Chapter 19: The New Issue of Arcane

"Good afternoon, Miss Rachel." Lucian greeted her with a smile. Although he had already guessed who the black-haired, blue-eyed woman beside Rachel was, he politely asked, "May I ask who this lovely lady is?"

The first time Lucian had met Rachel was during the Affairs Committee's discussion on contamination, and she still maintained that same vibrant and spirited style. Her linen-colored eyes held a warm smile. "This is my teacher, Lady Isabella. I didn't expect to run into you here on this floor, Mr. Evans."

"Good afternoon, Lady Isabella." As a gentleman, Lucian greeted her first. "Congratulations on receiving the Wizard's Laurel, and on your Arcane rank advancing to the seventh tier."

From the corner of his eye, Lucian noticed that the Arcane emblem on Isabella's chest had already changed to seven radiant silver stars, and Rachel's Arcane rank had also risen to the fifth tier.

Isabella, wearing a long black dress, smiled faintly. "Actually, I was planning to visit you during this period, Evans. Without your paper on brainwaves, the chances of Rachel and me obtaining the Laurel would have been significantly lower. It powerfully supplemented our prerequisite conditions. I just didn't expect to run into you here first."

Whether out of genuine gratitude or mere courtesy, at least Isabella's words sounded quite pleasant to Lucian's ears. "My paper was only a supplement. The reason you two were able to obtain the Laurel is that your research results were important enough in their own right. Heh, I applied to the Magic Research Committee for an Arcane research project and came today to look at the laboratory environment."

"A research project? What field is it in, may I ask? I also applied for an Arcane research project — an illusion magic study on the effects of stimulating different parts of the brain with electromagnetic waves and electrical currents. I'm here today to look at the experimental environment as well. I had originally intended to invite you to collaborate with us on this project. You have unique insights in the field of brainwaves, but it seems that won't be possible now." Isabella's smile was perfectly standard, flawlessly conforming to etiquette, while she asked with a touch of curiosity.

That last sentence was her polite way of putting it. She had more than enough ability and knowledge to complete this project on her own. However, she and Lucian had no grudges from the past, and they had not recently become enemies either. Lucian himself was an Archanist of boundless potential, and behind him stood the Storm Ruler. Maintaining a polite attitude was the optimal choice.

Since the project had already been approved, Lucian had nothing to conceal. He smiled gently. "I applied to the Magic Research Committee for a project called the 'Institute of Atomic Research.' The main focus is studying the fundamental properties of atoms and the question of why they exhibit periodic regularities."

Rachel blinked. Such a strange project, with such a broad and vague research direction — how on earth had it passed review?

Her intense curiosity nearly made her blurt out the question, but with her teacher right beside her, a student suddenly interjecting would be extremely rude, so she had to forcibly hold herself back.

"Institute of Atomic Research?" Isabella's mouth fell slightly open as she repeated the words one by one. She recognized every character individually, yet strung together, they seemed to leave her a bit puzzled.

Lucian had long anticipated their reaction and explained casually. "This is the Council's experiment in research on new fields. Since no one knows what situations one will encounter or what phenomena one will discover after stepping into this new Arcane domain, no one can draft detailed plans and proposals before beginning the research. It requires repeated failures to explore and feel one's way forward. The establishment of this institute is meant to break through that impasse — by granting a generous timeframe, providing a certain level of subsidies and support, and only requiring a general direction rather than a specific plan, giving researchers maximum freedom to fail."

Lucian delivered this explanation with grandiose eloquence, carrying all the gravitas of an official spokesperson for the Magic Research Committee.

"A generous timeframe? A certain level of subsidies?" Isabella felt that something was off about this research project and looked at Lucian with a gaze full of doubt.

Lucian chuckled. "The catch is that satisfactory results for the Committee must be produced within three years, or the project will be terminated."

"Three years?!" Rachel finally couldn't hold back and blurted out. Her own teacher's Arcane research project only had a one-year window, and the Council's subsidies were also contingent on the research progress and conditions. Meanwhile, Lucian's supposed institute seemed to require nothing more than results in the atomic field, with not a single strict requirement!

Even Isabella, this well-traveled high-tier Archanist, couldn't help but furrow her brows. "How does the Research Committee guarantee that the three years of subsidies and the magic laboratory modifications won't all go to waste?"

She was practically spelling out: How do you ensure that Archanists won't just fabricate some new field to apply — since there's no need for a complete plan or justification, how do you prevent this organizational format from becoming rife with fraud to milk funding?

"That's precisely why the institute format is only open to Archanists who have made outstanding contributions in the given field, and their ability to conduct research in that area must be verified. Additionally, authoritative Archanists in the field must provide assessment opinions." Lucian spoke at length without the slightest trace of embarrassment. "If failures truly do continue, that's simply the tuition fee required for exploratory research in any new field. After all, we're crossing the river by feeling the stones."

The moment they thought about the fact that the "righteous and eloquent" elegant gentleman standing before them had the Storm Ruler backing him, neither Isabella nor Rachel was deceived by his words. They couldn't help but mentally scoff: What a brilliant scheme for scamming funding! His talent in this regard could rival his Arcane talent!

Thinking of her own pitiful Arcane research project, Isabella's smile grew ever more polished as she deftly shifted the subject. "This is indeed a beneficial experiment. Speaking of experiments, I saw your paper at Drummond's place, Evans. It actually resolved a problem that had puzzled several Grand Archanists. Honestly, when I first read those two papers, I couldn't have imagined how to unify two formulas from different perspectives either. The thought of setting aside the actual Arcane significance entirely and simply piecing them together through purely mathematical methods never even crossed my mind."

"Congratulations. From now on, you'll be 'discussed' by mages many times more often than I will."

"The tragic thing is, I'm still troubled by the meaning behind the formulas." Lucian uttered a white lie.

Isabella's attention, however, was not on that point, and since the two were not particularly familiar with each other, they exchanged a few more pleasantries before parting ways.

"That was Lady Isabella?" Katrina gazed after Isabella's retreating figure with barely concealed admiration and longing. During her time working at the Mage Management Department, the female high-tier mage she had heard about most was Isabella, and she had "lived up to expectations" by obtaining the Laurel. "Elegant, intellectual, beautiful, dignified, brilliant, powerful... I really hope to become a lady like her someday."

Lucian smiled. "Then work hard for it. If you don't put in the effort, there will never be any hope."