On the top floor of a seven- or eight-story magic tower at the "Douglas" Academy of Magic.
Cherry sat in the Senior Apprentice classroom, her mind somewhat adrift as she listened to Weiniya teach "Fundamentals of Elemental Theory" — a course that spanned the entire arc from probationary to formal to senior apprentices, gradually guiding them through the gates of elemental magic from the most basic concepts to the advanced.
"Hetty, Raylia, and the others are said to already have over a dozen arcanic credits. They're official Archanists now…" Cherry thought wistfully about the situation of several close friends.
Weiniya spoke from the lectern: "…That concludes our introduction to ancient elemental magic theory. The current elemental system, however, is built upon Her Grace Hawthwaite's atomic theory. What is an atom? It is the most fundamental form of matter — matter that cannot be further divided. The same kind of atoms together compose a given element, possessing various properties and undergoing different reactions, combining to form all matter in the world. This is likewise the foundation for courses like 'Potion Studies' and 'Alchemy.'"
"If only I had come to Allentha a year earlier — I would have graduated and left the Academy by now, no longer needing to sit through material I already know, and I could have joined Professor Evans's Atomic Research Institute just like Hetty and the others, started conducting miraculous arcanic experiments, and become a true Archanist." Lost in her daydreams, Cherry felt a deep pang of frustration, convinced she had wasted an entire year. She still hadn't even passed the basic Archanic Examination.
Weiniya continued the lecture, well satisfied with the senior apprentices' rapt attention — they already understood the importance of arcanic and magical study, knowing it directly represented power, influence, and status. So very few of them were lax or negligent, a world apart from the probationary apprentices who first entered the Academy.
Over all its years, the "Douglas" Academy of Magic could count on two hands the number of senior apprentices expelled for poor study habits.
"…I've brought some purified elements for you. First, get acquainted with them, then through experiments learn about their properties and the roles they play in various alchemical reactions and potion brewing." Weiniya produced bottle after bottle of magically sealed elements and activated a Magic Circle, transforming the lectern into an alchemy workbench.
The probationary and formal apprentice classes rarely delved this deeply into the nature of elements. They merely led students to identify the elements, learn their basic properties, memorize magical reaction equations, and placed particular emphasis on developing hands-on research skills.
The dazzling glow of the Magic Circle pulled Cherry's thoughts back to the present. She saw Weiniya holding up two bottles of elements: "These are two structural forms of carbon… Atoms compose elements, and carbon is the primary constituent element of the human body…"
Looking at the gleaming, translucent diamonds and the deep-gray opaque "scales" with their metallic luster, Cherry — even though she had heard Lucian explain this before — felt a powerful sense of awe: "Carbon in different structures is like the difference between angels and demons…"
"And it's really the main element that makes up the human body?" Cherry lowered her head to stare at her own slender, delicate hands, finding it very hard to imagine they were composed of carbon atoms that looked so different yet were "actually" identical. "Carbon atoms can be broken down into individual carbon atoms, and the other elements that form the body are the same — could the essence of 'me' really be nothing more than these tiny, minuscule particles?"
She turned to look out the window. The great plane trees outside were in the full flush of green. A man in a black top hat and dark suit passed beneath the trees, cane in hand, while an elegantly dressed lady in a pale lavender tiered skirt approached from the opposite direction.
"Such a refined gentleman, such a beautiful and intelligent lady, such a colorful and dazzling world — all of it composed of those indivisible little atoms?" For Cherry, who had not yet truly stepped into the world of magic, it was really almost impossible to imagine.
…………
Inside the Atomic Research Institute.
Lucian had improved the magical circle for creating a vacuum and was ready to attempt the experiment once more.
After confirming that the cathode rays were continuously deflected within the electromagnetic field, Lucian took a deep breath and began adjusting the magnetic field and electric field circles.
After a while, Lucian finished recording the data and began calculating the charge-to-mass ratio of the particles contained in the cathode rays.
Unlike the mix of excitement, dread, tension, and unease he had felt when determining Planck's constant, Lucian was extremely calm now — like a machine devoid of emotion.
With his mind still and unruffled, no hallucinations arose.
The occasional sounds of experiments from various parts of the laboratory reached his ears, but Lucian was not affected in the slightest. He calculated the answer with precision:
"Charge-to-mass ratio: 1.76 times ten to the eleventh power."
Boom! Within Lucian's spiritual world, his Meditation environment transformed once again. The different elemental points of light suddenly expanded, surrounded by countless tiny lights orbiting along trajectories of profound and ineffable mystery, seemingly harboring infinite secrets.
"This is the electron!"
The electron — shattering the illusion that atoms were indivisible!
The microscopic world was far more complex than Archanists had ever imagined, and it would be far more wondrous, far more unfathomable!
…………
Lontar, inside a monastery.
After hearing Bishop Abidal's account, an apprentice priest asked with puzzlement: "Your Eminence, why didn't God create humans and all things directly? Why did He first create atoms?"
"Daniel, do not presume to think for the Lord! Since the Lord created atoms first, and material research into the world and the human body has confirmed this, then there must be a profound meaning behind it." Bishop Abidal rebuked the apprentice priest Daniel sharply for his question — it was mortals presuming to divine God's thoughts!
If this had been during the later stages of the Dawn War, Daniel would have been seized and taken to the Tribunal immediately!
Looking down at the apprentice priests below, who appeared somewhat frightened and uneasy, Abidal softened his tone slightly: "The indivisibility of the atom is precisely a manifestation of its sacred nature, representing the Lord's dominion over the world. It is something those Archanists who claim to possess the truth of the world cannot break. You need only remember this and be able to apply it in your study of Divine Arts."
"Yes, Your Eminence." The apprentice priests answered in respectful unison.