According to the president's introduction, the door the four of them had walked through was a masterpiece of the Arcane Research Society.
Unlike spatial authorities or spatial mystery relics formed from memories, this door relied on a specialized spatial arcana that had been solidified into it. Though its energy consumption was enormous, it could lead to any level of the nine-story tower, instantly reminding Lynch of a certain round, blue robotic cat.
The four had arrived at the very top level. A massive transparent dome of light was inverted over the open-air terrace at the tower's peak. Also a creation of the Arcane Research Society, a layer of arcana that slowed gas flow was solidified along the dome's edge. Relying on differences in convective airflow speed, it caused the high-altitude winds to naturally form a protective barrier around the perimeter—shielding against wind and rain without obstructing the view in the slightest.
Standing inside, the four enjoyed an incredible view. Vast stretches of the city looked like models on a sand table, while a boundless sea of forest unfurled before their eyes. Up high near the edge of the woods, the air was exceptionally fresh—a world apart from the murky air of downtown Rhine City.
This was the grand conference hall on the top floor of the Arcane Tower.
Lynch was somewhat curious as to why they had gone to such lengths to develop this system just to put a conference room on the top floor. Gulman didn't offer a detailed explanation, merely answering with a meaningful look:
“We don't like rebuilding the tower every so often.”
Such a matter-of-fact answer was enough to fuel hundreds of thousands of words of imagination. This place was, after all, a devil's den dedicated to researching forbidden mystery knowledge. Lynch resolved to stay as far away from it as possible in the future.
Today, however, was an exception; this was the three of them's destination for the day.
Here, the three would fulfill the agreement they made with Gulman before setting out: conducting an academic exchange with the master arcanists of the Arcane Research Society, sharing the information they had gathered from the Third Age relic in exchange for a few useful techniques.
However, this process was quite different from a normal academic exchange.
Fake occult exchange: Reciting memorized text, diagrams, and scenes during a seminar.
Real occult exchange: Recounting memoirs.
Indeed, in an exchange of occult experience, rote recitation of text and information was entirely meaningless. Aside from hearing a barrage of bizarre facts that would further pollute their souls—or drive a few people mad on the spot—the audience could hardly gain anything useful.
A true occult exchange pursued spiritual comprehension, vivid perception, and soul-deep experience.
The correct approach was to record those texts and diagrams, and then reproduce their experiences over those few days as completely, detailed, and vividly as possible for the audience. This created an occult phenomenon known as the synesthesia effect.
Lynch remembered a similar plot from a horror novel in his past life: merely reading a novel produced the exact same effect as watching a videotape, infecting the reader with the same mental virus. That was the power of the synesthesia effect.
In stories, that required the writing to be sufficiently vivid, whereas in reality, mysterious methods could directly induce the synesthesia effect. This allowed the listeners to experience an immersive sensation through an alternative channel, as if they had personally encountered the information, using it as an opportunity to gain arcane knowledge. This was also why Judy hadn't been brought along—given that lady's mental state...
Therefore, the three didn't need to recite the text itself, but rather recount their experiences over the past few days, allowing others to hear the translations of those words and see those symbols through the speaker's five senses across time and space. In fact, this was much like learning arcana by reading mystery documents—it relied not on reading the usage instructions recorded on the document, but on the synesthesia effect during reading, directly sensing the author's comprehension to learn the arcana or ability.
To the grandmasters of the Arcane Research Society, this was as routine as eating or drinking water. But to the three young people, it was a brand-new experience that left them rather nervous, especially upon seeing the scene in the venue...
There weren't many seated—only forty or fifty people—and though every one of them was over fifty with mostly white hair and beard, clearly masters at a glance, the number was at least manageable for the three. The problem was that this manageable number didn't account for the crowd standing behind them. Standing behind the seats was a vast swarm of young listeners, whose numbers exceeded Lynch's ability to estimate—probably several hundred people.
Why did this look so familiar? It felt as though he had seen this scene somewhere before.
Holy crap, this was literally an academic conference.
Super-heavyweights presenting on stage, heavyweights sitting and listening below, and the heavyweights' disciples and followers standing crammed in the gaps to listen—it was cast from the exact same mold. It seemed that no matter which world one went to, the atmosphere in academia was pretty much the same. Could this be the choice of Steins Gate as well?
As Lynch was muttering to himself, he noticed the person beside him repeatedly bumping into him.
Glancing out of the corner of his eye, he saw Officer Natalie standing completely rigid with mechanical movements, unable to even bend her knees. Yet, she insisted on keeping a stern face, pretending to be perfectly calm, which formed a stark contrast with Miss Diana on the other side.
The countess's daughter was entirely at ease, her posture elegant. Facing the gazes of hundreds of people, she remained perfectly composed, her gentle smile polite and approachable.
Pfft, these two girls were truly cute.
Amused by the two ladies, Lynch relaxed instead, giving him the leeway to glance around the crowd. He discovered quite a few familiar faces inside.
Like Professor Lorin from the Archaeological Association, Principal Lilla from the Women's Academy... Wait, was it really fine for an apostle of an evil god to sneak in here? Especially when she seemed so familiar with everyone else!
Whatever, Lynch decided to pretend he hadn't seen a thing.
In truth, he wasn't particularly surprised. Although the Arcane Research Society was classified as a secret society, it resembled a private club or academic salon more than anything. Aside from internal staff, most members had their own high social standings and identities in public. Forget cultists—Lynch wouldn't even be shocked if a few mysterious heteromorphs popped out one day.
However, his relaxed mood vanished completely the moment he spotted his former archaeology teacher from secondary school. It instantly felt like he was defending his graduation thesis, and his nerves tightened right back up.
Don't be scared, don't be scared. Teachers don't eat people. Besides, I graduated years ago—he can't intimidate me. Right, right, don't be scared.
No matter how much he consoled himself, a cold sweat still broke out on his back. The sorrow of a bad student was just that unpretentious and delightful.
Following President Gulman, the three young people took their seats at the main table. Sitting to the side to accompany them, the president clapped his hands, and the venue instantly fell silent.
Without any half-hour opening remarks as Lynch had imagined, Gulman went straight to the point:
“On their journey, they came into contact with thirteen books involving arcane knowledge, including 《Travels of the Great Arcanist Leonardo》, the long-extinguished 《Arcane and Mystery》, and a handwritten transcript of seven pages from the 《Forbidden Catalog》 kept secret by the Trok Theocratic State...”
A single stone created a thousand ripples. The venue, which had just quieted down, instantly grew noisy again. The masters whispered among themselves, and someone in the audience asked loudly, “How could they have encountered so many secret grimoires, even a book as obscure as Leonardo's travels? Wasn't it only a matter of a few days? How could they possibly find all these?”
“Because they stayed at the house of Leonardo's last student, and on friendly terms at that.”
The venue quickly quieted down, but Lynch noticed that the looks the masters cast toward him were now tinged with a bit of envy and anticipation. This made Lynch realize that Dr. Sven's former teacher was likely a big deal himself—or at least held some renown in academic circles.
How come I've never heard of him, though? Whatever, the answer to that question is probably too terrifying. Better not dig deeper.
“In addition, they came into contact with four arcana: Fist of Wisdom, Arcana, Grasp of the Black Goat, Nack-Tith Great Prison Spell, and Yedd-Aitad Banishment. Aside from Fist of Wisdom, which has been passed down, the other three have long been lost—making them the most likely to be reclaimed in today's exchange.”
“The Black Goat...”
“Mother of living beings...”
“Nurturer of all creation...”
The masters whispered once more, fear and anticipation intertwining in their voices.
“Silence. Time is precious; let us begin now.”
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