550 Sorrow and Joy (1/2)

On the first day of the Month of Flowers, inside the Allyn branch of the Moonsong League…

Jurisian, in the attire of a battle sorcerer, with a six-star arcana badge, a five-circle magic badge and a badge of crescent moon on his chest, slowly walked into the hall.

”Good morning, Mr. Jurisian.” The few middle-rank arcanists who just got down from the stars greeted Jurisian respectfully the moment they saw him.

Since the Influence Factor was introduced, it was not rare for the arcana level to surpass the magic level, but the senior-rank arcanists were still rare. An insurmountable barrier that many people couldn't cross in their lifetime seemed to lie between level five and level six. With his discovery of the splitting of spectral lines under strong magnetic field and his theoretical explanation four months ago, Jurisian proved the prophecy in the new alchemy and finally earned six silver stars. Had it not been for the fact that his cognitive world was still not substantiated yet, he would've advanced into the sixth circle and become a senior rank.

Jurisian had always been amiable when he was not on a mission. He replied in a smile, ”Good morning, are you waiting for today's 'Arcana', too?”

”Yes. Debates have remained unabated about Mr. Oliver's transformation formulas recently. We can't wait to see the latest explanation and application. Perhaps somebody has already proved it with experiments.” Bobby, the middle-rank arcanist in the lead, was a tall, muscular man, with narrow and long eyes.

Jurisian chuckled, ”Me too, but I'm more worried that I might see Evans' paper on that someday.”

Upon hearing that, the fairly large number of arcanists in the hall suddenly fell silent. The name had been haunting them like a nightmare. They could never trust Mr. Oliver's paper as well as the papers of other arcanists too deeply until he offered his opinion on the transformation formulas. Waiting and being scared seemed to have become their habit.

After more than ten seconds, Bobby was back to himself, he was about to reply to Jurisian, when a few receptionists carried the journals including 'Arcana' and 'Magic' out and placed them on the counter. So, he dropped the subject and said, ”Mr. Jurisian, the papers are here. After you.”

Seeing that Bobby was right before the counter, Jurisian shook his head and said jokingly, ”Let's respect the queue. You can check if there is Evans' paper first so that the rest of us can be prepared.”

He intended to refuse Bobby's generosity subtly and humorously, but after he spoke, all the arcanists who were squeezing forward to purchase the journals stopped.

Their eyes were focused on Bobby, as if they agreed with Jurisian's proposition that he should check if there was Lucien Evans' paper first, and what it was about if there indeed was.

Bobby did not think much at the beginning, but when so many people gazed at him, he immediately recalled the magnificent accomplishments of the Headcrusher. His forehead immediately beaded with sweat, but the arcanists behind him gave him so much pressure that he still picked up a copy of 'Arcana' after a long hesitation.

Realizing that his joke seemed to have been misinterpreted under the special circumstances, Jurisian stepped forward and planned to stop Bobby so that he could 'examine' it himself.

Suddenly, Bobby blurted out, ”There is Mr. Evans' paper!”

His voice was uncontrollably high, and it was obviously shaking. The whispers in the hall were entirely gone. The place seemed to have been frozen in time.

”What paper?” Asked Jurisian subconsciously.

Bobby breathed in relief. ”It's about the electrodynamics of moving bodies and the mass-energy equation. It sounds like research on the motion theories in electromagnetics and doesn't appear to be disruptive.”

After he was reassured, he simply read the paper that was put on the first page of the journal on the counter in his curiosity. The other arcanists, cleverly, did not interrupt him but focused their eyes on his head. Jurisian, on the other hand, was deep in thought because of the ambiguous title.

After a while, Bobby's facial muscles began to twist, and his sweat was dripping from his cheeks. Then, he raised his left hand and pressed his head, as if he were in agony. His eyes were chaotic and confused.

The hall was caught in a weird silence again. Murmuring something, Bobby turned around, only to discover that all the arcanists around him including Jurisian, regardless of their rank, had retreated to at least ten meters away from him. He was surrounded by emptiness, as if a devil had just taken a bite here.

”What are you doing?” Asked Bobby, puzzled.

All the arcanists eyed him weirdly. Jurisian coughed and said, ”We saw that you were in pain and therefore gave you a peaceful environment for you to recover. What is this paper about?”

”Oh? You were afraid that my cognition would collapse and my brain would explode?” Bobby realized what happened and smiled, ”How is it possible? Mr. Evans' paper infers Mr. Oliver's transformation formulas based on two hypotheses. There's nothing disruptive.”

Upon hearing that, Jurisian and the rest of them took another three steps back. ”What? It's an explanation about the Oliver transformation?”

”Then why were you pressing your head so painfully?”

Bobby looked at his feet rather in embarrassment. ”I could understand the formulas in it, but the descriptions about time, space, mass and energy were too bewildering for me. I couldn't think them through and just knocked my head to see if I could get any inspiration.”

Hu. Everybody's breath of relief almost gathered into a wind. So, the guy was only thinking hard because he could not understand it. Their worry was for naught.

Knowing that it was Evans' explanation that they had 'long expected', the middle-rank arcanists of the Moonsong League were finally calmed down, but none of them dared to read it carefully.

After a while, thinking that nothing happened to Bobby, Jurisian summoned his courage and read Lucien's paper by the counter.

As time went by, Jurisian became more and more grave. His muscles were tightened, and he was gritting his teeth. His shiny forehead was brimming with cold sweat, his eyes were filled with confusion and shock, and he kept murmuring space and time, mass and energy to himself.

Also, what was most weird that uncanny changes seemed to be happening around him, as if the rays of light were brighter.