Chapter 365: Deepening the Experiments (Third Update)

Inside a study on the thirty-third floor of the Arcane Council headquarters, Lucian held a letter signed "Oliver Constantine" and read aloud: "…Starting from the fifth circle, every increase in arcane strength begins with the cognitive world interacting with the soul, slowly becoming more substantial. To become a legendary mage, the cognitive world must be semi-solidified, forming a domain that exists between the virtual and the real…" Reading this far, Lucian looked up in astonishment at his teacher, but Fernando still wore his expression of deep thought, seemingly completely unmoved by the secrets of legendary mages Oliver's letter had revealed. He didn't even scold Lucian for hearing something he shouldn't. Although Lucian's "Astrology and Elements" contained the ritual for advancing to the legendary realm, he hadn't yet reached the high-ranking stage himself. He lacked the sufficient soul strength and mental power to read that section, nor was he qualified to consult records on the matter in the "High-Level Arcane and Magic Library." Thus, he knew nothing about what changes occurred to the body, soul, and mental world when breaking through to become legendary. And now, Grand Archanist Oliver, the "Hand of Annihilation," had simply mentioned it as if it were casual everyday chat. Of course, his actual correspondence was with another Grand Archanist; these things weren't secrets at all. "Keep reading. Don't you have the ambition and confidence to become legendary?" Fernando said without opening his eyes, his tone flat. This was the benefit of having a Grand Archanist as a teacher: access to a wealth of secret knowledge, laying a solid foundation for future development. Thinking this, Lucian continued reading: "Fernando, you also understand that the closer the cognitive world is to the real world, the easier semi-solidification becomes, reducing the overall difficulty of advancing to legendary. Considering Florence's strengths and her talent in arcane arts, this might be one of her major future obstacles. That's why I've been researching the semi-solidification of the cognitive world." "As my research deepened, after excluding different components of the cognitive world based on different arcane theories, I found a clear contradiction between the spatial structure in the meditation environment and that of the real world… Perhaps our mathematical foundations for describing space are flawed… We need to re-examine our mathematics from the ground up. In this regard, I have some thoughts…" Oliver's mathematical ability seemed inferior to his arcane standards in other fields, and his thoughts weren't yet particularly noteworthy. Fernando refuted them point by point without mercy, then used the letter to examine and guide Lucian's mathematical knowledge. "You're not completely foolish in mathematical analysis." Fernando stated expressionlessly, then commented with a smile, "Oliver may be very philandering, with numerous lovers—he even got involved with his own female student—but his feelings for Florence are true love, just like in the operas." Teacher, please don't be so crude, Lucian thought to himself, unable to suppress the retort. He always felt Fernando was a person of two faces. When discussing arcane arts and magic, he was serious, strict, irritable, and impatient, like a roaring storm that could strike at any moment, making people tremble. But when it came to other matters, he became irreverent, humorous, and even lewd, not minding his students' casual attitudes at all. No wonder he had the nickname "Old Pervert." Seeing that Lucian didn't respond, Fernando shook his head and chuckled to himself: "But this can't go on. Florence's resentment will grow heavier, and one day there will be a conflict between them. Maybe someday Florence will get herself a young lover to get back at him. Tsk tsk, Oliver's expression will certainly be quite a sight then. Hand of Annihilation, Hand of Annihilation… I wonder if he'll destroy Florence directly?" This is a gossiping old man, Lucian thought, wiping an imaginary bead of sweat from his forehead. Especially when Fernando made that irresponsible guess about "whether Oliver would kill Florence with his own hands," his tone held a clear hint of schadenfreude. Truly an old pervert! "Teacher, that's highly unlikely. Who would dare touch a Grand Archanist's wife?" Lucian tried to steer Fernando away from his operatic speculations. Fernando gave him a contemptuous look: "Not necessarily. There are always crazy young people who don't fear death! When I was young, I was much crazier than Oliver. Sigh, now that I'm old, I don't have that drive anymore. Nothing compares to exploring the mysteries of the world." Shaking his head again, he ordered: "Next letter." Back on track at last, Lucian quickly shifted into a focused state. After finishing letter after letter, Fernando continued guiding Lucian through the thermal radiation experiments, gathering more data to later find patterns and derive formulas. ………… In the study of his garden villa, Lucian opened a letter received today. It was from Viscount Harrison, the high-ranking illusionist. "…I saw your paper, Evans. I have to say, I'm somewhat disappointed. You've abandoned your strengths in the elements and astrology fields, blindly venturing into the unfamiliar domains of electromagnetic waves, hormones, and illusions. Your paper, like Isabella's, lacks sufficient depth, and even more than hers, it contains many far-fetched claims that cannot be verified." "Of course, your sharp mind in arcane matters impresses me. Even in fields you're not familiar with, you've produced groundbreaking and breakthrough results. Perhaps I should accept that some illusions are a product of both electromagnetic waves and alchemical substances… Several of your experiments were quite brilliant, especially the modification of 'Charm Human'—truly astounding. Perhaps once you deeply understand and master the essence of illusions, you'll be able to make even greater contributions to the field…" After that, Harrison rambled at length about his basic understanding of illusions, taking up over twenty pages of paper, though it did help Lucian resolve some difficulties with illusion magic. "…The debate over whether Isabella can receive the Wizard's Laurel is growing increasingly heated. The Wizard's Home has decided to summon us high-ranking mages next month for discussion, though it's unclear if her contribution will be recognized. It's a pity your paper doesn't yet have definitive results. Otherwise, if they decide to compromise, I could propose that you share the Laurel with Isabella, making you one of the two most outstanding Archanists in nearly a century." "Well, let's keep corresponding. We're all mages with close ties to the nobility." The Wizard's Home followed the conservative and rigid style of the ancient magical empire, only reviewing the achievements of the three major factions at the end of each year and awarding the Wizard's Laurel if someone qualified emerged. If not, they simply gave up. Unlike awards such as the Holm Crown, which, upon the appearance of an achievement significant enough to leave its mark on magical history, would quickly enter the review and discussion phase and often issue the award within a short time—unless the achievement couldn't yet be confirmed, in which case they waited for more conclusive evidence years later. This time, the Wizard's Home, having hastily summoned high-ranking mages for discussion next month merely a dozen days after the paper's publication, was clearly deviating from its usual style. It seemed they were under tremendous pressure. Putting down the letter, Lucian took out a clean sheet of paper, picked up his Feather Pen, dipped it in ink, and prepared to write. The first letter was naturally for the princess far away, but after his change of heart, Lucian suddenly didn't know how to begin. He felt a mix of anticipation and unease. "It can't be too blunt. I need to slowly cultivate the atmosphere, figure out Natasha's thoughts. I can't discuss arcane or magic research topics either—she wouldn't understand a thing and would surely find it boring. Eventually, she'd lose interest in corresponding, and it could easily expose certain arcane secrets…" Lucian analyzed the various issues calmly. He absolutely couldn't be like those joke guys from his past life, discussing extremely complex and tedious professional topics in letters to a girl. "But my main life is arcane and magic research. If I don't talk about that, what do I write?" Lucian flicked his finger, facing a dilemma, but soon thought of a solution. "I won't discuss the technical details of arcane or magic research, but I can write about interesting people and events encountered during the research. That's what life is. Additionally, I can intersperse discussions about music, descriptions of various aspects of the Holm Kingdom, and news about Prince Patrick and the old king." Having organized his thoughts, Lucian began writing: "…The one who became my teacher is the Storm Dominator, Fernando. He's a very contradictory person. When encountering problems with arcane arts or magic, he's irritable, strict, and has very high demands. His temper also becomes terrible—someone like me, who's quiet and cautious, has been yelled at several times. It really feels terrifying, like a storm. Apart from that, however, he's very casual, with humor that knows no limits…" To avoid leaving any evidence, Lucian didn't use the word "lewd." "When reading letters from various legendary mages, one can faintly discern their personalities from their word choice, sentence habits, and so on. For example, your elder, Archduchess Heather, is a lady who's not good at expressing herself and seems dull with words, yet in discussions about arcane arts and magic, you can feel her firm and sharp side through those simple sentences…" "Archduke Douglas seems to be a very tolerant old man, rarely losing his temper. The only issue is he asks 'why' a bit too often… Archduke Brooke chooses his words very carefully, is very rigorous, and describes things quite well. You can see he has a certain literary foundation. At the same time, he's a stubborn old-fashioned gentleman who dislikes frills…" "…When discussing matters other than arcane arts and magic, Archduke Oliver's language is passionate and poetic, showing remarkable theatrical talent. Just from his letters, one can imagine a charming, handsome, and charismatic mature man. It's a pity he's too philandering, indulging his ** and having little resistance to women…" "…Archduchess Helen Paris uses minimal words, never discussing matters beyond arcane arts and magic, like a cold, unfeeling machine. But according to my teacher, once you know her well, she's actually a lively and talkative lady—it's just that all her energy is focused on exploring the essence of the world. Even when writing letters, she can't be bothered to discuss anything else…" "…Lord Vincent Miranda, the Master of Restless Souls, corresponds very rarely with my teacher. From the only two letters, one can only see the slovenly side of his daily life, because the backs of both letters were stained with quite a bit of corpse oil, wrinkled as if freshly dug out of a grave… That was really quite unpleasant…" ……After finishing the letter to Natasha, Lucian immediately felt relieved. He then wrote letters to K, Roque, Larry, Timothy, Ulysses, and other friends of varying closeness, informing them of his return. He also replied to Viscount Harrison, elaborating on some rudimentary concepts of dream analysis and behavioral psychology. ………… A few days later, after being visited by friends and receiving replies in sequence, Lucian arrived at Fernando's study at the usual time. "Good morning, teacher," Lucian greeted politely. Fernando roared a bit: "Not good! I'm not good at all! Why did we do this thermal radiation experiment? I'd rather we'd never tried anything!" Lucian's heart clenched. Was the data sufficient? These past few days had entered the critical stage of analyzing the fifth-circle magic, and he hadn't yet been able to spare the energy to organize the data.