Chapter 184: Becoming Famous |
“I submitted my application to go to the Northern Society a long time ago. It’s just that I’ve been staying in the Antir Region recently, so I haven’t been paying attention to what’s been happening outside...”
After Fran explained, Dorian nodded, scratched his head, and pulled out a rolled-up sheet of paper from his backpack.
Fran raised an eyebrow, recognizing it at once as a newspaper.
Back when she had been in the City of Apprentices, newspapers had not been circulated there. As for the reason, she had no idea.
But in other parts of the Alliance, newspapers were published in some of the larger cities, and people from the surrounding cities could also buy a copy there.
Some of those newspapers were even distributed across the entire Alliance. Through magical means, they could verify the content issued each day, ensuring that the information remained basically identical wherever that paper was published.
Dorian spread the newspaper open, turned it around, and handed it to Fran.
The moment she took it, she immediately saw the title of the paper, The Roden Weekly, and continued reading downward.
The newspaper had been published about half a month ago, around the time she had just entered the Antir Region.
【We Have Already Completed Half a Miracle — A Method for the Perpetual Conversion of Fire Element into Wind Element Has Been Published at the Northern Society, Which Permits the Participation of All Schools】
When Fran read the headline, all she could think was that it sounded impressive despite being hard to understand.
She had never studied elemental knowledge in any real depth and did not know what made this so extraordinary.
So she kept reading.
【Keith Carter, the former First Seat of the Elemental School, once said the following: The legendary spell Elemental Storm is a miracle belonging to the Goddess of Magic. Its principle lies in draining the environment of all elements other than the four elemental forces, then allowing the four elemental forces to transform into one another within it, thus forming a cycle.
Within that cycle, everything touched by the four elemental forces will be destroyed by the might of magic, reduced into pure mana, and used as the driving force to continue the cycle.
But it is only a miracle bestowed by the Goddess of Magic upon the Elemental School. Only the First Seat of the Elemental School, granted permission by the goddess, may cast that legendary spell.
If what Keith Carter said was correct, then our current achievement has already reached half of that miracle.
Previously, methods already existed for converting water element into various other elements. And between those methods and the newly published one, there is one shared point that directly contradicts what Keith Carter claimed.
Keith Carter also once asserted that only divinely granted mental power of immense magnitude could create a cycle among the four elemental forces.
Yet the new method we mortals have discovered bypasses that entirely. The very existence of this method proves that such an exaggerated level of mental power is not the only way to make the four elemental forces form a cycle.
Mortals have found a way to reproduce a miracle. That is why I say we have already completed half a miracle.
.......】
“Hey, what do you think? Seeing something this huge is exciting, right? ... That’s Elemental Storm we’re talking about! One of the Alliance’s few legendary spells!”
Dorian was so excited that it looked as though the new method described in the paper had been invented by him. He waved his hands around as he explained it to Fran.
Fran could understand why Dorian was so worked up. If it were her, hearing that a method for analyzing a legendary spell had been published would make her want to go take a look too.
“That’s the other reason I came to the Northern Society. This paper was published there, and after searching all over Highland Province, I could only find the first half, so I had no choice but to come to the Northern Society and find the full paper.”
Dorian continued explaining why he had come to the Northern Society. He seemed to enjoy sharing his excitement with Fran.
“It was this very paper that shook the entire Alliance. Back when I was in Highland Province, there were already plenty of mages packing their things and preparing to head for the Northern Society.”
“Highland Province is already fairly close to the Northern Frontier. I heard that from some of the more remote provinces, it will take at least over a month for people to get here.”
As Fran listened to Dorian’s explanation, she continued reading the contents of the newspaper.
【......Elemental conversion is an advanced technique of the Elemental School, and many high-tier spells require this technique in order to be cast.
Perpetual conversion refers to a mage using a series of methods to act directly upon the current environment, causing one type of element within that environment to continuously transform into another.
Through this kind of perpetual conversion, the various elements in the environment become more active, allowing the strength of all sorts of spells to reach a new peak.
......】
“You’re reading the part about elemental conversion... If you don’t understand it, you can ask me. As a mage of the Elemental School, I’ve done a bit of research on that subject.”
Without waiting for Fran to ask, Dorian launched into an explanation on his own:
“Elemental conversion can be applied in any elemental spell. If you convert water element into fire element, then the fire-element spell you cast can also carry some of the properties of water element.”
“For example, if you cast a Fireball, then after it explodes, the flames might spread over whatever it hits like a liquid...”
His explanation made Fran think of Blood of the Furnace, which her mentor Habos had given her.
Habos had also come out of the Elemental School, and Blood of the Furnace seemed to make use of exactly the kind of technique Dorian was describing.
Fran had never actually touched the red liquid produced by Blood of the Furnace after its transformation, but she did not need to.
It was obvious enough that the liquid’s temperature had to be terrifyingly high. If she really touched it, her hand would probably stop being her hand.
Fran continued reading the newspaper. After briefly covering some spell-related knowledge, the editor of the article began introducing the Northern Society.
How the society welcomed mages from all schools... how any spell there could be freely obtained so long as one published results...
At that, Fran’s face fell.
Half the article was already gone, yet it had spent all its time talking about background information and introducing the Northern Society.
And that latter portion took up an enormous amount of space, to the point that Fran could not help suspecting the article had been bought by the Northern Society as an advertisement for itself.
“So do you know what method this article is actually talking about? I’ve been reading for ages and still haven’t seen it.”
Unable to bear it any longer, Fran interrupted Dorian again and asked her own question.
“Of course. The Alliance has rules that prohibit newspapers from including too much actual spell content, so naturally you won’t be able to figure much out from what’s printed there.”
“As it happens, I read the first half of that paper, so I can explain it to you.”
“If I remember correctly, that method took a completely different path. It didn’t use a purely spell-based structure to convert wind element. Instead, it used mechanical assistance.”
And as Dorian was talking, Fran finally saw the author of the paper mentioned in the newspaper.
【This method was proposed by Habos Roines of the Forge Furnace School, a Fourth-Tier Mage who had only recently founded his own school......】
The moment she saw that line, Fran immediately knew that she had probably already become famous within the Northern Society long ago.