Many of the ancient magic empire's magical theories had long since been overturned one by one by the rapid development of arcane research, and quite a few meditation techniques had already fallen behind the times. Yet unique magic still enjoyed widespread popularity among today's mages. Every time ruins were explored, apart from magical items and materials, the most coveted finds were unique spells, magic circles, and magical rituals — because the sole measure of a spell was how well it performed.
In this regard, the ancient unique spells born from simulating and refining the structures of magical creatures — whether wondrous and unfathomable or overwhelmingly powerful — were mostly no inferior to their modern equivalents. Where they fell short was that they had once been seventh- or eighth-circle spells, but through arcane research their underlying principles and patterns had been uncovered, their structures refined, and their learning requirements lowered until they became fourth- or fifth-circle spells.
Of course, unique spells could also inspire archanists. Many of the Magic Parliament's arcane breakthroughs had been discovered through the study of unique spells, so the Parliament had never been stingy with arcane credits and arcane points as rewards for their submission.
However, the unique spells recorded in the *Book of Stars and Elements* only began from the third circle. Lucian had not yet studied or analyzed any of them, making it difficult to single out a few less important ones for submission in a short time. The ones he could currently consider were instead a few spells he had created or improved himself.
Among them, the first-circle spells Charm Person (Wizard Version) and Charm Person (Knight Version) were among Lucian's current trump cards. Before the Magic Parliament introduced the concepts of brainwaves and human hormones, Lucian had no intention of handing them over. Perhaps in the future he himself would "borrow" these two spells to pioneer research in that field, gradually becoming an authority on illusion and necromancy studies.
If he submitted the Professor's Resonant Hand, combined with the Altor incident, it would essentially confirm his identity as "the Professor." Lucian planned to wait until he reached the fifth-circle magic level before submitting a paper on resonance. And if no one beat him to the artificial synthesis of "urea," that would probably also have to wait until then — to avoid drawing the combined wrath of necromancer mages and the Church without having the corresponding means of self-defense.
This was not like Earth, where scientists had no combat ability. Lucian had heard over a dozen cases from Astal about the Magic Parliament settling academic disputes through violent means. Sometimes it was not that those archanists were narrow-minded; rather, anyone who had reached their level of understanding simply could not change their views without powerful, factual proof. And they were not gods — they all had their own joys and sorrows. So in the heat of argument, one moment of lost restraint might lead to tragedy.
As far as Astal knew, the Magic Parliament had now equipped many of its discussion venues with small anti-magic arrays.
Unless absolutely necessary, one should only do what one had the strength for. This was the conclusion Lucian had drawn after surviving so many dangers.
"Should I submit the Bat's Scream?" Lucian's right index finger tapped lightly on the table before him as he weighed the pros and cons, apparently lost in thought.
Lazar did not pursue the topic, only smiling and giving Lucian a long, meaningful look. Whether or not one could change one's mindset and integrate into the Magic Parliament was a personal matter. Others truly could not interfere.
The sharp whistle shrieked again, and the arcane steam train gradually slowed to a halt at a gloomy, haze-shrouded platform. Over a dozen people dressed in classical black magic robes were walking toward the door between two carriages, some empty-handed, others carrying suitcases.
"Those damn necrophiles again. The worst part of this route is having to pass through Heideler," Lazar muttered in a low voice, equal parts loathing and a trace of fear.
"Heideler?" Lucian looked out the window in confusion and was surprised to spot, through the haze, what appeared to be a fissure.
This was the entrance to the Necromantic Plane — visible only because of the Crown of the Sun's constant ability!
In all his travels across the continent, Lucian had discovered only five or six such fissures. He hadn't expected to find another one as soon as he reached the Holm Kingdom. The presence of necromancer mages here suddenly made sense.
Lazar continued in a lowered voice: "Not long after the Arcane Parliament was founded, those damn necrophiles discovered that Heideler was suffused with dense death energy, so they moved the headquarters of the 'Pale Hand' here. If you travel through Heideler, you'll find there are more undead than living people, and there are even a few new species with enough intelligence to help farmers plant oats or help blacksmiths forge steel..."
"Interesting," Lucian replied, and the answer made Lazar choke for a moment.
As the group drew closer, the pallid, sickly-looking man in the black coat leading the necromancers caught both of them off guard.
Felipe wore a black top hat and habitually kept both hands tucked in the pockets of his black coat. As he turned at the junction between the two carriages, his gaze swept casually in their direction.
Lazar hurriedly stood and bowed: "Good afternoon, Mr. Felipe."
The Magic Parliament had done away with many of the ancient magic empire's bad habits — such as the personal servitude of apprentices — but the respect shown to scholars and the powerful was an unbroken tradition. So although Lazar was a mage of the Elemental Will, he had no choice but to show his deference to Felipe, who outranked him in both arcane and magical levels.
Felipe merely glanced over, not even bothering to note which organization Lazar belonged to, offered a slight nod, and turned toward the forward carriage.
"Mr. Lazar, who is that gentleman? He has quite the bearing of a powerful mage," said Heidi, who had been sitting in the soft chair behind Lucian. She was half-kneeling on the seat, gazing with open admiration toward the other carriage where Felipe had disappeared.
Seeing that Felipe had noticed nothing unusual about him, Lucian quietly exhaled and looked at Lazar with the same curious expression as the other apprentices.
Lazar's bright smile had vanished, replaced by a slightly bitter one: "That was a mage of the necromancer organization called the 'Pale Hand,' Mr. Felipe — a genius comparable to Ulysses, Larry, and Timothy, whom I mentioned to you before, Evans. He is a Fourth-level Archanist and Fifth-circle necromancer." Felipe was in the neighboring carriage, and Lazar instinctively used honorifics.
"Mr. Felipe? I've heard of him — the one who broke through the Church's blockade by force?" Sprint looked as though he were gazing at his idol, practically trembling with excitement. "And he made the Church's purification list even without being a High-level Mage. That's just too cool!"
The entire carriage full of apprentices stared with excited, fervent eyes toward the far end, even though they couldn't see a thing. But this was a living person with a legendary story.
"The Elemental Will also has a similar gentleman — he goes by 'the Professor,' and his ranking on the purification list is only one spot below Mr. Felipe's." Lazar was making a visible effort to maintain the Elemental Will's image.
Hearing Lazar's words, Lucian considered them carefully: *It's simple enough for the Elemental Will to know that "the Professor" appears on the purification list, but how did they determine that I'm part of the Elemental Will?*