At the end of the beginning month (January), the cold still envelops Alinge, but the dark green forest outside Douglas School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has not withered at all.
In front of the pointed hollow black iron door with a strong ancient magical empire style, Woods eagerly asked the iron golem guarding the door: "I am Woods from "Ordinary Arcanist Monthly", and I am friends with Principal Donald, and I want to find Mr. Lucian Evans.
"Neither of Mr. Evans was there, and they went to Rentat together. Who are you looking for?" The Iron Golem replied in a metallic, inhuman voice.
Woods was stunned for a moment: "There are two more? Well, I'm looking for Mr. X. Wait, didn't they all go to Rentat? When did you leave? What to do? What time will you be back?"
In a desperate situation, Woods almost followed the "thinking" of the Iron Golem, but fortunately woke up in time.
His series of questions made the Iron Golem's eyes flash red, as if they were about to explode at any moment.
"Yes, they all went to Rentat, left an hour ago, I don't know what to do, 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 with a little annoyance. Rentat is the capital of the Kingdom of Holm, ranking among the top ten on the continent in terms of area and numbers, and without knowing what Lucian is going to do, it is difficult for him to quickly find people - even if he asks the "Prophet" to use legendary astrology for divination, he cannot accurately locate it without more information.
"When Mr. Evans X comes back, please tell him that our "Ordinary Arcanist Monthly" would like 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 biting cold wind, Woods exhaled a few breaths of white air and stepped back into the carriage.
…………
Rentat, Oak Restaurant 2nd floor.
In the private room, Lucian looked through the window at the beautiful dark night with goose feather snowflakes floating outside, looking at the people coming and going in the heavy snow, some of them were in a hurry, some were walking slowly side by side, some were following the snowflakes with childlike innocence, and some were bending down to pick up snowballs......
Opposite the small dining table sat Igna, introduced by K, he was a fourth-level arcanist with gray temples, a five-ring elemental mage, tall and thin, and his facial features were particularly profound, as if he was wrapped in skin.
If K hadn't informed him in advance, Lucian would probably have thought he was a gentleman in his fifties, but in fact, Igna was over a hundred years old.
At the age of seventy, he spent all his savings to keep his life and clear mind alive through some expensive magical ritual, and it seemed like he could live for many years. However, his magic level has been stuck in front of the high-level door for sixty years.
Igna's light brown eyes glanced at Lucian and K, 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 had a poor drinking capacity and showed signs of vomiting.
Watching K's back disappear as the bathroom door closed, Igna turned his head with a smile: "Evans, I probably skimmed through your paper before dinner, and I have to say that the advantages and disadvantages are equally obvious, and it has excellent discussion value. Unfortunately, our issue of the Elements journal has confirmed that it will include papers from all the arcanists and magicians speaking at the annual conference."
Just before Lucian could say a few more words, Igna shook his glass: "However, K is about to become Mr. Larry's disciple, and Mr. Larry and I have an excellent relationship. Since he brought you to me, I, as a pioneer in the realm of elemental magic, had to do something. Therefore, I would like to suggest to the editor-in-chief, Mr. Ravana, that valuable papers submitted by other magicians should not be delayed because of the annual meeting, and that they should wait for a long time, and that it would be best to increase the length of this issue of "Elementals" appropriately. Of course, whether the suggestions can be adopted is still difficult and needs to be worked on."
Lucian's eyes lit up, and Igna meant that he was going to include his thesis in the added space of the "Elements" journal?
However, Lucian did not speak rashly, and waited quietly for Igna to finish speaking.
Igna turned his gaze out the window, looked at the young people snuggling up under the alchemy arc street lamp outside, and sighed softly: "This is the most beautiful stage of life, it's good to be young. Hey, I am old and have no hope of becoming a high-level magician by relying on my own strength and knowledge, so I can only seek several magical rituals that can create miracles in the ancient magic empire. Unfortunately, the materials for these magical rituals are difficult to find and very expensive."
After saying that, he closed his mouth and tasted the red wine from the vineyards near Rentat, with a smile still on the corner of his mouth.
Lucian didn't understand why Igna was so emotional about these unrelated things, but he soon realized the hidden meaning of his words: There are many difficulties that need to be overcome, how can you not pay a price?
After thinking for a while, Lucian 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 quoted by His Excellency the Great Arcanist, and the benefits were very rich."
Igna glanced at Lucian appreciatively: "Young people are always full of momentum and courage, but an old man like me can't do it, the crown stone is only three hundred arcane points away but he can't buy it."
"I wonder if Mr. Igna would be willing to accept my funding? I don't want to see a frontrunner stuck because of money troubles." Lucian said that he was about to vomit, but if it could be published in the "Elemental" journal, it would be many times better than the "Ordinary Arcanist Monthly", because he had been in contact with various magic ores for a long time, and most of the magicians who were hoping to discover new elements were elemental and alchemical magicians!
Igna raised his glass to Lucian and smiled kindly and elegantly: "I wish us success."
When K came back, he was happy to see Lucian and Igna chatting happily.
…………
Maybe it's because Igna is very efficient, or maybe the "Elemental" journal itself has decided to increase the length, but he took the opportunity to take advantage of the loophole, and when Lucian and K left the hotel the next day, the "Elemental" journal's inclusion notice was delivered to Lucian.
"Thank you, K, if it weren't for your help, my paper would not have been included in the Elements journal. This is unimaginable for a low-level arcanist." In front of the platform, Lucian solemnly thanked K.
K scratched his head embarrassedly: "It's all Evans, your paper is valuable."
Adhering to his philosophy, K did not snoop on the specific content of Lucian's thesis before the journal was published.
Is Arcane worth it...... Lucian scolded, but as long as the paper was verified by the magicians, it was worth the effort.
"K, are you not going back to school?" Lucian is ready to rush back to Alinge and continue his experiments to discover new elements on his own.
K shook his head, his honest face slightly sentimental: "Actually, I have resigned, because Mr. Larry saw that the response to my last paper was very good, and it was indeed not far from the Third Ring Road, so I asked him to study with him in advance. And it just so happened that there was something going on in my hometown in Granlingshire these days, so I took the opportunity to resign and prepare to go back to deal with it. Yesterday at noon, I originally came to say goodbye to you, but when I saw that your paper was rejected, I thought of helping you as much as possible before leaving."
Granling County is one of the more remote of the eight counties of the Kingdom of Hall.
"K, you don't have to be so sentimental, Mr. Larry has been in Alinge for a long time, and we can see each other often. By the way, do you need my help with things in my hometown?" Lucian asked with concern.
K shook his head again: "I can easily handle a little thing."
"Okay, K, if you need help, send a letter back to school." Lucian saw the magic steam train coming and waved goodbye to him, "By the way, remeasure......... and other elements."
K listened to Lucian's last instructions in a daze, and decided to do these magic experiments when he had time.
…………
The headquarters of "General Arcanist Monthly".
"It's a pity, I didn't expect the journal "Elemental" to also discover the value of your paper by Evans." Woods' tone matched the content of his speech, with a strong taste of regret.
Lucian was grateful for Woods' attention, so he personally came over to thank and explain the situation: "I'm sorry, Mr. Woods, if I had known in advance that you would decide to publish my paper, I would definitely not go to Rentatt."
Those three hundred arcane points are really heartbreaking!
"No, Evans, even if it were me, I would choose the Elemental Journal. Your paper is only a little worse than being included in the Arcane." Woods didn't mind and said, "Although the "Ordinary Arcanist Monthly" has been getting better and better in the past ten years, it is still too different from the influence and status of the "Elemental" journal in the field of elemental magic.
Lucian nodded silently, if he chose again, even if he had to pay five hundred arcane points, he would choose the "Elemental" journal, because the matter was urgent, he could only choose the one with greater influence. Even if the "Elemental" journal directly sent a letter of invitation, I was afraid that I would choose "Ordinary Arcanist Monthly".
"Mr. Woods, if I have the opportunity in the future, I will continue to contribute to you." Lucian said sincerely.
Woods thought Lucian was a polite answer and smiled: "I personally welcome it. By the way, Evans, I would like to write a paper on my experiments on redetermining several atomic weights, which will quote your paper, and it will be published in this issue of the Monthly Arcanist.
"It's my honor." Lucian replied with a smile.
Saying goodbye to Woods and returning to the magic school, Lucian hurriedly told Roque and Jerome about the possible wrong atomic weights and needed to be corrected, and wrote to Lazar to explain.
This is not just about letting them "cheat" points, but also building momentum for their own periodic table paper.
Therefore, Lucian did not let them do it until his paper was confirmed to be included in the "Elemental" journal, otherwise their paper would be published first, but his paper would not be able to achieve good results until a few months later.
…………
On Friday night, Lucian, who still hadn't been able to discover new elements from various magic ores, returned to the villa after several hours of experimentation.
As soon as he opened the door, Lucian saw a letter stuffed in the crack of the door, with the iron golem on the front written to sign, inspect and forward it.
"Who will write to me?" Lucian checked again and opened the envelope curiously.
"Dear Mr. Lucian Evans, although you are only a low-level arcanist, your research in the field of elemental magic is commendable, so at the last minute, we solemnly invite you to the 'Annual Conference on Elemental and Alchemical Magic' starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday (January 27th)."
Behind it is the logo of the Elemental Will and the Royal Academy of Magic of Holm, as well as the location of the meeting, Swan Lake Rose Manor, which was issued three days ago.
Lucian looked at the invitation inexplicably and in astonishment, could it be that the papers on the periodic table were valued at the headquarters of the "Elements" journal, thus attracting the attention of the higher-ups of the Elemental Will?
(End of this chapter)