Chapter 214: The Youngest in History
Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion
Facing Raventi’s spittle, Morris leaned back a bit and hurriedly said, "Calm down, Raventi, calm down. This isn’t what I mean. What I’m trying to say is that the discovery of the periodic table of elements can definitely show Lucien’s talent and his unique way of thinking, but it cannot reveal Lucien’s knowledge of arcana. His arcana level cannot qualify him to become the winner of Holm Crown prize."
Facing Raventi, whose arcana level was even higher than himself, Morris was a bit under pressure. He knew that if he had not come from the royal family and specialized in the school of Elements, Raventi would most likely be the president of the Will of Elements.
Raventi’s bad temper, although he was a level nine arcanist, ninth circle sorcerer, definitely had prevented him from becoming a member of the highest council, and comparatively speaking, although Lord of Storm was also known for being easily irritable, Mr. Fernando’s great academic competence could shut up the mouth of anyone who did not like him.
Some senior arcanists present moved on their seats a bit, as they all had been in the same position before like Morris, having Raventi’s spittle dropping on their faces.
As long as Raventi believed in something, no matter who he was facing, of high or low status, he would speak for what he believed in very directly. There was rumour saying that Raventi and Lord of Storm once shouted at each other furiously face to face because of an academic question, but unfortunately, Raventi was defeated in the end, and Lord of Storm gave him a really hard time.
Nevertheless, Raventi never changed his temper, "Come on, Morris, don’t be cheap! You know well enough what’s the purpose of setting up Holm Crown prize—to honour sorcerers who’ve made great contribution to the development of the school of Element and whose contribution should be remembered by history. Then, dare you tell me again that you don’t think Evans is qualified?! And if you think he’s not, what about Ms. Meredith?! Do you think she was not qualified as well?!"
Morris was a bit embarra.s.sed, as the true reason for him being this uncooperative was directly revealed by Raventi in front of many people—he felt reluctant to use those precious materials to make another Holm Crown Ring, a level seven magic item.
"Yeah… I hear you…" Facing Raventi’s roaring, Morris hurriedly covered his face with his hands, "I mean… all the previous winners of Holm Crown prize have discovered some epoch-making research methods, theories or outcomes, but the periodic table of elements is more like something… you know, drawn from existing findings."
Before the scenario got worse, and before Raventi continued his snarl, Gaston slightly coughed and said, "Mr. Morris, we’ve seen your point, and I believe that you can see the great value in the periodic table. If we take a look at the previous prize winners, we know that Ms. Meredith won the prize because she introduced electrolysis and thus she found a new element, and Mr. Donald, who’s not in Allyn right now, introduced us spectrum a.n.a.lysis and thus he found a new element. As Lucien’s periodic table’s also led to the discovery of two new elements, honestly speaking, I cannot see any reasons why Lucien Evans should not be awarded with the Holm Crown prize. By the way, Ms. Meredith was also a level one arcanist when she first won the prize."
Morris was speechless. When he looked around and tried to seek support, no one stood out for him. Florencia, from Affairs Committee, who was supposed to be Morris’ ally, nodded her head decidedly.
"Alright then…" Morris leaned back against his chair, "I agree then. Let’s vote."
Raventi looked around and saw most arcanists raised their hands, except several from Holm Royal Magic Academy.
"Well…" Morris slightly lifted his eyebrow on one side, "The decision has been adopted: The Will of Elements and Holm Royal Magic Academy will honor Mr. Lucien Evans with Holm Crown prize. Then… let’s talk about the name of the ring for Mr. Evans, and what magic the ring should be permanently enchanted with as the gift for the prize winner. As for the design of the ring… Florencia, I know you’re good at it."
Florencia was a blond beauty. She took a glance at Morris, "Yes, I am, and I’m also more than willing to be the designer, but my dear teacher, I know you just don’t want to pay a professional jewelry designer."
Florencia was right now a level six arcanist, eight circle sorcerer, who specialized in Element, Summoning, Electromagnetics and Force, and she was also especially interested in curse magic. In terms of her achievement, Florencia was actually pretty "young", as she was no more than seventy. She became Morris’s student after Morris upgraded to ninth circle, and Florencia also turned herself into a senior-rank sorcerer within only thirty years. She was right now the member of Affairs Committee and Holm Royal Magic Academy.
"..." Morris looked serious, "As the president of the Will of Element and Holm Royal Magic Academy, I have the responsibility to watch our budget."
"I hear you, my teacher." Florencia grinned, "Then what should be the name of Evans’ ring? What about… Periodicity?"
Gaston looked at Florencia with his weird-colored eyes, "Not clear or unique enough to the school of Element."
"Foresight?" suggested LockLynn.
"It’s more like a name for Silver Moon Medal prize, Lynn, and I think Law is not bad," said Lydia, another female member from Arcana Review Board, who looked quite gorgeous with her succubus blood.
"No. It doesn’t have anything to do with elements." Florencia shook her head.
The several ladies present were almost arguing, and the male sorcerers started feeling a bit awkward. They looked at Raventi, hoping that he could come up with an excellent name.
However, Raventi was not interested in naming the ring at all. Despite the fact that he did have bad temper, he usually did not interrupt ladies’ talk.
At this time, Morris stood straight and looked more serious. After a few seconds, Morris knocked at the desk and said to all the sorcerers present, "Her Excellency, Ms. Hathaway, just told me that the ring should be named Element, as Lucien’s finding covers all the elements."
As a lady, Hathaway was also interested in naming the ring.
Those senior-rank arcanists had to admit that this was the right name, but they also felt that this name might be too much for Evans, as even Constantine and Hathaway did not earn the name, Element, when they were awarded with this prize.
However, as this was a suggestion from Hathaway herself, there seemed to be no reason for anyone to say no to the name.
So Raventi hurriedly concluded, "Then Element should be the name of the ring. Morris, you decide which magic should be given to the ring."
There was no more time for the ladies to discuss.
Morris was not only a master in the school of Element, but also in Alchemy.
"And there’s one more thing." Florencia added, "Lucien’s a level four arcanist now, so, technically speaking, he’s already a middle-rank sorcerer. So I’m feeling concerned that someone might use this as an excuse to give him tasks through Affair Committee. I mean, although this is not very likely to happen, since Lucien’s under our protection now, we shall leave no chances to our enemies."
Gaston crossed his fingers and nodded, "Lucien’s only a middle-rank arcanist, not a middle-rank sorcerer. We should be firm that Lucien could only accept tasks related to researches, but not fighting or adventuring. Florencia, I want you to give Evans an easy research task first to keep him occupied. However, I also want to make sure that we’re doing this because Evans is willing to join the Will of Elements."
Florencia nodded and smiled. Then she asked, "Then is here anyone who’s willing to be Evans’ mentor?"
Most of the arcanists present shook their heads immediately. How dare they be the teacher of a Holm Crown prize winner when they themselves were not even close to the prize?
Since Holm Crown prize had been set up, a total of twenty five rings were given out. Among the twenty five rings, six belonged to the grand arcanists and legendary archmages from the highest council, and among the rest of the nineteen winners, eight died because of all kinds of reasons in the past two hundred seventy years; three never went any further with their researches; one was so dedicated to the studies that the person refused to join any group. Donald, Morris, Raventi, Gaston and another three arcanists were the rest of the seven people. Now, except for Donald and Morris, the former being a member of the highest council and the latter one of the presidents of the Will of Element and a chairman to Holm Royal Magic Academy, the rest of them were all members of Arcana Review Board.
Therefore, a winner of Holm Crown prize might still not be able to join Arcana Review Board, but anyone who specialized in the school of Element and joined Arcana Review Board must have the ring from Holm Crown prize.
Gaston gently rubbed the blue-diamond ring on his left hand and said, "Evans’ still young, and he’s got a long way to go. Although I do appreciate his talent and way of thinking, I still want to wait a bit more to see how everything goes with him before making this decision."
Gaston worried that Lucien’s achievement might just be a flash in the pan.
"I agree." Raventi nodded, "You gotta be careful with arranging the task for Evans, Florencia. And I’ll pay close attention to him as well."
"Then… Congratulations to the youngest Holm Crown prize winner in history! A young man who’s not even twenty-one!" Morris stood up and started applauding first, "Now I gotta leave to work on making the ring. The warehouses of the Will of Elements and Holm Royal Magic Academy are gonna suffer a great loss because of it."
Actually, Lucien was not even nineteen.
...
Because of Lucien’s paper, the annual conference turned out to be much longer than it was planned to be. Five days later, on Sat.u.r.day evening, Raventi finally declared the closing of the conference.
"I believe that what happened and what was presented by a young man during this annual meeting is definitely unforgettable to everyone who partic.i.p.ated in this conference in person. So, the Will of Elements and Holm Royal Magic Academy have made a decision: we’ve decided to award Mr. Lucien Evans with Holm Crown prize in order to honour his great contribution to the school of Element! Please come over to the stage, Evans!"
Although they knew that this would happen sooner or later, Larry and Timothy were still quite surprised with how fast the two groups made the decision.
Lucien stood up, and warm applause surrounded him.
When Lazar watched his good friend walking toward the stage confidently and calmly, he felt that the recent two months were like a dream. He could not believe that the young man standing on the stage right now was the same person who was strange to everything when he just arrived in Allyn a bit more than two months ago.
Raventi nodded, and then he said, "Now, we’re honored to have Mr. Morris Hoffenberg, the president of the Will of Element and Holm Royal Magic Academy, to present Evans with the award."
The arcanists did not expect that the president would come, and now they were all looking at Morris.
Leading the senior-rank sorcerers from the Will of Element and Holm Royal Magic Academy, Morris then walked onto the stage himself and stood beside Lucien, smiling, "Congratulations, Evans. Before I present the award to you, I’d like to know how do you feel right now. Can you share it with us?"
The arcanists started applauding warmly again. Lucien first looked at the arcanists down the stage, then he lowered his head, smiling.
When he looked up again, Lucien started his speech seriously, "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."