"Evans, what experiment is this? About artificial synthesis of vital substances?" Ravendy, like all old-fashioned gentlemen, kept his gray-white hair neatly combed, though his sharp, piercing eyes made Lucian feel an immense pressure under his gaze.
Morris and
Under the varying gazes of these important figures, Lucian did his best to maintain his composure, speaking in an unhurried tone: "In truth, this experiment can hardly be called complete. I've only developed a preliminary concept and conducted a first trial with a few rudimentary Magic Circles. The results were largely in line with my expectations. However, since the experimental environment constructed by those Magic Circles had far too many flaws, it's far from sufficient to draw any correct conclusions."
In the days between submitting his urea paper and
Ravendy cut off Lucian's preamble: "Evans, get to the point."
Morris and Gaston, all too familiar with Ravendy's blunt, irascible nature, exchanged knowing smiles. His papers were always laser-focused on the key points, and you absolutely could not ramble when speaking with him.
But to their great surprise, even under Ravendy's crushing pressure, Lucian kept right on rambling: "Of course, Mr. Ravendy, I'll get to the point. After gaining access to arcane knowledge in Altor, I became fascinated with magical experimentation and designed numerous trials. Unfortunately, constrained by my strength, I couldn't set up high-level Magic Circles, and many experiments were impossible to complete or verify. It wasn't until an expedition led me into a laboratory left behind by an ancient mage—where I made use of some well-preserved Magic Circles and alchemy arrays—that I was able to complete a portion of them, including the experiment on artificial synthesis of urea."
"Get to the point, Evans!" Ravendy showed signs of imminent roaring. He had little interest in the ruins of ancient mages—unless they happened to be demiplanes or maze locks left behind by legendary-tier mages.
Lucian coughed: "After completing that experiment, I personally came to believe that the human body could be synthesized from non-living substances. Their vitality manifests as a partial life force, while the remaining life force manifests through the soul—something I know very little about, so I didn't pursue research in that direction."
"Evans, just tell me what your experiment is?!" Ravendy roared, and Morris and Gaston instinctively took a step back.
Lucian hadn't expected that facing Ravendy's roar head-on would be so terrifying—the man's presence was truly overwhelming! But his roundabout approach should have served its purpose: to hint at his past experiences that were difficult to fully recount or conceal, doing so in this vague, fragmented manner so that the three gentlemen would subconsciously register the impression and wouldn't dig into those matters in the future.
"An experiment to further overturn the Doctrine of Human Vitality. For the necromancers, at this point—whether willing to admit it or not—they've already acknowledged the doctrine's errors in their hearts. But our primary enemy is the Church. We can't let them recover. Before they find new theoretical support, we must hit them with another massive blow, hoping to create chaos among their faith and deal a heavy blow to their arrogance."
As a mage, when he spotted an opportunity to weaken the Church, Lucian naturally wasn't about to let it slip. He casually slipped in some turns of phrase from his previous world—though when rendered in Common Language words, the grammar came out rather awkward.
The struggle between the Magic Parliament and the Church would be a long and tortuous process. Having chosen the path of magic, Lucian's primary aims were to improve his own strength and explore the mysteries of the world. Beyond that, he would unhesitatingly stand on the side of the Magic Parliament to weaken and strike at the Church.
This much awareness, Lucian possessed. When the enemy was this powerful, going it alone was nothing but a death sentence.
Gaston's strange, deep-yellow eyes fixed on Lucian: "What exactly is this experiment? Was this whole affair planned between you and Felipe after the ambush?"
Never underestimate the intellect of an Archanist. After confirming Lucian's status as "Professor," Gaston had reviewed the sequence of events and managed to deduce the basic cause and effect.
"He and I are enemies and rivals, not friends. Felipe wanted to strike at the hardliners within the Pale Hand, and apart from seeking revenge, I wanted to weaken the Church. However, if this experiment truly succeeds under rigorous conditions, it will inevitably draw the Church's frenzied retaliation. I can submit the experimental proposal to the Elemental Will, but I hope the three of you will keep my secret. Ideally, you would complete and present the final experimental results yourselves."
Lucian made his request with a grave expression. It had taken considerable effort for Felipe to draw the bulk of the hatred onto himself, and there was no need for Lucian to step forward and share in it.
Ravendy furrowed his brow slightly and spoke in his booming voice: "I won't claim another's experimental results. If your experiment, Evans, proves upon verification that it can further overturn the Doctrine of Human Vitality, I will petition Lady Hathaway to invoke the Grand Archanist's privilege to seal all records pertaining to this paper's author. Publicly, it will be presented as a collective achievement of senior Elemental Will members. Once you have sufficient strength and are mentally prepared to weather the storm, you can claim this honor. By then, you should be a senior member of the Elemental Will yourself."
"Even just for little Natasha's sake, I wouldn't object," Morris said with a smile. "And we'll save materials for another Holme Crown ring for the time being."