Alex Thompson was one of the great biochemist in entire arcanum, who had doctorate in three technological disciplines, herbology, chemistry and therapeutics. He created advanced fertilizers, improved traditional herbal medicines, creating various technological elixirs, creating pesticides that is harmful to pests to harmeless to others which can be applied on crops without poisoning the crops, an improved version of fortifiers which like old ones increase one's resistance but without backlash after effect is over, he created antibiotics for various plague than ordinary medicine, traditional and modern alike cannot solve, eliminating various plague.
Alex's greatest achievement is his greatest creation called elixir of youth. Historically, in arcanum, the alchemist using rituals and herbs that is enchanted with magic, brewed elixir of youth than can restore one's youth and revert one back to his or her age back to 20. Many technologists tries to imitate the magical potion to produce their own version of elixir of youth but failed.
Some believed that it is a feat the only magic can achieve as magic bend or sometimes even break the physical, allowing a mage or a non-mage (through alchemy, rune and ritual), bypass the physical law barrier to get desired end. Whereas, technology utilize and combine various physical laws to achieve similar result. Thus, it was believed that on users of magic can brew such miraculuos elixir, forcing the technologists trying to replicate the elixir to give up.
But Alex Thompson is only one who didn't give up, he knew very well that both and magic and technology can do anything, the two only differ in methods, as former bypass the law while later follow the law, but there is no such thing like certain feat that magic and technology cannot achieve, the elixir of youth is same.
Alex believe if magic user can achieve such feat then technology experts can do same too. He spend day and night in mixing various chemicals, finding any herb he can find and even checking the chemical reaction. His effort eventually bore fruit, he managed to produce a technological version of elixir of youth. He then decide to do a live demonstration in stage of town hall of Ashbury.
The citizens and other technologists wonder if Alex went mad, as they believed that elixir of youth created by mages and alchemists cannot be replicated by technological means. But they soon become speechless when on stage, Alex who is already reached in his 80s, drink the elixir in front of them, in front of the eyes of crowd he immediately aged backwards and become a youth in it's 20s, shocking everyone.
After this event, his fame rose as he achieved what other technologists couldn't to replicate one of the mage's and alchemist's greatest work. Next day, Alex sold the elixirs in big market as well as put the elixie in auction. Soon, Alex become very rich, his wealth even exceed that of late Gilbert Bate's, who is one of the greatest technologist in history of arcanum, famous for his invention of steam engines.
With immese wealth secured, he immediately purchased books and manuals of other technological discipline to fulfill his most ambitious goal he had as a child, to become a polymath, not just any polymath who is merely good in multiple field, but a polymath who is good in each and every fields. Thus, he studied all other disciplines well, to become a master of all technological disciplines and technological skills.
The universe works on the law of aptitude, where a mage or non-mage can raise their magical aptitude through learning spells, alchemy, rituals and runes, raising their magical powers as it scales with magical aptitude, the greater the magical aptitude, the greater the effect. Similarly a technologist or a scholar can raise their technological aptitude, by learning and mastering the technological disciplines and technological skills, the greater the technological aptitude, the greater connection one will have to physical laws, boosting one's intelligence, learning capibilities, understanding of the laws of universe and having one's head filled with countless ideas.
However, magic and technology are mutual exclusive, one cannot be both, which might prevent one's magic to remain weak and their mastery on technology is slowed down, meaning one can be either a mage or technologist, as one cannot choose both paths as there cannot be a technomage. Still, a mage and a technologist in their respective aptitude in transcendental level can achieve what is extremely difficult or even impossible.
A mage with transcendental magical aptitude can perform all sorts of miracles both difficult and impossible, they literally break the limits of one's soul, which break one free from all shackles of physical laws. Similarly a technologist with transcendental technological aptitude can create anything one desires, the technology that take years to build due to difficulties and the technology that is impossible to build, these are all the result of one breaking the limit of one's mind, allowing one to know countless possible allowing one to use phyical law as building blocks to create something even greater things.
And this is what Alex wants, as a technologist, he want to raise his technological aptitude to transcendental level, to become an omnipotent scholar that knows countless possibilities and create anything he desires, allowing him achieve extremely difficult as well as impossible feat in the world of technology.
Thanks to elixir of youth, he can restore his youth anytime he desires, allowing him to get enough time to master every disciplines and skills, that normally one cannot achieve before dying the natural death, but with elixir the obstacle of ageing is gone, meaning there is clear path for Alex with no obstacles, whatsoever.
His dreams is eventually fulfilled, and he become a transcendental technologist, he created creations after creations, the machines, the devices, the chemicals, the biological creations, fuels, modern tools, hygiene products, beauty products, medicines and even technological elixirs.
By now nothing is impossible to him, his fame grew larger as time passes by, his wealth crossed all boundaries and become an idol to each and every technologists and scholars in the world, all thanks to Alex's creation of an elixir that made all of these possible.