Senior Review Committee Member

Ding-ding-ding—

A burst of ringing made Sullivan, a senior review committee member, look up from his book. Blue flames flickered on the teleportation array, and a paper appeared within it alongside a note.

"This is quite rare."

Sullivan was a Fifth-Circle Mage and the senior review committee member responsible for the Alchemy School. Whenever ordinary reviewers disagreed, the paper would be sent to him for evaluation.

However, Alchemy was a discipline centered on experimentation. Most laws and theories had been summarized through repeated experiments, so verifying a paper was quite simple: conduct an experiment according to its contents. If the observed results matched the description, the paper needed no further proof. If they did not, then something was wrong.

Therefore, under most circumstances, papers from the Alchemy School rarely reached higher-level reviewers, as there were generally no major disagreements over experimental results.

"Let me see. A paper on a new substance? And a discussion of combustion reactions?"

Sullivan frowned slightly upon seeing the paper's title, then turned to the note.

The note contained the review opinions of the previous three reviewers for reference.

"Hm? What is this?"

Most papers passed upward came with mixed opinions of approval and rejection. Yet the opinions in Sullivan's hands clearly consisted of three identical statements: "Paper approved."

Since they had unanimously approved it, why had it been sent here? Had something gone wrong with the review system?

Still puzzled, Sullivan looked at the bottom of the note and finally understood the reason.

The problem lay in the review scores.

Of the three reviews, one gave the paper a high score of two hundred points, one gave it a hundred points, and the last had barely passed it with ten points.

The gap was too vast. The review system naturally could not simply discard the highest and lowest scores before averaging the remainder, so it could only forward the paper to Sullivan.

"Since they all approved it, the paper itself must be sound. So is the disagreement over its value?"

Such a situation was exceedingly rare, especially in the field of Alchemy.

Setting aside his doubts, Sullivan decided to read the paper from beginning to end.

At first, he was pleased by its rigorous formatting and precise wording. But soon, when the unusual gas at the heart of the paper appeared in its paragraphs, the gentle expression on Sullivan's face vanished.

It was replaced by solemn focus. He reviewed the paper word by word, sometimes pausing to think, sometimes weighing a passage over and over. Once he had finished reading, Sullivan rose to his feet and immediately went to the laboratory, where he carried out the experiment described in the paper in its entirety.

When Sullivan saw the gas produced by the experiment extinguish a match and turn a clear Quicklime solution cloudy, his mind exploded with a buzz.

In truth, the Alchemy School's mages had long sought a more accurate description of combustion reactions. Although Master Hohenheim's Combustion Theory applied to most reactions, there had always been certain unusual alchemical reactions that did not fit the theory. This was no secret among the Tower of Rainbow's mid-level alchemists.

Of course, most alchemists still hoped to amend and improve the theory rather than overturn it entirely. After all, it was the cornerstone of modern alchemy. If it were truly overturned outright, Sullivan felt he might even witness the ancient spectacle of minds exploding.

"Whose student is this?"

Only then did Sullivan think to check the author. Sometimes, masters assigned their research topics to promising students to help raise those students' standing in academic circles. Sullivan had instinctively assumed this paper was of that sort as well.

But when he saw the name "Rainer Ian Gray" in the author field, he became even more confused.

"Ian Gray? Isn't that the name of the man who controls that commercial empire?"

After considering it, Sullivan summoned the Tower of Rainbow's elemental servant.

"Check this Rainer Ian Gray's spell rank and previous papers."

The elemental servants assigned by the Tower of Rainbow to each reviewer were creatures called Crystal Bugs, originating from a demiplane discovered by mages. They looked like clusters of gray-white fluorescence and possessed a degree of intelligence along with exceptional memory.

Crystal Bugs also had a very peculiar food source: the drowsiness of living beings.

Whenever mages felt sleepy and wanted to slack off, Crystal Bugs would absorb their drowsiness, leaving them invigorated and able to focus on studying and working.

In the past, mages had generally used these elemental creatures as tools to refresh their minds. However, it was worth noting that while Crystal Bugs could absorb drowsiness, they could not eliminate fatigue. Relying on them for too long was like becoming addicted to coffee and could easily lead to utter exhaustion.

"At once, sir."

The Crystal Bug spoke in a muffled voice. It drifted about in midair for a while before answering.

"According to the Tower of Rainbow's latest mage registry, revised on the fifteenth day of Primrose Month in the eighteenth year of the Azure Moon Calendar, there are three individuals named Rainer Ian Gray: one mage apprentice, one First-Circle Mage, and one Second-Circle Mage."

The Crystal Bug was reporting internal data from the Tower of Rainbow, updated weekly. It contained the ranks and spell specialties of all registered mages, as well as lists of papers written by mages above the Fourth Ring, making it convenient for basic inquiries.

"Report on the Second-Circle Mage."

Sullivan instinctively ruled out the apprentice and the First-Circle Mage. The knowledge contained in the paper in his hands, along with the extensive experimental accumulation it required, meant that unless the author was an Alchemy School genius, there was no way a First-Circle Mage could have written such an excellent paper.

"Rainer Ian Gray, Second-Circle Mage. His teacher is Fourth Ring Mage Brown Anute. His specialized spells are Necromancy School and Transmutation School."

"Necromancy School and Transmutation School?"

Sullivan was even more puzzled. Necromancy School and Transmutation School had been inherited from ancient magic and still lacked much theoretical explanation from modern magic. How could a mage specializing in those two schools write a paper for the Alchemy School?

"What about the First-Circle Mage's information?"

"Rainer Ian Gray, First-Circle Mage. His teacher is Fourth Ring Mage Bolivar Cecil. His specialized spells are in the Mechanics School."

The Crystal Bug reported in a deep voice, making Sullivan's brows knit tightly.

"The Mechanics School? That's even more impossible. How could those people who practically want to marry metal understand alchemy?"

Growing unusually irritable, Sullivan—who had never gotten along particularly well with Mechanics School mages—muttered to himself. But only one possibility remained.

"A mage apprentice?"

Mage apprentices had no formal teachers, so there was no data on their spell specialties. Yet after excluding the first two, the third was undoubtedly the most likely candidate. Sullivan then checked the records of the second author, Charlotte Clune, and discovered that she was also a mage apprentice, further confirming his conclusion.

"This is truly interesting."

Sullivan thought as he turned his gaze back to the paper's review opinions.