An Outrageous Experiment

By the time Elan recovered from his shock, Fran had already cast the spell. The law she intended to establish was the same as the one she had established in the River Valley Territory.

"Fran... you..."

Elan stared wide-eyed at the spell Fran had thrown down, hardly believing his eyes.

This spell was engraved by Fran on a specially made small white Stone Tablet, which was filled with tiny, densely packed Stone Tablet.

His hands trembled as he approached the Stone Tablet, but ultimately he didn't press his hand down, because he knew that the inscription on it might also forbid him from touching it.

He withdrew his hand and looked at Fran again. This time, his eyes no longer held the complex curiosity of inquiry, but rather a mixture of curiosity and shock.

How did Fran learn this spell? What use is this spell in the current situation?

He knew this spell was about temporarily defining some rules, and if the enemy violated them, they would be weakened.

This is the most basic use of this spell; in practice, aside from using it as a trap, no one would use it in close combat.

The effectiveness of this spell's definition rule is not static; rather, it increases with the duration of adherence.

This means that the spell is most powerful when the enemy is caught in the trap; releasing it directly is not very effective.

In practice, it's better to just use spells to attack the enemy; at least that's what Elan himself does.

Fran shook her head and sighed, knowing that Elan hadn't grasped the key point.

Although the Paper on [Self-Establishment Decree] can evoke Territory Resonance has appeared in many places, the Northern Lands Society doesn't know whether someone copied it or the original author posted it.

In any case, the Northern Lands Society didn't check what Paper other societies had in their archives, or examine any overlap with newly published Paper; no society could do that.

Getting back to the main point, Fran thought that Elan definitely hadn't read the Paper about the experiment of the [Self-Establishment Decree] in Territory Resonance.

Otherwise, once Elan had seen it, he would have immediately realized that his true purpose was to use this spell to gain Territory Resonance.

However, Fran could understand why Elan hadn't seen it; he had always stayed in the City of Apprentices.

Even though Harbos's actions opened up a path for advancement for Elan within the Law School, the Academy remained the most important academic exchange platform for researchers.

Fran was certain that Elan hadn't participated many times, since he usually had to look after the apprentices of the Forge School, and if anything happened to Harbos, it would mostly fall to Elan.

In this situation, even if an academic society allows Elan to join, Elan may not have the time to study those Paper.

After all, even with the use of the Mana Communication System, the Alliance's research institutions still require students to go to designated locations to read documents.

Few societies stayed near the City of Apprentices, so Elan had little opportunity to expand the various cutting-edge researches of the Law School.

Therefore, Fran had to explain the details of the Paper to Elan, emphasizing that she had read it at the Northern Lands Society.

"So, that Paper contains the spell model and casting method for this spell?"

"Yes."

Elan's expression was quite strange. Although he had learned about the Northern Lands Society later and knew that this academy was rather special, he was still quite surprised that there was actually a case of someone learning spells from other School.

He shook his head, then said:

"Then what does this have to do with you coming here? This spell only resonated with the territory..."

Elan said it subconsciously, but he quickly realized it was wrong.

He subconsciously assumed it was about the territory's blessing, something the mage hadn't made any breakthroughs in yet, so in his understanding, it had nothing to do with Fran's current work.

"By doing this, I have naturally found a way to truly grant this spell the blessing of territory... I can say that the current experimental situation is going very well."

Fran replied with a smile, her confident words leaving Elan speechless, completely at a loss for words.

He also realized how extraordinary the results of this experiment could be if what Fran said was true.

That's Territory Resonance, something that half the powers on the continent rely on for survival. If there's any hope that a mage could utilize it...

Elan himself didn't pay much attention to this kind of thing, but he could easily predict what would happen.

Firstly, mages will no longer consider any land as abandoned land, because with the Territory Blessing, even if a piece of land has no resources.

The sheer number of Profession that can be increased simply by the buffs provided by the territory is an extremely valuable resource.

In the next decade of the Alliance, its territory on land will expand many times over.

"Elan, go and touch that little Stone Tablet. This time I'll allow you to touch it."

Elan's thoughts were interrupted, but his body did not slow down. He squatted down, quickly reached out towards the Stone Tablet on the ground, and then grabbed the small Stone Tablet.

The moment he made contact, Elan felt a peculiar rhythm emanating from the ground beneath him, a rhythm that did not resonate with his own being.

So although he could feel the rhythmic power, it had no way of integrating into his body.

Although Elan had never seen those devices that detected Territory Resonance, nor did he know what the Territory Resonance he felt was like.

But a voice from deep within him told him that this was true Territory Resonance.

He then looked at Fran, and saw that the rhythm emanating from the ground beneath him was slowly resonating with Fran's...

"You've truly discovered a way for mages to utilize territory buffs, and not just this resonance...?"

Fran nodded again and said slowly:

"The Flying Eagle Territory will probably take some time before it provides me with the bonus, but the River Valley Territory has already become my territory."

"If you don't believe me, you can go to the River Valley Territory and take a look. I will allow you to touch the Stone Tablet there."

Fran paused for a moment.

"Now you know why I wanted to conquer all of Antir, right? This was an experiment."

Elan pursed his lips, still reeling from the shock.

He initially thought Fran's problem might stem from using some inappropriate power, but now it seems that's not the biggest issue.

The biggest question now is, how exactly did Fran come up with such a massive experiment, and what difficulties did she overcome to bring it to this point?

Elan had no idea. Right now, his biggest thought was why Fran was clearly only First Order Mage, was conducting such an outrageous experiment.

Logically speaking, if what Fran said is true, then it would be most reasonable for a Third Order Mage to take over this experiment.

He still remembered that Fran hadn't even been First Order Mage for more than a year, so how could she have started conducting such a massive experiment!

It seems to be the Law School, and the content of his School is...

Thinking about this, Elan suddenly realized, wait a minute, something seems off. The spell they're going to use seems to be from their Law School, which makes things a bit complicated...

Fran suddenly spoke up at this moment:

"Elan, do you know why I'm revealing all the experimental information to you at this time?"

Elan blinked, then shook his head.

"Because I need a mage to do me a small favor. As you know, those knight lords can't possibly have their lords manage every single territory; it's simply impossible..."

This is indeed Fran's current pain point, although her Priest, who have become full-fledged Profession, can take over her work at a lower level.

However, it is clear that there are not enough Priest yet, because the faith of the Lord of Radiance has not yet penetrated into every territory occupied by Fran.

At this time, it would be ideal if Elan could help Fran with some management work.

Fran offered a reason that Elan could not refuse.

"As a reward, I will include your name when this Paper is published."

Elan's face froze, his body seemingly suspended for three seconds. Only after that time had passed did a trembling, surprised sound escape his throat.

"Really?!"

Fran nodded. To her, it was a small matter, and adding Elan's name wouldn't affect what she received. But to Elan, it was like an ordinary person winning a hundred million lottery prize.

"I have no reason to refuse."

Elan straightened his posture, and there was nothing Elan could refuse.

Such a Paper would definitely win the highest award in the Law School, although Elan, who had not participated in many of the society's activities, had no idea what the highest award in their Law School was.

Thinking about this, Elan suddenly had a very interesting question, which he asked directly.

"Fran, where do you plan to publish the results of this experiment? The Northern Lands Society?"

"The Northern Lands Society will definitely publish it; as for whether it will be published elsewhere, that depends on the situation."

Elan opened his mouth but didn't continue. In this matter, he really had no right to dissuade Fran.

He thought of a feasible approach: if he published this Paper in one of the societies of the Law School, he might be able to get Law School support.

Of course, the awards of the Law School itself are not important; what really matters is whether this Paper has a chance to be nominated for the Alliance's Arcane Mage Award.

That is, the Alliance's highest award, which has never been given to Harbos due to controversy.

If Fran is willing to orchestrate this, then it's very possible that even he could benefit from the Arcane Mage Award.

However, since Fran has chosen the Northern Lands Society, this research will likely be delayed indefinitely by the committee, just like Harbos's work.

Elan knew the whole story, and precisely because he knew so much about it, he realized how incredibly complicated it all was.