novelraw Chapter 140: Kasiu's Silver Mirror
Chapter 140: Kasiu's Silver Mirror
The quiet ticking of a pendulum echoed through the massive conference room. Because Saint-Nazareth University had arranged banquets of varying scales every evening after the conclusion of the conference, their family members were currently waiting in the banquet hall below for the meeting above to end.
Jasmine sat beside Fisher, opening her notebook with a soft "heave-ho." She then glanced at both sides. The Anti-Magic Scholars across from them were rubbing their palms together, clearly having plotted this for a long time. Looking back at Fisher's side, apart from him and herself, there were only two teachers from the Magic Academy: Roger and Serena.
Because the theory had been proposed by Fisher, the two professors had only come to maintain the facade for Saint-Nazareth University and prevent the situation from turning into a multi-versus-one scenario.
Seeing Professor Fisher's calm expression, Jasmine also lightly patted her own cheeks, trying to make her expression as calm as his, striving not to lose out to the others in terms of imposing presence.
As a result of the pat being a bit loud, Fisher, Roger, and the others all looked over at the same time. They were unsure if this student was having a spasm or what, wondering why she had suddenly slapped her own face.
This was great. She hadn't had her defenses broken by the Schwari scholars, but was instead made shy by the gazes of the professors from her own side. Jasmine's face reddened a little, and she lowered her head, looking as if she were afraid they would ask her questions.
Fortunately, Professor Fisher seemed to have gotten used to it. He ignored Jasmine, who was making silly movements in place, and instead spread open his own notes, preparing for the upcoming debate with them.
In fact, strictly speaking, academic forums did not have rigid formats. Basically, everyone spoke their minds, and it could also be treated as a conversation. However, since Schwari had many people this time, while Fisher was the only one on his side, to prevent the debate from becoming chaotic, Chancellor Kaine at the front and Prince Lausanne sitting nearby took charge of maintaining order.
The Schwari scholars needed to raise their arguments one by one, and then Fisher would provide answers.
The debates in this kind of academic forum didn't actually require convincing the Schwari scholars. Regardless of whether they were convinced, Fisher only needed to provide answers and explanations. Then, he would wait for the nearby meeting recorders to document the conversation and pass it on to the people from all walks of life waiting for the results outside."The conference officially begins."
Kaine coughed lightly, signaling the nearby recorders with his eyes. There were two recorders over there: one from Schwari and one from Naris. Each used a different language to document the contents of the meeting.
"Schwari Scholars faction, point one."
As Kaine looked toward the Schwari scholars, a scholar on the left stood up. He adjusted the monocle clipped over his eye socket and looked at Fisher ahead of him as he spoke.
"The proof method provided in Fisher's thesis chose a common magic with the so-called 'soul' as its Circle Head to prove the existence of the soul. After undergoing experiments from our side, I believe, is there a possibility that the Circle Head of Mr. Fisher's magic is not actually the soul, but points to the 'Mana Circuit'?"
Kaine looked in Fisher's direction again. After waiting for that scholar to sit down, Fisher stood up and tore a page from the notebook in his hand.
"Alright, then let us change the magic we use for our proof. First, change the Circle Head from [Soul] to [Source]. Then, write the structure of the Main Ring as [Magic Power] plus [Object Designation]..."
Gripping his pen, Fisher superimposed the structure of the Main Ring using a peculiar linking method. This way, other sources of magic power could be excluded, thereby locking the source of the Circle Head onto a single person. This method could not have been written if one followed human habits for constructing magic. Fisher had gotten the inspiration for this method from the demons' magic.
Disrupting the original orderly structure into disorder actually helped him lock onto the magic power source of a single object from the complex world.
Although this writing method was of no great use ordinarily, it was somewhat usable in a special situation like proving a theory. Because the Main Ring was completely occupied by the object-locking effect, adding extra effects would make the Main Ring extremely, extremely bloated. Not only would it use an enormous amount of magic power, but the effect would also be garbage.
After writing out this magic, Fisher handed the paper to the scholar who had asked the question. Once the scholar took it, just as he illuminated the magic crest, he found that the Mana Circuits throughout his entire body had lit up.
"Although there are no magics with [Mana Circuit] as the Circle Head, such a magic can be simulated using the method of locking on after exclusion. You can see that the sensation is completely different from the soul magic I designed. Soul magic points to another object hidden within the body, which encompasses the Mana Circuit while simultaneously possessing other objects."
Frowning, that scholar pondered while bowing to Fisher, then sat down.
Kaine stroked his elegant beard and then tapped the small bell beside him. The recorder next to him walked over to the scholar from just now and quickly documented the magic crest Fisher had written.
"Schwari Scholars faction, point two."
Kaine spoke again. This time, another scholar stood up.
Jasmine watched from the side as Professor Fisher debated with that scholar with a calm expression. He intermittently raised questions regarding logical loopholes the other party proposed, slowly leading the stubborn Anti-Magic Scholars from Schwari onto his own train of thought.
The Schwari scholars who hadn't stood up whispered amongst themselves, seemingly exchanging opinions and arguments while concurrently discussing the feasibility of Fisher's verification logic. But after a long time, as long as Fisher's proof method could not be disproved by a counterexample, he could refute all the other arguments.
"Then please answer, Mr. Fisher, how should the decrease in average age caused after learning magic be explained?"
"The age decrease does not conflict with magic power originating from the soul. I even conjecture that the lifespan decrease is, to a certain extent, related to the soul."
"On what grounds do you say that the soul is connected to the lifespan decrease of the physical body?"
"I can't prove it right now. It might be proven by me or other excellent scholars in future research. But let me remind you: you have deviated from the topic of our debate. Please provide evidence that magic power does not originate from the soul."
"..."
As that scholar was debated into sitting down, the whispering from the Schwari faction grew heavier. Kaine stroked his beard and continued tapping the bell.
"Schwari Scholars faction, point twelve. Is there anyone else?"
They were still chatting among themselves for the moment. Jasmine looked at Fisher, who sat beside her looking calm and composed, with sparkling eyes. For a moment, she felt that Professor Fisher was incredibly amazing; so many scholars debating with him still couldn't win.
As she kept watching Fisher, Fisher suddenly turned his head to look at her. Not reacting in time, she happened to meet his gaze. Frightened, she turned her head back toward her books. Yet, she couldn't resist sneaking another peek at Professor Fisher afterward. This behavior of fleeing and then peeking was truly like a not-too-smart little animal.
Prince Lausanne glanced at the scholars on his side, who were gradually misfiring and going silent. He didn't show any other expression; instead, he cast a rather appreciative look in Fisher's direction.
Meanwhile, Roger and Serena were over there discussing what to eat tonight.
"If that's the case, we will pause the meeting proceedings for now and resume in the afternoon..."
Kaine had just taken off his glasses, intending to temporarily suspend the meeting and wait for the Schwari scholars to reorganize themselves before continuing.
Before he could finish his sentence, however, a frail old man in the opposing Schwari scholar group suddenly raised his hand. He looked at Fisher across the table and said,
"Mr. Fisher, according to your theory, the source of releasing magic is the Mana Circuit located on the soul, correct?"
"Correct."
"Then, if there is an inanimate object capable of releasing magic, how should that be explained?"
"An inanimate object? Do you mean an item that engraves magic on the spot?"
Fisher frowned and asked.
The old man nodded. He slowly stood up, looked at the surrounding scholars and the prince, and bowed as he spoke.
"Before coming to Naris, we went to Kadu's Holy Church in the name of the Schwari royal family to procure a sacred [Relic] from there. Everyone is clear that relics are inanimate objects made from various magical materials, yet this relic can engrave magic in front of people... Everyone, please follow us to the place where that relic is kept to find out the truth."
So the item they had procured from Kadu was actually a relic capable of releasing magic?
If that relic truly was an inanimate object, exactly how did it release magic?
Fisher glanced at Prince Lausanne beside him, only to see him smiling back with a knowing expression, as if he had expected this all along.
Kaine looked around and similarly stood up.
"In that case, let us all go and take a look."
"Please, this way."
The people in the conference room followed the Schwari scholars leading the way. They left the room, pushed open the doors, and walked out of the quiet corridor at the entrance. On both sides, many attendants stood with their heads lowered. Faint voices drifted up from the banquet hall below—the family members of the Schwari scholars.
Fisher looked outside the window. The sunlight beyond the glass was bright, yet he couldn't shake the feeling that the sky outside was somewhat gloomy. Ahead, an attendant with long brown hair stood with her head bowed, waiting for the crowd to move its steps.
Prince Lausanne, however, noticed Caro standing by the side of the path. His gaze fell upon the fair neck revealed by the young girl, and for a long while, he made no other movements.
So she was an attendant here?
Seeming to notice someone's gaze, Caro gently raised her head, only to lock eyes with Lausanne, who was looking at her with some curiosity. Caro was momentarily stunned before hurriedly lowering her head again.
Only after Prince Lausanne had walked past her for a long time did she slowly raise her head to look at his robust back.
"It is right here."
Everyone halted their steps in front of a room. The Schwari scholars opened the door, revealing the small box covered by black silk inside the room. Beside it stood four quiet Kadu priests, seemingly watching over this device.
"Please display the relic from Kadu's Holy Church to everyone."
The Kadu individuals nodded. They slowly removed the black silk covering the box and then unlocked the box's combination lock. A faint trace of church incense immediately wafted out from inside.
Under everyone's gazes, a small piece of archaic mirror stood quietly on the stand. The mirror surface was like a lake sitting beneath the moonlight; as the light seeped in, it quickly rippled with layers of waves.
"Everyone, this is the holy relic we procured from the Kadu Church, named [Kasiu's Silver Mirror]. It can randomly engrave a magic ranging from one to eight rings for the user, and no price needs to be paid..."
As he spoke, the scholar looked rather smugly at Fisher behind him, who was examining this silver mirror, and said,
"May I ask, Mr. Fisher, if according to your theory, how should this phenomenon be explained?"