Clarisse was humming to herself as she worked away at her desk. It was a rare sight to see her this happy over work, but this was a special occasion. This would be the culmination of months of hard work. That would mean that once this was done, she could take a long break from all this hard-thinking stuff guilt free!

"C'mon! Fit, you little...!"

It was to be her first self-made alchemical tool. Of course, she had had some help. Cagliostro was the one who had provided the mobius crystal, which would allow the wand to sustain its magical properties indefinitely after the initial kickstart. As well as the focus shard to direct the effects better. And... well... most of the individual parts, to be honest.

But that didn't matter to Clarisse; the idea had been hers. That, and aesthetics. Her master did make sure that Clarisse had to think up each of the required functions on her own. All Cagliostro had done was provide the finished part that matched with the theory. "It is too dangerous to let someone like you try to make these on your own", as she had put it.

The power she had managed to awaken, existential dissolution, was very powerful. It was the pinnacle of alchemical decomposition and could dissolve, destroy, and separate things normally thought to be impossible. It could have numerous applications, provided that it was applied safely. Unfortunately, even after all these years, Clarisse's control over it remained poor.

And that's precisely what the Dissolution Wand was for.

"Aaaand finished!"

Clarisse raised the wand triumphantly in the air. The teal crystals that adorned the metal shaft, intertwining and blending together in ways that should have been impossible with ordinary craftmanship. It looked so pretty that it made the alchemist feel all giddy.

One last step was required. Clarisse lowered the wand down and focused. Power build up within her rapidly, growing stronger and stronger until...

"Kablow!"

She directed all of it into the Dissolution Wand. It flashed and trembled in her hands as the mobius crystal worked in containing and stabilizing the tremendous magic within itself, before finally calming down. The crystal at the center of the wand glowed with energy. It was ready to be used.

Clarisse glanced around the room in excitement before her eyes landed on a waist-high box by her door. If her memory served her correctly, it was empty and just gathering dust at the moment.

"Let's start off with something simple..."

Clarisse focused on the energies within the wand. She would dissolve the box's size without affecting the rest of it. And as she took aim and fired off...