BXBX NOVEL Chapter 238: Partner
Sorcerer Administrative Department.
Eric took out Lucien’s arcana badge from the magic cage. On the badge, the four shining silver stars looked beautiful and mysterious against the black background, as if there were innumerable secrets behind the stars.
"Seven hundred and eight arcana credits in total. Even if you stop publishing arcana papers for a while, you would have no troubling upgrading to level five in one year or two." Eric, being quite emotional, handed the badge over to Lucien, "You’ll be the youngest level five arcanist ever in history, but also, among all the level five arcanists, your magic level is the lowest."
Eric, a level three arcanist, still had hope in upgrading to level four since there was only a difference of two-hundred arcana credits between the level three and four, and with his years of efforts, there were only more thirty-six points to go before he could move forward to the next level. However, level five, in Eric’s eyes, appeared to be so inaccessible. Thus, when he saw this young man who just joined the congress less than a year ago and was already on his way to become a level five arcanist, Eric inevitably sighed in his mind.
As long as this young man could keep working hard and avoid being arrogant, Eric was sure that sooner of later, Lucien’s magic level could catch up, and, for sure, the congress would help such a young, talented sorcerer with further upgrading to senior-rank. So, in Eric’s mind, Lucien was right on his way to become a senior-rank sorcerer.
Lucien took the badge over and shortly played with it in his hands, then he smiled, "Mr. Eric, thank you for you nice words, but the past two months have shown that the sweet time of sitting there and gaining credits won’t last any longer."
Due to the heated discussion over Life Force Theory, at the end of the Month of Dormancy, the second of the year, Lucien gained a hundred fifty-eight credits, and only forty-two credits were from other people citing his periodic table and atomic weight re-measurement paper.
However, after that month, because Felipe’s experiment and the experiment simulating pre-historic natural environment—people called it the Experiment of Miracle now—clearly overweighed Lucien’s experiment with synthesizing carbamide, way less credits went to Lucien. Instead, as more arcanists started putting forward their research findings based on his periodic table and atomic weight re-measurement paper, Lucien gained a hundred forty-three credits on this side, and his paper on using alchemical products for increasing crop yield also made a contribution of almost ten credits.
Then in the recent two or three months, there was a sharp decline in the number of times his papers were being cited, and then it got more steady—around ten times every month. This was why Lucien could draw the conclusion that, if he did not come up with something else new, it might take him around two years to become a level five arcanist.
"Your paper on the periodic table of elements is part of the foundation of the school of Element, so I’m sure that it will consistently bring you a good ammount of credits every month. When your arcana and magic level reach level five and fifth circle, you can come to me and apply for the magic rites to help you upgrade further." Eric nodded, "And... you don’t have to call me Mr. Eric all the time, after all, your arcana level’s already higher than mine."
Then Eric handed Lucien his magic badge, "Two points from other people learning your new spell, and forty-five from the Congress, as your subsidy."
According to the congress, a level one arcanist could get a subsidy of one Thale or point every month, or magic material of the same value; level two would reward five points; level three was twenty; level four was forty; level five was eighty; level six was three hundred; level seven was five hundred; level eight nine hundred; level nine, two thousand. This was the same with one’s magic level, and they could overlap.
Before taking over the magic badge with the same two black circles on it from Eric, Lucien first put his arcana badge on his left chest, and instantly, he felt very refreshed. This was a new magic buff enchanted in the arcana badge when the badge was upgraded to middle-rank. When Lucien became a senior-rank arcanist, he could get one more buff, which was the same with magic badge.
"Thank you, Mr. Eric. I think I gotta go now." Lucien picked up his top hat from the chair and slightly bowed, "I need to go to Exchange Zone to get some materials."
As soon as Lucien left Eric’s office, he saw Felipe walking out of another office. Still, both of Felipe’s hands were in his pockets, and his face always had a sickly look.
Felipe also saw Lucien, and he was a bit surprised. After nodding to him slightly, Felipe took a quick glance at Lucien’s left chest, and then there was a gloomy smile on his face, "Still the same, uh? The two badges..."
Hearing that, Lucien quickly looked at Felipe’s badges in front of his chest. There were five mysterious stars on Felipe’s arcana badge, surrounded by countless little light spots, and even more surprisingly, on his magic badge, there were six black circles on it!
That meant Felipe was a senior-rank now.
Finally, Felipe became the first senior-rank mage among the younger generation, and that was to say he was one of the leaders of the Hand of Paleness now, since they only had a bit more than forty senior-rank sorcerers, including those lich masters who had been existing for a very long time.
Before Lucien said anything, Felipe directly walked past him. Beside his shoulder, Felipe said to Lucien in a low voice, "Don’t fall behind too far."
The corner of Lucien’s lips twitched a bit.
...
When Lucien walked back to the hall along the corridor, Cindy first winked at Lucien, then she said to him in a professional tone, "Mr. Evans, someone’s waiting for you over there."
Lucien was confused, having no idea who it was. Then, when he looked at the other side of the hall, Lucien saw a middle-aged man, as chubby as a ball, sitting on the couch beside the bar. Right now, he was tapping his forehead to remove the beads of sweat on it with a piece of handkerchief. The hot weather has been like that for a while.
"Mr. Arthur Doyle?" Lucien did not know why the president of Union Bank of Holm Mining wanted to see him.
Seeing Lucien was there, Arthur hurriedly left the handkerchief to his beautiful secretary, and then he came to Lucien, followed by his two strong safeguards. He grabbed Lucien’s right hand enthusiastically with both of his hands and said, "Mr. Evans, I first went to your place, and your steward told me that you were here. I was in such a hurry coming over here, so I’m right now covered with sweat. And I think it’s better for me not to hug you, haha."
The chubby president was quite polite. Lucien’s impression on him was not bad.
"Mr. Doyle, what can I do for you?" asked Lucien.
There was a friendly smile on Arthur’s chubby face, "Mr. Evans, let’s get something to drink first."
Cindy brought two glasses of Rentato’s well-known drink, Sky Blue, to them, and out of curiosity, she did not walk away. She wondered why the famous businessman, and also one of the most wealthy people in Rentato, wanted to talk to Lucien.
Behind the counter on the other side, Dona was very curious, too. However, she could not just leave the reception desk at her own will. Right now she was staring at Cindy, who was playing the role as Lucien’s secretary, in a slightly unhappy way. However, Cindy just looked away and pretended that she saw nothing.
Arthur shook his glass slightly and took a sip, "This is really refreshing."
After taking a glance at Cindy, Arthur continued, as there was nothing to hide, "Mr. Evans, I’m here today seeking for a partnership with you."
"I see..." Lucien gave the liquid in his glass a swirl.
Arthur’s secretary took out a thick pile of documents and handed them to Lucien, and Arthur continued, "I’ve been to Sariva already, and the yield of crops in your experiment plot is beyond my imagination. I can’t see anyone, nobles or farmers, say no to the alchemical product that you found. From Prince Patrick, I know that you guys’ve already got a mass-production plan. Mr. Evans, because it was you who first found those products, according to law, you can make the decision regarding who you want to work with. And according to the Congress, if we can set up a company together, the Congress shall get fifteen percent of the share, and you have fifteen percent as well. Let me put it this way... I hope that we can work together to promote and sell these alchemical products. Neither the Congress or you need to spend even a single Thale on this, as our bank can pay for everything. So I can assure you that we are the best partner."
Lucien quickly leafed through the documents, and he knew that the mass production of some of the alchemical products also required the assistance of Mining Association. Thus, Lucien was quite opened to the offer.
"Honestly speaking, Mr. Doyle, I’m interested in it, but I still want to take a closer look at the articles in the contract." Of course, Lucien would like to have a steady income, but there was no way that he would not agree with Arthur right away.
Arthur grinned, "Mr. Evans, you’re a talented sorcerer, valued by both the Congress and the Will of Elements. I’m just an ordinary businessman, well... noble businessman... but so what? The last thing I would do is to lie to the Congress and you. Honestly speaking, I don’t want to die yet right now."
It was clear that, in most ordinary people’s mind, sorcerers were intimidating. Although many people would like to be a sorcerer, they did not really like those people who could easily decide their destiny.
After negotiating with each other for a while, Arthur lowered his voice and whispered beside Lucien’s ear, "Actually, I’m sent here by Prince Patrick. If you agree on working with us, Prince Patrick will provide you with another extra five percent of the share, as a gift from His Excellency."
Lucien grinned as someone he knew in Aalto jumped into his mind, but then slightly shook his head, "Actually, because of His Excellency, I’m willing to give up my original insistence, which is thirty percent. Then, I hope we have a pleasant cooperation."
"Great! Thank you, Mr. Evans." Arthur Doyle was so happy that his smile lifted his cheeks almost to the point where his eyes disappeared.
After checking and signing the contract, Arthur asked Lucien, partly to please him, "Mr. Evans, can you come up with a product name for us? You know, a simple and good name for promoting the products..."
Lucien searched in his mind for a while, and offered his name, "Jinkela¹."
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¹Jinkela: The author played a joke here. Jinkela is a brand fertiliser produced in China. Because of the company’s exaggeration and super fake way of advertisement, in China, the fertiliser brand is regarded as a joke.