Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Night in the Month of Ice fell early. Tiny but dense snowflakes were dancing like fairies under the light of the arc light street lamps, holy and hazy.
There were barely any people left on the street. Shaking the snowflakes off their coats while advancing quickly, they had no time for such a beautiful view.
“So beautiful… But why do they have to melt.” Alferris looked at the shiny dots in his “palms” melting into water quickly and muttered in a depressed voice.
The snowflakes were shiny and their structure was complicated, which fits Aferris’ taste perfectly. He would have collected them if he had not known what they really were, and that was the reason why Alferris did not really enjoy the winter.
As someone who signed a 100-year contract with Lucien, Alferris happily followed Lucien to Rentato after he devoured the rare roasted whole lamb. He disguised himself as a young boy that was around seven to eight years old so the citizens would not be terrified. He had a pair of amber eyes, dark blonde hair, and he was wearing a little suit with a little tie.
In the carriage, Arthur Doyle was shivering in the corner as he knew what the cute boy really was. Although he knew a lot of things and he had a strong background, he was still scared when facing a legendary “monster”.
“The arc lamp is way too hot and way too expensive. Most of the cities can’t afford it, not even Rentato. You can only find such a lamp in the noble district and the busiest market.” Lucien changed his outfit back to Holm style. He was smiling while looking out of the carriage.
Arthur overcame his fear with the desire for wealth. He followed Lucien’s sight and looked at the night view outside. He said excitedly, “After the magic crystal light passes the field test, its cost will be lowered again, and I’ll talk to the Governor of Rentato City Hall. All the streets in the city will use our magic lamp and it’s hard to imagine how much money we’ll get. We can also promote the product in other cities and other countries…” He could not imagine how much value the lamp could create.
Alferris turned his head around suddenly after hearing the word “money”. He tried to figure out what they were discussing. Arthur was so scared that he almost knocked over the glazed white porcelain teacup.
“This business comes with great opportunity and the profit will be incredible, Alferris. If you want to join us, you must buy a share with your golds, gems, and crystals. You have a lot of them in your collection, right?” Lucien was just joking with Alferris. However, if Alferris really wanted to join in, the Will of Elemental probably would not have an issue. The initial production and promotion phase required much investment. And before the cost was lowered again, not everyone would be able to use the lamp. That would make the stingy Morris’s heart broke.
“Gold, gem, and crystal? For real…” Alferris tried to make it look like that he did not care but he was actually struggling badly in his mind. The possible great wealth in the future and the shiny gold, gem, crystal in his collection. He wanted both!
Alferris struggled so bad in his mind that he did not even notice the carriage had already arrived at Duke James’ mansion in the noble district.
“Welcome, Evans, our youngest and most handsome member of the Arcana Review Board. Sadly, my daughters and my granddaughters already have their own families, or they’ll definitely ask me to introduce you to them.” Duke James, who looked like a bald mobster, smiled as he welcomed them. Surrounded around the warm campfire in the garden, he and his guests seemed to be waiting for something.
Lucien smiled as he got off the carriage. “It’s a great honor to be welcomed by Duke James himself. I feel like I’m a king or a prince. Why is everyone outside?”
The mansion is completely dark without the slightest hint of light. It almost felt like the mansion had merged with the dark night.
“All the candles in the mansion have been changed to magic crystal lights and we’ll light them up one by one in the dark night. It’s a memorable moment, and we should begin only when all the guests are here.” The Duke’s head was reflecting the orange light from the campfire.
Lucien chuckled in his mind as he thought that the Duke had the spirit of a hipster, although an old one.
There were some special set up in the garden, so that although there was only one single campfire, it was not cold at all. The noble girls and ladies were not complaining at all, on the contrary, they were considerably interested in this new party format.
“The Prince’s body is weak and the night is cold, so I did not invite him. Alright, let me introduce you to some friends.” Duke James led Lucien to several people that looked like sorcerers after Lucien greeted the nobles that he was familiar with. It seemed like they were the Electromagnetics Sorcerers that Arthur had mentioned about who had helped set up the routes and converters.
Approaching the two men and one woman, James pointed at Lucien and said, “I guess you already who he is and I should probably skip the introduction. Level six arcanist, Fifth circle sorcerer, the youngest member of the Arcana Review Board, the genius who has claimed the highest Elemental and Necromancy honors, Mr. Lucien Evans.”
Lucien had not submitted his sorcerer rank yet. He was waiting for everything to settle down first.
“Greetings, Mr. Evans,” the old man with well-organized black and white hair said. The young man and the young woman around him also bowed politely. “Greetings, Mr. Evans.”
“This is Mr. Barek Trevors, a level-six Electromagnetics arcanist and a seventh-circle sorcerer. He’s a student of the Emperor of Control, Mr. Brook.” James introduced the old man with blonde eyes and a serious expression to Lucien. “And they are his student, middle-rank sorcerers Lillian and Issac.”
Lillian was a delicate girl with long brown hair, while Issac seemed to have the Fire Giant’s bloodline as he was tall and muscular; his hair had the color of the flames.
“Mr. Trevors, Lillian, and Issac. Nice to meet you.” Lucien nodded slightly and greeted them one by one.
James chuckled. “Barek is a friend from my childhood. He failed to activate his bloodline power so he became a sorcerer. However, he showed his talent as a sorcerer and was recognized by Mr. Brook. He became a high-ranked arcanist smoothly. I think it wouldn’t take him too long to surpass me, although I started much earlier than him.
“This time we’re trying to create some new alchemical things that deal with Electromagnetics, which is his specialty. So I decided to ask him to help.”
It sounded like that Barek came from a small noble family. Although he had no title of nobility, he was still a representative of those board members who were close to the nobles. After being introduced to the liberal group by Prince Patrick, Lucien had expanded his social networks.
“Evans, the electrons you discovered are very helpful in the electromagnetic field. A lot of theories now have a deeper meaning.” It seemed like Barek did not know how to interact with people. He went straight to arcana topics.
Lucien did not want to waste time on saying preliminaries anyway, so he started talking with Barek about the possible situations of the study in the electromagnetic field. Lillian and Issac decided to remain silent and just listen to their conversation on the side.
“Evans, have you heard of the experiment conducted by president Douglas?” Barek suddenly mentioned an experiment.
Lucien shook his head in confusion. “You know, I spent most of my time lately analyzing spells and improving myself, so I had no idea what happened recently.”
“President Douglas designed an experiment, trying to validate that there is no relative movement against ether and the speed of light is the same in all direction.” Barek was speaking in a calm tone. It did not even sound like that he was talking about a trending hot topic.
Lucien finally understood what happened. Without other things interrupting, Douglas eventually completed the experiment he mentioned in the letter and confirmed that ether did not exist. Without the ether, there was no way that light could arrive at the ground if light had been waves, and the world should be completely dark.
He denied the wave theory of light from an opposite approach.
“Evans, what do you think of this experiment?” Barek’s blonde eyes suddenly turned bright and his expression became even more serious. It seemed like Lucien’s answer would decide if they could become friends or not.
Lucien struggled in his mind after seeing his expression. He did not expect the wave theory supports and the particle theory supports to hate each other so much.
Recalling in the magic school that the Electromagnetic faculties supported the wave theory and The Elements faculties supported the particle theory was the main reason for their conflicts, Lucien had a deeper understanding of this principle contradiction which persisted throughout the history of magic.
When they open their eyes for the first time, people could feel the light. By comparing the day time to the night time, the ancient human beings admired the light. They thought light represented life and divinity. Ever since magic was born, sorcerers never stopped exploring the truth of the light. After they found that light was similar to spiritual power, the study of light became one of the eternal topics in the field.
Compared to theories like the Energy Essentialism supported by Viscount Roland, the Atom Foundation Theory of the Element School, and the Theory of Life Force of the Necromancy School, the Particle Theory led by Douglas and the Wave Theory led by Brook were the two major theories that involved all sorcerers of the Congress. They were also the main conflict in research.
If the board were to be turned into a church, then aside from a few people who sat on the fence, the wave supporters and particle supporters would definitely condemn each other as “heretics”!
In this environment, mentioning the wave-particle dualism would not be a compromise. Instead, it would just become a new heresy and was likely to be attacked by supporters of both theories.
Lucien thought for a while and smiled. “Based on your description, Mr. Barek, it seems like the experiment is based on the current Astronomical Revolution System, which hasn’t been validated by the discovery of a planet yet.”
Lucien repeated the same words he used to answer his teacher Fernando.
“That’s reasonable.” Barek’s expression loosened. It almost felt like that as long as Lucien did not support the Particle Theory and Douglas’s experiment, they could be friends.
At this moment, all Duke James’s guests had arrived, so he clapped and made sure that everyone was looking at the mansion. Sorcerer Lillian walked to the entrance and smiled. “Everyone, with electricity, the magic crystal lights no longer need to be turned on by with spiritual power. Even the most untalented noble will be able to use them like using quills. Actually, it can be even easier. For example, I just need a single tap and the light in the whole mansion will be turned on.”
To make sure that Duke James could show off, Barek made a temporary master switch outside.
“Great, let’s put out the campfire first.” James was satisfied that the gentlemen and the ladies were all staring at the mansion curiously. He waved his hands to put out the campfire.
Lillian pressed the switch hard intentionally in the darkness.
*PA*
After a soft noise, all the magic crystal lights in the mansion were turned on.
The bright light tore the dark apart and expelled the fear. The place was full of a “divine” feeling. It was like the morning light driving away the night!
It was a big step in human’s history!
