"Gallo, that may be true, but our teachers seem to have already acknowledged it as a fine new script. It's even been published in Arcana. The Yther School and the Ovesto School must be feeling rather pleased with themselves."
"Yes. If this goes on, won't people start looking down on our Orthodox Runes School?"
Seeing Gallo's reaction reassured them somewhat, but they still voiced their concerns one after another.
The Orthodox Runes School they spoke of was an established school of officially recognized scholarship, derived from the Elvish language family and meticulously constructed by retaining the finest elements of various magical runes. It had flourished for generations.
It was the strongest of the conservative schools, and considered itself the most orthodox.
Over the past thousand years, however, it had faced constant challenges from emerging schools, particularly the fictionalist theories of the Yther Runes School and the Homir School, and had gradually begun to feel threatened.
Neutral newcomers such as the Orvisto Wizard Tower drew on the strengths of various schools and integrated the linguistic and written characteristics of the Elves, further eroding its authority to a considerable degree.
At their words, the corners of Gallo's mouth lifted slightly, his gaze remaining calm.
"Certainly, imbuing a language and script with magic means new incantations and runes, and the foundations of a new school.
But that isn't so easily achieved.
Even if they succeed, so what?
The arcane world already has so many popular languages in widespread use, each with its own strengths. What gives this one the right to make everyone abandon something that already works perfectly well and insist they use it instead?
This is no longer simply a matter of arcane research. It's also a matter of commerce, and even historical opportunity.
At any given time, there are at least dozens, if not hundreds, of popular magical languages and scripts. As for the obscure ones that hardly anyone uses, they're too numerous to count."
As though affected by his composure, the others gradually settled down.
"That makes sense. Perhaps we've been too nervous..."
"Of course, if this so-called Oracle is a high magic script second only to Dragon Script and Elvish Script, then it would pose something of a threat. But only a threat. Who knows whether it will flourish or fail?
As for ultra-magic, hahahaha..."
Gallo laughed, evidently pleased with his own humor.
"Do you think that's possible?"
Everyone shook their heads emphatically.
"Impossible. Absolutely impossible!"
A high magic script might emerge once in a thousand years. With so many planes and worlds, a fair number could accumulate over the long passage of time.
Ultra-magic?
That would have to develop from the very origins of a magical civilization!
Once everyone had finished laughing, Gallo concluded, "I dare say its publication in Arcana will be its final glow.
Like a meteor streaking across Atrelin's night sky, it will vanish without a trace after one brief moment of brilliance!"
"That makes sense."
"Exactly!"
"Just what we'd expect from Gallo. Your wisdom is truly admirable!"
As a leading figure among the school's younger generation, Gallo had undoubtedly steadied their morale. Everyone immediately set aside their worries and regained their confidence.
"Everyone, big news! Huge news!"
As they chatted and laughed, a mage suddenly strode in, undisguised astonishment on his face.
"What's the matter? Look at you, rushing in like that."
Those present could not help laughing.
"Runes just received a paper on research into imbuing Oracle with magic. The Orvisto Wizard Tower has actually done it!"
This man was also a member of the Orthodox Runes School and worked in the editorial office of Runes.
"So soon?"
Everyone was surprised and shaken.
"The data it showed was extremely unusual. Something felt off, so I took the opportunity to reproduce the experiment. Take a look at my experimental records."
Lumens, transcription time, material consumption, duration...
The unbelievable figures left them even more astonished.
"Improvements across the board?"
"Hard to imagine, isn't it? This could very well be a genuine magical script, perhaps even a high magic one!"
"Then... this really is a once-in-a-thousand-years discovery?"
They exchanged bewildered looks.
Gallo, who had been brimming with confidence moments before, stood frozen in place, his expression rapidly turning awkward.
Only moments ago, he had said that publication in Arcana would be the final glow of Roland's paper.
Regret and embarrassment intertwined, and his face flushed despite himself.
He felt as though someone had slapped him hard with an invisible mage hand, leaving his cheek burning.
Before everyone's attention returned to him, Gallo took a deep breath and brought his emotions under control.
"Everyone, didn't I just say that imbuing a language and script with magic and getting people to use it is more a result of historical selection than an inherent inevitability?
Since we entered the arcane era, the languages championed by the major schools have all gained widespread use. There's hardly any room left for a new language to survive and develop.
Besides, this limited application to spell scrolls doesn't prove anything. Perhaps it just happens to offer an improvement to a single spell like Light."
"That's right. We let our concerns cloud our judgment. This sort of thing is actually quite common."
"It's still too early to call it magical."
Everyone began to regain their composure.
Having regained control of the situation, Gallo raised his head. "Didn't you say before that, magic aside, this script was virtually flawless? Now that it's entering the realm of magic, it will actually start exposing its weaknesses.
I refuse to believe it's flawless in the realm of magic too!"
Everyone nodded repeatedly. All at once, they felt that taking this step had instead exposed the other side's vulnerabilities.
If they discussed it purely as a theoretical academic achievement, they really would have struggled to find many faults with it.
Once it entered the realm of magic, however, it would have to be put into actual practice.
Improving spell scrolls, converting incantations, inscribing runes, incorporating it into magic arrays...
There were far too many areas it would need to cover.
Wasn't an apprentice mage's creation like this at risk of biting off more than it could chew?
As long as the other side exposed even one or two weaknesses while imbuing it with magic, everyone could pile on and tear it to shreds with criticism.
Then they would be stretched too thin to patch all the holes. Threatening their school's standing would be nothing but a pipe dream.
"That said, we can't just sit around waiting. We have to do something...
Oksaya, weren't you recently invited to contribute to the Arcana Communications Journal, specifically to write commentaries on new papers? Publish our views and see how the arcane world responds."
Gallo summoned an intermediate mage around his own age and gave him those instructions.
"No problem."
The intermediate mage Oksaya smiled as he spoke.
Commentary articles were precisely his specialty.
Before you continue