The handoff between papers

After Roland returned, he announced the good news about securing support to Skord and Yvonne.

Barely concealed envy filled Skord's chubby face. "I'm so jealous of you. Sure, we put mages first here in Atrelin, but arcane breakthroughs aren't easy to achieve. Most mages have a hard time applying for funding, and there's no guarantee anyone will invest in them!"

Yvonne said nothing, but the excitement on her face said it all.

"That's true." Roland nodded.

Even though the exalted mages were indisputably Atrelin's ruling class, some still starved for resources while others drowned in them.

Roland was lucky. He had a wealthy backer behind him.

Once he secured Ovesto's support, the research immediately surged forward as though someone had enabled cheat mode.

Besides the three Apprentice Mages, ten Full Mages had joined the project, naturally including Froya and the senior students he had met before.

At Ovesto's suggestion, Roland and his two companions had begun preparing their completed papers for publication as interim results of their project on Oracle-Bone Magicalization.

This was to secure priority for their "discovery of a new continent."

It was really a natural progression. After all, Roland had introduced Oracle script to Atrelin, and he had compiled-or copied-the original dictionary entirely on his own.

A few days passed, and October 5 arrived.

Roland woke once again in the large bed in his home, rubbed his eyes, and recited an incantation.

Magic Network casting: Tongues!

With the spell's enhancement, his mind cleared, filling with the intricacies of Ancient Elvish.

Immediately afterward, he took the Scholar's Zeal Wand from his bedside cabinet.

Scholar's Happy Stick, bonk!

His magical virtue was replenished once again.

Only then did he submit his request. "Tower Spirit, I'd like to request an Ancient Elvish lesson."

After an hour of efficient study, Roland gradually slipped out of his zealous state. Rather than getting out of bed immediately, he summoned a projected display and checked his inbox. Sure enough, a message was already waiting there, complete with a clear photograph.

"You there? What did you mean by palm reading and palm lines last time? Take a look at my head line for me."

Lately, he had been chatting with Lunifis from the Yther Wizard Tower now and then to pass the time.

Armed with all sorts of jokes and inexplicably useless trivia from the information age, Roland was in his element. Their conversations were no longer limited to arcana; like pen pals, they gradually branched out into other subjects, and the two grew increasingly close.

"Actually, I'd rather see your abs..."

After spending a little time replying, Roland finally got up and washed. Once he had eaten breakfast, he headed to the experimental area.

The new laboratory, room 8003.

The moment Roland stepped through the door, he saw several senior students standing in a row, casting Prestidigitation together!

Pop, pop, pop!

Sounds like bursting fireworks rang through the air, and brilliant motes scattered like stars.

Froya and Yvonne smiled as ribbon-like streams of light sprayed from their palms, then formed a large line of ornate Atrelin lettering.

To be fair, as awful as Atrelin's grammar and expressive capacity were, its writing certainly looked flashy.

"Congratulations, Roland!"

Skord stepped forward, placed a fresh floral wreath with laurel leaves around Roland's neck, and shook his hand as he spoke.

"What's all this pomp for?" Roland asked, rather bewildered.

"Today's the big day your paper gets published. Arcana has already sent over your contributor's copy, acceptance certificate, and payment."

"So that's it. Thank you, everyone. I didn't expect you all to celebrate such a little thing for me."

Roland smiled as he responded.

"You're wrong about that, Roland. Even among us, not everyone can get a paper into Arcana."

The senior students spoke from experience.

"Damn it, you managed to show off again."

Froya spoke.

"Hurry up and take everything out so we can see. Yvonne and I haven't had a chance to see anything like this before."

Skord urged him impatiently.

"That's right, Roland. Show us something new."

The senior students joined in the fun.

Roland had no choice but to open the mailing envelope in front of everyone and take out the contributor's copy, acceptance certificate, and enclosed payment.

The contributor's copy had been printed quite some time ago, and the acceptance certificate was of little practical use. In the Magic Network era, public information like this could be checked online, though not as conveniently as on Blue Star's internet.

The payment was only a modest sum, too-about five gold coins.

But the sentimental value of these things was impossible to measure. Many mages treasured them as a lifelong honor.

For that reason, the journal Arcana had not actually enclosed five gold coins or their equivalent in silver or copper. Instead, it had provided a United Bank check.

All three items bore Arcana's Arcane Mark: a blue book and crossed staves, symbolizing the power of knowledge.

Beside it was the Arcane Committee's shield-shaped emblem, with crossed scepters beneath a crown.

Atrelin had originated in the classical age of the magic empire and had once had rulers known as magic emperors. In modern times, however, the Arcane Committee had replaced the monarchs, and the scepters and crown symbolizing authority had become its emblem.

"Look at these patterns, this finish. There's definitely plenty of magic in them."

"Oh, five gold coins. Five gold coins we'll never earn..."

Several of the male senior students wailed theatrically, their expressions exaggerated.

Fortunately, they knew where to draw the line. After passing the items around, they returned them to Roland undamaged.

The contributor's copy, however, was held back, and several students gathered around to leaf through it.

Roland did not even get to read it himself. He could only contact the Tower Spirit through the laboratory's internal network terminal and project the electronic version.

After the commotion had gone on for a while, everyone finally remembered another matter. "The three of you have finished your papers too, haven't you? Time to submit them to Runes, right?"

"Submit, submit, submit!"

Roland naturally agreed.

"Watch me submit a whole new field of study into existence!"

"You're incredible!" The senior students were genuinely impressed. He had managed to show off again.

Roland had already finalized his third paper, titled "Improvements to Light Spell Scrolls Based on Research into the Magical Adaptation of Oracle Script."

Judging solely by the paper's contents, it merely improved scrolls for a single level-zero spell, Light—a subject that could hardly have been narrower. But Oracle-Bone Magicalization was a relatively broad project, encompassing systematic research into its conversion into runes and certain practical techniques.

It was clearly aimed at opening an entirely new field, with countless arcane research projects waiting for the feast to begin.

For that reason, Skord and Yvonne willingly let Roland submit first. They deliberately waited a few minutes before each placing their own completed manuscript into the Small Teleportation Array.