In the small sitting room of the "True" Secret Realm, Douglas saw Frankx.
Because he had failed to advance to Legendary, many arcane rituals capable of extending life by five hundred years or more were beyond his reach. He had aged considerably — his hair thin and white, his skin deeply wrinkled, age spots standing out in stark patches. Yet those deep blue eyes remained profound as the ocean, as though bearing the wisdom accumulated across countless ages.
"Frankx, what brings you here? Planning to undergo the Lich transformation ritual?" Douglas asked casually. As a member of the Affairs Committee, in a time when the great war had just concluded and everything needed rebuilding, he really should have been too busy to be seen.
Frankx shook his head with a smile. "Becoming a Lich means abandoning the many pleasures and desires of being human. There's even the risk of negative energy corruption that could twist you into something extreme and mad. It's really not a good choice. I haven't made up my mind yet — I'm planning to wait a while longer, to see if there's still a chance to semi-solidify my Cognition World."
"That's a good line of thinking. The pace of development in Arcane studies and magic over the last decade has been terrifying even to me. Perhaps before long, there will be new Arcane theories or results suitable for your current bottleneck, allowing you to convert your years of accumulated knowledge into a foundation for semi-solidifying your Cognition World." Douglas nodded gently, approving of Frankx's choice.
In his mind, this era of explosive Arcane development had begun with Felipe's research into cellular memory as its prelude, and with Lucian's submission of the Periodic Table as its formal commencement. He seemed to witness the birth of two new Legendary mages, which was why — when Vincent had attempted to exonerate Felipe from the Demigod Lich incident — he had expressed his assent, allowing the motion to pass smoothly.
Frankx chuckled. "Lord Speaker, it's indeed quite likely that new Arcane theories or results suited to my bottleneck will emerge before long. But they're also quite likely to blow my head clean off — especially that head-exploding, head-exploding demon, Lucian Evans."
Douglas shook his head with a laugh, knowing full well that Lucian had already earned a "dreadful reputation" among mages. "The progress he's brought hasn't fully revealed itself yet. Perhaps in three years, perhaps five or ten, you'll see the value of each new theory he's proposed."
Frankx smiled. "Like 'On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies and the Mass-Energy Equation'?"
Douglas's smile gradually faded, a note of melancholy entering his voice. "Yes."
Frankx continued. "When I first read that paper, I felt as though my confidence had been utterly destroyed — as if my Cognition World might collapse at any moment. Not because I was shocked by Lucian Evans's genius, but because of self-doubt. Doubt toward the entire Arcane system built over the past several centuries."
"Lord Douglas, I have followed you since the later stages of the Dawn War, step by step building the Council out from under the Church's oppression and the nobles' vacillation. Your theory of gravity, your system of motion — these were the lighthouses that guided me in transforming thought into Arcane spirit. But now, one of those two lighthouses has suddenly been declared wrong, collapsing with a thunderous roar. I truly don't know what to believe anymore. It's as if I'm a ship caught in a storm — everything ahead plunged into utter darkness, no longer able to find my way."
Douglas's voice dropped. "It wasn't wrong. It was simply a low-speed approximation within the Theory of Relativity."
The atmosphere turned strange, an indescribable silence and weight settling between them.
Frankx gazed at Douglas with earnestness. "Lord Speaker, the low-speed approximation essentially means that your system of motion overlooks too many things, that its margin of error is far too great, and it can only be applied at such a macroscopic scale. And the idea that time *is* space, space *is* time, that time depends on matter and is a function of velocity — don't you feel this completely overturns our understanding?"
"It certainly differs from intuitive perception. Hard to imagine. When I first encountered it, I also felt as though a thousand years of lived experience had been utterly negated." Douglas admitted this with perfect honesty; when it came to matters of Arcana, he had always held this attitude.
Frankx spoke heavily. "Perhaps all of our past research has been superficial — stuck at the surface of the world, nowhere close to the Truth. That's why we've arrived at this situation. Perhaps we are immensely far from the world's Truth. Perhaps when we truly approach 'Truth,' we'll find it completely different from what we currently believe and cling to — possibly even something we've been opposing."
"Indeed. The deeper I delve into Arcane studies, the more I discover my own ignorance — whether regarding time, space, matter, energy, or even gravity, the field I'm most skilled in." A look of bewilderment returned to Douglas's eyes.
Frankx exhaled softly. "The Truth of the world has begun to exceed our imagination. More and more questions we cannot answer, more and more things all pointing toward the same thing. What is the essence of gravity? How did it first come into being? If your celestial motion system holds, then what originally provided the force that set the planets spinning?"
"That is also what I wonder. What supplies gravity? In what manner does it propagate? In the very beginning, how did it arise — how did it bring the celestial motion system into existence? Sometimes, one must admit — the more one knows, the more bewildered one becomes, the more fearful. Perhaps I've been wrong from the very start." Douglas's voice grew somewhat ethereal.
Frankx's blue eyes deepened further. He extended his right hand, using gestures to reinforce his words. "Perhaps we should look for an answer in philosophy. Perhaps there truly is a First Mover, a source from which everything was created. If that were the case, then the gravitational system, the celestial motion system — all of it could be perfectly constructed."
Perhaps because he was facing an old friend and discussing Arcane matters, Douglas held nothing back, his voice tinged with weariness. "Sometimes, I can't help but think this way — that perhaps there truly is a supreme being, a First Mover. Otherwise, the entire Arcane system simply cannot be explained from its origin. It would be like a villa built without a foundation — a single gust of wind and it crumbles into ruin."
The atmosphere grew ever more peculiar and still. A glint seemed to flash in Frankx's eyes. "That is to say — without a First Mover, your gravitational system and system of motion would both collapse."
"Yes." After saying this, Douglas added, "At least for now. But perhaps in the future, another Arcane explanation will be found."
Frankx's voice was low and somber. "Then how did the entire world originate? Who am I? Who is 'me'? Where do we come from? Where are we going? Can these questions be answered through Arcane research?"
"Not for the time being. They still fall within the domain of philosophy." Douglas shook his head.
Frankx shook his head as well. "No — within the domain of theology. As long as one acknowledges the existence of a supreme being, a First Mover, all of these questions can be answered."
Douglas opened his mouth, about to say something, when suddenly his pupils contracted. "Who are you? You're not Frankx!"