Winter sunlight pierced through the thick cloud cover, passing through the bright glass windows to fall upon the star charts hanging in the study, casting pale golden halos — warm and pleasant.
Nesica's young female student,
"Of course I will. Why wouldn't I? I'm going to thoroughly refute
Samantha nodded faintly, completely indifferent to her teacher's fury: "Then I'll have your coachman ready tomorrow morning. Do try not to be late again."
With that, she gathered a stack of documents, turned, and left — leaving Nesica to glare at the offending paper all by himself.
…………
Inside a villa wreathed with flowers, Mirina stood before her dressing mirror, gazing at the anger that pinched the corners of her brow and eyes. At her feet lay several shredded sheets of paper, and she hissed in a low, vicious voice: "Lucian Evans…"
In her view, Tower geometry was the one and only geometric system. There was nothing essentially new that could differ from it. Levski's paper was riddled with problems so obvious they could be spotted at a glance, because it violated the real world — and yet this very paper had received such high praise from Lucian Evans? Talk of being the "calculus of geometry," talk of being groundbreaking, revolutionary, universally relevant, worthy of extensive discussion, destined to play an important role — it was utter nonsense, a complete inversion of truth, an attempt to disguise a pile of cow dung as cream.
This was unmistakably a slap in her face — a slap in the face of every Archanist at the Tower who had mastered mathematical knowledge. In the entire field of mathematics, the number of achievements that had ever received such praise could be counted on one hand! Even her own work that had won the Arcane Scepter had not been lauded with such extravagant superlatives!
Mirina stepped away from the mirror, walked to her bookshelf, pulled out several of her own published papers, synthesized the arguments within them, and composed a lengthy new paper with vigorous brushwork.
When she finished, she inscribed the title at the very front: "On Parallel Lines."
As a rigorous mathematician and astrologer, she never entered battle unprepared!
As for the other established authorities in mathematics and physics who had received the papers and evaluation results sent by the Alchemical Lives — after skimming through them, they all exhibited reactions and emotions much like Nesica's and Mirina's. They had been among those who had condemned and criticized Levski's paper in the first place, and they continued to hold a negative attitude toward reasoning and deduction that violated experience and intuitive understanding.
…………
Early morning. The gloom of several consecutive days had finally lifted, and the sky was transparently clear — a rare sight.
Lucian stood before his dressing mirror, leisurely straightening his black double-breasted formal coat. White shirt, pale yellow waistcoat — after adjusting things for a few dozen seconds, he examined himself carefully, confirmed that his attire was impeccable and without a single flaw, then smiled at his own reflection: "Today, I'll have to adopt a different approach."
He took out the Crown of Holme rings — "Element," "Electron," and "Origin" — and with practiced ease slid them onto the thumb, middle finger, and pinky of his right hand. Pale violet, azure blue, and crystal-clear luminescence shimmered in interplay, dreamlike and unmistakably striking.
Next, Lucian produced his Archanist badge — deep as the night sky, set with six brilliant silver stars — along with his reviewer badge bearing the Feather Pen. He pinned both to his left breast.
At the same time, on the right breast of his black double-breasted coat, which was transformed from the Artifact of the Eternal Throne, a vivid mark had emerged: a magnificent throne cradled by a lattice of white bones.
Nearly every member of the Arcane Review Committee had received the highest honor in their area of expertise, but someone like Lucian — who had won awards in three separate domains and who wore so many rings — remained among the rarest of the rare. Those attending today's small mathematical symposium, aside from his teacher Fernando, had at most two fields of expertise and two awards. So even without bringing out the Ice Crest Medal, he could easily overpower them in sheer presence. The only issue was that he lacked the "Arcane Scepter" — the symbol of authority in the mathematical domain. His credentials felt a touch off-specialty.
He glanced at himself in the mirror once more, then picked up the tall black top hat hanging on the coat stand nearby. Placing it on his head as he walked, he made his way out the door.
He crossed the streets in quiet stride, entered the Council headquarters' Magic Tower, rode the lift to the fifteenth floor, and headed toward the designated conference room at an unhurried pace.
"Committee Member Evans?" Just as he was about to push the conference room door open, Lucian heard a hoarse male voice.
He turned to look. There, on a nearby balcony, stood a middle-aged man in an obviously worn and outdated mage's robe — a style from over a decade ago. The man stood with a somewhat nervous air, a pale gray ordinary cigarette held between his fingers, thin tendrils of smoke curling upward.
"Mr. Levski?" Lucian had a pretty good idea who this was. "Why haven't you gone in?"
Levski's dry, bird-nest hair had been somewhat smoothed down, though he still looked rather disheveled and dispirited. He managed a wry smile: "The moment I walk in, I'll be bombarded by six committee members' criticism and ridicule. So I'd rather wait out here until the meeting starts. Besides, I'm a bit nervous — a smoke helps me calm down."
Compared to the withdrawn, silent state he had been in before, receiving some measure of validation seemed to have loosened him up just slightly. He could at least express himself in coherent sentences now.
Lucian understood his situation and smiled gently: "Then are you ready? Ready to face their cold shoulders, their slander, and their attacks — and show them your new geometry?"
A flicker of pain crossed Levski's face, and he answered without much confidence: "I'm ready. But they… I once presented my paper before every Archanist at the Tower who was skilled in mathematics. That was the first time I proposed the concept of new geometry. Unfortunately, they didn't respond, didn't discuss it, didn't believe it. All I got was indifference, contempt, mockery, and denunciation — nothing but indifference, contempt, mockery, and denunciation. I'm afraid I'll drag you down with me, Committee Member Evans."
"I have great confidence in your new geometry, and I'm not afraid of any attacks." Lucian gave Levski backbone through his own conviction.
Levski became emotional once more. The hardest thing to find in life was someone who understood you, who understood what you persevered for, who understood the worth of your work: "Thank you, Committee Member Evans. You were the first person to accept my new geometry, and you gave it such high praise right away — even I had never described my own paper that way. Thank you, thank you…"
He was a mage lost in the world of Arcane knowledge, and not a man of many words. Over and over, all he could manage was "thank you," accompanied by a slight trembling.
Just then, Fernando — his red mage's robes trailing along the floor — arrived at the conference room and gestured for the two to enter.
"Good morning, Teacher. You did come after all." After watching Levski take his seat, Lucian greeted Fernando at the conference room doorway.
Fernando wore the solemn expression reserved for discussing serious matters: "I read his paper. It goes against intuitive experience and understanding, but it's interesting. There's something to it."
Sure enough — the Storm Ruler, who never gave anyone a compliment.
Inside the conference room, besides Lucian, there were six committee members in total. Compared to the fifteen or sixteen who gathered for symposiums in other major fields, the mathematical domain's committee members were far fewer.
Though many committee members were proficient in multiple fields and could attend various symposiums — Lucian himself could attend both elemental and thermodynamic sessions — mathematics was merely a tool. It didn't directly drive changes in world comprehension or boosts in arcane power. The number of committee members willing to delve into this field and become authorities was small. Even counting those absent for various reasons, the entire Committee had only nine members qualified to review mathematical papers.
"Committee Member Evans. I am Nesica." Nesica, wearing his gray pointed hat, greeted Lucian without a trace of a smile. However, upon noticing the three rings on Lucian's right hand and the Eternal Throne mark on his right breast, his long white eyebrows twitched almost imperceptibly, and he unconsciously shifted the grip on the black scepter in his hand — that profound scepter that seemed to contain countless mysteries.
Mirina and the others also rose to exchange courtesies with Lucian. Their attitudes couldn't be called good, but neither were they openly hostile — after all, today's presiding and supervising special consultant was Fernando the Storm Ruler, who was notorious for his irritable, nitpicking, and merciless manner. And most importantly, he was Lucian's teacher! No one wanted to invite a thunderstorm of verbal fury over anything unrelated to academics!
Lucian returned each greeting in turn, noting that of the six committee members, five were from the Tower. They all wore their distinctive gray pointed hats, and even the two ladies — Mirina and Mapei — wore them as well, lending the scene a faintly peculiar and comical air.
"These hats really aren't suited for women," Lucian remarked with a sigh, then deliberately took a seat at the opposite end of the long table, facing the six committee members.
Fernando loathed nothing more than idle talk and went straight to the point: "Regarding Levski's paper, 'A Rigorous Proof of the Principles of Geometry and the Parallel Postulate,' Committee Members Nesica and Mirina produced evaluation results opposite to those of Committee Member Evans. Therefore, we have convened this small symposium to render a final verdict on Levski's paper. First, Levski will present his paper. Committee members may raise their hands at any time to ask questions."
Levski silently picked up his paper and walked toward the magic platform at the front of the conference room. After only a few steps, he tripped over a chair with a loud clatter, stumbling and nearly falling.
"Heh." "Hmph." Sneers and cold laughter from Nesica, Mirina, and the others rang out in quick succession, and Levski's face flushed an intense crimson.
Struggling to calm his panic, Levski used a Magic Circle to project and enlarge his paper, then began explaining his axioms, reasoning, and deductions.
"Mr. Nesica, do you have a question?" After Levski had explained a deductive conclusion, Nesica raised his hand to interrupt.
Nesica held his own profound, ink-black Arcane Scepter and spoke with cold, barely concealed fury: "Tell me — why would the sum of the interior angles of a triangle be less than one hundred and eighty degrees?"
"It follows from the preceding axioms and postulates through deduction," Levski said, pointing to the derivation he had already covered.
Nesica let out a cold snort: "Then produce a triangular model that demonstrates this."
"Well…" Levski was momentarily speechless. This was pure mathematical logical deduction — it didn't depend on physical objects.
Nesica spat out each word as if trying to vent his frustration: "Since you can't find one, and it contradicts reality, that proves your paper is completely worthless and entirely wrong!"
With that, he sat straight back down, offering Levski no chance to respond.
Levski wilted as if struck by frost, his shoulders drooping. But he still made an effort to raise his head and meet the unfriendly gazes below — and then drew encouragement from Lucian's nodding smile.
Fernando raised a hand: "Continue your presentation."
Levski took a deep breath and pressed on with his explanation. After a while, Mirina raised her hand.
"Ms. Mirina, do you have a question?" Levski found that he was trembling slightly. After so many years of experience, he could guess what Mirina would ask.
Mirina held an Arcane Scepter studded with gemstones like scattered stars. She smiled coldly: "Levski, tell me — why don't the perpendicular and oblique lines drawn from a straight line necessarily intersect?"
"This follows from the preceding deductions…" Levski replied, his voice weakening. Lucian couldn't help shaking his head — this was a moment that demanded commanding presence, the confidence to overpower one's opponents.
Mirina picked up the stack of papers before her, her smile fading, tinged with faint irritation: "Then produce such lines, or find a real-world model for them!"
"I haven't found one yet…" Levski answered honestly, stung. "But from the premises and logic, there is nothing wrong."
"That is your problem. You've forgotten that we live in the real world, not in your imagination!" Mirina berated him without mercy, then began reading from her own paper, laying out the inconsistency between Levski's geometry and real-world experience and intuitive understanding.
Every paragraph of her argument landed like a dagger hurled at Levski, piercing him to the point of being "drenched in blood." His face turned white, and he swayed as if about to collapse.
"I've finished stating my opinion," Mirina said flatly, and didn't spare Levski another glance — as though he were a clown, a buffoon who had produced an absurd, grotesque paper purely to attract attention.
"Continue presenting," Fernando indicated. There was still much of Levski's paper that remained unexplained.
Levski caught Lucian's encouraging gaze and continued explaining the remaining content, his voice somewhat diminished.
One after another, the committee members raised their hands with questions. Some twisted Levski's words to demonstrate his errors; others followed Mirina and Nesica's approach, attacking from a real-world standpoint. Because this dispute had dragged on for over a decade, their tone had inevitably taken on an acrid, biting quality — laced with a subtle malice that made Levski's face grow paler and paler.
Yet even in this hostile environment, Levski persevered to the end, explaining his entire paper without interruption, without giving up, without losing his temper and firing back.
Returning to his seat, Levski closed his eyes. He could already foresee the final verdict — his paper still lacked a convincing physical model. At the thought, he opened his eyes and looked at Lucian, giving him an apologetic gaze. *I've dragged you into this, Committee Member Evans.*
"Just now, while Levski was presenting, Committee Members Nesica and Mirina raised objections and offered their own opinions and arguments. Next, we turn to Committee Member Evans, who has yet to speak, to explain the reasons behind his high evaluation." Fernando's gaze shifted to Lucian, gesturing for him to take the stage.
Lucian adjusted his collar, picked up a stack of documents, and walked up to the podium — his stride steady, his bearing unhurried.
"Committee Member Evans, if I were you, I wouldn't persist any further. I understand your passion for revolutionary breakthroughs, but one still has to respect basic reality," Nesica said suddenly. Had Lucian's teacher not been the Storm Ruler, he would never have been this polite.
Lucian looked at him with a smile: "I only respect the truth."