Chapter 342: The Reply

The sunlight at noon was warm and bright. The study was all covered in a layer of gold. Both Douglas and Lucien had left the office. Right now, Fernando was sitting in the armchair by himself quietly.

Earlier the two grand arcanists had discussed how Lucien should submit and publish this paper. They decided to publish a few more papers first on the next month's Arcana about how the grand arcanists tried to explore the law behind the formula but all failed, so that they could prepare them for the next upcoming shock from Lucien's paper.

They were not trying to make the arcanists accept Lucien's theory right away. After all, this was still an assumption. By reading the articles, the two arcanists were trying to infuse the idea into the rest of the arcanists' brain gradually and slowly. That was why they kept mentioning the word "assumption".

"Shocking... Queer... Subversive..." Fernando murmured. These words were all his comments on Lucien's theory. Then he put on a mysterious smile and said, "I wonder who can first come up with the shocking conclusion from the first half part of the paper... Hathaway, or Brook?"

Hathaway was the founder of atomic theory, so she was more of a supporter of Douglas' particle theory, which made her the one who was most likely to get the same conclusion. The rest of the four grand arcanists were the typical proponents of wave theory, and among them Brook was the most loyal one. However, Brook was the most profound and powerful grand arcanists among the five.

"Let me guess... Who's gonna be the first one to visit me?" said Fernando rather casually.

As he was saying that, Fernando's eyes glanced at the mirror in the corner of the study. In the mirror, there stood an elderly man in a bright red robe. His black and white hair mixed, however, there was way more white than black.

The smile faded on Fernando's face. He raised his right hand, slightly touched his hair, and released a sigh. Taking out an old notebook from the drawer, he turned it to the last few pages and then started to write down the words:

"July 6th. Sunny. A bit windy. All of a sudden, I feel old."

Putting down the quill, Fernando looked out of the window, and the bright sunlight made him squint slightly.

...

Lucien had got back to his place.

Leo saw the difference on Lucien's face, but he did not say anything, while Sprint who just finished his study asked curiously, "Mr. Evans, you don't look so good. Did Mr. Fernando give you a hard time today?"

Sprint did not ask directly if the Lord of Storm yelled at Mr. Evans.

"I don't look good?" Lucien was a bit confused. However, when Lucien looked at himself in the crystal statue, he saw his face as pale as a piece of paper, as if he had just climbed out of the tomb.

Lucien did not expect that the power of a legendary archmage would be this horrible.

"Yes... Those were very tough questions." Lucien put on a smile, "Questions related to the peace of the whole world."

The corner of Sprint's lips twitched, "Are you joking, Mr. Evans? Was the Lord of Storm trying to destroy the world and you stopped him?"

"No... it was the opposite. I was trying to destroy the world, but Mr. Fernando stopped me." Although Lucien's face was pale, he was in a pretty good mood, since he just successfully presented the terrifying assumption to his own teacher without exploding his teacher's head.

Sprint was not good at playing jokes. He looked up at the ceiling and said, "Mr. Evans, it's time for lunch..."

Seeing the same steak dish on the dining table, Lucien rubbed his forehead. It was time for the cook to come up with some new dishes.

At this time, Katrina, led by the servant, walked in. A big smile was on her good-looking face.

"Mr. Evans! The result from our application for Atom Institution is available now!" Katrina waved the document in her hand and said aloud.

"It's been only a few days..." Lucien was very surprised.

In most cases, the examination should take more than two weeks.

"Your application has the signature of the grand arcanist on it! Of course they wouldn't delay it." Katrina said excitedly, "Mr. Evans, open it and let's see the result!"

The bag required Lucien's arcana badge to be opened.

Sprint had been waiting for this day for a long time, and thus he was very nervous.

Lucien calmly took off the arcana badge and pressed it against the seal. Taking out the document, Lucien fast scanned it and then turned around.

"The application has been approved. The board hopes us to work hard, since we're focusing on a brand new research topic."

"Awesome!" Sprint happily took a swing with his fist.

Katrina also very encouraged, "Congratulations, Mr. Evans. Congratulations!"

Lucien hugged his students and sighed in his mind that the youngsters were still too naive. What the board was trying to say was that they had approved the application for the sake of the Lord of Storm, so Lucien had to work hard to show them that the decision was proper.

"So... where is our institution?" Katrina asked with her eyes sparkling with excitement.

Lucien picked up the document again, "The institution is going to use the No. 7 lab and its meeting room and office on the eighteenth floor of the headquarter. I'll need to tell them how I want the lab to be and the whole set of equipment I want. All in all, at the end of July or at the beginning of August, Atom Institution will start officially."

"Also, every month, we will get five thousand arcana points as a subsidy to buy materials and paying us." Lucien added, "So my decision is... Ten arcana points every month for senior apprentices. As for the sorcerers, it depends on their levels. Say, a level two arcanist and a second circle sorcerer like Lazar... A hundred arcana points."

As for Lucien himself, he did not have to get a fixed pay, since he was able to benefit from reporting to the Congress the cost of the experiments, which was an unspoken rule in the Congress of Magic.

"That's a lot!" Both Sprint and Catrina were very surprised. They knew that when Mr. Evans was working for the magic school, he only earned ten points every month! Besides the pay, they could read the arcana books in the institution and do experiments for free. This was a dream job for every apprentice and new sorcerer!

Lazar only earned fifty to sixty arcana points every month working both for the Congress and the Will of Elements, plus what he got from his papers. As for Catrina, although she had got the dream job among the apprentices, she only got four points monthly.

"Of course, Atom Institution will be one of the most important research departments in the future. Our pay has to be impressive." Lucien said half joking, "Right now, we don't need too many people. I'm thinking about hiring another two to three sorcerers and a middle-rank mage."

"You're... You're very confident, Mr. Evans." The corner of Sprint's lips twitched again.

"I've got faith in you, Mr. Evans! You almost shared the Laurel with Mr. Isabella this time." Katrina also joked, "If I can work for you, Mr. Evans, perhaps one day I can also have the honor like Rachel!"

Lucien grinned, "We shall feel the pressure. The board has given us three years. We have to show them something within three years, or the project will be canceled."

Most arcana researches would cost a very long time.

"We'll work hard!" answered Katrina and Sprint seriously.

Lucien waved the document in the air casually and said to Katrina, "Stay here and have lunch with us. We'll go and check the lab out tomorrow afternoon."

...

After Vicente Miranda, known as Thanatos, left, Fernando smirked and commented, "Vicente, you're the last one."

Fernando's face flushed from the heated discussion and argument in the whole afternoon. Walking back and forth in the study, Fernando took out his old notebook again and added after what he wrote down earlier:

"After the whole afternoon's debate and discussion, I feel refreshed and energetic again. I see the grandness of the world and I am fascinated with its stunning beauty and truth. I shall walk on this path until the day I die."

...

After visiting Atom Institution under construction, when Lucien was just about to leave, he heard someone calling his name in a slightly confused way:

"Mr. Lucien Evans?"

Looking up, Lucien saw Rachel and an elegant and beautiful lady standing beside her.