Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
It was not exactly a spacious laboratory. The alchemical platforms and the magic items that should’ve been here were nowhere to be found, but the room was not empty at all. On the wall, the floor, and the ceiling, silver and black magic patterns were protruding nonstop. Spreading out the light that felt like flowing water, they connected with each other and formed a three-dimensional model.
Then, they stretched toward the center and weaved into a layered illusionary web, which integrated with the complicated magic circle deployed at the center of the laboratory, constituting a deep and mysterious picture.
“A magic circle?” Heidi looked at the laboratory rather in shock. Their teacher had been busy and mysterious in the past couple of months just in order to set up the magic circle? It did not seem so complicated that a grand arcanist had to spend a few months on it.
She had thought that their teacher was setting up new experiment devices, such as the particle colliders that were better and more powerful. What she saw puzzled her.
Stunned for a moment, Annick recognized the basic purpose of the magic circle. “A space-time magic circle? A Portal to Alternate Realm?”
It made him and the other visitors even more surprised and confused. Seeing that it was not an experiment device, they had guessed that the magic circle had special usages. For example, it might be able to complete certain special experiments in the microscopic domain or help the arcanists find the mysteries of electrons and the other microscopic particles. Little did they expect it to be a teleportation circle like a Portal to Alternate Realm! Was it of any use for the Atom Institution? Could they be teleported into an atom?
Lucien, whose back was against them, did not bother with their shock and curiosity. He walked into the laboratory unhurriedly and stood at the center of the magic circle. Then, he turned around and smiled at Katrina, Sprint, Annick, and Heidi. “You’ll know what it is for after you try it.”
“Master, you are so mean. My heart is exploding with curiosity!” Heidi said in an exaggerated manner. In the meantime, she hopped into the laboratory and stood next to her teacher. Sprint and the other visitors were full of questions, but they dare not delay, fearing that other people might steal their opportunity. So, they followed her into the laboratory.
“Heidi, you must tell me everything you see and feel later!” Layria raised her voice in admiration. She had raised her hand too slowly just now.
Lazar, Rock, and Jerome stood not far away and stared at them. Although they were rather curious themselves, they felt that it would be too embarrassing if they were to compete with the students since they were Lucien’s friends and sort of “uncles” for Heidi and the other students. Even though the students had caught up to them in terms of arcana level and magic level, the feeling in the heart was difficult to change, unless they became a legendary sorcerer or a grand arcanist in only ten years just like Lucien did.
Lucien snapped his right hand, and all the magic patterns around them glittered. The light, which felt like ripples of water, at the beginning became as dazzling as the sunlight at noon.
The light gathered, and a small sun seemed to be rising at the center of the magic circle. It was incandescent but not scorching.
Gradually, the cluster of pure light was stretched into a gate that was two persons tall. Magic symbols were floating inside the flowing light.
Lucien extended his right hand. As if he had put on a silver glove, he pressed the gate of light hard, and the gate was immediately opened. Infinite brightness surged in, drowning Lucien, Heidi, Annick, and Sprint.
After the light was gone, Lucien and his students had already vanished, and the gate of light seemed to have lost all its vigor. It was lifeless and lackluster, as if it were made of pale rocks.
“I wonder what Heidi and the rest of them will see…” Chelly crossed her hands subconsciously.
…
The dizziness caused by the change of time and space came just as expected. Fortunately, the students, who were fifth-circle sorcerers right now, had abundant experience and already enhanced themselves with the spells that could resist the feeling. Therefore, they felt better very soon.
Heidi looked at the front eagerly before she completely got rid of the dizziness. She was too curious!
In front of her was transparent glass. Outside of the glass was the heaviest and deepest darkness that Heidi had ever seen. Boundless and endless darkness.
In the depths of the darkness, pale spots of light were shining brightly, pure and clear without any flash, which gave Heidi an inexperienced feeling of vastness and emptiness, as if her mind had been entirely calmed down. She felt that she was so insignificant and that the world was so enormous.
“This is…” Heidi completely forgot her dizziness. Her voice was as unpredictable as dream talk.
Sprint, Annick, and Katrina also looked at the endless darkness and light spots around, lost. They vaguely guessed something, but it was impossible for them to grasp it clearly.
Standing behind them, Lucien raised his right hand and pointed at the deep darkness and the light spots as he said with a sigh, “This is space.”
“Space? The universe?” Heidi and the other students were suddenly back to themselves and hurried to look down.
It was still transparent glass under their feet. On the glass were layers of tiny magic patterns that were rippling now and then, as if they were offsetting and resisting something. Beneath the glass, on the other hand, was no longer a solid ground, an azure sky, or a blue ocean, but the darkness that was exactly the same as the surroundings. In the middle of the deepest and heaviest darkness, white and pure spots of light were embedded.
Surrounded by identical vastness and darkness in all directions, and looking at the clear, unblinking stars far away, every human being here found it impossible to hold back the loneliness and the sense of insignificance in their heart. They felt the deepest awe.
“This is the most beautiful space I have ever seen…” Heidi had been on adventures before. However, neither the night sky on the plateaus nor that on the ocean could compare to what she was seeing right now. This was an everlasting painting and the splendid cosmos that most arcanists dreamed about!
Katrina was as fascinated as Heidi. Who said that arcana studies did not tolerate romance? This was the greatest romance!
Sprint and Annick paid more attention to the significance of space. Therefore, after a brief fascination, they were back to themselves very quickly. Looking around carefully, they found that they were in a “glass room” that was the size of a regular laboratory. It was floating in the cosmos, with countless magic patterns shimmering on its surface and constructing magic circles.
What was inside the glass room was even more unbelievable. Sophisticated magic circles were everywhere. Some provided gravity, and some created air, turning the place exactly like on the ground. Of course, a fairly large proportion of magic circles had nothing to do with that at all. Instead, together with the alchemical platforms and the cyclotrons, they constituted a laboratory with full functions.
“Master, this is?” Sprint opened his mouth and asked, although he had basically guessed the purpose of the glass room.
Nodding, Lucien said with a gentle smile, “This is a cosmic observatory.”
“A cosmic observatory?” Heidi and Katrina were woken up by their dialog and captured the term precisely.
Lucien pointed out. “It is universally known that the cosmos is full of weird rays of curses and other great dangers, such as extremely low temperatures and extremely high temperatures. Therefore, only archmages and those above dare to come here, but in fact, considering the unknown dangers in space, few archmages ever explored this place, leaving the vast universe to the legends.
“Our previous study indicated that the rays of curses are particles and electromagnetic radiations of different frequencies. Then, what about the curses of the rays in space? We searched for all kinds of materials and collided the particles again and again in order to find new things, didn’t we? Cosmic rays are something we have barely studied before. It is possible that we can find something new out of it, which will help us unveil the next level of the microworld.
“In the past, the exploration and study work was mostly done by the legendary sorcerers. However, to find suitable rays in such a vast cosmos and to capture the unusual tracks during the countless experiments would take a long time and many experiments. Therefore, the legends haven’t achieved much so far in that aspect.
“With that in mind, I filed an application to the Magic Research Board to build a ‘cosmic observatory’ that can resist the cosmic rays and support teleportation, so that the common arcanists can also be involved in the studies on the cosmic rays and the vast space. We will reduce the time cost by increasing the number of participants and the frequency of experiments.”
Lucien introduced the background and guided his students to use the special experiment devices in the cosmic observatory to introduce the cosmic rays outside.
Heidi, Katrina, and the other students were all thrilled. Could they study the cosmos and roam space, too?
In the meantime, Heidi and Katrina had a weird feeling. A moment ago, they were still imagining what a great and romantic feeling it would be if they were sitting inside the cosmic observatory by themselves in the company of nobody except for the numerous stars outside of the window!
However, as their teacher introduced the cosmic observatory, as well as the magic circles and alchemical items in it, objectively with the jargon of arcana studies, the feeling of romance was immediately shattered without a sound. All they could notice was how to use this magic circle and how to process the data that they collected…
Lucien noticed that Heidi and Katrina did not look quite right, so he asked in confusion, “What’s wrong? There shouldn’t be any leak of cosmic rays in this place. Well, you must pay attention to the energy consumption of the cosmic observatory and change the magic gems in time. Solar energy cannot sustain for long…”
Heidi sniffed and interrupted Lucien, almost crying, “Master, give the romance of arcana studies back to me!”
Huh? Lucien raised an eyebrow, having absolutely no idea what was on the minds of his two female students.
