Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The truth of the world?
Although Lucien’s voice was very soft, the dozen members of the Highest Council in the meeting were at least ninth-circle archmages, and they caught it perfectly. Also, his voice was more astounding than the rumbling thunder and the destructive collapses in their ears, as if it were exploding directly in their head.
Only by abandoning the original concepts could you see the truth of the world?
Was it the truth of the world?
Electrons, which had been behaving as perfect particles, displayed the most classical pattern of diffraction when they bombarded a crystal!
It was as absurd as a dark, silent and cold night when the sun was high above and sunlight was everywhere!
It was like a sacred and beautiful angel turning out to be a stinky and hideous devil!
Was it the truth of the world?
Was it the truth that was more unbelievable than imagination, weirder than magic, and more unpredictable than gods?
At this moment, including Douglas, all the grand arcanists who had the strongest interest in the mysteries of the world couldn’t help but shake their heads. This had completely disrupted and refreshed their understanding of the world. Everything was so bizarre that it was like the strangest monster!
As for the other legendary sorcerers and archmages, some covered their mouth and some held their hands tightly as if they were going to crumble the item in their hands. Somebody bit their lips hard to confirm that it was not their illusion.
They had been pursuing the truth of the world, but when the truth was partly unveiled, showing them parts of it, they ended up backing off out of fear.
Was it the truth of the world?
This was utterly different from their daily experience and intuitions!
It made them feel that they did not recognize the world before them anymore!
Suddenly, thunderstorms, starlight, and snowflakes vanished. Douglas, Brook, Hathaway, and Fernando quickly established their magic circles, preparing to confirm the experiment.
Even though Lucien had set up the magic circle right before their eyes, and even though Brook had launched the electron currents in person, they would not believe it until they had confirmed it in person!
“Use monocrystal…” Lucien suddenly reminded them and briefly described the monocrystal.
Hathaway nodded and prepared according to Lucien’s description. So did the other members of the Highest Council.
Soon, more than ten complex magic circles were set up, and gigantic monocrystals were placed at their centers. Brook, Fernando, and other sorcerers launched electron currents directly or with the assistance of magic items.
Without a sound, the beautiful and intangible image of diffraction appeared in Brook’s magic circle, followed by many others. The conference was so quiet and still that it looked like a weird painting.
BOOM!
Rumbling thunders roared again, and the views of elemental tides and alchemical haven reappeared. The blobs of light were so fuzzy that they seemed to be collapsing soon.
Thankfully, everything became quiet after several seconds. The members of the Highest Council held back their intense emotional turmoil.
For Brook, Oliver and other supporters of the wave theory, it was not a destructive blow at all but a huge benefit. They were only too astounded by the unimaginable situation to keep calm.
Hathaway and the other supporters of the particle theory—thanks to the previous debate—were already prepared that it was the special behavior of particles. Also, it could be used to address the problems in new alchemy. Therefore, their cognitive worlds were not broken and solidified.
Of course, that was also because they were the top experts in the world and had a much greater knowledge and self-control than other arcanists.
“The microworld is eerier than we imagined.” Vague shock still lingered on Hathaway’s face. She looked at the image of diffraction in complicated feelings.
“Yes.” Douglas waved his hands and removed the magic circle he set up, before he remarked, “In the past, we thought that the microworld is just a reduction of scale, a subdivision on atoms, and a realm made of microscopic particles and that we can apply the concepts, equations and motion systems of the macroscopic universe to it, too. Little did we know that the microscopic particles were different from anything we know themselves.”
“Yes, it boasts amazing qualities. The waves that show the features of particles, the particles that show the features of waves, and the matter Lucien said that is neither waves nor particles are all too unbelievable.” Oliver still tried to explain it from the perspective of waves.
Brook heaved a sigh. “It seems that we really have to abandon the previous concepts. This is truly an incredible ‘world’.”
Lucien smiled with his hands in his double-breasted suit. “Only because it is so eerie and incredible that it is the truth we have been trying to approach, isn’t it? It is impossible to introduce the notions we have observed in reality into the microscopic world.”
“I have the feeling that the microscopic domain will change our worldview again and again. It will let us know what kind of secrets are buried behind the tangible world we know.”
“The wave nature of electrons is enough to shatter my worldview. Evans, you are truly a Destroyer of Outlooks,” said Klaus in bitterness.
Lucien smiled and said to Douglas, Hathaway, and Fernando. “The myriad of spells are already incredible for the clerics, the knights, and the ordinary people, but our imagination is even more unbelievable than our magic.”
“The mysteries of the microworld, on the other hand, will be more bizarre than our imagination, because our imagination is based on our experience and knowledge, and most of them do not apply to the microworld. Even the most imaginative person cannot figure out what it’s like over there.”
“But such a domain is closer to the truth and deserves our fascination.”
Douglas closed his eyes as if he were dwelling in the image of diffraction just now. “If the truth of the world were not filled with secrets, why would we have explored and researched for hundreds of years, and why would we consider it the greatest pleasure even though we may die because of it?”
“After the initial shock and disbelief, I’m more interested in electrons, light, and the microworld than ever. I can’t wait to figure out the imaginable matter.” Brook also praised the microworld that was more fantastic than fantasies.
Fernando cursed. “I don’t feel good about it. It seems that my previous studies are rendered worthless, but it also fills me with drive because I haven’t found or learned anything yet! The truth of the world is like a boundless starry sky, and I’m merely playing on one of the planets picking up random gems by accident.”
Vicente, on the other hand, looked at Lucien and asked, “Since microscopic particles behave as waves, why do we not show the features of waves when we are made of particles but exist concretely? Dieppe’s paper can be extrapolated to macroscopic matter.”
“Perhaps, it’s because the wavelength is too short to count.” Thinking, Oliver replied.
Lucien said solemnly, “As I said just now, in this microworld, much of our experience and common sense is no longer applicable. Perhaps, a certain change happens between microscope and macroscope that diminishes the feature of waves.”
Hathaway pinched her chin with her thumb and her index finger, a similar action of thinking to Natasha’s. It seemed to be their family tradition. “An object with mass, electric charge and momentum now behave as waves. We need to review this world. What happens when atoms are combined into elements that stops us from seeing a macroscopic world of wave-particle duality?”
Hellen forgot the books, manuscripts, and quill before her and observed the diffraction experiments that the members of the Highest Council made. Then, she found an alchemical device that could capture electrons and launched electrons to it through a strong magnetic field, creating flashing fluorescent points.
Frowning, she said, “No features of waves can be observed at all in this experiment… If electrons show both the feature of waves and particles, why can we only see one of them at a time?”
In fact, every grand arcanist had a hundred thousand questions. After the quake of their cognitive world, Hathaway and Hellen were soon enthralled and asked a series of questions.
Lucien, on the other hand, secretly clicked his tongue. They had found the most essential, incredible and eccentric problem of the wave-particle duality of electrons so quickly. They truly had extraordinary arcana intuitions!
Thankfully, they did not expect Lucien to answer them right now. Instead, they considered on their own, utterly secluded from the outside world.
It was not until a long time later that Douglas knocked on the desk and woke them up. “Those problems cannot be resolved any time soon. We will study the nature of electrons after we return.”
“Let’s move on to today’s next subject. It’s about establishing an advanced magic school for the remaining districts on the thirty-first floor of the Allyn magic tower. Right now, arcana is developing faster and faster, and more and more knowledge in mathematics is needed. Since the apprentices and low-rank sorcerers have to learn by themselves after they graduate, they are having more and more trouble at keeping up with the trend. Therefore, we need an advanced school where we can teach distinguished apprentices and low-rank sorcerers on a large scale.”
The issue had been discussed before but was not really resolved. However, after the grand development of arcana in the past ten years, Douglas believed that it was high time.
“Later, a member of the Highest Council will be the principal of the school. Tasks will be issued to the senior-rank senior-rank arcanists and middle-rank arcanists, who will teach in turns. It will be the best if the members of the Arcana Review Board can often hold lectures for them, too.”
Lucien’s lips twitched. Should I promote my title as Professor?
