"Congratulations, Mr. Evans. You're the only low-level Archanist I know of who's had both of his first two arcane papers pass review."
Lucy's polite congratulations dispelled the faint sense of absurdity Lucian had been feeling. Indeed, passing the review of the Arcane Review Committee was something to be grateful for. Had it not been for the experimental reports on his redetermination of certain elemental atomic weights appended to the paper, the reviewing Archanist might well have rejected it upon seeing his challenges to several widely accepted atomic weight values — and that would have been the worst outcome.
Now that the paper had passed review, it was up to him to find ways to make it receive proper attention.
This required Archanists who, based on his descriptions, could discover new elements among the myriad kinds of arcane minerals — he had already formulated fairly detailed guesses about them, describing how the aluminium-analogue element could be discovered through spectral analysis, and the silicon-analogue element isolated through alchemical displacement and purification. He even had hypotheses regarding the minerals' probable properties.
To produce such Archanists, he needed to simultaneously purchase arcane minerals for his own experiments and get more Archanists to read this paper — the larger the pool, the greater the chance that Archanists would reexamine the strange arcane ores in their possession based on his conjectures.
The only publications with sufficient influence and willingness to publish elemental theory articles were Arcane, Elements, Alchemy, the Holm Magical Gazette, and Colet Archanist Theory, with the Common Archanist Monthly being a slight step below.
As for the Archanist Discussion Gazette and Arcane Research Monthly, they weren't even under consideration — their influence was far too low.
After excluding the journals that would not publish papers from mages outside their own organization unless by invitation, what remained for Lucian to choose from were essentially Arcane, Elements, Alchemy, and the Common Archanist Monthly.
The best choice was Arcane, but the chances were extraordinarily slim. Yet Lucian had never been the sort to give up without even trying, so he rose to take his leave: "Miss Lucy, thank you for your congratulations."
After leaving the office, Lucian chatted briefly with Cindy and Donna in the main hall of the Mage Management Department. From them he learned the exact location of Arcane journal's headquarters on the tenth floor, then headed up via the lift in the magic tower's lobby.
Within the yellow-green light dome, a silver-gray disc ascended slowly. Lucian watched with forced calm and barely concealed anticipation as the figures of mages and apprentices in the hall below grew ever smaller.
When the lift passed the ninth floor, Lucian pressed his right hand into the yellow-green light. Threads of fine radiance blossomed from his palm and fell into the silver-gray disc.
After absorbing the threads, the disc shuddered slightly as it locked into the central opening on the fourth floor and came to rest. Simultaneously, the yellow-green light dome slowly split open a door-like gap.
Stepping off the lift, Lucian easily found the hall marked with the silver word "Arcane," following the directions Cindy and the others had given him.
The hall was paved with gleaming floor tiles, projecting an atmosphere that was at once grand and luminous, yet quiet and refined.
He walked up to the man and woman at the reception desk. "Hello," Lucian inquired politely. "I'd like to submit a paper to Arcane journal. Could you tell me which gentleman I should speak with?"
The man, who had been enjoying a pleasant conversation with the attractive woman, carefully examined the arcane and magic badges pinned to Lucian's chest. His smile vanished and he asked gravely: "May I ask, sir — is this your own arcane paper, or a paper belonging to your master or a friend?"
Both of them wore arcane badges bearing two silver stars on a black background, along with nameplates inscribed with the word "Arcane" and their respective names. Neither wore a magic badge — as though everything in this place revolved around the arcane.
"Mr. Gavin, it's my own paper I wish to submit to Arcane," Lucian said, glancing at the man's nameplate. He had an even more common name than Lucian's own.
Gavin's expression grew even more severe. Speaking in a clipped, businesslike tone: "I'm sorry, sir, but Arcane does not accept submissions from low-level Archanists."
"Is that so? Then why can't I find such a rule in Arcane's published regulations?" Lucian was not the sort to be turned away by a single remark and pressed the point by citing the official rules.
Gavin grew somewhat irritated. Was this mage genuinely ignorant, or merely pretending? This was an unwritten but absolutely ironclad rule. Could this fellow's paper possibly compete with those of high-level Archanists, or even Grand Archanists?
"Some papers by mid-level and low-level Archanists have indeed appeared in our journal," said the woman named Heidi, worried that Lucian might be one of those stubborn, rigid mages who argued everything to the bitter end. She explained with somewhat greater courtesy: "But those were all judged to be of great significance during review, and we commissioned them directly. There has never been an instance of a low-level Archanist submitting on their own and being accepted."
Her concern was quickly confirmed when Lucian pressed on without relenting: "No precedent in the past doesn't mean it can't happen now or in the future. As long as it doesn't violate the regulations, why won't you accept my submission? If the paper is subsequently rejected by the reviewing Archanists, that simply means my paper's quality isn't up to standard — it was rejected through proper procedure, and I have no complaints."
"Mage, please hand your arcane paper to me. I'll deliver it to the reviewing Archanists' office. We're only four days into the month — besides the papers already confirmed for the next issue from last month, there aren't many new submissions. I expect the review results will come back quickly." Gavin's speech quickened, his irritation evident, as though he wanted to rid himself of this impossible, unreasonable mage as fast as possible.
Lucian handed the paper over. "Then I'll trouble you, Mr. Gavin."
Gavin took Lucian's paper and disappeared down a corridor behind the hall. Once he reached a secluded spot, he unfolded it and began reading carefully.
His reasoning was simple: if he couldn't determine the paper's value himself, he would genuinely send it to the reviewing Archanists' office for their assessment; but if he could confirm its worth, there would be no need to disturb the high-level Archanists and risk being berated.
At first, Gavin read with great attentiveness, for the periodic patterns described were strikingly obvious and the properties frighteningly consistent. But as he continued reading, a cold smile crept across his face: "How could the atomic weight of the 'Telmiric' element possibly still be wrong? Just a few years ago, several high-level Archanists used multiple methods to redetermine and correct its value. A paper like this passed the review committee's evaluation? The two reviewers must have given it to their newly recruited students to review!"