Shoutout to Bruh_Vista and Harjas_Sidhu for beta-reading and providing extensive feedback for this chapter!
That's right! Ye boi's a sell-out now! Any ways, I was told that adding more privilege sections allows me to put a discount on the per chapter cost. So it should be worth it (emphasis on the worth). Regardless, my upload schedule will be the same so you guys can still keep updated with my work using the daily free passes :)
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Guy held a small party in the library, with cake (which Grace had grown surprisingly proficient in baking), to celebrate the great achievement. As everyone indulged in the festivities, Guy moved to the side, out of the side, and entered the Church of the True World. As the manuscript came together and found its place in the library, Guy started to feel a stimulation in his cultivation. It wasn't anything substantial, but it was out of the ordinary. Usually, this sort of stimulation only happened when people were inside the Church and were made to gain inspiration, learn something new, or attain a paradigm shift.
The deviation from the norm implied that there were other ways for Guy to simulate his cultivation.
The Church was just as he remembered it. The moment he entered it, he suddenly lost all feeling on the right side of his body, as the Other Guy took control of that section.
"Did you notice what just happened?" Guy asked his right half.
"Follow me," the Other Guy answered with a monotonous drone. Guy relinquished control, and allowed his body to move past the pews and into the rows of bookshelves.
The Other Guy paused before one row of books and threw up an accusatory finger at a new entry in the rows. "There's your culprit!"
Guy hummed in affirmation before asking, "What's so new about this, though? I believe Markus, Marie and Jean have posted their dissertations on what motivated their advancements here as well?"
"It is different," the Other Guy responded. "Their dissertation is purely personal observation and lacks proper scientific rigour. How many trials and tests did they conduct? Did they validate their works?"
"I know for a fact that Markus ran tests on his abilities," Guy mumbled.
"You didn't read them, hence they aren't here," the Other Guy retaliated. "Regardless, I don't think even if you did that, it will yield you a similar stimulation."
"And why is that?"
The Other Guy pressed his lips into a thin frown and admitted, "I cannot say for sure. All I have are theories."
"Well, lay it on me," Guy encouraged.
"Read what is written below the title," the Other Guy directed.
Beneath the title, were the names of the people who led the experiment: "Revian, Kevan, Casey, Lacey, and- What in the world?!"
"That's right," the Other Guy confirmed with a derisive smile.
"Why is my name here?!" Guy exclaimed with a high-pitched yelp.
"Seeing as you're always preaching the follies of plagiarism and giving credit where credit is due, those brats figured that since you were involved and assisted in running tests, they needed to give you credit."
Guy struggled to swallow this revelation for one big reason, which was that he didn't feel that he earned this citation. "So let's hear what your theory is supposed to be."
"It's kind of out there, I'm not going to lie," the Other Guy prefaced which was met with a sarcastic scoff.
"When has that ever stopped you?"
"We can all do without the sass," the Other Guy chided. "Anyway, my theory is that cultivation and the understanding of the world are connected in some way. Basically, if you remember Mast's words from before-"
"Now that's a name I didn't think I'd hear again," Guy interjected, which the Other Guy responded to with a growl. "Don't interrupt!"
"As I was saying! Mast said that whoever created this world was locked in a battle of their existence against another entity that was trying to consume this world. To that end, they were aiming to push this world ahead as far as possible so that it could stand a chance against the invader (in whatever way it may be). What if the concept of advancement and cultivation is basically a positive feedback loop to encourage the inhabitants of this world to advance it in earnest?"
Before Guy could say anything, his counterpart raised his hand and said, "Hear me out!"
"Mages who gain a better understanding of a concept in this world are rewarded with more power and longevity - the carrot. Those that practice rigour are rewarded, and those that follow a laxer approacher are relegated to suffer deviations - the stick."
Once again, Guy's comment was interjected by the Other's raised hand, "Hear me out!"
"Maybe this is also why you are rewarded every time you help someone gain a better understanding of truths of the world. First off, your cultivation gets boosted each time you help someone gain insight, which if you think about it harkens back to the positive feedback loop theory from before. Maybe this is what Mast intended from the very beginning when he brought you here. Now, if we take all of that and this manuscript in particular, when the four wrapped up their work, they were to be rewarded with positive feedback from the universe in the manner of a cultivation boost. HOWEVER, because of your anomalous existence and the fact that there is your name appended to this text, you siphoned off the advantages they were supposed to receive," the Other Guy summarised.
"For someone so married to the idea of scientific rigour, you sure do know how to weave a yarn," Guy mocked in response. "I don't have enough fingers in my hand to count the number of holes and assumptions your argument has. How in the world does having an extra name on a piece of paper affect something abstract like cultivation and advancement? Are you telling me that natural laws respond to ink on paper? Could I tell gravity to stop working in a region by just writing 'IF inside_boundary THEN gravity = false'?"
"Isn't that what a Ritual Formation is?" The Other Guy argued.
"Touche," Guy relented with a bitter smile, "BUT, Ritual Formations aren't written in the common tongue, damn it!"
"Hey! I'm just throwing out an idea," the Other Guy argued with a weak voice. "You could very easily test it out and confirm it."
Guy read between the lines and shot back with an affronted tone, "I am not going to append my name to any more papers when I am clearly not an involved party in it."
"It won't hurt anybody, though," the Other Guy reasoned.
"It is disgusting! I hate the idea of honorary or gift authorship," Guy yelled angrily.
"You could very easily just provide meaningful contributions so that your authorship has a purpose," the Other Guy rebutted.
"But what if my inclusion actually robs them of the chance to advance?" Guy moaned. "The four barely got anything out of this experiment!"
"So you DO think my theory holds water!" The Other Guy snapped with a victorious grin. "Look, as you pointed out, my theory is farfetched. There may be other factors at play here, that we don't know about. But, you know what the solution is to this problem."
Guy's expression warped erratically until it settled at a reluctant frown.
"Whatever!" Guy bellowed. "I'll figure it out later."
Guy shrugged his right shoulder before his body achieved full emotional symmetry - the Other Guy had receded.
After spending a minute contemplating the conversation, Guy sighed and left the Church.
____
In the week following the celebration, Guy was flooded with research proposals from the members of the Sect. Most of them were extension studies that tested the breadth of the findings of the manuscript. Some questioned if there were other ways to standardise the same definition, such as by using a different kind of |Firestarter| spell. Alternatively, some looked at whether the definitions could be approached from a transmutation perspective as opposed to an energy conversion perspective. For instance, one paper suggested whether checking the amount of water created using a spell with a fixed quantity of mana was a valid metric.
While Guy wanted to approve all of them, even if they were redundant, so that the kids could have a taste of leading their own projects, he could not. First off, if he did this, he would be setting a precedent that encouraged frivolous studies that had no meaningful contributions. Secondly, he economically could not approve all the studies since there was a shortage of mana crystals.
Usually, every sect in the Alliance is allotted a fixed quantity of mana crystals in a month. For new and small sects like the True World Sect, the amount is paltry. In fact, all of it was more or less consumed in the four's experiment. Now the Sect could buy more, but the supply of mana crystals through verified channels was heavily monitored - and it would raise red flags if a relatively unknown sect suddenly called for and could afford a large shipment that could sustain all the proposals. Alternatively, the black market was there, but the prices there fluctuated exorbitantly, and they were also monitored by less savoury types.
Hence, against going against his heart, he had to deny over 80% of the proposals in favour of less exploratory ones. He even merged a few studies together to save up on expenditure. In the end, five extension studies were approved.
Apart from these kinds of studies, there was another that passed over his table which looked at an interesting new possibility.
"You want to test the implications of the laws of thermodynamics with magic and mana in the mix?" Guy asked out loud with an impressed nod to the boy seated opposite him. "Can I ask why?"
"Why... not?" Revian answered with a confused twitch on his lips. "I found it interesting, I guess."
"Your procedure could use a little more work," Guy commented while skimming through the contents once again, "but it seems plausible, so I'm going to approve this."
Guy quickly interjected Revian's silent celebration with a stern frown, "And I know I've said this many times before, but do NOT include my name in your report in the end even if my assistance and advice warrant an inclusion."
"But-"
"That's final!" Guy boomed resolutely. "If you still include my name in your final report, I will be very disappointed."
The piercing gaze that drilled into Revian caused the boy to sweat profusely.
"I-I understand Sect Leader!" He mumbled fearfully before bowing and swiftly retreating out of the room.
"I'll have to keep an eye on that boy!" Guy said out loud. "I heard he was the one who proposed my inclusion in the other report."
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