Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
In the winter night when snowflakes were swirling in the air, crystal lights flowing with colors lit up the entire place of the Duke’s villa, which looked like a shining gem against the black background of the night. The light that burst out from the villa was so eye-catching that it seemed as if all the stars had landed and gathered here.
Even if among the senior-rank sorcerers, no one had ever tried to use this many crystal lights in his magic tower. In most cases, they were used to using magic candles, as the candles’ effects were also not bad.
For most of the nobles present tonight, it was not until today that they finally realized what the word “brilliance” meant. They had never imagined that a man-made view could be as imposing as natural scenery. This power came from human beings, and this scene could be spread and seen throughout the world!
“Ladies and gentlemen, come in, please.” Barek’s student, Lillian, was the emcee tonight. With a lovely smile, she invited the guests to take a tour in the luxury villa lit up like the palace of the Sun King.
The noble ladies lifted their skirts elegantly and glided in, followed by the gentlemen. All of them were very curious and could not wait to see the magic crystal lights closely.
“Very impressive. Our first stage of promotion has succeeded.” Arthur was a businessman, and the impressiveness of the scene did not outweigh the importance of making money for him.
He was carefully observing how the nobles responded to the magic crystal lights.
“I want them for my magic tower!” Alferris drooled seeing how bright the lights were, as he was known for being captivated by shiny things. “I’ll pay in arcana points!”
Gold, gems, crystals… Anything that had gone into Alferris’ pocket would not come out again. Lucien even doubted if Alferris had embezzled half of the building materials of its magic tower, as it looked so deformed that it resembled a crooked peak — Located in Allyn, the tower’s chance of being attacked was slim to none, so there was nothing to be afraid of.
“But these lights, because of the cost, can only benefit the nobles. If we can’t lower the cost further, common citizens still won’t be able to enjoy the light. Every single human being should benefit from the progress of civilization.” Lucien was inspired by the scene; To Lucien, the standard of judging whether a civilization is advanced or not should be the popularization of technologies. The commencing age of electricity should be able to do so!
Arthur certainly was not sharing Lucien’s view. “But… It is not very likely that we can lower the cost further, at least not in a short period of time.”
“Well… We will need a great number of skilled workers. The procedures that don’t require magic could be separated out and put on assembly lines to produce standardized parts. Then, the cost can be further lowered.” Lucien nodded slightly like a sophisticated capitalist. The candidates in his mind were the dwarves on Night Highland. But since he had caused the vampires such great trouble, Lucien had to wait for at least two to three years to carry out his plan, when all the attention were drawn to the exploration into the new dimension.
“It takes lots of time training workers…” Arthur did not understand the terms Lucien was using, and he was also not interested in asking, since currently even the basic preconditions couldn’t be satisfied.
At this time, Lillian turned off the main crystal light in the hall and only left several smaller ones. The light instantly became dim and soft. A romantic and elegant atmosphere was created.
She smiled humorously. “No worries, ladies and gentlemen, you won’t lose the romance of having candlelight dinner because of these magical lights. Romance is in our soul and heart.”
“Also,” she added, “when you walk around in your castle, darkness shall never be intimidating to you anymore. We’ve brought light to you, forever, with the magic crystal lights.”
Lucien suspected that Arthur had paid Lillian beforehand for such painstaking promotion. But Lucien liked it, for the profit it was going to bring!
Following the tour in Duke James’ villa, it was time for the court dance. In the Kingdom of Holm, which was known for being very conservative, the circle dance from the palace of Tria had not yet prevailed. Many old-school nobles disdained such a dance that requires the dancers to be so close to each other. Only some young nobles, when having their private gatherings, would do the circle dance.
“Mr. Evans, your design is definitely very impressive. I’ve ordered a set from Mr. Arthur. I had never imagined that crystal lights could be so accessible.” A dignified young lady walked to Lucien holding a glass of water in her hand, her eyes full of admiration.
The “a set” she was talking about was a set for an entire villa, and the cost was equivalent to that of a single magic crystal light before.
Lucien swirled his glass of liquor, Sky Blue, and smiled. “This is because now electricity can be delivered very efficiently.”
“Honestly speaking, when the lady turned on the lights, I was shocked by how bright the lights were. I can’t describe it with my own words… It was like a dream. And somehow I also felt very proud. You’re a sorcerer who creates miracles…” The young lady’s face flushed. “I am neither a sorcerer nor a knight… But now I can enjoy the light as well.”
Lucien grinned. “Popularizing alchemical items so that most ordinary people could be able to use them is always my dream.”
“You’re such a great person.”
The young lady’s sincere praise made Lucien, who was in most cases a relatively “cheeky” person, blushed a little.
“… To make most ordinary people be able to use them… Great vision, Evans.” Duke James and Barek, the seventh circle mage, together walked toward them. Hearing what Lucien just said, Barek released a soft sigh, as if he had seen through Lucien’s hiding intention.
Seeing the Duke, the young noble lady’s face burned. She hurriedly said, “Mr. Evans, I’ll leave you alone to the Duke.”
“Ha, Evans, why are you just standing there like we old fellows? Can’t you tell that Julie was waiting for you to ask her for a dance? Don’t tell me you don’t like Julie. She’s the beloved granddaughter of Count Hackson.” James joked. “And obviously, Julie is not the first lady who you have refused.”
Lucien took a sip of Sky Blue and spoke half-dramatically, “Perhaps… I’m an old man in my heart…”
Young and good looking, promising and talented, wealthy and of high social status, Lucien was quite popular among the noble ladies. At this banquet, the ladies present were all from the liberal families which were open-minded to magic. They did not mind marrying a sorcerer at all, and some of them even had this fantasy.
Duke James laughed and said, “When there are more water-current magic circles for generating electricity and more electric wires, perhaps the ordinary people can also benefit from magic. The great changes in their lives will be brought to them by magic, not by any divinities. At that time, your vision will be accomplished.”
Lucien realized that maybe he should reconsider what kind of person the Duke was. Although the bareheaded duke looked quite robust and ferocious from the outside, he was, in fact, quite sharp and open-minded, as he had figured out this much information from one single comment of Lucien. Fortunately, James was in alliance with them.
“When electric wires and electricity-powered devices are more accessible, we have to consider one important factor — Electricity can be dangerous, much more dangerous than candles. Touching flame with your hand will only burn you, but touching a broken wire will probably kill you. The Church will depict electricity into something vicious to prevent its popularization.” Lucien put forward his concern. At the moment, electricity was both the cheapest and the easiest-to-transfer energy; Spiritual power, solar or tidal power were not its rivals.
James looked sideways at Barek and received his confirmation, “Every year there are sorcerers who forgot to cast adequate protection dying from electric shock in electromagnetics labs.”
There was a rank in Allyn for the dumbest ways to die, and electric shock ranked the 50th:
The poor sorcerer, Osan, discovered a powerful lightning spell by accident in his experiment. When he approached the ball lightning, he was shocked to find that the power of the lightning balls which were rolling all across the room had exceeded the limit of his protective shield. Let us thank him for his remarkable contribution to the magic of lightning, and for telling us, with his charred body, that we must stay away from uncontrolled electricity currents.
“So what shall we do? You’ve put forward the question, so you must have already figured out the solution.” James smiled and looked at Lucien confidently.
Lucien took his time with his answer. “Electricity is always dangerous to the human body. We can neither require all our users to be sorcerers nor cover every single piece of wire with magic protection. I hope that, Mr. Barek, your sorcerers from the school of electromagnetics can work out a Handbook of Electrical Safety to teach people how to avoid the possible risks.”
James nodded thoughtfully.
“Facing something unknown, and especially when it can be both beneficial and dangerous, we shall not simply and blindly reject it like fools. Instead, we should try to make the most use of its positive sides and minimize the hazards. And this is the value in arcana that we should promote. It’s the same as how we use fire.” Lucien added.
“Also, if the Church and the conservatives are going to encourage people to refuse the use of electricity by exaggerating its possible hazards, we should raise people’s awareness by teaching them what electricity really is, letting them understand the pros and cons. It’s not going to be an easy job, but it’s meaningful.” Lucien kept going, and his tone was quite alike to that of a proper member of the Arcana Review Board.
James nodded and turned to Barek. “Evans’ words make sense. Can you find the right people to work on the handbook?”
“No problem,” Barek replied.
In their eyes, although Lucien’s teacher was the Lord of Storm, Lucien had not revealed much talent in the school of electromagnetics and had not presented any outstanding outcome — For many mages majoring in electromagnetics, the discovery of the electron was just a side product from Lucien’s exploration of elements.
“Evans, when can you finish the simplification of the record magic circle? Nobles will definitely like it!” said James.
This was the purpose of James coming to Lucien.
Right now, the study on electromagnetism messaging had stepped into a dilemma and they did not believe that Lucien would be the one solving the problem, so they never mentioned it in front of Lucien.
Lucien shook his head. “I’m still looking for the proper material by conducting experiments over and over again. When it comes to choosing materials, it takes time.”
In fact, because of his knowledge from the Earth, Lucien had some clues already, but he was not going to publicize it right now. Lucien would wait until the promotion of crystal light became a success first, as the early stage of the electrical revolution requires all strength to be concentrated on one aspect.
“I see…” Duke James sighed.
…
In the Sorcerer Administrative Department, Eric said to the poor middle-aged man who he was familiar with, “Levski, long time no see. Are you here to submit your new paper?”
“Long time no see, Eric. I’ve… improved my previous paper…” said Levski in a low voice. His yellow hair was as messy as a bird nest, and his blue eyes were dim and weary. This middle-aged man was as thin as a pole.
Eric frowned. “But… the previous one… was rejected by the board members, right?”
“I have improved it,” Levski said firmly, “and I was told that papers putting forward subversive theories can now be submitted to Mr. Evans.”
“I mean… Those board members said that the geometry you were talking about was just based on your own imagination. Your theory was ridiculous…” Eric said awkwardly, trying to persuade Levski to give up.
Levski tightened his fists and lowered his eyes. His voice trembled a bit, but was still firm. “I don’t think I’m wrong. I want to show it to all the arcanists. Eric, please.”
Eric nodded and took over the paper. The title was,
New Principles of Geometry with Complete Theory of Parallels.
