Oliver followed the Archanists' gazes to Lucian, pushing up his gold-rimmed glasses that he wore purely to enhance his literary aura: "You mean to have Evans become a review committee member, with him judging groundbreaking results?"
"He tends to think from a disruptive perspective." After a minute's deliberation, Hathaway spoke briefly in her characteristic indifferent tone.
Morris, looking rather sour, added: "In recent cases, the groundbreaking results were either proposed by Lucian or inspired by him. It's quite clear that he possesses both a deep command of the current Arcane system — enough to draw knowledge from it and use it to improve Arcane Magic and elevate its tier — and a mind unshackled by established theory, one bold enough to put forward subversive viewpoints. Moreover, he hasn't yet advanced to the high tier, so his perception of the world hasn't undergone preliminary substantial interaction with his soul, making him the ideal candidate for reviewing such papers."
Damn kid — subatomic particles that don't belong to the atom, opening the door to the microscopic world. Did I really have any choice but to award him the Holm Crown Prize?
If this keeps up, they'll have to raise the standards for the Holm Crown Prize!
Since when had the criteria of "making breakthrough contributions in the field of Elemental Magic and leaving a footprint in the history of Elemental Magic" become so diluted?
At least the Elemental Will's treasury was built from a share of the extraplanar and mysterious territories explored by Grand Archanists, Legendary Mages, Archmages, and high-tier mages. Though these were the portions they didn't need, their value still exceeded that of the Kingdom's. Combined with revenue from the alchemy industry, daily tasks, and other sources, it could sustain the annual awarding of the Holm Crown Prize without going bankrupt — so long as they didn't have two or three awards in a single year in quick succession!
Hearing Morris's explanation, which sounded almost like an official proclamation, the other high-tier Archanists nodded silently in agreement. Clearly, none of them wanted to take on this particular task.
Don't be fooled into thinking they could accept without hesitation the fact that the atom was not the most fundamental substance — that was only because atomic theory either hadn't been part of their worldview in the first place, or they had already begun to have their doubts. If in the future they were assigned to review a paper that contradicted a theory they themselves held dear, backed by irrefutable evidence, the outcome might not be pleasant.
It should be said that most of them had never proposed truly subversive ideas of their own. Their contributions lay in expanding, breaking through, and refining the current Arcane framework.
And so, a young Archanist who could repeatedly propose groundbreaking viewpoints without being the least bit rattled by the consequences was, in fact, an excellent choice.
Lucian, pinned beneath everyone's "appreciative" stares, immediately felt he had brought this upon himself.
"A very suitable candidate. The only issue is Evans's identity, tier, and prestige," Oliver said with an elegant spread of his hands.
Roland raised his concern as well: "He's only a fifth-tier Archanist and a fifth-circle mage. Does he possess sufficient Arcane and magical knowledge to review high-level papers? Will the authors of those papers trust his evaluation?"
"Setting aside some gaps in his mathematical knowledge, his Arcane competence in the elements, thermodynamics, electromagnetism, light and dark, force fields, alchemy, and astrology is already on par with other high-tier Archanists. It's simply that his Arcane tier hasn't caught up yet due to insufficient accumulation over time. As for other magical domains, he likewise has sufficient expertise to determine whether a paper is truly groundbreaking, and then hand it off to a suitable Archanist for detailed review." Fernando, as Lucian's mentor, replied to Roland's challenge in a stern manner. Though he offered no direct praise, his comparative description made his satisfaction with Lucian unmistakable.
Arcane tier was a major indicator of Arcane competence, but not the sole one — especially when dealing with Archanists who didn't develop along conventional lines.
"Once his Arcane tier reaches the sixth, there'll be no problem." Hathaway cut in abruptly, her expression still cold as frost.
The sixth tier fell within the high-tier Archanist category, and combined with the distinction of being a Holm Crown Prize laureate, it would grant Lucian full qualification for the Arcane Review Committee regardless of his magical tier — just as Isabella was about to become a review committee member for illusion and astrology.
Roland had been dissatisfied with Lucian to begin with, and now that Lucian had "betrayed" the Energy Essence Theory camp, he pressed his objection once more: "Your Excellency Hathaway, Lucian Evans's paper — since it hasn't yet been proven that the new particle belongs to the internal structure of the atom — can only earn four hundred to six hundred Arcane points by standard criteria. As for citations of his blackbody radiation formula and his cathode ray paper, they certainly won't exceed a hundred Arcane points within just two months. Combined with his earlier citations, the total would barely top two thousand, still far from the sixth tier."
Discoveries of new particles that shattered the atom's status as the most fundamental substance earned extraordinarily high point rewards — valued even more highly by the Magic Council than the Periodic Table, because they brought humanity closer to the true nature of reality. By standard criteria, it should have been rewarded on par with Brook's proof that light was an electromagnetic wave, at roughly one thousand Arcane points. However, since the paper hadn't yet established the particle's connection to the atom, the reward would be halved.
"Roland, have you forgotten the recent discussions?" Laventi bellowed at Roland. "The impact factor of the *Arcane* journal has been set at 3, and it will take effect officially next month!"
Lucian currently had four papers published in *Arcane*, among which his papers on brain waves, formulas, and cathode rays were sure to be heavily cited. After next month, that income would triple — two hundred Arcane points a month was no mere dream. Moreover, the vast majority of Archanists' papers followed their own publication cycles and research trajectories, meaning citations of Lucian's work had far from reached their peak.
"Laventi, don't forget — the only reason citations were so high before was that a heated discussion atmosphere had been artificially created. Can such a frenzy really be sustained for long?" Roland countered. "Even if it could, it would still take Lucian Evans four or five months to accumulate enough points to advance to the sixth tier. We cannot make him a review committee member ahead of time — it would fail to convince the majority of Archanists!" Roland made his opposition clear.
Though he understood in his heart that the formulas — especially those that could be used to improve Arcane Magic — would attract enormous numbers of citations, and that the new rays would undoubtedly become a focal point of discussion and research, he merely proposed postponing the discussion of committee membership eligibility by four or five months. After that much time with no new groundbreaking results and a return to tranquility, perhaps the Grand Archanists would no longer push the matter, and it would simply fizzle out.