Inside First Tower, Ian leads the Council delegation into the hall. The first thing that catches the eye is a woman with outstanding temperament. The magic robe she wears is similar to that of Ian. The magic radiance flowing on it not only demonstrates the royal majesty, but also reveals a strong sense of power.
Ian ignored the entourage behind him and went straight forward to hug and kiss her. After Hermione responded slightly, he reminded softly, "Pay attention to the occasion, there are so many people watching."
"Why does everyone ask me to behave myself? As a ruler, shouldn't I do whatever I want?" Ian complained.
Hermione looked at him seriously. "On the contrary, as a consul, you need to maintain a specific image and reputation."
"These people don't talk much anyway." Ian glanced at the Council members. Everyone immediately looked away and pretended not to see anything. Only Amelia still looked directly at him with reproach in his eyes. Ian nodded knowingly. "Well, you are always such a disappointment. Hermione, show us your research results."
She led everyone to a laboratory, where a man was meditating deeply. A holographic image unfolded in the air, displaying experimental data.
"After years of experimentation and testing," Hermione announced, "'Mage Project' is finally complete."
Council members resounded with excited murmurs, especially those representatives of non-magic descendants.
"Madam Consul," one councilor couldn't help but say, and then realized the impoliteness, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have interrupted..."
Ian waved his hand to indicate that it was okay.
Hermione continued to explain, "Through experiments, we found that gathering and compressing magic power in a specific location can form a core - similar to the principle of Philosopher's Stone. The user's soul and magic power combine to form a Crystal structure containing a different dimensional space, which can store magic power."
She played a video showing the process of two subjects condensing the core in a special laboratory.
"As you can see, we found three locations where the core can be condensed: the heart, the brain, and the subumbilical area known in Eastern cultures as 'Dantian'. But the most effective location seems to be the heart, the same as in wizards."
Ian asked, "What are the requirements to become a mage? Can anyone do it?"
The excited crowd immediately fell silent, waiting for the answer to this key question.
"Unfortunately, this is not the case." Hermione called up another set of data, "According to experiments, becoming a mage requires two conditions: first, the ability to perceive magic. After a lot of research, we found that many people lack this talent. If you cannot perceive magic, you can't talk about gathering or controlling it."
One council member asked eagerly, "Your Highness, how do we sense magic?"
"We have developed a dedicated Meditation Technique, and an auxiliary Potions. However, depending on talent differences, some people will be easier to master than others."
Ian asked, "Have you discovered the factors that determine Magic Sensing's talent?"
"Currently, people with stronger souls are more sensitive to magic. People with naturally higher spirituality and higher IQs also show better perception. In addition, according to one study, the best age for perceiving magic is between 8 and 11 years old, but children of this age often have difficulty concentrating on meditation."
"It's like a young wizard awakening to his magical abilities." Ian thought thoughtfully, "Is there an age limit for becoming a mage?"
"There is no discovery so far. Some subjects over a hundred years old have successfully become mages, but the process is longer than that of young people."
Ian thought for a moment and said, "Since deep meditation is the key, we can develop a basic meditation course for children as a required course in all schools."
"This is a good method," Amelia agreed, "So that when children are detected to have magical talents, they can be prepared in advance."
"Okay, you just said that becoming a mage requires two conditions. What is the second one?"
"The second condition is the constitution we call 'Magic Body'. Research shows that not everyone's body can withstand magic. For some people, magic is like poison, which can cause discomfort or even illness when entering the body."
Amelia looked at the data and said, "Once Leyline Nodes is activated and the magic power returns to the environment, this 'Magic Poisoning' may become a serious problem. In a high magic environment, it is foreseeable that magic power will unknowingly enter the human body, causing many people to become ill."
"Indeed," Ian nodded, "Put this on the agenda to be studied and solved." He turned to Hermione: "How much magic power can Mage Core store?"
"The lowest value is even lower than some young wizards, and the current highest record is 20 units of magic power."
"20 units of magic power? This is 20 times that of an adult wizard!" one council member exclaimed, "But there is still a gap between the breakthrough of the First Limitation device. Is there any way to increase the capacity, just like the wizard's breakthrough of the Limiter device?"
"Unfortunately, no. Recent research has found that Limiter is both a wizard's bloodline restriction and a world restriction. Since mages do not have Wizard Bloodline, they are not subject to this restriction.
"So, if they want to increase the magic capacity of Magic Core, we must find a way to expand the internal dimensions of the core. Unfortunately, related research on the Empire has not yet yielded results."
"Does magical power increase naturally? Can a mage naturally develop magical power with age like a wizard?"
"No. A wizard's magic power is a product of his bloodline. If the wizard wants to increase his magic power, he must draw it from the environment, or use Potions."
"It sounds like mages are inferior versions of wizards," someone said in disappointment. "Do they have any advantages?"
"Of course." Hermione replied confidently, "Since mages must start by sensing the magic in the environment, learn to control it and introduce it into their bodies, their overall control over magic is far better than most wizards. In addition, after Leyline Nodes is activated in the future, using spells requires controlling the magic in the environment to enhance its power. Mages will be much easier than wizards in this regard."
Everyone was relieved. Amelia was thinking secretly in his heart:
"'Mage Project' was supposed to reduce the discrimination and barriers between magical and non-magical people in the Empire. But now it seems that it is more likely to further divide people into mages, wizards and ordinary people. I need to prepare in advance."
She was not the only one who noticed this problem. However, Ian did not pay too much attention to this matter. These administrative matters are usually handled by his aunt. He raised another question:
"You said Magic Core can be condensed in three locations. Have you tried to condense three cores at the same time?"
"Tried. But the result was that once the second core was formed, it immediately resonated with the first, causing both to be destroyed simultaneously. After that, the subject lost the ability to perform magic forever."
Ian reviewed the data one last time and said with a smile, "Now that everything is going well, we can start screening people with mage talents around the world. It seems that Empire's strength will usher in another leap."
Currently, there are 100 million wizards and 15 million humanoid or intelligent magical races in the Empire. Compared with the only 5 million wizards before Ian announced the existence of magic to the world, this number is quite impressive.
However, compared with the total population of 50 billion spread across the entire Solar System, this is far from enough.
Of course, there's also the issue of cloning. Cloning a wizard is possible, but only one in every 100,000 clones will have magical abilities, the rest are ordinary people.
With the Empire's ability to mass-produce clones, this should not be a problem. Unfortunately, the magical abilities of these clones are very limited due to their fragile souls, and even young wizards aged 12 or 13 can easily defeat them. Therefore, they are mostly used as cannon fodder or experimental subjects.
After the inspection, Ian was about to go to the next tower, but received a Mind Stone message from Hermione:
'If you dare leave without saying goodbye, I will never forgive you.'
'Honey, you know I'm not that ignorant of amorous feelings.'
'In that case, you should take us with you.'
'We have discussed this issue a long time ago. Next time, you can accompany me.'