upstairs to patrol.

Even during the day, the light in the attic seemed too dim. William tiptoed to the oil lamp to light it up, and the warm light enveloped a small corner with the rising flames.

William exclaimed softly. Only then did he realize that he was in a wonderful world created by Isaac - a pendulum clock running on the wall that relies on clockwork and gravity; the pendulum brings air to flow, and the breeze formed blows a paper windmill; the wind wheel is connected to the chain, pulling the miniature water draw device to extract the liquid from the distiller and inject it into the sealed glass pear-shaped can to start a chemical reaction; the balance supporting the pear-shaped can is turned to one side due to the change in weight, pulling the piston to release running water, and washing away the small balls in the copper tube... This is a miniature system that maintains self-operation, which revolves around in a limited small world according to the rules set by Isaac for them.

William walked in the busy loft ecology holding an oil lamp, unable to help but make a marvelous sound.

The suspicion and mystery surrounding Isaac faded away little by little, and he slowly understood the lonely and arrogant world of another boy. In a strange place without relatives and friends, perhaps only these gadgets that cannot speak but obey commands can bring him comfort.

William sincerely felt guilty for his prank, and his admiration for Isaac was also quietly growing at the same time. If he had the chance, he really wanted to ask one by one how these magical and exquisite little things in front of him could be made with just a pair of skillful hands!

He walked around carefully, avoiding the scattered manuscripts on the floor of the attic. The paper was filled with complex calculation formulas, dazzling trajectories of celestial bodies, and numerous difficult-to-understand Latin nouns.

Among the piles of paper, William found many letters signed by the Invisible Academy. Their handwriting was very different, obviously from different people. Each letter began with "May the rose bloom on your cross", and the words "Emerald Slate" and "Great Refining" were repeatedly mentioned in the content, which seemed to be a group of people who were conducting intense discussions on a certain experimental work.

It is hard to imagine that Isaac, who is usually taciturn, maintains close communication with so many people. Perhaps in his spiritual world, the attraction brought by exploring knowledge and the truth of the universe is far greater than playing with ignorant and ignorant children of the same age.

Just like a flying eagle will not care about the noise of swallows and birds on the branches, the long whales that dive thousands of miles deep will not be indulged in the chaos of fish and shrimps under the water, and the weird behavior and isolation in the eyes of others is precisely because he disdains to waste his energy to argue and prove himself.

A letter with a new letter lying quietly in the middle of the manuscript on the ground, and William felt as if a awakened little beast in his heart jumped slightly.

He picked up the letter and put it under the oil lamp to read it carefully, recognizing the familiar handwriting.

“My friend of Ri'an:

May the rose bloom on your cross.

In my opinion, it is too early to get you to receive this letter. You do have a surprising talent, but act recklessly will not benefit. I know that the words of admonition will not change your thoughts. Instead of letting you explore alone on the cliffs of darkness, use this letter as an invitation to open the doors of knowledge and truth to you.

If I have enough time in the future, I would like to talk to you about your past experiences. I am full of curiosity about you and also be alert. Until the moment I really wrote this letter, I still cannot be sure whether I really want to fully display the context we have hidden for many years in front of you.

I must remind you, make sure you think twice before making a decision. The day after you receive this letter, my messenger will prepare a carriage leaving Grantham. If you are determined to find us, integrate into a mysterious and unknown group, and be sure to get on the carriage before sunset. At that time, you need to abandon all your identity and reshape your life trajectory.

Again, please make careful choices. From a selfish point of view, I don’t want to see you appear in front of me.

It is important to know that we hide from sentient beings and eventually become invisible.

since,

Invisible Academy”

There is no doubt that this is the handwriting of uncle Arthur Thomas. After years of correspondence, William is familiar with his habit of using his pen and writing. It is difficult to change his habits.

He left without saying a word to himself, but offered an invitation to another person he had never known, opening the door that even William could not know and the secret behind it.

Lost and disappointment are like two parasitic ghosts with bad intentions. They rise from the bottom of their hearts, laughing and whispering, mocking his wishful enthusiasm for being ridiculous and pitiful.

He suddenly felt a little at a loss when Isaac was sitting in the ruins of the laboratory.

As if he was being experiencing all his energy by climbing through the windows, William put down the letter and sighed. He retreated to the wall, leaned his back against the cabinet door and slowly slid on the ground.

In the dejected situation, the rustling sound of nails scratching through the wooden board came from behind him.

William turned around in surprise. With the swaying lights, he saw a pair of eyes as wide as a deer through the gap in the cabinet door.
Chapter completed!