Lucian smiled easily and nodded: "Yes. This unique spell is one I improved myself. I find its principles and construction process quite fascinating, so I wanted to write it up as a paper and submit it."
"You understand Arcane?" Eric asked bluntly. There was no way he would believe that a young man who had just come into contact with Arcane could immediately produce research results—not even if the person was a genius! Arcane had developed to its current state precisely because without sufficient knowledge accumulation, one simply could not cultivate brilliant achievements!
Even the most prodigious genius would need at least a year to fill in the foundational gaps, wouldn't they?
Lucian understood Eric's skepticism perfectly well. Back on Earth, no genius had ever produced research results after only a month or so of studying mathematics, physics, and chemistry. So he answered with a polite smile: "The improvement to this unique spell came from other areas, not from current Arcane knowledge. But I believe its underlying principles should have some value. Of course, I worked it out on my own, so I have no idea whether it overlaps with existing Arcane research outcomes."
The principle of demonstrating appropriate value to gain attention from certain quarters as a counterbalance to other forces—Lucian had always understood this. But having just arrived at the Magic Parliament, with no idea what level its current Arcane research had reached, no way to know how much of his Earth-born knowledge could apply to this other world and integrate with magic, and no understanding of the relevant mages' personalities, it would be impossible to blindly and arrogantly publish Arcane research findings.
Only after he had clarified the Parliament's current level of Arcane research—which fields had been explored to what degree—and had conducted magical experiments to verify or modify everything until it fit this world's conditions would be the time for Lucian to step into the spotlight and shine.
Of course, any published research had to rest on prerequisite knowledge; it could not be a castle in the air, or people would start speculating beyond the bounds of "genius." Moreover, the findings had to be verifiable through empirical evidence to quickly settle any disputes. Otherwise, once caught up in controversy and political maneuvering, without sufficient strength one was nothing but a candle in the wind, liable to be snuffed out at any moment. After all, most Archanists and mages were people with emotions—joys and sorrows, greed and generosity, pride and a taste for comfort—let alone those among them who were stubborn and narrow-minded.
Hearing Lucian's response, the stiffness on Eric's face eased slightly, and his skepticism receded a little: "Is it based on ancient magical construction principles? If so, your research may well have already been overturned. If you're not afraid of the trouble and the disappointment, you can go ahead and write up the paper. It's still twenty minutes before six o'clock—can you finish in time?"
"No problem at all. I've already drafted one following the paper format used in the *Arcane* journal," Lucian said, looking at Eric earnestly. "Mr. Eric, you still haven't answered my question—does this paper need to be submitted only to the review committee, or do I also need to submit it to journals myself?"
Seeing that Lucian appeared quite confident, Eric grudgingly took out some parchment and handed it to him, then said: "Yes. Once your paper passes the evaluation of the Archanic Review Committee, you'll need to submit it to various journals yourself. However, since the Parliament strictly prohibits simultaneous submission to multiple journals, you must choose carefully. If your paper isn't accepted, or if the journal has too little influence in the field, you'll only receive the Arcane Points awarded by the review committee and won't get any citation credits."
"As for how to choose—we can discuss that after your paper passes review." Eric was clearly unwilling to waste any more breath.
Lucian didn't take Eric's attitude to heart. He picked up the parchment and Feather Pen, ready to begin writing. At that moment, Eric pointed to the room across the hall: "Go write in there. Mages might still come through here to update their badge data. Remember—give it to me before six o'clock, or you'll have to wait until tomorrow."
…………
The room was a bright, pale blue. In its center stood a long table surrounded by chairs, and along the walls were arranged several Magic Circles capable of projecting images and sounds.
This appeared to be a conference room belonging to the "Mage Administration Department."
The room had been empty and silent, but now the soft scratching of a Feather Pen filled the air as Lucian intently crafted his first paper in this other world:
*On the Application of Sound Waves in Magical Detection: An Exploration Through Flight Experiments with Small Bats*
"Small bats; hearing; organs; sound waves; detection."
"As Mr. Douglas has stated, our material world is full of phenomena that appear perfectly normal at first glance but become thoroughly mysterious the moment one stops to wonder why."
"Perhaps everyone has noticed small bats flying swiftly through the dead of night at some point. But how many have ever wondered why they can navigate the darkness without striking any obstacle?"
The straightforward title, keywords, and two simple opening sentences immediately introduced the subject of inquiry.
Lucian was already thoroughly familiar with this style of paper format. The only difference was that there was no need to write Chinese and English abstracts—those were the responsibility of the regular journals, who prepared them for indexing journals and newspapers.
The reason Lucian had proposed writing a paper when submitting "Bat's Scream," an apprentice-level spell, was that this improved result could be verified and completed through purely experimental design without involving current Arcane knowledge. Moreover, it was well known that ancient magic was created and improved by studying and replicating the runic patterns and structures of magical creatures—and "Bat's Scream" fit right into that tradition, with the only difference being that the subject was now an ordinary creature.
If that was the case, why waste the Arcane Points that a paper could earn?
As for the experiments, Lucian had not actually conducted them yet, but working backward from a correct result to reconstruct the process and fabricate the data was relatively straightforward.
"On a chance occasion, I noticed this phenomenon, so I caught a small bat, blindfolded its eyes, and released it. The result was astonishing—the bat was completely unaffected."
What followed were two sets of controlled experiments. One set used various materials, including magical components, to cover the bat's eyes, ruling out the possibility that its eyes were somehow special enough to see through ordinary cloth. The other set tested the condition of the bats' eyes through reflexes.
"Remarkably, this type of small bat is essentially blind. So how exactly do they 'see' their way?"
Next came several more sets of controlled experiments, each eliminating alternative explanations—wing structure, spiritual energy, and so on.
The final set of experiments involved destroying the bats' ears and nasal structures respectively, concluding that they relied on their ears to "hear" the echo of sound waves emitted by their nasal organs in order to determine their position and navigate their flight.
Having completed the exploratory experiment section, the paper then described the process of improving "Homanzi's Cough"—a sound wave spell—through numerous experiments until it became "Bat's Scream," an apprentice-level spell.
Since this was something Lucian had actually done, it was easy to write. The only issue was modifying certain details so that no one could tell that Lucian had been targeting high-frequency sound waves from the very beginning.