Ian knew nothing of the news from the Gray Tower.
But as he walked through the Academy, the restlessness in the air was almost visible. Everyone hurried past.
"I wonder how things are going."
Ian shook his head.
He turned toward the laboratory. Even if war broke out, the work still had to be done.
The sky was not about to fall.
He could check on the laboratory while he was there.
He arrived soon after.
The laboratory was tense, but things were much better than before. The Academy had sent word to reassure everyone.
He looked ahead.
At the center of the laboratory stood a Meditation Room, enclosed by a thick, specially made transparent barrier.
Farther away, Hayden and Finny stared intently at it. Finny activated the remote device beside him.
The elemental fluctuations inside the Meditation Room grew stronger.
Ian watched too.
Several minutes later, he shook his head. Seconds after that, the elements inside the Meditation Room gathered even more densely.
Boom!
A violent explosion tore through the Meditation Room. Amid billowing smoke, it shattered into countless fragments.
Bang, bang, bang.
Fragments struck the barrier. The alchemists outside looked disappointed; they did not even notice Ian until he reached them.
"My lord."
Hayden froze, then turned at once.
"How is it going?"
Ian merely watched the ruined Meditation Room.
"My lord, following your ideas, we designed the first Meditation Room rune array and tested it. But there are still too many problems. This explosion happened because our control of the elemental frequency was too poor, causing the elemental concentration to climb too high."
Finny came over and handed Ian the detailed data from the test.
Ian glanced at it.
He was not surprised.
Over the past few years, he had completed the first stage of the original