Since the periodic table had been in use for over two years, its irrefutable regularity never ceased hinting to the mages who used and studied it that atoms were not so simple — otherwise, how could they exhibit periodic regularity? So when senior figures like Morris, Lavendy, and Gaston began gradually pointing out the problems, subtly steering the discourse toward the errors in atomic theory, the vast majority of mid- and high-level archanists slowly began to harbor doubts.
By the time the "closed training" session ended and Hathaway dealt another devastating blow to the very atomic theory she herself had established — through her discovery of identical elements — the mid- and high-level archanists within the Elemental Will who still refused to question atomic theory's errors had dwindled to almost none. Low-level archanists, magic apprentices, and the like accepted the shift even more readily.
For the mages outside the Elemental Will, changing their not-yet-firmly-cemented positions proved even easier.
This was an era of terrifyingly rapid development. Not only was the Magic Parliament pushing deeper into its explorations, but the Southern Church, the Northern Church, the Druids, and others were all growing at breakneck speed. Whoever fell behind might well vanish within a century or two. Therefore, seeing that the tide of opinion was turning so favorably, the sense of urgency compelled the High Council to wait no longer. They decided that the October issue of Arcane would feature Lucian's paper, "The Discovery of a New Particle," as its lead article — inaugurating the exploration of the microscopic world.
As for the tiny handful of archanists who still refused to question the errors of atomic theory, they were simply not a factor to be considered.
"Very cruel, but also very real." Outside the Mages' Administrative Department, Lucian offered this assessment to Lazar and the others.
Lazar was a devoted elemental mage, and his normally brilliant, optimistic smile had turned very dim — almost a bitter laugh. "I'm reminded of that line you always joke about, Lucian: 'The wheels of history roll forward, crushing utterly anything that stands in their way.' But not so long ago, they were all hailed as outstanding archanists with great potential and a willingness to endure hardship. How could they become outcasts of fate in just one short month?"
"The Atomic Research Institute" was Lucian's "territory," so the task of shifting the views of the mages and magic apprentices within the institute naturally fell to him.
Fortunately, as the discoverer of the periodic law of elements and the first archanist to raise questions about what lay behind that law, Lucian's attitude had long since indirectly influenced his friends. Moreover, the cathode rays had been discovered at the Atomic Research Institute, and many of the experiments had been carried out by their own hands. Since the low-level archanists were still mostly at the stage of applying and understanding the theory rather than grappling with its deeper implications, everything progressed very smoothly.
So two weeks earlier, Lucian had already let them read his paper and had demonstrated the experiments once more. Everyone naturally accepted the fact that there existed even smaller particles and that atoms were not necessarily indivisible.
"This is the cruelty of fate. But they themselves were already using the periodic table, and there had been groundwork laid beforehand. The shock should only shatter their understanding of the world rather than cause a complete collapse. Even if advancing further becomes very difficult for them, a sliver of hope remains — one cannot rule out the possibility that someday they might overcome themselves and re-accept the revised atomic theory." Lucian knew that Lazar was warm-hearted and outgoing, with many friends inside the Elemental Will, and that among the dozen or so archanists unable to accept the questioning of atomic theory, one was on quite good terms with him. So he offered a few words of comfort.
Lazar laughed. "No need to comfort me, Lucian. I was just feeling sentimental for a moment. In truth, on the path of magic, there are many who stop progressing — or even die — every year, for all sorts of reasons. They're far better off than those mages who inexplicably waste away and die in their laboratories, or who receive curses they can never shake."
Saying this, Lazar coughed and adopted the tone of a "Tribunal Judge": "'Mages who presumptuously seek to peer into the domain of the gods and transgress against the forbidden thresholds — this is why they inexplicably waste away, die suddenly, or receive curses. Such is the price of blasphemy against the divine!'"
"No — this is the fear that the so-called God of Truth bears toward us! The closer we get to the true nature of the world, the more frantic He becomes, the more unscrupulously He curses us. To be cursed by Him means we are walking the right path. Someday, we will tear away His false mask!" Seeing that Lazar could still joke, Lucian played along with a grin.
These two lines of dialogue were classic quotes from the opera Celerod, which had recently become wildly popular in Alinja. Mages adored it, and similar exchanges could be heard everywhere. "Celerod" was a fictional mage who possessed extraordinary archanistic and magical talent, proposed many fundamental laws, and improved several powerful spells, but was later betrayed by his beloved and handed over to the Church to be burned at the stake. This dialogue took place within the "Tribunal."
The author of this opera was, naturally, the archanist with a strong literary sensibility, Oliver Constantin.
Roc watched them "perform" the opera from the side and said with mock exasperation: "If you like the opera so much, go perform it yourselves. Lucian, don't you have remarkable musical talent? Lord Oliver's script is brilliant, but the musician who adapted it into an opera has never been quite good enough. The story of Celerod, for instance, is very moving, but the melody can hardly be called a classic. In any case, don't keep me from updating my Arcane badges — I'm dying to see how much more I need for my promotion to mid-level!"
He chattered away as he pushed between the two of them. Anik, Hedy, and the other apprentices also looked at Lucian with a hint of guilt, then hurried excitedly inside after him, heading to different deans' offices. They were about to become official archanists!
Previously, they had been working while also preparing for their promotion to full mages, and would have nearly forgotten to come update their badges had Lucian not reminded them.
"Actually… perhaps… I'm already mid-level?" Lazar came back to himself, unable to contain his excitement, and turned to walk toward Eric's office.
Although over the past month many cathode ray experiments had already been completed, reducing his pending papers to just one, he should have accumulated citation points by now!
Lucian smiled and shook his head, then also walked into Eric's office. It was precisely because he had casually mentioned that he was coming to update his badges and purchase the latest issue of Arcane that the entire membership of the Atomic Research Institute had turned out en masse today.