Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
When Donnie returned to school, there was still a long time to go before the evening class. So, he hobbled back to his dormitory, trying to think about the problem more carefully.
“Where did you go?” Sammy was watching the home TV that was embedded on the wall on his bed with a fried chicken in his hands. Amused by the shows, he was unusually enlivened. The ghost behind him, on the other hand, crouched lazily, unwilling to move at all.
Donnie replied casually, “Didn’t I tell you? I went to the Triumph Square to get the Lucidity Necklace.”
Sammy scratched his messy hair and said, unbothered, “The sun at noon is too strong for me to keep myself awake. How could I remember what you said?”
As he spoke, the young man suddenly turned around and looked at Donnie. “Wait, did you say ‘Lucidity Necklace’? Have you saved enough money for a Lucidity Necklace?”
He finally noticed the key point.
Donnie said in a self-mocking smile, “How can I save enough money? There are few subsidies for apprentices and intern arcanists. We do not have many scholarships either. I only ran into a kindhearted bookstore owner this time…”
He told his friend what happened.
Sammy nodded and did not have any questions for Donnie’s experience. He barely considered anything deeply except arcana and magic.
After talking with Donnie, Sammy turned around and kept watching the TV. At this moment, the show was already over and replaced by a commercial, where a beautiful girl was displaying the convenient and beautiful clothes on her. Because of the increase of alchemical workshops and the change of social structure centered at the alchemy center Rentato, the fashion of clothes had greatly changed. They either became more simple and convenient for daily life or more complicated and exotic.
Being no stranger to Sammy’s state, Donnie stood up, sat down, and lay on the bed, and repeated the process again and again anxiously, as he thought about his choice.
Donnie hadn’t made up his mind after a long time. So, he coughed and said, “Sammy, there’s something that I would like to ask you.”
Sammy turned around again, and there was already tiredness on his face. “What is it?”
“I’m considering which magic college I should choose,” Donnie said in a low voice.
Sammy frowned in confusion. “Haven’t you decided to go to Holt a long time ago? You are not going to study the marvelous and profound microworld anymore?”
“I… probably won’t. In the microscopic domain, almost half of the equations and formulas are prefixed with Evans or Lucien. They are so complicated that I am physically repulsed every time I see them…” Donnie said his thoughts frankly. In the end, he said, “I want to study something simpler, with fewer equations and formulas. I do not want to live in a nightmare called ‘Lucien Evans’ forever… What do you suggest?”
Sammy took a bite of the fried chicken. Not offering any comment on Donnie’s idea of escaping from Lucien Evans, he simply said, “The microscopic domain today includes elements, electromagnetism, alchemy, light-darkness, and force fields. That’s Mr. Evans’ main battlefield. If you don’t want to study it, I think you can only study macroscopic astrology…”
When he spoke “astrology”, he turned his eyes to the bookshelf in a corner of their dormitory, where the books that they borrowed from the library and their textbooks in the past five years were piled.
“A Brief Review of the Special and the General Theories of Relativity”, “Evans Analysis of the Starry Sky of Destiny”, “Divinity and Evans Essence Model”, “Lucien Astrology”… The names of those books jumped into Sammy’s eyes and choked him. “Not the school of astrology… It’s also Mr. Evans’ territory. Although it’s not as bad as the microscopic domain, I’m told that the Evans field equation alone has driven many astrologers mad.”
“Yes. The school of thermodynamics is similar…” Donnie rubbed his forehead in pain. “Now, necromancy, illusion, transformation, and summoning are the only fields that Mr. Evans hasn’t really influenced. Since I’m not a fan of summoning, I think I can only choose from necromancy, illusion, and transformation.”
Sammy’s eyes glittered. He stopped sending the fried chicken into his mouth and said, “Aren’t you very good at psychoanalysis in the field of illusion? Apply for the Tower of Wizards.”
“Psychoanalysis…” Donnie was delighted at first. Then, as if he remembered something, he turned to the bookshelf.
Interpretation of Dreams, by Lannister Stanis and Lucien Evans…
Behavioral Psychology, by Lucien Evans, Erica Lavinie, Isabella…
Sixteen Countermeasures to Deal with Personality Deficiencies, Psychological Shadows, and Real Illusions, by Lucien Evans…
Application of Lucien’s Personality Analysis in Illusion…
…
Donnie moved his eyes back and patted the bed hard, before he lowered his head in frustration. “It doesn’t work either. Although there aren’t so many equations and formulas, Lucien and Evans are still everywhere. Many definitions in this domain have been completed by Mr. Evans…”
Why is he everywhere?
Although it was much better than the microscopic and macroscopic domains, Donnie, who was subconsciously running away from it, was still too astounded to look at them again.
The ghost behind Sammy grew active, picking up and playing with the gadgets around him. Sammy, on the other hand, turned lackluster and said, “Then, only the schools of necromancy and transformation are left. Mr. Evans barely has any achievements in those two categories, except for the soul nature theory that does not have details and the life origin experiment that is more inclined to the school of elements.
“Also, necromancy and illusion require a profound understanding of the body structures of different creatures. So, apply for the Heidler College. The anatomy and biology here are the best in the Congress of Magic. Sometimes, Mr. Felipe would even come to teach in person. Besides, we will still be classmates.”
He was already drowsy, but his eyes were full of passion when he said that. Because of the Back Spirit, he had been feared and hated by most people. The four-man dormitory now had only Donnie left. So, he cherished his rare friend.
“Necromancy… Transformation… Anatomy… Biology…” Donnie repeated the words and suddenly beamed with interest. “Although we have basically learned the truth of magic and the world, we actually do not know much about it yet. Even our own body structure and inheritance factors haven’t been figured out yet. This is a field full of hope and passion!”
He grew excited.
Sammy smiled with obvious sleepiness. “Then, just apply for the Heidler College. There are dozens of founders and authorities of the field of anatomy and genetics, including Felipe, who will come to guide us from time to time.”
Pausing for a moment, he said, “Also, since Mr. Felipe won an Evans Prize in Arcana and the Prize of Immortal Throne for the discovery of chromosomes a decade ago, there haven’t been any groundbreaking achievements in this domain. So, it’s getting less and less popular each year. With fewer applicants, the competition will be less intense.”
Donnie nodded his head as he listened, growing more and more excited, as if he had found a path that he would stick to for the rest of his life.
He stood up and paced back and forth. Now and then, he clenched his fist and waved it, with his face sometimes delighted and sometimes twisted. It was not until a long time later that he finally took a deep breath and said with a shivering but firm voice, “Sammy, I’ve decided to apply for the Heidler College and study body structure and genetics factors in the school of necromancy!”
He felt that he no longer had any hesitation after saying that. The gloomy mist before him was cleared. He turned around to Sammy, only to discover that he had fallen asleep with his eyes closed. The ghost behind his back, on the other hand, was waving its arms, as if it was cheering for Donnie’s decision.
…
A week later, Mr. Slington gave everybody a form that was cast with magic power. He looked at all the students and said solemnly, “Please write the college and the fields that you are interested in for the additional tests. You must think carefully before you write anything down! You can ask for another form if you misspell a word, but after you finish it, the contract will be in effect, and there will be no regretting it unless you are willing to wait and take part in the College Entrance Exam next year.”
Donnie, who had figured everything out, took over the form calmly and looked around at his classmates. He saw that the beautiful elves with two pointy ears, the werewolves who were brawny and densely-haired, and the regular humans were all deep in thought. It was obvious that they hadn’t made up their mind yet.
Smiling, he picked up the special quill, dipped it in the ink, and wrote down the college and field he was interested in.
Seeing that Donnie wrote quickly and filled in the form so soon, Slington grew curious and stopped next to him to read his form.
“The Heidler College, school of necromancy, and body structure and genetics factors…” Slington scratched his beard and asked in confusion, “Donnie, have you learned something? Didn’t you prefer the microscopic domain? Why have you suddenly changed to the school of necromancy?”
“What have I learned…?” Donnie shook his head in confusion.
Slington chuckled. “Over the past year, a manuscript has raised extensive and heated discussions in Allyn, making many arcanists in the microscopic domain interested in genetics in the school of necromancy. I thought that it would take a year before the trend spread to magic schools and ordinary people.”
Thanks to the social development and the soaring radio stations, TV channels, and newspapers, entertainment shows and programs had completely dominated people’s life, and the contents that introduced arcana knowledge and current research trends were getting lesser and lesser. For most people, they did not need to learn the sophisticated arcana knowledge at all until it was transformed into the corresponding alchemical products that they could use.
The nobles and part of the sorcerers were quite satisfied with the situation, and they even secretly boosted it. After all, it was a good thing to reduce competitors, particularly when interstellar travels were still only limited to legends.
“Mr. Slington, what manuscript?” Donnie was still at a loss.
Slington smiled while holding his white beard. “It’s a manuscript that analyzes the body and genetics by an authority of the microscopic domain. It has abandoned the traditional methodology of the school of necromancy and regards the whole body and the genes as a whole arcana system. Then, based on the theories in the microscopic domain, many bold and genius speculations have been proposed, like the quantum explanation of genetics and the code of genetics. It raises the arcanists’ interest in the body structure on the microscopic level.”
Authority… An authority of the microscopic domain… Donnie suddenly felt that the magic lamp was dimmed, and an enormous shadow was rising from his back. He asked uneasily, “Master, what is the name of the manuscript? Who wrote it?”
“The name of the manuscript is ‘What Is Life?’.” Slington smiled. “As for its author, it’s naturally Mr. Evans.”
Boom.
Donnie’s head hummed as if it had just been smacked by a hammer.
Why? Why is this field now within his reach too?
