After Lazar and the others left, the previously bustling great hall fell silent. Lucian ordered Leo to close the main doors and activate the protective Magic Circle, then returned to his study to begin writing his paper.
The night was serene, and high above in Arlinger it was especially quiet and spacious. In such a tranquil and contemplative atmosphere, Lucian's thoughts grew clear, and on ordinary, magically untreated white paper, he wrote the title: "Experiments on the Body's Self-Generated Electric Current and Special Electromagnetic Waves Emitted by the Brain, Along with Their Applications in Illusion Magic."
The Soul Library contained very little material on brain waves. It was safe to say that similar research on Earth was still at a superficial level, and Lucian had no choice but to enrich the paper through the analysis and feedback of several illusion spells, improving its reliability — the kind of work where one starts with a direction and conclusions, then searches for evidence.
As a result, Lucian found writing this paper extremely difficult. If his previous papers had been modifications of Earth-based papers adapted to the differences of the magical world and specific experiments, this one was a semi-original work — collecting data, conducting his own experiments, and building his own arguments. After two to three hours of cutting and revising, he finally organized the general content.
He exhaled softly. Rather than turning the organized content directly into a formally rigorous paper, Lucian put the sheets away, planning to bring them to his teacher Fernando in the morning for evaluation, then revise based on his feedback. After all, with a Great Archanist as his teacher, he certainly shouldn't waste such a "resource."
After closing his eyes for a few minutes to savor the cool night breeze and the solitude of "everyone sleeps while I alone am awake," that transcendent, solitary peace, Lucian took out another stack of white paper and picked up the magical Feather Pen to draft the application for the "Atomic Research Institute."
This application gave Lucian quite a headache, because any specific research direction risked exposing his earth-shattering view on atoms — that atoms were not the most indivisible fundamental matter, but possessed a miraculous internal structure! Yet several research directions that wouldn't expose this view seemed unrelated to atoms at all, closer to topics like electrical discharge and magnetic fields. Applying under the name "Atomic Research Institute" certainly wouldn't work. It was a real dilemma.
So Lucian had no choice but to describe in broad, vague terms the significance, purpose, and general research direction of establishing the "Atomic Research Institute."
When he finished and reread the application, Lucian sighed from the bottom of his heart: "Even scrounging for funding isn't that easy. If the 'Atomic Research Institute' application can't get approved, I'll switch to more specific research directions without using the Institute's name. But in that case, each project's research would be short-term, unable to sustain itself long-term."
As someone with tremendous interest and ambition in securing funding, Lucian had long since surpassed the vulgar and lowly tastes of ordinary Archanists. He wanted to establish a long-lasting funding-scam institution — one that would not only save a great deal of effort but also minimize his experimental expenditures. That way, income from the "Minerals and Harvest Company" could be saved up for the future. As everyone knew, whether it was the arcane ritual for advancing to high-ranking mage, or the construction of a magic tower after reaching that rank, the forging and purchasing of magical items, or the rituals built around all manner of extraordinary magic — all of them were money sinks of the highest order.
"I'll also have Fernando look at the Atomic Research Institute application. If I can get his support, things will become much simpler. If necessary, I can reveal some of my real research ideas..." Lucian thought with a slightly feverish glint in his eyes. Though what he'd more likely get in return was roaring criticism, for the sake of securing funding, he had to grit his teeth and try!
After a while, Lucian calmed down and began analyzing the selected fifth-circle spell: "Fernando's Lightning Forge."
Since he hadn't anticipated that his soul and spiritual energy would reach fifth-circle standards so quickly, Lucian had never attempted to analyze fifth-circle spells before. Even with third and fourth-circle spells, a large portion remained untouched. So he had no choice but to concentrate the vast majority of his energy on this for now, raising his spell rank first before circling back to master the lower-level ones.
……
The next morning, Lucian arrived at the Council of Mages headquarters bright and early.
"Good morning, Mr. Evans." Two large black eyes popped up on the door as Tower Spirit Prospero greeted him warmly.
Lucian replied politely: "Good morning, Prospero. How have you been lately? I forgot to say hello yesterday."
"Same as always — having to tolerate mages going in and out of my body every day. As for yesterday, well, heh heh..." Prospero absolutely refused to admit that he simply hadn't dared to appear before the Storm Dominator. "Mr. Evans, I hear you're close to reaching the fifth circle? I just love mages who advance this quickly. Once you become a high-ranking mage and start building your magic tower, don't forget our agreement — a female tower spirit is gentle, patient, and meticulous, much better than the likes of me!"
When did we ever make an agreement... Lucian casually humored the enthusiastic Prospero with a few words, adjusted his collar, and strode quickly into the magic tower.
It was still early, and the Council headquarters was quiet and empty. Lucian didn't run into anyone on his way to the thirty-third floor and Fernando's study.
Storm Dominator Fernando was still wearing his favorite bright red ancient-style robe, sitting behind his desk reading through letter after letter.