Throne of Magical Arcana

At the end of the first month (January), the cold still enveloped Allinge, but the dark green forest outside the Douglas School of Witchcraft and Magic still didn't wither in the slightest.

In front of the black iron gate with a strong ancient magic empire style, Woods eagerly asked the iron golem guarding the gate: "I am Woods from "Ordinary Arcanist Monthly", and I am friends with Principal Donald. I want to find Lucy. Mr En Evans."

"The two Mr. Evans are not here. They went to Rentat together. Who are you looking for?" The iron golem replied in a metallic, impersonal voice.

Woods froze for a moment: "There are two more? Well, I'm looking for Mr. X. Wait, didn't they all go to Rentat? When did they leave? What are they going to do? When will they be back?"

In desperation, Woods almost had a conversation with the "thinking" of the iron golem, but fortunately he woke up in time.

His series of questions caused the red light in the iron golem's eyes to flicker, as if it would explode at any moment.

"Yes, they all went to Rentat. They left an hour ago. I don't know what to do, and I don't know when they will come back." The iron golem finally sorted out the order.

an hour ago? Evans had already arrived at Rentat, and Woods pressed his black top hat a little annoyed. Rentat is the capital of the Kingdom of Holm. Regardless of its size or number of people, it ranks among the top ten on the mainland. Without knowing what Lucien is going to do, it is difficult for him to find someone quickly—even if he asks the "prophet" to use the legendary Astrology and divination cannot be pinpointed without more information.

"When Mr. Evans X comes back, please tell him that our "General Arcanist Monthly" wants to publish his paper in this issue at the end of the month, please reply as soon as possible. If he is free, it is best to come to our headquarters .” In the icy cold wind, Woods exhaled a few mouthfuls of white air, and then stepped back into the carriage.

…………

Rentat, the second floor of Oak Restaurant.

In the private room, Lucien looked out through the window at the beautiful night with goose-feather snowflakes floating outside, and at the people coming and going in the heavy snow, some of them were in a hurry, some walked slowly side by side, and some were childlike Obscurely catching snowflakes, some bent down to pick up snowballs...

Opposite the small dining table sat Igna, whom K introduced. He was a fourth-level arcanist and five-ring elemental mage with gray temples. He was tall and thin, with particularly profound facial features, as if skin covered bones.

If K didn't inform him in advance, Lucien would probably think that he was about fifty years old, but in fact, Igna was over a hundred years old.

At the age of seventy he had spent all his savings on some expensive magical ritual to keep his life and sanity alive, and he seemed to have many more years to live. However, his magic level has been stuck in front of the high-level door for a full sixty years.

Igna glanced around Lucien and K with light brown eyes, and raised his glass: "Cheers to our pleasant dinner."

After toasting, K took another sip of "Sky Blue", then got up and went to the bathroom. It seemed that he was drinking poorly and showed signs of vomiting.

Watching K's back disappear with the closing of the bathroom door, Igna turned his head with a smile: "Evans, I probably browsed your paper before dinner, and I have to say that the advantages and disadvantages are equally obvious, and you have excellent skills. It is a pity that this issue of our "Element" journal will definitely include the papers delivered by all arcanists and magicians at the annual meeting."

Just before Lucien wanted to fight for a few more words, Igna shook the wine glass: "But, K is about to become Mr. Larry's disciple, and Mr. Larry and I have a very good relationship. Since he brought you to me, As a pioneer in the field of elemental magic, I have to do something. Therefore, I plan to suggest to the editor-in-chief, Mr. Ravana, that the valuable papers submitted by other magicians should not be postponed because of the annual meeting, and let them wait hard. It is best to increase the length of this issue of "Elements" appropriately. Of course, there are still many difficulties in whether the suggestions can be adopted, and efforts are still needed."

Lucien's eyes lit up. Igna's words meant that he planned to include his paper in the added space at the end of the "Element" journal?

But Lucien didn't speak rashly, and quietly waited for Igna to finish speaking.

Igna turned his gaze out of the window, looked at the young people cuddling each other under the alchemy arc lights outside, and sighed softly: "This is the best stage of life, it's nice to be young. Hey, I'm old, I have no hope to rely on my own strength Now that I have become a high-level magician with knowledge, I can only turn to the magic rituals of the ancient magic empire that can create miracles. It is a pity that the materials for these magic rituals are difficult to find and very expensive."

After speaking, he closed his mouth and tasted the special red wine from the vineyard near Rentat, with a smile still on the corner of his mouth.

Lucien was puzzled at first why Igna felt these irrelevant things, but he soon realized the hidden meaning in his words: There are many difficulties that need to be overcome, so why not pay a price?

After thinking about it, Lucien considered his tone: "Mr. Igna, sometimes as long as you are lucky, it is not difficult to obtain arcane points. Like my new magic last time, it was because of the quotation from His Excellency the Great Arcanist. , the benefits are huge.”

Igna glanced at Lucien appreciatively: "Young people are always full of drive and courage, but old people like me can't do it. The Crown Stone is only 300 arcane points away, but it has been too long to buy it."

"I don't know Mr. Ignat if you would like to accept my funding? I don't want to see a former traveler stop because of money troubles." Lucien said that he was about to vomit, but if he could It was published in the "Elements" journal, which is many times better than the "Ordinary Arcanist Monthly", because after long-term contact with various magic ores, most of the magicians who are expected to discover new elements are elements and alchemists!

Igna raised his glass to Lucien and smiled gracefully: "I wish us success."

After K came back, he was very happy to see that Lucien and Igna had a good chat.

…………

Maybe Igna's efficiency is very high, maybe the "Element" journal itself has decided to increase the length, but he took advantage of the loophole. When Lucien and K left the hotel the next day, the "Element" journal The acceptance notice was sent to Lucien.

"Thank you, K. Without your help, my paper would not have been included in the "Element" journal. This is unimaginable for a low-level arcanist." In front of the platform, Lucien solemnly told K thank.

K scratched his head in embarrassment: "It's all Evans, your paper is valuable."

Adhering to his own philosophy, K did not spy on the specific content of Lucien's paper before the journal was published.

It's arcane points that are valuable... Lucien slandered, but as long as the thesis is verified by the magicians, it's worth the effort.

"K, you're not going back to school?" Lucien was about to rush back to Allinge to continue his experiment of discovering new elements.

K shook his head, with a slight sentimentality on his honest face: "Actually, I have resigned, because Mr. Larry saw that my last paper received a good response, and it is not far from the third ring road, so he asked me to study with him in advance. It just so happens that my hometown in Glenling County has something to do these few days, so I took the opportunity to leave my job and prepare to go back to deal with it. I originally came to say goodbye to you at noon yesterday, but when I saw that your paper was rejected, I thought about helping you as much as possible before leaving. help you."

Greenling County is a relatively remote one of the eight counties in the Kingdom of Hall.

"K, you don't have to be so sentimental. Mr. Larry has been in Allinge for a long time, and we can meet often. By the way, do you need my help with things in my hometown?" Lucien asked with concern.

K shook his head again: "I can handle a little thing with ease."

"Well then, K, if you need help, send a letter back to school." Seeing the magic steam train approaching, Lucien waved him goodbye, "By the way, re-measure the atomic weights of... and other elements."

K listened to Lucien's last instructions in a daze, and decided to do these magic experiments when he had time.

…………

"Common Arcanist Monthly" headquarters.

"It's a pity. I didn't expect that the "Element" journal also found the value of Evans's paper." Woods' tone matched the content of his speech, with a strong sense of regret.

Lucien was grateful for Woods' attention, so he came over to thank him and explain the situation: "I'm sorry, Mr. Woods, if I knew in advance that you would decide to publish my paper, I would definitely not go to Rentat."

Those three hundred arcane points were really a pain in the ass!

"No, Evans, even if it were me, I would choose the journal "Elements". Your paper published here is only a little worse than being included in "Arcane." Woods didn't mind and said, "Although "Ordinary Arcane" Teacher Monthly has been getting better and better in the past ten years, but compared with the influence and status of "Element" journal in the field of elemental magic, it is still far behind."

Lucien nodded silently. If he chose again, even if he needed to pay 500 arcane points, he would still choose the "Element" journal, because the matter was urgent and he could only choose the one with great influence. But in normal times, with Woods' kindness, even if the "Elements" journal directly sends an invitation letter, I'm afraid I will choose "Ordinary Arcanist Monthly".

"Mr. Woods, if there is an opportunity in the future, I will continue to submit articles to you." Lucien said sincerely.

Woods thought that Lucien was answering politely, and said with a smile: "I personally welcome it. By the way, Evans, I want to write a paper on my experiment of re-determining several atomic weights, and I will quote the content of your paper in it, and just Published in this issue of Ordinary Arcanist Monthly.

"It's my honor." Lucien replied with a smile.

After bidding farewell to Woods and returning to the magic school, Lucien hurriedly told Rock and Jerome about the possible errors in the atomic weights that needed to be corrected, and wrote to Lazar to explain.

This is not just for them to "cheat" points, but also to create momentum for their own periodic table papers.

Therefore, Lucien didn't ask them to do it until his paper was confirmed to be included in the "Element" journal. Otherwise, their paper would be published first, but his own paper would not be able to achieve good results after a few months.

…………

On Friday night, Lucien, who still failed to discover new elements from various magic ores, returned to the villa after several hours of experiments.

As soon as he opened the door, Lucien saw a letter stuck in the crack of the door, which said that the iron golem of the gatekeeper had signed for, checked and forwarded it.

"Who will write to me?" Lucien checked again and opened the envelope curiously.

"Dear Mr. Lucien Evans, although you are only a low-level arcanist, your research in the field of elemental magic is commendable, so we solemnly invite you to participate in the Saturday (January 27) The 'Annual Conference of the Elements and Alchemical Magic' starting at nine o'clock in the morning."

Behind it are the signs of the Will of the Elements and the Royal Magic Court of Holm, as well as the venue of the meeting, Swan Lake Rose Manor, and the time was issued three days ago.

Lucien looked at the invitation letter inexplicably and in astonishment. Could it be that the papers on the periodic table of elements have been valued at the headquarters of the "Element" journal, which has attracted the attention of the higher-ups of the will of the elements?