When it came to a righteous Grand Magus like Raven who devoted himself wholeheartedly to Arcane research, Lucian felt genuinely respectful toward him. He smiled and said, "I just got my hands on the latest issue of Arcane and haven't had time to read it yet. But if you'd like to discuss that paper with me, I'd be happy to. I actually already exchanged some thoughts with Lord
"You've already discussed it with him?" Raven was somewhat surprised. As far as he knew, Oliver and Lucian had virtually no dealings with each other. Oliver would have had no reason to seek out Lucian of all people for a conversation — but Raven quickly arrived at an explanation. It must have been the "Hand of Annihilation" discussing things with the "Storm Dominion," and Lucian happened to be present, so he'd been dragged along.
Once he'd figured that out, he didn't wait for Lucian to elaborate before asking eagerly, "Do you think matter contracting in length during motion relative to the 'aether' is possible? Is it really necessary to explain Lord
Raven was an elementalist who was relatively open-minded yet firm in his own convictions. He could accept that atoms were divisible, but he simply couldn't imagine matter spontaneously contracting in length during motion without any infusion of spiritual energy.
"First of all, this is merely a hypothesis — just like the many hypotheses put forward by supporters of the wave theory before it. We shouldn't treat it differently simply because its proposer is a Grand Archanist." Lucian repeated the reasoning he had used with his own students earlier, adding, "Moreover, I don't believe it's the matter itself that contracts. If such a phenomenon truly exists, I'd be inclined to think it's a contraction of space…"
Nearby, Haidy and Anick, having overheard the exchange between Lucian and Raven, suddenly understood. So their teacher had read the paper in advance — no wonder he'd seemed so calm and composed.
"You're dead to me!" Haidy grumbled silently to herself, then, just like
After quite some time, Raven ended the communication with a look of general satisfaction. Lucian raised his head and happened to meet six pairs of clear, eager eyes brimming with curiosity. Their expressions had relaxed considerably, the earlier anxiety seeming to have dissolved the moment he'd voiced his opinion.
"Teacher, there's still something I don't quite understand," Katrina asked quickly. See? Teacher really is on our side!
After Lucian addressed each of their questions one by one, Anick furrowed his brow and said with some puzzlement, "Teacher, you mentioned before that you neither lean toward the particle theory nor toward the wave theory? So what exactly is light?"
This question brought Haidy and the others back to the topic that had stunned them earlier. They all turned bewildered, puzzled, and worried gazes toward Lucian.
Lucian considered for a moment, then answered in a serious tone, "If you can set aside your preconceived notions about both the wave theory and the particle theory, and truly start from the experimental results and phenomena themselves, you'll find that light displays clear particle-like properties — such as the photoelectric effect, the Compton scattering experiment — while also exhibiting distinct wave-like properties — the double-slit interference experiment, diffraction experiments, the Arago bright spot. So whether it's the wave theory or the particle theory, neither can yet fully overcome its shortcomings to give a complete description of light. My inclination is that at a higher level, waves and particles are unified — they merely manifest differently in practice."
This was the first time Lucian had laid out this question, even in broad terms, in front of others. He considered it a way of laying a psychological foundation for his students.
After hearing Lucian's exposition, Anick and the rest seemed lost in thought, though their faces mostly conveyed bewilderment.
Lucian had no intention of reigniting the wave-particle war just yet, so he stopped in time and prepared to head back to his office to carefully read through this issue of Arcane. A few nights ago, a hazy, indistinct three-dimensional pattern of lines had suddenly appeared within his cognitive world — much like the "new legendary profession construction" his teacher Fernando had repeatedly mentioned. This made Lucian wonder whether someone had verified a prophecy of the "New Alchemy" — though it wasn't the most important element, the neutron.
In principle, Lucian could have attempted to "search for the neutron" himself, which would amount to repeating the experiment. But his magic level hadn't yet caught up with his cognitive world, he still hadn't mastered many commonly used spells, and his foundation was far from solid. Allowing his cognitive world to undergo further major changes at this point could easily leave hidden dangers. Besides, the "new legendary profession" it would yield wasn't something he'd need anytime soon.
Lucian figured that in another one or two years, once his seventh- and eighth-ring spells were more varied and his magic level more stable, that would be the ideal time to "discover the neutron."
Just as he was about to step away, Lucian felt his monocle grow hot once more.
"Lucian? Have you seen the latest issue of Arcane?" This time it was
Lucian smiled and let out a breath. "I just finished discussing it with Lord Raven…"
After exchanging thoughts for a while, Gaston laid out his own views, absorbed Lucian's input, and finally said, "It's rare to get to discuss Archanic matters with you like this — you're even more impressive than I imagined. Regarding Lord Oliver's paper, do you have any other suggestions?"
"I think his system of transformation equations could find applications in many areas. It's worth studying in depth." Lucian hinted pointedly.
Gaston, of course, was in no position to catch Lucian's underlying meaning at this point. He chuckled and said, "I agree — quite a few research fields could make use of that system of equations. Oh, and Lucian, you probably haven't heard yet? The Archanic Review Committee has discussed and decided that, given your current Archanic level, you shouldn't simply be responsible for reviewing subversive papers anymore. You're a genuine authority now, and naturally you should take on corresponding responsibilities in paper review."
"What fields?" Lucian bared his teeth in a grimace. Ever since those "independent Grand Archanists" had realized they couldn't wring a breakthrough out of him, the papers he'd been assigned to review had dwindled to perhaps one per year. He'd practically forgotten he still held a seat on the Archanic Review Committee — after all, truly subversive papers were neither that numerous nor that frequent.
Still, Lucian didn't refuse the committee's decision. Reviewing more papers was its own form of training — a pathway to inspiration and new lines of thinking. Even papers riddled with errors that ultimately failed to pass could bring an entirely new perspective.
Gaston smiled. "All the committee members unanimously agree that you're an authority in the fields of elements, alchemy, thermodynamics, and mathematics. Papers in all sub-disciplines within these four major fields may be forwarded to you. Additionally, you'll also be responsible for the photon sub-field within the light-dark faction, as well as papers related to X-rays, electrons, and so forth in the electromagnetic faction. No objections, I trust?"
Up to this point, although Lucian had received both the