Dragon Root Inn, inside a large room that was temporarily outfitted as a magic lab.
"Mr. Evans, these are the two level 3 divine spells you asked for, the ‘Growing Brambles’ and the ‘Harvest Spring’," Iristine spoke in a cold tone. She handed two pieces of a dried yellow paper over to Lucien. The paper looked old but elegant.
The elf paper was made of the elven tree bark that naturally dropped to the ground. It was a specialty of the elves and the elven paper was one of the best materials for high-level magic scrolls.
The two druids were part of the Nature Rebellion Sect and they were members of the Elf’s Royal Palace. "Bumpkin" Lucien was quite surprised to see them using expensive materials as if it was nothing.
Lucien grabbed the two pieces of paper with the divine spells recorded on them and noticed that the three-dimensional imprints were complicated. It seemed like some of the imprints were broken and there was something missing. The supernatural model was unbalanced and the whole thing was a bit strange. He scrunched his eyebrows and said, "Prince Arcelion and Princess Iristine, I think the imprints of the two divine spells are incomplete. You'd better be honest if you are here to cooperate."
"Cooperate? We’re here to ruin your plan!" Iristine cursed in her mind.
"Mr. Evans, we’re druids, not mages, and our superior power is a gift from the mother nature. You’ll be able to detect the mind of nature and construct the divine spell model from your memory if you love the nature and you’re willing to protect her. We have never and will never learn to analyze and draw the imprints of the divine spells. This is the best we can do," she responded with a cold but gentle smile on face.
Arcelion was satisfied with his young sister’s explanation.
"If you want to view the complete version of the divine imprints, we can try to craft a divine power item and show you the divine spell directly. However, the mind of nature forms a barrier that will destroy the content inside as soon as you try to analyze the item. Mr. Evans, do you have the ability to keep the divine imprints safe while passing through nature’s barrier?" he added in an arrogant tone.
Arcelion was telling the truth. The magic council had confiscated many items that were infused with divine power, but they were still having trouble studying the mystery of the divine magic. One of the reasons was that most of the senior-level sorcerers could not stabilize the structures inside the divine imprints while bypassing the divine barrier.
Only the grand arcanist had such abilities, however, they realized that they would have to rely on the mysterious power after eliminating the divine barrier and studying the structures of the divine imprints. The mysterious power had not yet been studied and analyzed, that was why the druids’ spells were so important during the procedure.
Lucien had a level nine divine item, Sun’s Corona, however, the only way to activate its divine spell was by using the mentality mark left by Maskelyne and he had never found a way to analyze the divine item’s divine imprints. He noticed that the two druids were not willing to cooperate and spoke in a tone that was usually used by the crazed alchemists, "Alright, I will try to analyze part of the imprints with Mr. Tyrel and Mr. Urine."
"There’ll be no point for us to stay here if Mr. Evans already has the plan in mind. We’ll go check the land research team and the other research teams’ situations. We need the information for our future experiment." Although Arcelion was an arrogant man from the royal palace, he had some talent on finding himself ridiculous excuses.
Lucien pushed his wire-rimmed glasses slightly. "That’s impossible. You need to cast the divine spells while we’re doing the analysis, as we need to observe and learn the spells with our own eyes. Otherwise, we won’t be able to complete the procedure. You’re here to help us, right?"
Arcelion and Iristine could not reveal their true intention before the druid elders from the Elf’s Royal Palace and the Nature Rebellion Sect gave them the next order. They were here to ruin Lucien’s plan, however, they did not want to give the magic council the excuse to arrest them. Also, the Elf’s Royal Palace would not want to be put in the wrong just for such a boring reason.
The two druids looked a bit disappointed, but they still responded, "Yes, we’re here to help you, but there’ll be nothing we can do when you’re analyzing the spells. Do you want us to just sit here and watch?"
"Well, you can take a nap, prey to the mind of nature, have a short conversation, or read the books I brought here. Anyway, you need to stay here so we can find you when we need assistance." Lucien tried to imitate the expression of an arcanist that focused only on his experiments. "If you really need something to do while waiting, I have some basic math problems. What do you say?"
The math problems were designed to help Annick and Sprint train their minds.
Arcelion and Iristine looked at the thick pile of paper in Lucien’s hand for a moment. The complicated numbers and formulas on the paper were like a curse to them, as the druids learned from the mind of nature and thus the numbers would give them headaches.
"Mr. Elemental Order is a true gentleman when we’re not discussing the arcane power and the meat dishes. He’s humorous, handsome, knowledgeable, and polite. Also, he’s artistic and calm, the man is more attractive than most of the male elves. However, the gentleman will become a greedy devil if there are arcane power and a meat dish, a devil that is hated by everyone!" Iristine sighed with mixed emotions, her first impression of Lucien was good, however, the man’s different standards of treating different things were making things worse.
Tyrel looked at the complicated divine imprints as Iristine and Arcelion sat down in the corner of the lab with the elf guards, and he quickly communicated with Lucien using the Messaging Spell, "Those models give me headaches. I’m counting on you!"
The short-ranged messaging spell was categorized as the second circle, however, it became an apprentice-level spell after being improved by many arcanists. It could deliver the message to the target within dez meters using a special energy.
Urine’s voice echoed in Lucien’s ears at the same time with the help of the Messaging Spell, he was also not happy with the physics and the mathematics involved in the analysis of the divine spell.
The two combat maniacs started looking at the divine imprints after sending messages to Lucien, and although it looked like they were writing with the quills, they were just drawing the beautiful winter scenes.
"Well, it seems like I’ll be the only one working." Lucien lost all the hope for the arcane research team. He took out a pile of white paper and started to solve the basic physics and mathematical problems given to him by Ravendi.
Lucien had never put too much time into the high-level mathematics so it was a great opportunity for him to learn from Ravendi. The magic council was studying the complex variables functions and it was the subject people studied during the middle part of the 19th century on Earth, but still such functions already exceeded the abilities of most people.
Besides the sealed books in his spirit library, Lucien only knew a little more than the magic council about the mathematics, such as linear algebra, the axiomatic system, and the mathematical conjectures with no answers.
The application of mathematics in this world showed the spirit of exploratory practice and magic application. That was the reason why they did not spend too much time on studying the mathematical conjectures and number theory. Lucien planned to write all the famous mathematical conjectures and publish them after he was promoted in the magic council, so the arcanists in this world could take their time and enjoy the mathematical problems.
Iristine and Arcelion looked at Lucien’s handsome face and felt satisfied while watching the young man moving the quill with a serious expression on his face. "No matter how smart you are, it’s impossible for you to finish the analysis procedure in a short duration without the complete version of the divine imprints."
The two druids were happy that their plan worked. They hated to waste their precious time here but they liked watching Lucien suffer.
Time passed, and Lucien suddenly opened his mouth, "Prince Arcelion, please cast the Growing Brambles."
Arcelion’s expression turned serious and he quickly cast the level three divine spell, creating green brambles that looked like barbed wires, which covered the laboratory’s floor. The glinting brambles could probably break the defense of a knight easily.
"Good, that’s what I need." Lucien nodded with a blank expression on his face. He turned around and started solving the problems again.
Several minutes later, Lucien’s emotionless voice echoed in the room again.
"Princess Iristine, please cast the Harvest Spring."
"Sure."
The divine wave was released in the room again.
"Prince Arcelion, please cast the Harvest Spring."
"Princess Iristine, please cast the Growing Brambles again."
The divine waves were released again and again after Lucien requested.
"Mr. Evans, how’s your analysis? It’s lunchtime. Did you learn anything about the divine spells?" Arcelion stood up and asked, sounding tired. Although they used their fatigue as excuses, they could still cast the divine spells dozens of times before lunchtime.
Lucien grabbed the white paper and responded in a serious tone, "Sorry, the divine imprints are incomplete, and my analysis is not progressing well."
Arcelion and Iristine were cheering in mind but they still forced a smile on face. "It’s fine, Mr. Evans. The first step is the hardest, take your time."
"Sure, let’s have lunch, then." Lucien was trying his best to keep the blank expression on his face. He had already solved a whole paper of problems and it was the perfect time for some tasty dishes.
Tyrel and Urine were almost dozing off but they jumped out of the room like rabbits after hearing about lunch.
"Wait, Mr. Evans, please return the two pieces of elven paper to us. We believe that you already memorized the divine imprints." Iristine would never let this sorcerer have their precious materials.
Lucien looked a bit disappointed after hearing her request.
Three days later, Iristine and Arcelion were forced to stay in the laboratory upon Lucien’s request, however, they heard that the other research teams already started doing experiments on the land. They were getting suspicious and decided to talk to Lucien.
The man’s analysis still hadn't progressed anything. It seemed like he was just messing with the prince and the princess.