"Have you reviewed it yourself?" After examining it for a moment, Fernando asked with a half-smile.
How could Lucian not understand his meaning? He chuckled and said, "Professor, this paper has nothing revolutionary in it. It's just a supplementary paper on the discovery of the electron. As you know, I discovered the curse hidden in the vase through sensing the electron flow, so I used the cathode ray research method to verify the special material the vase was made of."
Only then did Fernando take the paper, complaining casually, "Every time I read one of your papers, I have to deal with the fallout afterward. Can't you just write a normal paper for once?"
For Fernando, as long as it wasn't a horrifying hypothesis on the level of "discontinuous energy," he was perfectly happy to see generally revolutionary viewpoints, as they advanced the exploration of the world. But if a revolutionary paper required aftercare, his impatient and irritable temperament gave him a terrible headache. He wished he could just sit back like Douglas and wait for Lucian's papers to be sent over, without having to worry.
With his teacher handling the consequences that might blow mages' minds, Lucian was perfectly willing and had no desire to deal with such trouble himself. So upon hearing Fernando's complaint, he simply smiled and said nothing in rebuttal.
After glancing through it briefly, Fernando's expression gradually became serious as he began reading carefully. It took him quite a while to get through even a small portion, and he couldn't help shaking his head. "Morris will surely curse himself—why didn't he lend a hand when Belak struck, to trap Afris."
The paper was titled "A New Element Capable of Radiating Electron Flows and Two Other Types of Rays." In Fernando's view, the new element Lucian had named "uranium" was not important. What mattered was that its radiation proved electrons came from atoms, thereby confirming that atoms possessed internal structure, illuminating a path through the pitch-dark microscopic world. This was an achievement worthy of the Holm Crown Award.
"Professor, that's not the point," Lucian reminded him in a low voice.
Fernando raised his head, his red eyes piercingly sharp. This wasn't the point?
"Besides the electrons, for some unknown reason, the special material also radiates a new element." Lucian did his best to keep his language vague and "erroneous" to avoid revealing too much.
"Radiates a new element?" Fernando suspected he had misheard. One element could radiate another?
So he read with even greater concentration, and as he continued, his tone grew stern. "Has anyone analyzed the composition of the special material? Is this new element perhaps already contained within it?"
"We have. After using the 'Communion Spell' and other magic circles to purify a small portion of the special material, we found it still radiates this new element I've named 'helium.' Although the purified material may still contain other undiscovered trace elements, it certainly doesn't contain this gas or its alchemical compound." Lucian pointed to the last few pages of the paper.
"What secrets lie hidden in the transformation of elements? Can they transform into one another?" Fernando fell into deep thought. After a few minutes, he spoke in his usual tone: "You are truly blessed by the Goddess of Fortune. Even an assassination attempt leads you to such special material. I believe that when we push this research to its end, it will allow us to understand the mystery of how elements arise and appear, and the mystery of how matter is born."
Following the traditions of the ancient magical empire, the Parliament liked to invent various goddess names to describe certain things. For example, the essence of magic was called the "Goddess of Magic," and the harshest cold was called the "Goddess of Ice"—entirely different from the gods worshipped by the Church of Truth and other religious institutions.
"Professor, I don't want to submit this paper for now. I plan to seal it away for a few years, like I did with the Miracle Experiment," Lucian made his request.
"Why?" Fernando didn't understand. A paper without any revolutionary viewpoints, which wouldn't anger mages or the Church—why not submit it? Wouldn't it be better to let more Archanists dive into the exploration of the microscopic world and the nature of matter sooner rather than later?
As he spoke, he flipped to the last few pages and saw Lucian's proposed curse magic constructs based on the cursed rays, the contributions of helium gas to ultra-low temperatures, and the constructions of two spells: "Evans's Extreme Cold Ray" and "Goddess of Ice's Whip."
"Just to keep these few spells secret?" Fernando was intimately familiar with the difficulty of the latter two spells. As the pioneer of the thermal field, he knew that lowering the ultra-low temperature limit by over ten degrees—publishing this would immediately earn the Ice Medal, and you still won't submit?"
At Fernando's words, Afris gazed at the paper with burning eyes, looking as though he wished he could pick up a feather pen and inscribe his own name on it.
"The principles behind the ice and cold magic are relatively simple. Once helium is discovered, others will construct similar spells before long. I want to keep them as my trump cards," Lucian explained his reasoning.
Fernando smiled and shook his head. "You want to keep such simple magic secret? That's going to be difficult, Lucian. Don't forget that Atlant also took part of the material, and another portion is with the Disciplinary Division. Guess when they'll discover it?"
"Within three or four years," Lucian offered his judgment.
Fernando smiled. "The next five or six years are when you'll be focusing on making your breakthrough to High-level. I don't approve of you going out frequently, so having unique spells as trump cards really doesn't matter. Heh, this spell's power is considerable—it gives you a trump card capable of turning the tide against a High-level mage. Even after advancing to the Sixth or Seventh Circle, it would still be very useful. You used the Extreme Cold Ray to kill Belak, didn't you? Has your Cognition World begun to substantiate?"
"Yes. It began to substantiate when I confirmed that electrons are part of atomic internal structure." Lucian didn't dare mention that it happened during the hypothesis of discontinuous energy. Fortunately, the discovery of electrons and the confirmation of their relationship with atoms was similarly a shattering breakthrough in the minds of Archanists, making the initial substantiation of his Cognition World plausible. So Lucian silently added in his heart, "Thank you for your vase, Mr. Belak."
Sure enough, the Storm Dominator showed no suspicion and nodded slightly. "Then within three or four years, there's a chance you'll advance to High-level. If you don't have enough material, you can search through the warehouse in my demiplane. This paper can be sealed away for two years, but I'll notify Atlant so he doesn't eagerly submit a paper of his own. Heh, publishing it two years later is actually fine. If submitted now, Morris would certainly use the excuse that discovering electrons and confirming they belong to atomic internal structure are merely successive stages of the same achievement, and would only award you one 'Electron' ring."
"However, this paper probably can't stay secret for more than a few years. It's said that Timothy and Ulisse are both researching the composition of gases, and it seems they already suspect that the air contains as-yet-undiscovered gases."