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Chapter 445: Legendary

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

In the garden villa, Lucien looked at the thick pile of letters and released a sigh. After checking them carefully with magic to ensure that they were safe, Lucien opened them and quickly browsed through.

"Felipe?" Lucien looked at the letter in his hand, feeling a bit confused. He had no idea why Felipe would write to him.

Was this for an academic discussion? As younger-generation arcanists that received high hopes, they were both deemed to be of the few that were most likely to become legendary sorcerers. They were certainly competitors, but they specialized in different fields — Element and Necromancy were two schools quite opposite to each other in some fundamental beliefs. Besides, also they collaborated in private once, they couldn't even be called friends and had never written to each other before. It was very unlikely that the proud Felipe would suddenly write to Lucien to discuss academic problems.

Was this another criticizing or threatening letter? Lucien did not think so either. Although as a necromancer, Felipe was, without doubt, a supporter of the wave theory, as Necromancy perceived the existence of the soul as something close to electromagnetic waves, he was too proud to do such filthy things. If he strongly disagreed with Lucien, Felipe would directly write to the journal and dispute in public.

"Something's fishy…" Lucien carefully checked the letter again, making sure there was no cursing, poisoning, or soul controlling magic on it. Then he even cast Horoscope and activated quite a few defense spells before finally opening the envelope.

It turned out to be just a common dispute letter, in a typical Felipe tone. There's nothing really special about it, even the evidence listed inside it lacked experimental support and contradicted with the classic electromagnetic theory. However, as Lucien read further, he started frowning.

There were simply too many spelling errors in this letter — almost thirty of them, in just a few pages. Although they were just tiny errors which did not hinder the understanding of the letter, Lucien still caught them because he was suspicious about this letter and read it scrupulously.

Lucien spontaneously picked up a quill-pen and started correcting the errors in red ink, which was a habit he formed from reading the apprentices' papers.

Lucien had only read Felipe's published journal articles, so he did not know if this was the very way that Felipe wrote his letters, but he did not think a person as proud as Felipe would send a letter full of spelling errors to his despised opponent. He seemed to be the kind of person who hated to lose face in front of an opponent

Suddenly, Lucien noticed something unusual. His heart squeezed for a second. However, he face looked the same calm, revealing nothing inside of his heart.

He stared at the misspelled words and replaced them with the right letters in his head.

And the right letters formed a few words:

"Spectres conspiracy… particle vs. wave… internal conflict… inform congress…"

Lucien caught some clues, but there were still four letters that he could not make use of.

Although Lucien had not figured out the full information, he had got enough for him to understand the situation: The spectres in the World of Souls were trying to trigger an internal conflict in the Congress utilizing the wave-particle debate war.

As for their purpose… Lucien believed that it was because of the Congress's investigation into Heidler.

Lucien rubbed his chin and thought to himself that this definitely meant something big. Felipe wanted him to inform the Congress, which was probably because Felipe had confidence in neither Lucien nor himself. Facing powerful sorcerers, say, Thanatos and the Demigod-lich, senior-rank sorcerers really had nothing much to do here. The difference between could not be compensated by wisdom and strategy. Meanwhile, Lucien also wondered why Felipe would trust him. What if he was working with the World of Souls as well?

Lucien put the letter back into its envelope and threw it aside. Pacing back and forth in his study, Lucien began to think about how to make the best use of the letter and reveal the deal between the Hand of Paleness and the World of Souls.

Walking to the bookshelf, Lucien took a random glance at the books. Just as he was about to turn around, he noticed the row of language books including ancient Sylvanasian, the common tongue, ancient Meshkatish, elf tongue, devil tongue, demon tongue…

The brilliant moment came; Lucien realized that the meaning of Felipe's last four letters may not be that complicated.

"This letter is the second alphabet of the common tongue; this is the 23rd; this is 11; this is six… so, it's 223, 116." Using the mind of an Astrology sorcerer, Lucien immediately recognized that it was a coordinate pair!

It corresponded to a location within the city of Heidler… It's the entrance of the gap connecting to the World of Souls!

Lucien's plan started coming into shape:

He was going to use the Hand of Paleness to make the Congress find clues about the World of Souls. In this case, he would be safe, as he could directly submit the letter to the Congress and appear as someone who knew nothing else other than the letter. So even if the Congress decided to silence someone, it would not be him.

Meanwhile, he had an even bigger plan in his mind: He was going to expose the dangerous plotters in the Hand of Paleness together with the spectres, so the Hand of Paleness would fall into complete chaos. The Congress could thus seize the chance and incorporate the Hand of Paleness into its system, hence preventing further threats once and for all.

…

Possessing a somber air, the grey gravestones planted on the barren plain looked both lonely and miserable.

In a giant mausoleum, "Thanatos" Vicente Miranda was floating in midair, attempting to turn the powerful golden dragon in front of him into a puppet lich.

He had no flesh; only a thin layer of pale skin covered his the bones. The dark-red cluster of flame in the two eye sockets flickered, and the deadly wind traveling across the plains suddenly came to a stop, so did the legendary-level spell he was casting.

The golden dragon howled in agony and was about to seize the chance to take off and escape!

The Miranda Twelve Life Circles magic circles burst out bright light one by one and restrained the powerful creature within.

Seeing that it could not escape, great determination rose in the dragon's golden pupils, and its body started inflating quickly.

Bang!

The power of its explosion was so great that the entire mausoleum seemed to be struck by a horrible earthquake! From above fell down the stone pillars, the vault, the walls… and everything.

When stone and dust settled, what was left of Vicente Miranda was only a skull head. Vicente was now quite pissed and even more gloomy, as it had taken him lots of effort to capture a golden dragon close to the legendary level.

However, he soon calmed down and flew back to the main hall of the mausoleum. Landing on a giant black coffin, he illumined the vault, and countless stars lit up.

A moment ago, when he was dealing with the dragon, he suddenly had a great sense of danger and thus became distracted. As a result, he was almost backfired by his spell. Although the backfiring turned out to be more startling than dangerous, he still lost the dragon and his body as a cost.

When one reached the legendary level, no matter whether the sorcerer was good at Astrology or not, he or she would purposefully pay great attention to make up for it. Even if the power of Astrology conflicted with their body constitution or soul, a legendary level sorcerer would still try to find a same-level astrological magic item for compensation. Otherwise, a legendary sorcerer who specialized in Astrology could become their most dreadful enemy at any time!

The power that Astrology could give became one of the prominent advantages for being a sorcerer over being a caster or a knight. Unless their talent includes prophecy-like powers or they possess similar legendary items, a knight or a caster could only rely on intuition to predict danger within a small range, but would be completely blind when facing the unknown hiding threats in the broader sense.

Vicente Miranda's spiritual power was not in conflict with Astrology. Therefore, although he did not study Astrology in depth, what he knew were enough for him to use and actually greatly surpasses that of the other legendary sorcerers who did not have the title of grand arcanist.

Against the black vault, the tracks of the stars was rather clear. The remaining skull head of Vicente bobbed in the air, and soon figured out the result:

"Storm… Tumult… Fernando… Destructive strike…"

The two flames in the skull flickered several times, and then Vicente said to the darkness,

"Congus, Rogerio, Demartes, Adol… Come and see me."

The lid of the black coffin opened fiercely. A giant corpse surrounded with black smog sprang up. In the smog, countless layers of bodies made up the giant corpse. Those were all bodies of intelligent creatures — human beings, elves, dwarves, demons…

The huge corpse which was as tall as half a mountain possessed an extremely dangerous air, as if it could absorb all life power. Vicente's skull landed on top of it, like a pale crown.

The corpse's eyes suddenly opened wide, and two clusters of dark-red flame lit up in the eye sockets.

Only silence and darkness were left in this space.

…

On the thirty-third floor of the headquarter of the Congress.

"Sir, I received a letter from Felipe," said Lucien straightforwardly to Fernando, who was strolling back and forth in his study.

"What letter?" Fernando asked with a strange look that was both serious and confused.

"He used a secret message in the letter, telling me that the Hand of Paleness has made an agreement with the spectres in the mysterious black and white space. They are going to stir internal conflict within the Congress using the debate war over the particle and wave theory to gain benefits. Felipe worried that the mysterious space could go out of control. Thus, he's on the Congress's side and told me the coordinate pair for the entrance of the space." Lucien spoke briefly and clearly, but purposefully described the Hand of Paleness as the initiator.

Fernando nodded slightly. There was a hint of anger in his voice. "So that's why…"

"What is it, sir?" Lucien was quite surprised by Fernando's response. From what Lucien knew about his teacher, Fernando was supposed to be beyond furious right now.

Fernando looked out of the window and said in a low voice, "five minutes earlier before you arrived, Vicente came with Congus and the others. He asked to call for the Highest Council meeting."

"What?" Lucien had no clue what was going on.

Fernando snorted. "Vicente has caught all the spectres in the Hand of Paleness that came from the mysterious space, and put all the blame on Congus, Rogerio, and the others, claiming that they misled him. He then confessed all the secrets in the World of Souls, and told me that it is a space full of great dangers, so we have to take time to explore it."

"… What about Mr. Congus? What did he say?" Lucien could not believe what just happened. He had arrived here as quickly as possible after reading the letter. How could so many things happen within such a short period of time? Had they caught Felipe?

Fernando shook his head. "Congus and his people took all the blame, but they denied doing any damage to the Congress. Hiding some secrets itself won't bring them any severe punishment. The next step is to investigate those spectres…"

Fernando paused a bit, and then cast a glance at Lucien,

"If you don't know how to cover yourself using Astrology, don't ever plan on turning against a legendary sorcerer again, especially when you are trying to pose a threat to their life."

Chapter 446: Result of the Investigation

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Lucien's mind became blank for a second, and then he finally figured out what Fernando was indicating.

"Sir… are you saying that Vincente sensed what I was plotting? Even it was just a thought?!"

That was too much for Lucien.

So far, Lucien had gained access to most materials under legendary level in the Advanced Arcana Library, but his knowledge of the legendary was still limited to what was in the book Astrology and Elements — the promotion of two legendary classes and the construction of the corresponding legendary magic spells. Lucien did hear more from Fernando, however, they were just pieces of information. He had no concrete knowledge that could form a complete picture of the legendaries at all.

Therefore, Lucien was very surprised with Vincente's god-like omniscience. Although he did realize Baron Habearo's conspiracy using Horoscope before, at that time, Baron Habearo had already started taking actions and they were in the same castle. This time, Lucien had just used ten minutes on conceiving the plan and hadn't even had the chance to discuss with Fernando. However, Thanatos had sensed the upcoming danger and made the faster move.

Fernando said with a serious face, "reaching the legendary level brings qualitative change to life. When the War of Dawn just began, in the Church's description, a legendary was equal to a demigod. If your plan would really work and threaten Vicente's life, the tiny deviation in his track of destiny would be amplified in his cognitive world into a very strong warning."

Fernando paused a bit here, thinking of some possible examples to make Lucien treat this more seriously.

"When you were trying to save the Observer, when you were planning on distracting Dracula, did you ever think about killing him? Did you ever had a plan that could result in his death?" Asked Fernando.

"No," Lucien answered. From the beginning, his very and only aim was to save Rhine, which had nothing to do with Dracula the Vampire Prince. If Dracula had not gotten in his way, Lucien would have stayed away from him as far as he could, and Natasha would not have had to take such a great risk.

Lucien could never kill a legendary like Dracula on his own, unless he had more legendaries on his side. He even rejected Natasha's proposal for using Sard to kill the vampire prince.

Thinking of this, Lucien finally realized why Rhine made the entire plan like this way — It was not until the God of Silver Moon and the mysterious existence from the World of Souls started fighting did Lucien realize what he was truly facing.

From the Sphinx Mausoleum to the underground palace of the Sun King to the altar of the Kuo-toans, Lucien only knew that he had to help Rhine break free from the trap so the World of Souls could become less of a threat. Rhine never told him the entire story. Obviously, Rhine was trying to keep Lucien safe from activating the mysterious existence in the World of Souls' sense of danger. Fortunately, since Its power had not fully recovered yet, they managed to get by.

Lucien then recalled more: The King of Nightmare found the complicated math problem deep in Lucien's brain due to his own actions; The King of Sphinx, when Lucien faced It, had not fully wakened up from Its thousands of years of sleep; For Sard, Lucien was just using his hands to kill Clown, but never thought of harming him; And for the other legendaries, including his teacher and the president, Lucien was always being very careful and constantly foreshadowing when he put forward those subversive papers.

Seeing the thoughtful look on Lucien's face, Fernando knew that his purpose had been achieved. "So, if there's a next time, do not draw any plan on your own. Come to me directly."

As if he were not fully assured, Fernando added. "But submitting a subversive paper is different. It has to be reviewed first, and sufficient cushioning is always necessary."

In Fernando's eyes, his student, Lucien Evans, was someone who could throw at people head-exploding papers at any time.

"Legendaries can't sense the danger brought by subversive papers?" Lucien was confused again. This was different from what he thought.

Fernando's red eyes gazed at Lucien. "A half-solidified cognitive world, its fusion with the soul between the unreal and real, and its interaction with the reality and the star sky of destiny… These are what will happen to a sorcerer when reaching the legendary level. These, together with the inverted image of Host Star of Destiny and the legendary level Astrology knowledge, are the sources of a legendary's ability of knowing approaching dangers. If a subversive paper could cause danger to a legendary, the paper must be in conflict with his cognitive world. In other words, his cognitive world does not accept this result, and will thus not regard it as a threat. Therefore, it can not be sensed."

"I see…" Lucien finally understood it to some degree, and then he asked worriedly, "then… will Thanatos know that it was me? What about Felipe?"

Being the enemy of a grand arcanist was even worse than turning against a legendary, because a grand arcanist had countless secret ways to take away one's life, not to mention that Thanatos was a grand arcanist specializing in Necromancy, cursing, and life conversion.

Fernando grinned. "Idiot. You forgot you are 'the Secretive'? Very possibly, the result of Vicente's Horoscope fell on me. This actually makes more sense, as in consideration of the close relationship between you and me, your plan will most likely be carried out by me. So, no worries, if Vicente can't trace to you, he can't trace to Felipe."

That diverged quite a lot from the truth … Lucien nodded, but in the next second, he started worrying again, "But Sir… Thanatos will resent you for this."

"So? Do I look afraid?" Fernando's eyes opened big. "… Alright, you may go now. I need to attend the Highest Council Meeting discussing this, and then investigate the spectres from the world of black and white."

"I wonder what's their plot…" said Lucien curiously, wishing to know if he had become one of their targets, as he had killed one dumb senior-rank spectre in the cave of the dwarf relic.

Fernando's scowled. "If you should know, you will know. But I don't think we'll be able to get anything valuable — The spectres were sent by Vicente, and the memory left in the him mind must have been modified by him. What we could see will be what he wants us to see."

Lucien suddenly recalled that Vicente Miranda was also the top expert in brain and soul memory. Only those mind-playing-fancying octopuses living in the Dark Mountain Range could be a possible match to him. Thanatos was especially good at intruding the mind and browsing memories, and even modifying and deleting them.

Fernando and Douglas could tell which part of memory was fake, but they would not know which part was missing.

...

Sitting in his office, Lucien was reading the selected investigation result sent to him by Fernando.

The spectres were trying to cause an internal conflict in the Congress using Lucien. If Felipe had not sent the message, it would have turned into big trouble.

Without Felipe's betrayal, Lucien would not have had the plan; without his plan, Thanatos would not have sensed the danger, and then the Hand of Paleness's plan might have worked. In this case, Lucien would become the one in the biggest trouble.

However, Lucien was also much safer now because of what happened. Anyone who dared to use Lucien's hypothesis as the excuse to trigger any controversy would be regarded as a suspect or even a spy by the Congress.

"They knew more about the World of Souls than I do, and they are well aware of the great danger in the deep. The scenes retrieved from the memory of the spectre named Adol about the deepest place of that world shocked all the members from the Highest Council…"

Lucien could not access the information about what they saw, but Fernando made it clear what actions the Congress was going to take: They had decided to develop new magic spells for detecting the gap entrances of the World of Souls by tracing the memories and features of senior-rank spectres that they collected from the investigation. They would build stations close to those entrances and then take their time to explore further. Only until they located the new world which the God of Silver Moon and the mysterious existence from the World of Souls fell in, found the power pieces of the Gods, and gained results from researching them would they go deeper into the World of Souls.

It seemed that Thanatos was not yet completely on the World of Souls's side as he was not planning on luring the legendary sorcerers into the deepest. However, nothing about Mr. Maskelyne and Mr. Rhine being trapped in the deep part of the World of Souls was mentioned, which made Lucien wonder if it was because Adol did not have the access right to knowing it.

Lucien had been about to, when the Congress found out that Rhine was trapped by Dracula in the World of Souls, play innocent in front of Fernando. Now, there was no need for this.

The rest of the investigation result amused Lucien: Several conflicts within the Hand of Paleness were purposefully caused by the spectres from the World of Souls.

Lucien could imagine how furious Thanatos was after knowing this, but the good thing was that Thanatos would now be aware that the spectres also had some evil intents towards the Hand of Paleness.

Lucien was more assured now, knowing that the Congress had known what they were facing.

After Lucien finished reading the report, a small cluster of fire lit up above his fingertips. The parchment was burnt into ashes and then flushed down the pipes.

Standing up, Lucien was about to leave Atom Institution when Lazar also walked out.

"You stay here late, Lucien." Lazar took a curious glance at Lucien from head to toe. "… Can't relate you to a great musician. Totally can't. I thought you only know magic and arcana! I know several music pieces of yours are quite romantic… say, To Silvia, and Moonlight! Why are you still here? Some of your music lovers must be waiting to visit you at your home. I'm sure some noble ladies from Rentato are looking forward to meeting you in person!"

"This's why I'm still here." Lucien rubbed his forehead.

Lazar made an exaggerated sigh. "What a waste!"

Then he put on a funny look and asked, "so what about the rumors… You and the princess of Violet are in love? Is that why you're not interested in those beautiful ladies?"

Lucien never expected that Lazar could be this gossipy. But facing the question, Lucien also did not want to deny, so he chose to remain silent.

Lazar understood, and made a prolonged "Ohh".

"One in the east, and one in the west. One in the Congress, and one in the City of Psalm… Difficult, I must say, brother. You keep the hard work and become a legendary as soon as possible. Then you can lead the Congress to defeat the Church and go all the way to the City of Psalm. Then you have the Princess!" Lazar kept talking as they walked out together.

When they walked into the elevator, Lucien saw Felipe standing in front of them, wearing a black long coat.

"For the new arcana badge. That's why I'm here." Felipe's adjusted the level-six arcana badge in front of his chest a bit. His face was cold without the slightest hint of smile.

Since the Influence Factor was applied, Felipe had gained much more credits.

Lucien suspected that Felipe was waiting here specially for him. Obviously, Felipe had not fully calmed down from what happened a few days ago.

Lucien laughed knowingly. "It's a bit disappointing seeing you're still alive."

Felipe snorted, although in his mind he was now much more relieved. Soon after he sent the message, Thanatos suddenly took a series of actions. It posed beyond great pressure on his nerves and made him feel like that he was a cornered beast. Luckily, he always had a strong mindset so he stopped himself from jumping out in front of Thanatos.

"I'm working on developing a new magic spell for amplification. If things work well, maybe three or four years later, we'll have a much better version of it. A senior-rank version," said Lucien, looking straight ahead.

Felipe's eyes slightly looked aside, and his hands in the pockets clenched tightly. "What are you trying to imply?"

"I'm preparing a programme. I hope you can come to be my guest host." Lucien had a mischievous smile on his face. Lucien did not want to owe Felipe anything and he did not wish to make friend with Felipe at all. Lucien hoped that he could pay Felipe back as soon as possible, so he could call it even.

Felipe did not quite understand. "Programme? Guest host?"

"You'll see," Lucien answered mysteriously.

Then he walked out of the elevator with Lazar and stepped into the main hall.

Chapter 447: Arcana Voice

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

In the year 823 of the Saint Calendar, at the end of the Month of Dormancy (February), in the district of Sardni in Rentato.

The district of Sardni was originally a small fishing village where the fishermen and merchants selling Storm Strait fishes resided. Then the district thrived because of the development of the related industries of producing, sorting, and selling preserved fish products and the close relationship between the Kingdom of Holm and the Congress of Magic. During the second expansion of Rentato, the district was included in and named after the local bream called Sardni.

However, as magic stream trains between Patray harbor and Rentato started gaining their popularity, wealthy merchants had gradually took control of the local fishing industry using fresh goods and low prices. The monopoly put the local small shops and markets out of business. Some local fishermen gave up what they had done for decades; some were now working for the major merchants; some landed in the miserable situation of being unemployed.

Fortunately, the promotion of all kinds of alchemical items saved the unemployed. The newly-built alchemical workshops accepted them and, within just several years, Sardni turned into a half-fishing, half-alchemical district.

In the dark night, dim candlelight came out from the windows of the poor houses and shanties along the street where magic crystal lights were still unaffordable. However, the street lamps connected by the spiderweb-like electric wires were warm and bright. The light produced by the lamps intertwined with the darkness of the night.

"Shame on you!"

A teenager around fourteen or fifteen spat on the ground, staring at the young couple snuggling in the darkness behind a lamp. Although due to the conservative style of the Kingdom of Holm, the couple was simply hugging and whispering to each other, and never did anything else too intimate like kissing or caressing, there was still strong envy and longing in the teenager's eyes.

"Andy! Stop looking! It 's starting soon!"

A low voice came from behind the nearby trees along the street.

Startled, Andy hurriedly turned around and saw his three friends' head sticking out behind a thick tree with great caution.

"What? It's starting…" The look on Andy's face suddenly changed. He looked both nervous and excited. It seemed that they were doing something dangerous but thrilling.

He carefully approached the tree and grumbled. "William, Mickey, Martin… Why don't you come earlier?"

The brown-haired Martin giggled. "How dare we interrupt you? You're definitely peeping someone dating."

"Yup," the blond William cleared his throat, "… Spring has come, and creatures start getting restless, including Andy, who's already in heat…"

"You wanna try this?!" Andy was pissed off, his hand clenching into a fist. Embarrassment filled up in his blue eyes.

"Shh!" Micky, the shortest one among them all, hurriedly pressed down Andy's hand.

Andy took a deep breath and sealed his mouth. He pointed to the direction where they were about to go.

"Let's go, or we'll miss Miss Nightingale's song at the beginning," said William yearningly.

Martin put on a look of disdain. "William is in heat as well."

Giggling, the young lads secretly sneaked into the darkness and moved forward stealthily.

As they turned around the corners and traversed the trees, their voice quieted down and their breath became heavy.

They came in front of the row of low houses in a quiet corner of Sardni, and headed towards the two-story to the end.

Pulling up the collar until it covered half of his face, Andy knocked six times at the pace of two short and three long.

The door opened silently. A middle-aged man looked around in great alert, and eyed the boys to come in.

Andy, Martin, Micky, and William knew this place well and they did not need any guidance. The living room was already filled with people, a lot of people. In a circle, some were standing, some were sitting. All the curtains were drawn close; only a candlestick lit up the room with its flickering light, which seemed quite vulnerable. The atmosphere was ideal for telling a horror folktale and for one to take place.

Among the people, there were adult males and females, kids, seniors, teenage "in-heat" boys like Andy, and several blooming adolescent girls.

Exchanging a look, the boys thrust their way forward into the crowd and finally came beside the teenage girls after the great effort.

One of the boys grinned a bit shyly. "Scarlet, Selma… Good to see you two here."

The blonde girl gave him a stare and put her finger on her lips. "Shh… Quiet. It's gonna start."

Hearing that, the boys instantly quivered. They temporarily put aside the attempt to get close to the girls, but started waiting patiently and expectantly.

The owner of the house, the middle-aged, serious-looking man in an old white shirt, came to the center and started fiddling with the strange box the size of a head.

The grey box was engraved with mysterious patterns, on which there was a row of black buttons and two knobs. There were also two metal sticks on top of it that looked like ram's horns. They were of half-meter long and also had weird patterns and symbols.

No one talked when the man was working on the box. No matter men or women, young or old, no one spoke a single word. They held their breath, as devout as praying in the church. To them, the box was divine.

Hiss… The familiar electric current noise came.

People in the room instantly sat up or stood up straight.

From the box came a female voice that sounded far from them and wasn't very clear. But with the man's patient calibration, the quality started getting much better:

"Good evening, everyone, this is FM 592.6M, welcome to Arcana Voice. Now it's ten at night in Allyn and I'm your friend, Nightingale. Glad to have you in the next four hours, my friends."

The sweet female voice tickled the boys' hearts, making them wonder how beautiful Miss Nightingale must be.

"So the first section of today: General Knowledge in Everyday Life. I'll introduce you to a healthier and wiser lifestyle and help you stay away from all the possible traps in your life.

"… In recent months, in Rentato, as well as other cities in Holm, many illegal merchants are selling 'radioactive' toothpaste and body shampoos, claiming that those products are more fashionable, work better, and can help bring us longevity. Is that true?

"To find out the truth, let's start from the paper written by Mr. Lucien Evans, the member of Arcana Review Board, senior-rank arcanist, the three-time winner of Holm Crown prize, winner of the Immortal Throne, Arcana Scepter, and Ice & Snow Medal. Mr. Lucien Evans wrote the paper titled A New Element Which Emits Electron Currents and Two Other Rays three years ago, but it was not until five months ago did he publish it. It was also the very paper that won him the Ice & Snow Medal. In this paper, he coined the term 'natural radioactivity'. He believes that some elements with unstable structures might emit new elements and electron currents."

"Selma, did you hear it?! Mr. Evans is not only the composer of our favorite music pieces in the Music Gallery, but also a great scholar who has won so many awards! You know the great musician in Aalto? They have the same name!" Exclaimed Scarlet full of admiration.

After listening to the programme for over a year, Scarlet was aware of the value of the awards mentioned. And she was not the only one who felt beyond impressed in the living room. Gasps of admiration and praises filled the space.

Andy, however, held an ambivalent attitude towards this Lucien Evans. He did admire Lucien Evans's talent, but Scarlet was the girl he liked.

People in the living room knew what Miss Nightingale was talking about, as it had been several months that they lived under those merchants' constant promotion. Using the merchants' words, those 'radioactive' toothpaste could effectively remove the stains on their teeth and make their teeth white again, and the new elements contained in the toothpaste could keep them fit and healthy. According to the merchants, many nobles had started using the new toothpaste.

"… To seek for the truth, we have talked to Mr. Evans, who made a thorough explanation for the term, 'natural radioactivity'. According to Mr. Evans, while emitting new elements and electron currents, these ingredients also release 'curses', which can make your hair and teeth fall as well as weaken your body and disrupt your blood circulation. The new elements and electron currents emitted will also do severe damage to your body." said the sweet voice.

The listeners were shocked and terrified.

"… This kind of damage is not only limited within you. Newborn babies can suffer from malformation because of the radioactive substance. So please, everyone, DO NOT buy those products sold by those dishonest and mercenary people. DO NOT buy them simply because many are using them"

Miss Nightingale paused a bit and then made the conclusion. "Using Mr. Evans' words: While the Saint Truth corrupts your entire life; Radiation corrupts three generations in your family!"

The listeners were scared and shocked, but they also felt lucky that Arcana Voice had told them the truth. Their mind was completely occupied by the idea that they had to throw away the toothpaste as soon as the went back home, so they were not in the mood to object to the religious part in Lucien Evans' comment.

Suddenly, Scarlet whimpered. "I've been using it for a month… What if… "

Miss Nightingale continued. "To relieve our listeners, the good news is that since the added dosage in the toothpaste and shampoos is very small, if there is any, once you stop using it, no sequela will be left."

The listeners in the living room all released a sigh of great relief!

"After the wonderful melody, Mr. Philosopher will bring us the 'Unravel' section. Based on his thirty-eight-year experience as a consul, Mr. Philosopher will tell us stories about those pastors and cardinals he used to interact with, showing us that underneath their sacred aura, they do have their own feelings and desires, just like every human being." introduced Miss Nightingale.

"Wow! Affair with nuns again?" Andy got excited.

A brawny guy whose arm was as thick as Andy's thigh looked back at him and joked. "Maybe it's with boys like you."

Before Andy could refute, the strange box called radio started playing a peaceful, relaxing melody.

"Mr. Evans's light music, City in the Sky," said Scarlet in a very low voice, afraid that she might interrupt the wonderful music.

After the following few sections Unravel, Approaching Arcana, and the Magic Room, Nightingale's sweet voice came back again, "Next section is Body Secret, and I know it's the part loved by many of our listeners. Tonight, we are lucky to still have the authority in the study of the human body, Mr. Felipe, to be our guest speaker."

"I like Mr. Felipe. He's cold, but I like it!" Selma beamed with joy.

"Hello, Mr. Felipe."

"Good evening, Nightingale."

"As it is known to all, the human body starts to develop fast at the age around twelve, and great changes ensue. This stage of life can bring great bothers to many teenage boys and girls. So, Mr. Felipe, I wonder if you can talk more in details about the changes and make them understand that these are just natural changes and there's nothing to worry about."

"…"

"Mr. Felipe?"

"…"

"Mr. Felipe… Sir! Please calm down…"

Chapter 448: "Truth of the World"

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

The listeners exchanged looks between each other, having no clue what was going on. Pauses did happen in the past when there were 'technique issues' or mistakes made by the hosts, but tonight was different.

The owner of the house who was in charge of the radio was a magic apprentice sent by the Congress of Magic, responsible for promoting radios and taking in listeners, and now the corner of his lips on his serious-looking face curled up slightly, as he knew what was going on: Obviously, the director of the programme never told Mr. Felipe in advance that he would be asked to talk about pubertal development. Cold and short-tempered as Mr. Felipe, it was no wonder that he would react like this.

Hiss… the electric current noise cut off the programme. Before the middle-aged man decided to tune the radio again, Nightingale's sweet voice returned,

"Sorry, my friends, our sincere apologies. Our guest speaker, Mr. Felipe, has left because of his personal emergency. We'll have Mr. Ricardo continue with the topic. Mr. Ricardo is also an expert arcanist specializing in studying the human body…"

The voice was the same pleasant to ear but now there was a slight hint of fear.

"… Mr. Felipe has left…" Scarlet sighed and felt very disappointed. She really liked Felipe's low and charming voice, especially his tone which carried the just right amount of arrogance.

Her friend, the pretty and petite Selma, shared her feeling, but she soon realized what just happened. "Mr. Felipe doesn't like the topic! No wonder he remained silent and left!"

Then she covered her cheeks with both hands and said in both curiosity and excitement, "… But it must be so cute if Mr. Felipe took the topic! I bet his face would flush! Oh my… He's so adorable just leaving like this! So cold and proud!"

The middle-aged house owner's face twitched a bit when hearing the teenage girl's words. He could not help wondering how Mr. Felipe would respond if he had heard the comments. They would probably disturb him more than the puberty topic.

After her excitement calmed down, Selma was suddenly struck by a thought. "What if Mr. Felipe never comes back in the future?"

"I think he will be back… Don't know for sure… But next time the topic's gonna be different," said Scarlet.

Meanwhile, their eyes flashing, Andy and the rest of the teenage boys had been fully absorbed in the topic. Tonight's topic had answered a lot of questions in their mind which they dared not to speak out. And when it came to how a girl's body would change during puberty, imagination seized them.

"… That's too much!" Scarlet covered her ears and moved closer to the other girls, as if she did not want to listen to it. However, her hands were not covering her ears tight at all.

The rest of the girls who were elder finally realized what the changes were and why they took place. When they went through the changes, the girls were scared and very nervous, having no idea what was going on, and it was not until today did they finally figure out and get to know how to take better care of themselves.

The married aunties took a step forward to shield the young girls. They glared at those men and scolded,

"Hold your eyes back! Go back and look at your wife and mother!"

So those men in the house looked away. Many of them then thought to themselves that extra care should be given to their women just like what the arcanist had just said, as every month's suffering could be this bad…

After the section of Body Secret, followed a voice full of passion,

"Apollo magic crystal light! Hold light in your own hand! Have electric wires set to your place now and receive six months of free electricity! What are you waiting for? Grab your wallet and apply! Visit local town halls, branches of Gift from Elements, and Holm Mineral Union Bank for more information!"

Because of today's topic of Body Secret, people in the room today were not as tense as usual. Although they still dared not to talk aloud, the look on their faces was quite relaxed. While the ladies were sitting together, whispering, the teenage boys were also chatting and taking glances at the girls from time to time secretly.

"Jinkela, Jinkela, the best formula! Make your harvest spectacular!"

After several ads, Nightingale's beautiful voice came back,

"Now let's have Music Gallery take the lead for introducing the second half of tonight's programme. Relax in the wonderful melody and put aside all your exhaustion and tediousness from the day. Tonight we have Mr. Evans's latest piano opusculum, Free Mind, a piece of light music but with mild passion."

As Arcana Voice started to be known to more sorcerers and nobles, Lucien's music talent was also revealed. Thus, he put forward his principle for choosing and composing music: Get closer to citizens, to farmers, and to all the ordinary people; From the grand, structural symphony pieces, develop more light music pieces which were simple, romantic, short, but still beautiful.

He composed many pieces of light music by himself, and also copied some from the masterpieces of Earth, including Castle in the Sky. The public's response was mixed, but those who were close to Lucien and knew his "great musician" identity understood the situation, as it took time for the transition in styles.

Now it had been three years, and the quality of Lucien's own light music pieces had become much better. They had gain wide popularity among common citizens and young nobles who fancied romance. The fine teahouses along the streets had started to play these music pieces to create a romantic and elegant atmosphere to attract guests, and it turned out to be quite useful.

"A new piece from Mr. Evans?" Scarlet said excitedly, her fingers crossed together against her chin.

All the listeners stopped chatting. They were common citizens, and rarely did they have the chance of visiting a concert hall to listen to music played by a real musician, but now Arcana Voice offered them this precious enjoyment. Although they did not know much about music, they were aware of the heartfelt appreciation in their mind when they first heard the light music pieces.

The melody was wonderful and refreshing. The keys jumping like little fairies pulled the listeners into a quiet and peaceful realm surrounded by nothing but mountains and trees, where birds presented their soft chirping and the stream played its crispy splashing.

The listener's mind was washed and cured, as they were in the gentle and soft embrace of mother nature, where both their body and soul could take a rest.

Leaves and branches revealed the traces of wind. The wind was free, free to travel to wherever it wanted. The wind made these people who had suffered in their lives and were restrained by their religious belief felt that they have this ticklish feeling in their hearts, that their hearts were covered with a layer of dust, so the hearts could not go with the wind freely. But yet they had not realized what exactly this layer of dust on their mind was.

The free wind gradually faded, yet the sweet aura created by Free Mind was still lingering.

"Beautiful…!" Scarlet murmured as if she was still in the dream.

Too excited to say a word, Selma simply nodded hard.

"After Free Mind, let's listen to the light music piece, Streamside, composed by Miss… Louise." Nightingale introduced.

When mentioning the name, Nightingale paused a bit.

Music had relaxed the listeners' spirit greatly, and now their peaceful mind was open to almost everything.

The silvery voice said to the listeners,

"Now, welcome to our section, the Voice of History. Today, our young historian Mr. Pande will unravel some of the secrets in the War of Dawn and the unknown facts about the Inquisition."

"I do have a book compiled by the Church here, called Hunting Sorcerer, and I do believe that the lines in the book are reliable," said Pande in his piercing voice, "… If a person lives alone and rarely talks to other people, he or she is a sorcerer, without doubt; If a person often shows up on parties and is outgoing and cheerful, then obviously, he or she is just pretending to avoid suspicion…"

The listeners' faces turned pale as Pande was talking.

It's so scary! The Church was suspicious of everything!

As the listeners of Arcana Voice, they could never be enough careful! Otherwise, if the Church knew — No! — if they suspect about this, then…

"Alright, I know the history might be quite heavy, so here comes our most favored section, the Thousand and One Nights! Previously, Harry, the poor boy from the slum, finally arrived at the amazing magic school of Pesancho, and then a series of interesting stories followed…"

Listening to the story, Andy said to his friends, "A poor lad can become a sorcerer. What about us…?"

The cheerful story made them long for the life in a magic school.

The adults were also very impressed. "Those sorcerers are living an even better life than the nobles! They are enjoying food from all over the world, and the cheap, practical alchemical items have made their life much easier and pleasant…"

Their hearts were full of admiration, and they had also learned a lot. Their horizons had been greatly broadened. If any upstart merchant dared to show off his knowledge in front of them, heh, after listening to Arcana Voice, they were not that easy to be fooled!

"… You see? Transformation, Illusion, and Necromancy are not as dark and horrible as you think…" said a listener in low voice.

Some sections in Arcana Voice aimed at eliminating people's fear and hate towards magic caused by ignorance.

"Knowing brings understanding; Communicating connects the world" — this was one of Arcana Voice's tenets.

A fruity voice boomed out from the box. "Welcome to Man and Nature… On the savannah in the south, the rainy season has just passed…"

…

In the middle of the Boundless Ocean, in the Solar Islands branch of the Congress of Magic.

A young sorcerer couldn't help but laughed when hearing Nightingale asking Felipe to calm down. Leaned against the back of the chair, the sorcerer was listening to Arcana Voice. His spirit had been lifted and now he was in quite a good mood.

He was receiving the signals using the low-frequency band made specifically for long distance transmission. Arcana Voice had made his life on the island instantly became much more colorful and exciting.

When Arcana Voice ended, he sat up straight and switched to another band.

A serious and clear voice came. "Welcome to Truth of the World…"

The young sorcerer named Blake listened to it attentively. For sorcerers like him who lived far away from Allyn and Rentato, getting the most up-to-date information wasn't easy at all. The delivery of the journals including Arcanawas much slower than to the major cities, since in most cases, magic steam trains and boats were used for delivery. Transmission magic circles were used only in rare, important cases.

Living on the island, Blake belonged to one of the last groups of sorcerers to receive the journals and messages, which often took a month longer. He could not stay up-to-date with the latest currents in the Congress, and knew nothing about what was going on in Allyn except what were on the journals.

However, the living cost here was much lower than in Allyn and Rentato, and they could make twice more in these remote areas as there were few local sorcerers. They needed money and materials to get promotion, so they did not want to leave.

The birth of Truth of the World solved this big problem.

"… Then, we're going to review the major news in Allyn in the past week."

Chapter 449: The Past Week In Allyn

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

"Monday, the thirty-second ring of Holm Crown prize finally found its winner in the Year of 822. Mr. Jerome was awarded for his discovery of X-ray. He is the second winner of Holm Crown prize from the Atom Institution after Mr. Evans.

"… In the Atom Institution, Mr. Jerome always remains a low profile. He does not seem to be as brilliant and eye-catching as Mr. Evans or as talkative and open-minded as Mr. Lazar and Mr. Rock, nor does he have the same solid academic foundation as Mr. Evans' students do. Then what made him gain such a great achievement? How did Mr. Jerome, a simple and honest gentleman in the eyes of the others, became a level-four arcanist and third-circle sorcerer, became the winner of the thirty-second Holm Crown ring?

"It's our great honor to have Mr. Jerome here today to answer these questions. Hi, Mr. Jerome, thank you for being with us today."

Blake, who had the typical light blue hair and dark blue eyes of the Solarians, listened to the radio very attentively. Except for the discovery of X-ray, the news about the Atom Institution in recent years basically had nothing to do with Jerome. His name was always at the bottom, attracting little attention. However, all of a sudden, he had won the top award in the School of Element and had become the envy and model of thousands of arcanists.

The rich male voice answered, "in many people's eyes, I am not a talented arcanist. I am not a match for Rock and my colleagues, not to mention Evans. Therefore, many arcanists believe that my achievement came from the favor of the Goddess of Luck… that an accident of forgetting the fluorescence piece led to an even more accidental achievement."

Blake nodded. He also thought so, and it was not because of feeling jealous. The paper published on Arcana last year proved that Jerome's finding was more of an lucky accident than a discovery guided by developed theories.

"Then what do you think, sir?" Asked Lark, the host of the section, genially.

Jerome smiled. "Indeed they are all right. But I have to add something here: Before I found X-ray, I had already conducted the related experiments for a thousand two hundred and twenty-seven days. When Lazar, Rock, and the students believed that there was nothing more to explore, I was still working on it using my own spare time.

"At that time, I never expected anything big. I was doing so simply because there were still things I did not understand. I am not smart, but I am proud of my diligence, perseverance, and patience, which are the only things that I can rely on.

"Maybe arcanists like me are not the ones to come up with those earthshaking theories which required much imagination, but we can lay the most solid foundation for the high tower of Arcana and add details to it. People like us are also valuable and promising."

Jerome's words were simple but not plain. His words motivated Blake greatly. Diligence, perseverance, and patience… Blake repeated the words to himself in his mind.

"Diligence, perseverance, and patience…" Lark also repeated the words in the radio and smiled. "Thank you for sharing, Mr. Jerome. I believe what you just said is a great encouragement to many arcanists, including me. Anything else you'd like to share with us?"

"Umm… First of all, I'd like to express my many thanks to Mr. Evans, whose great talent in arcana is known to all. Working with him has offered me much to learn. No matter what others say about his light quantum hypothesis, I believe in him. He was the one who offered us free access to all the facilities in the Atom Institution and encouraged me when I felt like giving up. Therefore, I named the ray using the letter 'X'."

Jerome continued emotionally. "… Also, I'd like to say 'thank you' to my wife, Vera. Her love and courage have been accompanying me all the time and giving me the power to do the tedious experiments over and over again. Without her support, I would never have been able to win the prize. She shares the ring with me."

"That's so sweet. The couple also just got their first baby! Let's wish them an even sweeter and brighter future!" Lark said sincerely and then turned to the other guest speaker. "… Today, we also have the president of the Will of Elements here, Mr. Morris Hoffenberg. Welcome, sir. So, for what Mr. Jerome just said, how do you feel about it?"

"Diligence, perseverance, and patience… These are very good qualities, regardless of talent." Morris had a deep and charming voice of a mature man.

Lark agreed, and then asked, "So Mr. Morris, we had received lots of letters from our listener this week, and they shared one question ⁠— Why wasn't Mr. Evans rewarded with the price?

"Mr. Evans's paper on radioactive element, which won him the Ice & Snow Medal, should further win him Holm Crown prize for at least two times: one for proving that electron is part of an atom's inner structure, and the other for leading us into the microworld and showing us the change of matters by discovering the new element Helium. His research is beyond exciting; it made us believe that we're on the way mastering matters, which used to be the forbidden zone of Gods. But why didn't such an important paper win the prize?"

Morris remained silent for a couple of seconds and replied, "proving that electron is part of an atom's inner structure is a follow-up of the discovery of the electron. After discussion, we believe that this finding should not win Holm Crown prize again as Mr. Evans already has the ring Electron…

"The emission of a new element does involve how matters produce and change, but it hasn't been proved yet. When Evans can prove that a radioactive substance can be turned into another element due to the radiation of a new element using a solid experiment, the prize will go to him again. Hopefully, he will be able to put forward a whole set of theories explaining the complete structure of the atom and how matters change."

… So the next Holm Crown prize ring for Lucien Evans would be able to cover all of his achievement in this field… Morris thought to himself.

Lark did not take in Morris's words easily. "I'm afraid this isn't convincing enough, sir. Mr. Ulysses won the thirty-first Holm Crown prize ring with his paper on measuring electron charge, and Mr. Lucien Evans's discovery is of the same great value, isn't it?

"… In some of the letters, some arcanists believe that it was you who prevented Mr. Lucien Evans from winning Holm Crown prize one more time, sir, since he has already won the prize three times. They are suspecting that you see giving the award to Mr. Evans again as a waste of money and resources. Facing these rumors, do you wish to clarify yourself, Mr. Morris?"

"This is a totally absurd and groundless accusation. Openness, fairness, and impartiality have always been our principles when deciding the winners. Evans was also present during the discussion. He didn't have any problem." Morris sounded offended, and then he paused a bit. "Time's up. I will answer no more questions. And I will not attend such absurd interviews anymore, unless you show more 'sincerity' when making the appointment."

Blake wondered why Morris sounded a bit self-conscious.

"… Alright, that's all for our review of last Wednesday. Now, let's take a look at what happened last Thursday.

"… Frictions took place again between the Congress's patrolling magic steamboat and the Saint Truth's airship. As we're getting closer to locating the mysterious dimension, the number of frictions is continuously increasing. We must be prepared.

"After the downfall of the ancient Magic Empire, countless sorcerers suffered day and night under the brutal hegemony of the Church and were almost erased from the ground. Fortunately, the establishment of the Congress reversed the trend. Therefore, the confrontation is irreconcilable. Every sorcerer should bear this in mind. Any attempts trying to ingratiate himself with both sides are beyond foolish.

"We shall retreat no more. Behind our back is Allyn!"

…

"… Leading almost a hundred elementalists and necromancers, Mr. Donald, the member of the Highest Council, the president of the Will of Elements, recently paid a visit to the royal elf court and the Druid Elders of Stroop forest. Elder Malfurion offered Mr. Donald and his companies a warm welcome. Both sides exchanged opinions on recent situations and issues and reached an agreement. Together they attended the grand ceremony Spring Sowing, which took place in the manor close to Stroop forest and where Jinkela No. 822 first revealed its veil in front of people.

"The Lord of Storm, member of the Highest Council, has submitted his paper on his experimentation using helium atomic beams to bombard a thin foil of metal. Some particles in this experiment scattered further than others. Based on this finding, the Lord of Storm has overturned the atom structure model proposed by Her Excellency Hathaway, in which electrons are believed to be inlaid in the atomic nucleus. According to His Excellency Fernando, the inner structure of an atom should resemble the celestial bodies motion system suggested by Mr. Douglas, the president of the Congress, that is, electrons spinning around the atomic nucleus like planets around the sun. The macroworld has overlapped with the micro!"

Blake suddenly sat up straight out of astonishment.

The tiny atom's inner structure was similar to the system of the entire universe! How amazing and wonderful this world was! Fernando's theory again brought out the aesthetics of science! Blake could not help wondering if there was a universe within each atom and whether if there were also life forms living there. He knew that the theory of Magic Fairy was once very popular in the ancient Magic Empire.

The truth of the world was beyond fascinating!

"… On the other hand, His Excellency Edwyn Brook, the Emperor of Control, member of the Highest Council, has also put forward that since the electrons are charged, when they spin around a nucleus, they should radiate out electromagnetic waves. Due to this loss of energy, the structure can never exist with stability…"

Blake put some thoughts into it and then nodded, as it did conform to the classic electromagnetism theory. He was a bit disappointed.

"… The Lord of Storm also said that this is so far just a rough model, and improvements have to be made for sure. But most elementalists believe that even the current rough model has already qualified the Lord of Storm for being the next winner of Holm Crown prize in the following year."

…

"Saturday, reliable source confirmed that the Emperor of Control, who returned a year and a half ago, has finished his project of improving the magic circle for accurately measuring light quantum. Meanwhile, Mr. Lauren, member of Arcana Review Board and the winner of Ice & Snow Medal and Silver Moon Medal, has also told us that the same achievement has been made by him after three years of effort. Soon he will fight back against Mr. Evans's light quantum hypothesis using the experiment result…

"According to our survey, arcanists who advocate the wave theory are getting very excited, while many arcanists on the side of the particle theory are worrying about what will be coming to them and have refused to further respond to our questions."

Chapter 450: Everyone's Experiments

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

"It has been three years since the Debate War between Wave and Particle was launched again after Mr. Douglas's light speed experiment posed strong doubt against the existence of Ether and reached its climax by Mr. Evans's light quantum hypothesis, and it shows no sign of calming down. Thus, it has officially become the third War between Wave and Particle in history.

"When we look back at the previous two rounds of confrontation, Mr. Brook and his team have come close to completely defeating the particle theory. In the past a few years, supporters of the particle theory relied themselves on the last piece of straw, constantly telling themselves that the existence of Ether had not been confirmed, to prevent their own cognitive world from collapsing. However, the particle theory has recently picked up its momentum again using the light speed experiment and the light quantum hypothesis, even launching a new round of attack against the wave theory. The light speed experiment and the photoelectric effect have become two heavy burdens on those wave theory supporters' mind, yet so far they could not find a proper answer to them."

Lark briefly introduced the history of the War between Wave and Particle, which made the young Blake feel the blood pulsing through his veins. Holding his fists, Blake wished that he could punch in the faces of the few sorcerers who were still being stubborn. Meanwhile, he vaguely heard some nasty comments made by other sorcerers coming from the open window. Obviously, in this place, not a single particle theory supporter could be found.

"After three years of brewing, the war is perhaps reaching its final stage. His Excellency Mr. Brook and Mr. Lauren have both completed the improvement of the magic circles and are now ready to conduct an accurate photoelectric effect experiment. If the data and images obtained can prove that the light quantum hypothesis is wrong, then the particle theory has to retreat back to its previous status again, using only the light speed experiment to sustain its last breath."

"This is going to be one of the most meaningful experiments in the history of the Congress, and the result of the experiment will direct us further into the truth of the world and tell us where to make our next step. Today, with our guest arcanists from the Congress, we are going to exchange some of our ideas and attitudes on this…" Lark's crispy and passionate voice turned to the invited guests present. "Good to have you all here. I'm Lark, the host of Allyn's Past Week."

"It's very nice to meet you, Miss Lark. You're as beautiful as your voice." said a male voice a bit excitedly.

The rest of the male arcanists sounded a bit shy and greeted Lark in a dull tone.

"Nice to meet you, Lark. I'm a fan of Allyn's Past Week, and you're even more beautiful than we thought," said a female voice, on behalf of the rest of the guests.

Lark responded in her sweet voice. "Thank you all very much for your support. So, ladies and gentlemen, how do you think of the following experimentation on light quantum which is about to be carried out by Mr. Brook and Mr. Lauren?"

"Well, we've been waiting for this for so long, you know… Ever since Mr. Evans put forward his hypothesis, we've been waiting for someone to step out and prove that the hypothesis is wrong, as we're not capable of doing so ourselves before reaching senior-rank. It has been three years, and the day will finally come, the day that we can refute this absurd hypothesis righteously. I believe that Mr. Brook and Mr. Lauren will give us an accurate and convincing result," said the loud male voice, who seemed to be quite talkative.

"I'm very delighted to see that the magic circles have been improved. I've been fed up with those who keep talking about their particle theory."

"The results will prove the wave theory."

The male arcanists answered one by one.

"Although I personally think highly of Mr. Evans, and I'm very impressed with his great achievements, as well as the fact that he has won the four highest honors before reaching senior-rank, I don't think his hypothesis is correct. I mean… even Mr. Evans can make mistakes. And I do feel that the rare mistake made by Mr. Evans has made him more approachable…" The soft female voice seemed to want to continue but was cut off by her companions.

Hearing their answers, Lark further asked, "it seems that no one believes that the experimentation result will favor the light quantum hypothesis. Does the wave theory of light really have such a solid foundation? It has been three years, and no other theories except Mr. Evans's hypothesis could explain the photoelectric effect. So far the light quantum hypothesis has conformed with all the results yielded by those less inaccurate experiments, and one of Mr. Evans's prediction has even been proved correct. Are you really so sure that the result will prove the light quantum hypothesis wrong?"

"Absolutely."

"Yes, for sure."

"Without a doubt."

…

The arcanists all answered affirmatively, but somehow there was a bit of uncertainty emerging in their voice.

Blake loosened his grip and started putting more thoughts into it. What Lark just said was true. Yes, it had been three years, yet no other theories but Mr. Evans's hypothesis could explain the photoelectric effect. All the experiment results were saying that Evans's hypothesis was correct. And meanwhile, several attempts aiming at explaining light speed experiment had failed. The existence of Ether had become a question.

Was the wave theory of light completely correct?

Would the experiment's result overthrow the light quantum hypothesis? Or the opposite?

…

A slightly dry and wrinkled hand pressed the button on the radio and turned it off when the signal had been replaced by the noise of electric currents.

Barek turned around and saw his teacher, Brook, staring ahead at the distorted magnetic fields and flashing electric arcs outside of the window, his hands folded back in the manner and air of a dominator. Carefully taking in a breath, Barek asked, "Sir, did you listen to Allyn's Past Week?"

"Yes, I did," answered Brook, who wore a wig and looked like an elegant but old-school gentleman. "The programmes are interesting. As usual, Evans makes good achievement in every field which he would like to put efforts in. But I'm not very used to his humor and the new words that he created."

"It's becoming a new trend. Using the new words has been popular among younger sorcerers in Allyn, Rentato, Cooks, and even in the Solar Islands. It seems to have already become a trend, and whoever not joining in is falling behind," said Barek, and then, looking more serious, he asked hesitantly, "so Sir… You must have listened to the interview done by Lark, right?"

"So?" Brook turned around and looked at his student.

Barek tried to be brave. "… I'm worried… about the experiment result."

"Make your point," said Brook calmly. When it came to arcana, he preferred to be straightforward.

Barek weighed his words, and said, "I've done a couple of experiments before, and all the results favor the light quantum hypothesis, which now seems to be the only explanation for the photoelectric effect. I'm afraid that the accurate experiment result might not be on the side of the wave theory. So, Sir… I hope that when you conduct the experiment, you can put aside your beliefs. The wave theory still has its chance… we still have the diffraction image and a whole set of theory…"

Brook's jade-like eyes behind the gold-rimmed glasses looked at Barek attentively. Finally, when Barek started sweating a bit, Brook looked away at the window again. It seemed that his green eyes could see through his demiplane and see the dark evening of Allyn in early spring.

"It's going to rain." Murmured Brook.

…

In the headquarter in Allyn, on the thirty-first floor, which was a section specially for the Sky radio station.

During midnight, Truth of the World had come to the end. Arcana Voice had ended earlier, so no the entire floor was very quiet.

After drinking a tube of potion for throat protection, Samantha, who used the name Lark in the radio, walked out of the lounge in a good mood and was ready to go home.

As soon as she walked out, she saw that Lucien Evans was greeting the rest of the arcanists working for Truth of the World. She kept her serious and indifferent look, but asked curiosly in her silvery voice,

"Evans, why are you still here?"

It was very late. Ever since the two programmes started running smoothly, Lucien had never come here during midnight. What was going on tonight? Was it because of Mr. Brook and Lauren's experiment?

"Just finished some experiments in the institution. I know you all are still here, so I decided to drop by." said Lucien briefly.

"Experiments? On the photoelectric effect?" Samantha got even more curious.

Lucien shook his head. "No, Mr. Fernando's experiment inspired me, and I was using helium atomic beams to bombard some gases to see what I could find. Also, I used electron currents to bombard gold foil."

"You're being too honest, you know? I might steal your idea." Samantha slightly lifted her brow.

Lucien smiled. "This isn't something fun. I had to sit there staring at the flashing light spots for a long time to seek for the traces, never knowing when I can find something, if there's any."

"Umm… I feel that your honesty comes from the fact that you've already found something." Samantha revealed a small smile.

Lucien shook his head again and laughed. "You just simply don't take my words. By the way, the programmes have been very successful. You and Louise have become the lady in the young arcanists' dream. The only thing is that staying up late all the time isn't something good."

"It doesn't matter to me. I'm an astrologer, and I'm very used to staying up late watching the stars. Now the programmes are recorded at night, so they can be aired on the next morning…" said Samantha, who was silent for a while as she saw the six-circle badge on Lucien's chest. "… It's late. We can go and grab a bit, so you can better carry on your experiment."

Lucien answered, "thank you, but I need to head back now. When my magic tower is ready, I'll invite you all to come for dinner to thank you for the great effort running the programmes."

Lucien then turned around and left. When his figure disappeared around the corner, Samantha released a light sigh.

Coming back to the institution, Lucien walked back to the lab, turned on the magic circles beside the alchemical viewer to continue with the experiment, and recorded the data.

Beside his right hand on the operation desk, there was a pile of papers left in the corner. The papers were mostly covered under the other assorted stuff on the desk. But at the bottom, one sentence could vaguely be seen,

"Above are the accurate data record of the photoelectric effect experiment and its image."

Chapter 451: New Alchemy

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

In a magic tower in Salyvaor, the capital of the Kingdom of Brianne.

The ending song of Allyn's Past Week was still lingering in the room, however, it was suddenly cut off by a hand that turned off the radio. The slender-figured archmage Lauren had a sneering look on his face, and even his little mustache was showing his scorn. "What a good student of Neeshka. Lark doesn't even want to hide her inclination."

For a sorcerer like him, knowing who was hiding behind 'Lark' was just a piece of cake.

Lauren was standing in his study, which was decorated with dark red curtains and soft crystal lights, and looking at his students in front of the desk.

A senior whose hair had all turned grey said bitterly, "Arcana Voice, Truth of the World… Lucien is the one who is hiding behind. No matter how hard they try to cover it, they are always sitting on the chair engraved with the words 'the Particle Theory'. Shame on them! A programme at least should be bias-free! How could they let Lark intentively shake the wave theory supporters confidence!"

He looked much older than Lauren.

"Christal, it doesn't matter," said Lauren calmly. "The world of arcana only respects truth, which makes here the justest place to live in. No matter how tricky they are, in the end, the experiment results will speak for us."

Although he just mocked Lark, Lauren didn't really hold anything against her. As an archmage whose great honors had been piling up, he did have the confidence and tolerance to only attack Lucien in a dignified manner with the experiment results and images.

Sitting beside Christal was a young man with light brown hair, yet his yellowish-brown eyes belonged to that of an aged man. He said to his teacher hesitantly, "Sir… About the result…"

"Yes, Manuel?" Lauren looked at him, frowning slightly.

The student's lips pressed against each other into a thin line, and finally, he became determined to speak it out, "Sir… I think we should be prepared for the fact that the experiment result might not be able to overthrow the light quantum hypothesis."

The middle-aged woman who had beautiful light purple hair also seized the chance and agreed. "It's True, Sir. The several experiments in the past a few years have shown that the light quantum hypothesis can perfectly explain the photoelectric effect."

"You…!" Lauren stared at his students angrily. He did not want to believe that what Lark said in the programme had indeed shattered his students' confidence.

"If that was true, I'd rather prefer there is no explanation for the photoelectric effect at all!" Lauren reproached his students and then walked out of the study in a rage.

Outside of the window in the darkness, the fine spring raindrops were thrumming the field, indicating the upcoming harvest of a season.

...

In the Atom Institution, Lucien was still working on observing the tiny flashing light spots, trying to find what he wanted from their messy traces he took down. Meanwhile, the improved magic circles were now buzzing as the powerful electric currents passing through, slightly twisting the surrounding magnetic field.

Thanks to the Lord of Storm's experiment of using helium atoms to bombard a piece of metal foil, Lucien now had the perfect reasons for applying to Magic Research Board for introducing the lately improved magic circles and alchemical facilities to meet all the requirements for conducting the experiment — the Atom Institution specialized in studying the microworld and the inner structure of the atom. Since the Lord of Storm had proved the existence of the atomic nucleus and described the atom's inner structure by colliding particles, the Atom Institution had the very reason to conduct further studies based on the Lord of Storm's achievement, and the institution's request should be fulfilled without a doubt.

Finally, Lucien had identified the trace he had been seeking for!

Charge-to-mass ratio, charge quantity, mass… all the data flashed through Lucien's brain. In the next second, he sprang up from the chair and started measuring the particle that made the trace!

Time flew, and Lucien's work was almost done.

Charge-to-mass ratio, the same!

Charge quantity, the same!

Mass, the same!

The numbers had overlapped with each other!

Suddenly, Lucien's cognitive world embraced him again, and the elements in the sky and the environment started changing in front of his eyes: the central core surrounded by the electrons had turned into the combination of two particles! The only difference between all the elements such as hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon was the different numbers of particles they had!

This was the nucleus of hydrogen! This was proton! This was the nature of the elements!

The great shift in Lucien's cognitive world was done within seconds. Lucien could sense the fundamental changes it brought, as he could now feel the connection with all the elements much more sharply. Seizing the chance, Lucien quickly entered his meditation world and now his spiritual power possessed both the properties of particle and wave. This was not a simple combination of wave and particle, as now even a single spiritual quantum of his showed the nature of wave!

...

In his Kingdom of Electromagnetism, Brook stepped into his lab.

His lab looked like a fantasy: Cold metals, weird patterns and shapes, jumping and flashing electric arcs, black twisted magnetic fields, as well as the vast starry sky…

He stopped in front of a complex alchemical operation table, placed on his right-hand side were all the experiment notes and records.

Brook took a glance at the records he made, and a strange look stopped for a second on his face where his years had begun to show. Then he put aside all the thoughts and started focusing on the experiment.

...

By the time he walked to the door of the lab, Lauren had calmed down. He turned around and said to his students following him, "Manuel, Diana, you two can leave now. I will start my experiment."

Manuel tried to say something, but Lauren had disappeared behind the door.

The door charged with flashing electric currents cut the students off from their teacher.

"It's gonna be alright, isn't it?" Manuel murmured subconsciously.

Christal had a cold look on his face. "Of course. The light quantum hypothesis can not explain everything, say, the diffraction image."

"That's true." Agreed Diana.

She was not feeling too nervous, since she believed that the experiment result would not be too surprising. She was confident that the worst scenario would just be that her teacher suffered some damage to his cognitive world, which would only take a few years for Mr. Lauren to fix. In the past three years, she had gradually shifted her cognitive world to a more balanced position, if it was not more on the particle theory's side, thus she was prepared for both outcomes.

If she could do so, it should not be a problem for her teacher.

Lauren put on his magic robe, and a layer of grey covered him from head to toe. After carefully checking all the magic circles and alchemical facilities, he started the experiment conscientiously, just like every time in the past.

...

In Lucien's cognitive world which was basically substantialized, his spiritual power had filled in every corner of this space. The joining spiritual quanta together formed mysterious and dreamlike cloud clusters, but when Lucien approached them, they scattered and became particles and waves.

When everything calmed down, the image of Lucien's cognitive world also disappeared. Lucien opened his eyes, knowing that he finally made the last step for finishing his own meditation method, called the Evans's Duality Meditation. The meditation method was still in its first stage though, and Lucien could still make further improvements on it.

With this meditation method, the cost that Lucien paid for forcing his way into senior-rank could be compensated. Lucien tried with his new meditation method and drew the conclusion that his meditation worked at least three times better than the best existing senior-rank meditation method, and it would take him just another one or two years to reach the seventh circle.

In the past three years, due to the damage done to his soul previously, Lucien did not make any remarkable progress in increasing his spiritual power. Therefore, he had spent most of his time studying sixth-circle magic incantations and creating new spells. By now, Lucien had constructed twenty-one sixth-circle magic spells within his soul. Among them, there were three newly-created spells: a curse spell Professor's Solicitude , an electromagnetic spell, and an astrology spell.

Taking a deep breath, Lucien repeated the experiment he just did. Then he took out the special parchment for writing arcana papers and a quill-pen and started writing his paper right on the operation desk:

"… The experiment showed that when using helium atomic beams to bombard nitrogen, positively-charged hydrogen atoms were produced. Therefore, a conclusion could be made here — Hydrogen nucleus could be extracted from the nuclei of nitrogen, thus a hydrogen nucleus is also an inner part of an atom. Because a hydrogen atom only contains one such particle, in the past, it was only thought of as the hydrogen atom…"

"… I'll name this fundamental particle 'proton'. The positive charge it carries is equal to the negative charge an electron carries. Considering its mass and its electric neutrality, it is reasonable to say that a hydrogen atom consists of a proton and an electron…"

"… To push the conclusion further, it is found that the listing of the elements in the periodic table of the elements also follows the number of protons. Based on the nuclear charge and the electromagnetic theory, it can be predicted that besides proton, there is another kind of particle which has the same mass but is not charged within the atom nucleus. The number of this neutral particle decides the variants of a particular chemical element…"

Lucien did not restrain himself within the experiment result, instead, he extended his conclusion to establish a theoretical system. His theories and predictions went beyond the evidence provided by the current experiments, as usual.

"… Starting from the conception of Mr. Fernando that the atom structure resembles the celestial body motion system, and by introducing the quantum theory, the structure of electrons orbiting around the nucleus could be quantized… That is to say, we no longer see electrons as particles orbiting around, but rather of different energy levels. When absorbing and emitting energy, they do transitional movements, and skipping levels is possible…"

"… This is proved by the discontinuity of the emission spectrum of atomic hydrogen…"

This time, Lucien did not choose to wait for more theories supporting him to come up, instead, he directly introduced the quantum theory into describing the atom structure by skipping many studies as prerequisite conditions and making predictions boldly.

There was roaring thunder coming remotely in Lucien's cognitive world when the electrons orbiting around the nucleus all stopped. The electrons were on different energy level tracks – Some of them were absorbing spiritual quanta and making phase transitions, and some were losing spiritual quanta when dropping to lower energy levels. There were these continuous ups and downs as well as the constant reciprocal transformations in the flow of Lucien's spiritual power.

Not distracted by what was happening in his cognitive world, Lucien kept writing very fast,

"… The number of electrons in the outside shell decides the alchemical property of an element; all alchemical reactions can be described and explained by the concept of gaining and losing electrons, including ionization and the valence state. As for the reason behind the configuration, I currently assume that each shell has a certain number of electrons, but this still requires further study…"

"… In this way, the School of Alchemy has been fully included in the School of Element!"

In his cognitive world, the electrons around the atomic nucleus started exchanging with that of the other nearby elements, and more matters and substances started to form. Lucien's cognitive world became more abundant and colorful, in which his magic model of Elements Order had been further improved, and now the structure was already very close to being completed!

The quill-pen in Lucien's hand moved fast, presenting Lucien's profound thoughts on the parchment.

The darkness of the night outside of the window became denser. The moist air foreshadowed the upcoming rain.

...

In the lab, as more data had been collected, and the image gradually became complete, Brook's eyebrows knitted in a frown.

Taking down the last group of data, Brook did not write down any conclusion. Instead, he looked out of the window at his demiplane, the Kingdom of Electromagnetism, and finally released a sigh.

Bang! Bang!

In the deafening thunder, fierce and thick bolts of lightning directly struck the twisted magnetic field from above and instantly tore the flowing electric currents and flashing electric arcs into pieces!

Under the ground of the demiplane, all the substances and matters were collapsing under the power of the strong magnetic field. The destructive power was dismantling the space as easily as crushing dry weeds and smashing rotten wood.

The momentum was unstoppable. This seemed to be the end of the entire Kingdom of Electromagnetism.

"Sir…" In the magic tower shaking violently, Barek looked at the upper floor helplessly.

...

In Brianne.

His eyes gazing upon the data and the experiment image, Lauren was unable to suppress his panic.

"Impossible!"

His hands trembling, Lauren tried to stop, but his drastically-changing cognitived world interfered with his soul, and he could not resist the urge to continue.

The experiment result was there, right in front of him. The look on Lauren's face was distorted, as if he had been possessed by a demon. Boundless fear seized him.

He could not believe this.

"… based on the instantaneity of time, light presents the prominent property of quantum; based on time average, light shows the property of wave. Therefore, perhaps we should be more open-minded when facing the argument."

Lauren recalled Lucien's paper.

He could not understand. He shook his head, murmuring to himself. "How could something like this exist?"

In his cognitive world, the electromagnetic waves fiercely swelled up and snapped!

Like blowing up a balloon, Lauren's head seemed to grow bigger and bigger. He burst out a painful cry.

His head had been blown up to its limit. Silently, the bloody firework bloomed.

There was red and white, falling down to the floor like raindrops.

...

"… In the radioactive substance, I have found the trace of the new element, which perfectly matches what I expected: In the process of radioactive decay, energy and the helium nucleus are released and thus new elements are formed…

"… Since human beings acquired magic, the dream of turning elements into gold has always been there. This is not merely our pursuit of wealth, but the longing for the truth of the world, as we always wish to master the secret of matter transmutation!

"… However, for thousands of years in the past, there was not a single alchemical reaction which had successfully transmuted a substance fundamentally without relying on a permanent magic circle… In front of the gate of the forbidden zone belonging only to gods, we human beings could not march further…

"… But now, after discovering the inner structure of the atom, by studying the nature of decay, we can find the path for fundamentally changing substances and creating new elements! Following my theory, although the product might not be worth the cost, we can finally take over the power once exclusively owned by gods! Now we see the deepest secrets hiding behind substances, and we are on the way achieving the shared dream of sorcerers for generations!

"… This is a big step forward in the history of arcana, but more of further improvement of the human civilization!

"… The journey waiting for us is full of challenges and even risks, but I hope that we can go much further together."

Piling up the rolls of parchment, Lucien wrote down the title,

"New Alchemy".

Outside the window, the spring thunder came, and lives started thriving.

Chapter 452: The Two Generations

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Hearing the thunder, Lucien looked outside the window. It was already early morning. The soft dawn light was a bit fuzzy in the drizzle.

Turning off the magic circles and alchemical facilities, Lucien walked to the window with a cup of tea in his hand and pushed the window open. The refreshing, moist air came directly to his face.

What a lovely day.

Thinking of the paper titled New Alchemy that he just finished, which was actually a compilation of dozens of papers, Lucien took several deep breaths of the fresh, cool air and then said to himself in low voice,

"Here comes the era of head explosion."

The realm that they were stepping into was strange and unimaginably queer, diverging completely from human being's intuition. The query brought by that 'cat' would trigger a brainstorm for every arcanist.

...

In the Kingdom of Electromagnetism, the magnets were crumbling, the electric currents disappearing. The bolts of arc light in the sky had joined the lightning. Together, they struck the ground and the protection shield of the magic tower.

"Is this the end… Sir?" Barek looked out of the drastically shaking window, and he saw the many black cracks appearing on the shield.

Suddenly, the electric currents in the sky joined together and turned into a giant electric snake. It slithered all the way up along the magic tower and opened its mandibles wide. As the bolts of lightning in the sky were absorbed by the snake, its body had swelled up to its limit.

The snake exploded abruptly, filling the space with silver-white fireworks. Whether visible or invisible, the electromagnetic waves suddenly became prominent in the entire space, like the magnificent tides of an ocean.

Starting from the middle, the waves seemed to broke into small pieces. But the shape of the waves was maintained.

However, this spectacular scene lasted for not even one second. Before Barek realized what he saw, it had completely disappeared.

The collapsion had stopped. The Kingdom of Electromagnetism survived. However, evidence of the terrible destruction was everywhere. Less than ten percent of the electric currents and magnetic field were left, and there were even terrifying black holes in the air.

A long sigh followed.

"Sir…" Barek was worried, as he knew clearly that a legendary archmage's demiplane was the reflection of his own cognitive world. Witnessing what had happened to the demiplane, Barek knew that his teacher's cognitive world must have experienced something very bad.

Wearing a wig and gold-rimmed glasses, Brook walked down from the stairs. His face was abnormally dull-red. He shook his head, and said, "there's still no way for me to fit the light quantum hypothesis into the wave theory."

"So the result…" Barek asked subconsciously.

Brook said in a low spirit, "although I was mentally prepared, the fact that the experiment result perfectly matches the hypothesis was still a bit hard for me to accept. Thus, my cognitive world was shaken. Then I tried to understand the hypothesis from another perspective and combine it with the wave theory to reconstruct my cognitive world, yet I cannot find the breakthrough point."

Barek was not young anymore, but now he was still caught in a great panic. "Sir, your cognitive world has…"

He could not say the words out.

"Has broken and solidified." Brook rubbed his forehead, revealing a hint of fatigue and helplessness.

Barek knew how this worked, but he still could not believe it. He was even more shocked and grieved than Brook. "So Sir… You can't make any further progress anymore?"

"That's right." Compared to Barek, Brook appeared to be quite calm. He shook his head self-deprecatingly and said, "I have to be grateful. Three years ago when I first saw Evans's light quantum hypothesis, if it had not been the limited experiment conditions, I would have done this experiment right away. If that had been the case, my cognitive world would have collapsed completely, and the Kingdom of Electromagnetism would have been destroyed thoroughly, together with half of Allyn. Fortunately, because of the mental preparation and the feedback of the experiments in the past years, I'm still alive."

The collapse of a legendary archmage's half-solidified cognitive world could be powerful enough to affect the main material world.

Therefore, Brook was not exaggerating. If the Kingdom of Electromagnetism had gone down, half of Allyn would have indeed been buried with its falling. What was needed to say here was that Allyn was a city with the protection of the most powerful Mythals in this world, and if this were to happen in other cities like Rentato or Aalto, the entire city together with the surrounding towns and manors would have been completely devoured by the explosion of the electromagnetic storm.

"Bloody Evans!" Barek flared. Although he knew that this was not Lucien's fault, he could not accept this emotionally.

Brook waved his hands; his face had turned from dull-red to pale. "If he was insisting on an absurd belief, I would definitely fight him until the last second. However, the experiment result has proved his hypothesis, which means I am the one who's wrong, and I am the one who's too obsessed with my own incorrect belief. In this case, shall I hate this world for not existing as how I wish?"

Although his cognitive world had broken and solidified, Brook still maintained his manner.

Brook was completely different from Fernando, whose feelings and emotions were always intense, but there were two things that they shared in common: the reverence towards the unknown, and the passion for arcana.

"But…" Barek still could not accept the reality. His brows knitted together bitterly, as if he had been the one who had lost all the hope for making any progress in just a few hours.

Brook walked to the window in the living room with his hands folded behind. "This isn't necessarily a bad thing, Barek. For me, there is indeed desperation, but there's also hope. In this great setback, there is also chance."

"…?" Barek did not get it.

Brook lifted his right arm and opened his hand. "We don't know if the God of Truth really exists, but except for the Him, there are only four who have managed to reach the level of Alterna from the legendary level in history — the Lord of Hell, the Will of Abyss, the mysterious existence in the World of Souls, and the Pope. The first three were said to be born with this power, just like the God of Silver Moon."

"But Sir, didn't the previous Popes also reached this level?" Barek asked.

Brook coughed a bit, and then answered, "to me, the Pope is only a symbol, a symbol of 'the Speaker of the God of Truth on this world' , not a specific existence. The pope uses the power of the God of Truth to reach the next level. Therefore, the name behind the title is meaningless. All the previous Popes and the current one should be counted as one."

"It's true." Barek nodded.

Brook looked at his half-destroyed kingdom and said in the same gentle voice, "… From the legendary level to demigod is a journey beyond arduous. In the past thousands of years, only the Popes succeeded relying on the power of the God of Truth. The many great geniuses like the Sun King and my teacher all failed to progress any further. Although they are setting out to seek the falling pieces of Alterna and the mysterious existence in the World of Souls, I don't see much hope in finding anything that really helps."

"Therefore," Brook paused a bit and drew the conclusion, "stopping here at this level isn't something urgent and serious."

Barek released a sigh of relief. He knew that his teacher was right. Although Mr. Brook's cognitive world had broke and solidified, he was still an archmage at the climax of the legendary level, whose power was only inferior to that of the three demigods who never really showed up. And even if his cognitive world was intact, he could not advance further.

"There is desperation, for sure, but this could also be a chance…" Brook's voice lowered, "In this experiment, I saw the great flaw of the wave theory of light. When I figure out why there is this duality in the electromagnetic waves, perhaps I can rebuild my cognitive world and even make a further breakthrough."

Hearing his teacher's words and seeing that his teacher was still the same ambitious and positive facing the horrible setback, Barek recalled the great respect he held when he first became Brook's student. It had been years, and the respect was always there. Brook just mentioned the Sun King and Mr. Douglas as examples of great geniuses, but in Barek's mind and in many Congress arcanists' minds, Brook was also a genius who was no less powerful and intelligent than the two.

Brook deconstructed the ancient magic system and built the vast kingdom of electromagnetism. He obtained the title of grand arcanist before reaching fifty and then became a legendary when he was eighty. No one would ever doubt his giftedness.

"Sir, are you going to publish the experiment result?" Barek asked.

Brook nodded. "Yes."

"But…" Barek was afraid of a mass head-explosion incident.

Brook sighed. "I am the founder of the wave theory of light, and also one of those who completed it. That's why my cognitive world still broke and solidified even after three years of preparation. The other arcanists will not suffer this bad like me after these three years. In the worst scenario, their cognitive world will be just severely damaged."

"There are those who are extremely stubborn…" Barek still hesitated.

Brook's voice became cold. "It's been three years. If now their heads are still going to explode, giving them another three or even thirty years will not change the result. Stubbornness has merged into their cells and blood. But the development of arcana and magic will not wait for them to change their mind."

"If Lucien Evans wants to become a grand arcanist…" Brook continued rather seriously, "… he has to march forward stepping on the exploded heads, scattered brains, and river-like blood. These will finally become his ladder for ascending. Sometimes, this is even crueler than a true war."

Brook was totally qualified for making the statement. He was the one who caused the previous mass head-explosion years ago.

"I'll go and organize the data then. The introduction part will be left for you, Sir," said Barek. He felt a chill creeping over his body.

Brook nodded lightly. "Go ahead. I'll take a rest and do the next experiment."

"What experiment?" Barek was confused.

Brook laughed a little as if he was mocking himself. "Since the light quantum hypothesis matches the result of the experiment, now we can treat light as the complex of particles. A particle should not only carry energy, but also momentum. I am going to bombard different matters using the newly discovered X-ray to see if the momentums are changing.

"I never expected that I was going to be busy with proving the particle theory…"

...

In Lauren's magic tower.

Manuel and the rest of the students were waiting anxiously. Suddenly, the strident alarm went on.

"Accident in the lab. Call master, call master…"

"No response, no response, inspection activated…"

"No toxin released, no cursing, no dangerous creatures… Lab door has opened…"

The cold and indifferent alchemical life's voice filled the hall.

Manuel and Diana exchanged a look between each other and in the next second, they were already on their way rushing to the lab. Entering the lab, they saw the scene that they would never forget in the rest of their life:

The body on the ground was wearing that grey magic robe which they could not be more familiar with. However, the head was missing. The entire space — the walls, the operation desks, the piles of paper, and the energy shields on the magic circles — was covered with mixed red and white bloody stains as well as tiny bone pieces. The smell of blood overwhelmed them.

On the chest of the boy, there was the ninth-circle and the nine-star badge, as well as the Ice & Snow Medal and the Silver Moon Medal.