Throne of Magical Arcana

“It has been three years since the Debate War between Wave and Particle was launched again after Mr. Douglas’s light speed experiment posed strong doubt against the existence of Ether and reached its climax by Mr. Evans’s light quantum hypothesis, and it shows no sign of calming down. Thus, it has officially become the third War between Wave and Particle in history.

“When we look back at the previous two rounds of confrontation, Mr. Brook and his team have come close to completely defeating the particle theory. In the past a few years, supporters of the particle theory relied themselves on the last piece of straw, constantly telling themselves that the existence of Ether had not been confirmed, to prevent their own cognitive world from collapsing. However, the particle theory has recently picked up its momentum again using the light speed experiment and the light quantum hypothesis, even launching a new round of attack against the wave theory. The light speed experiment and the photoelectric effect have become two heavy burdens on those wave theory supporters’ mind, yet so far they could not find a proper answer to them.”

Lark briefly introduced the history of the War between Wave and Particle, which made the young Blake feel the blood pulsing through his veins. Holding his fists, Blake wished that he could punch in the faces of the few sorcerers who were still being stubborn. Meanwhile, he vaguely heard some nasty comments made by other sorcerers coming from the open window. Obviously, in this place, not a single particle theory supporter could be found.

“After three years of brewing, the war is perhaps reaching its final stage. His Excellency Mr. Brook and Mr. Lauren have both completed the improvement of the magic circles and are now ready to conduct an accurate photoelectric effect experiment. If the data and images obtained can prove that the light quantum hypothesis is wrong, then the particle theory has to retreat back to its previous status again, using only the light speed experiment to sustain its last breath.”

“This is going to be one of the most meaningful experiments in the history of the Congress, and the result of the experiment will direct us further into the truth of the world and tell us where to make our next step. Today, with our guest arcanists from the Congress, we are going to exchange some of our ideas and attitudes on this…” Lark’s crispy and passionate voice turned to the invited guests present. “Good to have you all here. I’m Lark, the host of Allyn’s Past Week.”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Miss Lark. You’re as beautiful as your voice.” said a male voice a bit excitedly.

The rest of the male arcanists sounded a bit shy and greeted Lark in a dull tone.

“Nice to meet you, Lark. I’m a fan of Allyn’s Past Week, and you’re even more beautiful than we thought,” said a female voice, on behalf of the rest of the guests.

Lark responded in her sweet voice. “Thank you all very much for your support. So, ladies and gentlemen, how do you think of the following experimentation on light quantum which is about to be carried out by Mr. Brook and Mr. Lauren?”

“Well, we’ve been waiting for this for so long, you know… Ever since Mr. Evans put forward his hypothesis, we’ve been waiting for someone to step out and prove that the hypothesis is wrong, as we’re not capable of doing so ourselves before reaching senior-rank. It has been three years, and the day will finally come, the day that we can refute this absurd hypothesis righteously. I believe that Mr. Brook and Mr. Lauren will give us an accurate and convincing result,” said the loud male voice, who seemed to be quite talkative.

“I’m very delighted to see that the magic circles have been improved. I’ve been fed up with those who keep talking about their particle theory.”

“The results will prove the wave theory.”

The male arcanists answered one by one.

“Although I personally think highly of Mr. Evans, and I’m very impressed with his great achievements, as well as the fact that he has won the four highest honors before reaching senior-rank, I don’t think his hypothesis is correct. I mean… even Mr. Evans can make mistakes. And I do feel that the rare mistake made by Mr. Evans has made him more approachable…” The soft female voice seemed to want to continue but was cut off by her companions.

Hearing their answers, Lark further asked, “it seems that no one believes that the experimentation result will favor the light quantum hypothesis. Does the wave theory of light really have such a solid foundation? It has been three years, and no other theories except Mr. Evans’s hypothesis could explain the photoelectric effect. So far the light quantum hypothesis has conformed with all the results yielded by those less inaccurate experiments, and one of Mr. Evans’s prediction has even been proved correct. Are you really so sure that the result will prove the light quantum hypothesis wrong?”

“Absolutely.”

“Yes, for sure.”

“Without a doubt.”

…

The arcanists all answered affirmatively, but somehow there was a bit of uncertainty emerging in their voice.

Blake loosened his grip and started putting more thoughts into it. What Lark just said was true. Yes, it had been three years, yet no other theories but Mr. Evans’s hypothesis could explain the photoelectric effect. All the experiment results were saying that Evans’s hypothesis was correct. And meanwhile, several attempts aiming at explaining light speed experiment had failed. The existence of Ether had become a question.

Was the wave theory of light completely correct?

Would the experiment’s result overthrow the light quantum hypothesis? Or the opposite?

…

A slightly dry and wrinkled hand pressed the button on the radio and turned it off when the signal had been replaced by the noise of electric currents.

Barek turned around and saw his teacher, Brook, staring ahead at the distorted magnetic fields and flashing electric arcs outside of the window, his hands folded back in the manner and air of a dominator. Carefully taking in a breath, Barek asked, “Sir, did you listen to Allyn’s Past Week?”

“Yes, I did,” answered Brook, who wore a wig and looked like an elegant but old-school gentleman. “The programmes are interesting. As usual, Evans makes good achievement in every field which he would like to put efforts in. But I’m not very used to his humor and the new words that he created.”

“It’s becoming a new trend. Using the new words has been popular among younger sorcerers in Allyn, Rentato, Cooks, and even in the Solar Islands. It seems to have already become a trend, and whoever not joining in is falling behind,” said Barek, and then, looking more serious, he asked hesitantly, “so Sir… You must have listened to the interview done by Lark, right?”

“So?” Brook turned around and looked at his student.

Barek tried to be brave. “… I’m worried… about the experiment result.”

“Make your point,” said Brook calmly. When it came to arcana, he preferred to be straightforward.

Barek weighed his words, and said, “I’ve done a couple of experiments before, and all the results favor the light quantum hypothesis, which now seems to be the only explanation for the photoelectric effect. I’m afraid that the accurate experiment result might not be on the side of the wave theory. So, Sir… I hope that when you conduct the experiment, you can put aside your beliefs. The wave theory still has its chance… we still have the diffraction image and a whole set of theory…”

Brook’s jade-like eyes behind the gold-rimmed glasses looked at Barek attentively. Finally, when Barek started sweating a bit, Brook looked away at the window again. It seemed that his green eyes could see through his demiplane and see the dark evening of Allyn in early spring.

“It’s going to rain.” Murmured Brook.

…

In the headquarter in Allyn, on the thirty-first floor, which was a section specially for the Sky radio station.

During midnight, Truth of the World had come to the end. Arcana Voice had ended earlier, so no the entire floor was very quiet.

After drinking a tube of potion for throat protection, Samantha, who used the name Lark in the radio, walked out of the lounge in a good mood and was ready to go home.

As soon as she walked out, she saw that Lucien Evans was greeting the rest of the arcanists working for Truth of the World. She kept her serious and indifferent look, but asked curiosly in her silvery voice,

“Evans, why are you still here?”

It was very late. Ever since the two programmes started running smoothly, Lucien had never come here during midnight. What was going on tonight? Was it because of Mr. Brook and Lauren’s experiment?

“Just finished some experiments in the institution. I know you all are still here, so I decided to drop by.” said Lucien briefly.

“Experiments? On the photoelectric effect?” Samantha got even more curious.

Lucien shook his head. “No, Mr. Fernando’s experiment inspired me, and I was using helium atomic beams to bombard some gases to see what I could find. Also, I used electron currents to bombard gold foil.”

“You’re being too honest, you know? I might steal your idea.” Samantha slightly lifted her brow.

Lucien smiled. “This isn’t something fun. I had to sit there staring at the flashing light spots for a long time to seek for the traces, never knowing when I can find something, if there’s any.”

“Umm… I feel that your honesty comes from the fact that you’ve already found something.” Samantha revealed a small smile.

Lucien shook his head again and laughed. “You just simply don’t take my words. By the way, the programmes have been very successful. You and Louise have become the lady in the young arcanists’ dream. The only thing is that staying up late all the time isn’t something good.”

“It doesn’t matter to me. I’m an astrologer, and I’m very used to staying up late watching the stars. Now the programmes are recorded at night, so they can be aired on the next morning…” said Samantha, who was silent for a while as she saw the six-circle badge on Lucien’s chest. “… It’s late. We can go and grab a bit, so you can better carry on your experiment.”

Lucien answered, “thank you, but I need to head back now. When my magic tower is ready, I’ll invite you all to come for dinner to thank you for the great effort running the programmes.”

Lucien then turned around and left. When his figure disappeared around the corner, Samantha released a light sigh.

Coming back to the institution, Lucien walked back to the lab, turned on the magic circles beside the alchemical viewer to continue with the experiment, and recorded the data.

Beside his right hand on the operation desk, there was a pile of papers left in the corner. The papers were mostly covered under the other assorted stuff on the desk. But at the bottom, one sentence could vaguely be seen,

“Above are the accurate data record of the photoelectric effect experiment and its image.”