Superconductivity? Lucian nearly blurted the word out.
When he had first arranged for
After Jerome advanced to the middle tier and received the Holm Crown Ring, he had also submitted a request to Lucian, shifting his focus to X-ray research. That particular line of experiments had been delegated to Katrina and Reillia, but only as a supplementary side project—Lucian had instructed them to devote the bulk of their attention to New Alchemy, namely the microscopic particle domain of elemental studies. He never expected to receive such a pleasant surprise today.
Suppressing his emotions by force, Lucian asked with a trace of astonishment: "The electrical resistance vanished entirely?"
Superconductivity—what a beautiful word. The moment it came to mind, Lucian thought of magnetic levitation, of high-energy particle colliders, of the hope of enhancing his electromagnetic railgun, of magnetically confined nuclear fusion.
"If we could actually achieve controlled nuclear fusion, Allinger's energy core could be upgraded further. Sky Cities like it would no longer face energy limitations, and the standard equipment of Transcendent mages would gain one more item: a city that soars through the open sky. Hmm—when the time comes, should it be called the 'Solar Well'? Or the 'Eternal Furnace'? Or perhaps the 'Evans Energy Core'?"
Lost in his fantasy, Lucian was jolted back by Reillia's excited voice: "That's right—not a gradual decrease, but when the temperature drops to a certain critical point, the resistance simply vanishes!"
"Which materials did you test, and at what temperatures?" Lucian snapped back to full attention and began to ask detailed questions. Anick,
Katrina steadied herself and said, "Teacher, after you discovered helium and pushed the lower limit of ultra-low temperatures even further, we regained interest in the experiment and carved out time to test all sorts of materials. Half a month ago, while studying mercury in its various ultra-low-temperature states, we found that when the temperature dropped to 4.2 degrees above absolute zero, its resistance suddenly disappeared—completely undetectable with our current instruments. We went on to test other metals like lead and obtained similar results, though the critical temperature was different."
"Yes—hard to believe that resistance could simply vanish!" Even now, Reillia could scarcely believe her own discovery.
Lucian listened carefully, then instructed them to activate the Magic Circle and the alchemical apparatus to replicate the experiment. His emotions, having shaken off the initial burst of surprise, grew more measured. The current materials were limited to superconductivity under ultra-low temperatures—practically useless for real applications. Even with arcane magic to assist, it would be an enormously difficult undertaking.
For instance, if Lucian wanted to integrate the powerful magnetic fields produced by superconductivity into his electromagnetic railgun spell to boost its power, he would need not only to incorporate a comparable structural model but also merge the cooling mechanism of the ninth-ring spell Frost Goddess's Whip. The difficulty of the spell would skyrocket geometrically. Lucian estimated it would be at least at the level of a Transcendent spell. Likewise, magnetically confined nuclear fusion would require power at minimum beyond the level of the Silver Moon, Eterna.
Moreover, the relevant materials in his Soul Library had not yet been unlocked. The road ahead for superconductivity research was still immensely long. Since the materialization of his Cognition World, Lucian had been able to access materials on special relativity within his Soul Library, parts of general relativity, and a portion of quantum mechanics—but more advanced, more detailed research materials remained sealed away.
After watching the two girls demonstrate their experiment, Lucian nodded in approval: "Do you realize the value of this research? This means you will be awarded the Silver Moon Medal, and the mages of the Electromagnetic School will go mad for you."
A collective gasp came from the onlookers. Jerome and the others had never imagined Katrina and Reillia might be in contention for the Silver Moon Medal.
Sprint, Heidi, and Anick all looked somewhat downcast. They had been genuinely impressed by Jerome receiving the Holm Crown Award—that was the reward for years of unwavering focus and dedication. Besides, by the time he had become a formal mage, they hadn't even set foot on the path of Arcane Magic yet, so there was nothing to envy. But to see their daily classmates, their longtime peers, suddenly qualify for the highest honor in the field of electromagnetism—that left them with complicated feelings, especially Sprint, who had only lagged behind Anick by a short time in advancing to the mage rank and had far outpaced the others. He never expected to be overtaken by them.
Katrina and Reillia's faces flushed crimson with excitement. They nodded repeatedly, unable to speak for a long while, until finally Katrina managed: "Teacher, we know this research is enormously valuable, but we never dared hope for any honors. Oh—here is the paper we drafted. Could you check it for any issues? If everything looks fine, please sign your name on it."
This was the Atomic Institute's project, and Lucian couldn't bend the rules. He flipped through the paper, verified the data, signed his name, and handed it back to the two girls: "Sign your own names as well. You're both second-ring mages now—you're entitled to share this honor."
Watching Katrina and Reillia tremble with excitement as they signed, Lucian chuckled: "You specifically waited for me to come back before publishing?"
"Of course—this was the experiment you arranged, so you're indisputably the first author. Besides, hearing your praise makes us happier than any Silver Moon Medal," Reillia said with a charmingly guileless grin.
Lucian laughed, his mood genuinely buoyant: "Go submit it to the Mage Management Department soon. But don't slack off on your follow-up research—try to find materials that exhibit superconductivity at higher temperatures. That said, you also need to keep up your study of the microscopic domain. This is the path you've chosen, the direction you're growing in—you absolutely cannot afford to be lax."
"Yes!" the two girls replied in unison, standing tall with heads held high, their delight unmistakable.