Seven days later, evening. The dining hall.
Asta listened attentively as Lucian explained, his left hand gently stroking Mercedes, the tabby cat, on the neck, making it comfortable enough to sprawl on the dining table, occasionally yawning lazily.
When Lucian finished, Asta withdrew his left hand and applauded softly: "Excellent, truly excellent. In just seven days, Evans, you've mastered the axioms and theorems of the first part of 'Fundamentals of Arcane Geometry,' can derive and apply them fluently, and even connected them to constructing figures and designing Arcane traps. This kind of speed shows your potential in Arcane studies — even across the entire Parliament, it ranks among the outstanding. I'm quite satisfied. I'll give you 'Brook's Meditation Technique' ahead of schedule shortly."
After finishing dinner, since they were departing late that night, Asta casually raised several fundamental questions in Arcane studies to test Lucian. Lucian answered naturally, accurately and fluently, without a single error, winning Asta's appreciation and praise.
Lucian smiled faintly: "Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Asta."
Appropriately showcasing his "talent" and "potential" in Arcane studies and spiritual power would help disguise any future rapid improvements in his strength. If he kept a low profile and hid his abilities, then when he advanced to mid-tier or high-tier at a pace not much slower than those magic geniuses, it would actually arouse suspicion and bring unnecessary trouble — or require tremendous effort to cover up.
A sheet of white paper and a Feather Pen popped out from the shadow before Asta, floating in midair as they wrote. He crossed his hands together and said: "Your potential in Arcane studies is beyond question, Evans, so I won't test your ability to guide others in Arcane and magical fundamentals. Heh — a learned Archanist, a powerful magician, does not necessarily make a good teacher."
His writing speed was very fast. The moment he finished speaking, the Feather Pen hovering over the table stopped, and the sheet of paper, densely covered with writing, flew toward Lucian.
While Lucian studied the Meditation technique carefully, Asta continued: "This is the Meditation technique improved by His Excellency Grand Archanist Brook, based on the theory of spiritual power oscillation. It's suitable for the Meditation environments of most schools, including the Astrology school's Starry Sky of Destiny environment and the Elements school's Four Elements environment. It's renowned for rapidly strengthening the soul and spiritual power at the lower tiers, though its effects become less pronounced after reaching the mid-tier. Of course, by then you'll need to switch to a higher-tier Meditation technique."
He made no demands whatsoever — merely an emotional investment in a promising magician.
The soul-refining and spiritual power enhancement methods of "Brook's Meditation Technique" closely followed the concept of "spiritual oscillation." The theory was complex but the application relatively simple, making it very suitable for formula-tier magicians. After reading through it once, Lucian gained considerable insight and planned to try it that night when things were quiet.
If its effects were truly as good as Asta and Felipe claimed, he wouldn't need to wait a full year to become a second-circle magician. As long as he had sufficient knowledge to analyze and construct second-circle spells, he could advance in just one to two months.
"Mr. Asta, tonight we're departing for the Holm Kingdom, for Alin. I have some questions I'd like to ask you." Lucian set the paper containing the Meditation technique ablaze and burned it, then looked at Asta earnestly.
Asta smiled warmly: "You want to know about the general situation in the Parliament, Evans?"
"Yes, Mr. Asta. The unknown and unfamiliar are always frightening, and since I'm about to become a member of the Parliament, I'm naturally very curious about its general structure — for instance, the distinction between Archanists and magicians, what organizations the Parliament has, how many schools of magic there currently are, how many Legendary Magicians, how many Grand Archanists, and so on." Lucian rattled off the many questions that had accumulated in his mind.
Asta smiled with some surprise: "The magician who introduced you was truly irresponsible — he didn't say anything at all. Well then, let me give you a brief overview. Since His Excellency the Speaker first proposed the concept of Arcane studies, Archanist ranks gradually came into existence, also divided from one to nine. They're earned by publishing research papers on Arcane and magical studies, creating and improving spells, proposing new potion formulas, and through the number of times your research is cited by others — all of which earn Arcane points."
"Because the Parliament's review of Arcane points is extremely rigorous, exploration and research aren't that easy, and one's command of Arcane knowledge often lags behind spiritual power growth, virtually every magician's magic rank is equal to or higher than their Archanist rank."
"Though the Archanist rank may seem useless, centuries of experience show that unless you take the ancient path of relying on various materials and rituals to crazily enhance and transform the soul and spiritual power, a magician's Archanist rank essentially determines the upper limit of strength they can reach. For instance, I'm a fifth-tier Archanist, which means my current knowledge is far from sufficient for advancement to Archmage — at best I'll languish among high-tier magicians."
"Thus, within the Association, the Archanist rank is valued slightly more than the magic rank and earns greater respect. Heh, of course, since the magic rank represents one's actual strength, no one would openly discriminate against a gentleman with a high magic rank but low Archanist rank — doing so would likely result in being secretly eliminated by all manner of strange spells."
Lucian listened with great interest, then asked curiously: "Above ninth-tier Archanists are Grand Archanists? How many Grand Archanists does the Parliament have?"
"A Grand Archanist is an honorary title, awarded only to those who have made theoretical contributions in the field of magic that fundamentally transformed magic and the course of its development. However, those Excellencies who have received this title are either already Legendary Magicians or become Legendary Magicians shortly thereafter with the full support of the Parliament. Moreover, in the realm of Legendary magic, those with the Grand Archanist title grow even faster than ordinary Legendary Magicians, seemingly facing far fewer barriers to advancement. So the Grand Archanist title represents the most powerful Legendary Magicians — even if they aren't yet, they certainly will be!"
Asta held the Grand Archanists in very high regard and esteem.
Then, seeing the curiosity in Lucian's eyes, he smiled softly: "In the entire Parliament, only seven Excellencies hold the Grand Archanist title."