Chapter 145: Who Do You Think You Are
For Leon, this barely required any thought at all...
Forget about just one insignificant spell model in Vanrison's Formulas—even if the entire set was laid out before Leon, he could complete it effortlessly.
After jotting down the final results, Leon finally picked up the stack of drafts and began sorting and categorizing them. This part was actually a challenge for him—it took the whole night to finish this tedious task.
Once everything was done, Leon got a little sleep. It wasn't until the afternoon that he recited a spell and sent a transmission request to Hogarth.
"What's going on?" Hogarth suddenly appeared in the Crystal Orb, clearly looking worse for wear. His voice was noticeably stiff.
Which was perfectly understandable. Hogarth's eyes were bloodshot, his hair even messier than yesterday. It was obvious he'd pulled another all-nighter, and now, deep in concentration, Leon's transmission had interrupted him. Anyone would be in a foul mood.
"Um, Archmage Hogarth, I've finished the work you assigned me."
"What, finished?" Hogarth's brows furrowed, his expression growing even darker. "Let me see."
"Alright." Leon used the Crystal Orb again, sending the thick stack of drafts back to Hogarth.
"Hold on a second..." Hogarth picked up the drafts and started flipping through them quickly. The first part was just sorting and compiling—if you worked fast, you could finish that in a night. But the last page, with four formulas and eight sets of calculations, would take even him more than ten days. How could Matthew Merlin possibly finish so quickly?
Hogarth's first thought was that Matthew Merlin was just trying to brush him off!
Sure enough, as soon as he pulled out the last page, Hogarth's expression changed.
"Damn it, who told you to change the data? Who told you to swap out the formulas?" Hogarth's already pale face flushed with anger, and his roar nearly cracked the Crystal Orb.
"What's wrong?"
"Just look at what you've done! Who told you to mess with these numbers and formulas?" Hogarth was so furious he could barely control himself. "Who do you think you are? You're just a Grand Mage, a goddamn Grand Mage! Do you think magical research is some kind of toy you played with as a child, something you can mold however you like?"
"Archmage Hogarth, that's a bit much, don't you think?" Leon's expression darkened as well.
"A bit much? Ha, ha, ha, that's hilarious..." Hogarth sneered at Leon, his eyes full of mockery. "The task I gave you was to calculate the spell model, not to tamper with my data or swap out my formulas. If you can't even grasp that, let me give you a piece of advice: get out of this research team. Don't think we're here to play games with you!"
"Heh..." Leon gave a dry chuckle and immediately cut off the transmission through the Crystal Orb. Damn it, I've got so much on my plate—the Nether Iron Vein in the Bone Plane alone could justify hiring ten ninth-level Archmages to crunch these damn formulas for me. Why waste my breath arguing with you?
"You... you... you actually..." On the other side of the Crystal Orb, Hogarth was so furious he nearly had a heart attack, staring at the now-blank orb, mouth agape and unable to speak.
Too bold, too arrogant...
He... he... he's just a Grand Mage in his twenties, probably still wet behind the ears, and yet he dares to show attitude in front of a ninth-level Archmage like me. He even had the nerve to "heh" at me! Does he have any idea what respect means? Any clue about manners?
No, this has to be reported to Star Sage Joey!
Clutching the thick stack of drafts, Hogarth stormed into Star Sage Joey's study, so flustered he even forgot the proper etiquette.
"Star Sage Joey!" Hogarth marched over, slamming the stack of drafts onto the desk. "I can't handle this Matthew Merlin you assigned me. You'd better find someone else."
"What's the matter?" Joey looked up from a pile of data, puzzled.
"Just now, I gave this Matthew Merlin four formulas and eight data sets. I asked him to calculate the spell model. I even considered his age—he's still young, just a Grand Mage—so I picked the simplest model and gave him plenty of time, ten days to finish. But look at this..."
With that, Hogarth handed over the densely written draft.
"Take a look at what this Matthew Merlin has done—he not only changed one of the data points I provided, but also swapped out one of the formulas. And when I called him out on it, he just shut off the transmission through the Crystal Orb. Absolutely disrespectful! Star Sage Joey, I absolutely refuse to work with this Matthew Merlin anymore. You need to find someone else!"
"Calm down. Let me take a look..." Joey took the draft and started reading.
But as Joey kept reading, his smile faded, replaced by a look of gravity and seriousness. Eventually, ignoring Hogarth's confusion, he picked up a quill and a fresh sheet of paper and began calculating in earnest.
Joey spent half an hour on these calculations...
After half an hour, Joey finally looked up, sighed quietly, and turned a stern, disappointed gaze toward Hogarth...
"What's wrong, Star Sage Joey?" Hogarth's heart skipped a beat.
As a member of Cloudspire Tower, Hogarth was well aware that this elderly man, who usually seemed so amiable and always wore a gentle smile, could become unpredictable and unreasonable the moment magical research was involved...
"See for yourself." Joey snorted coldly and tossed the draft onto the desk.
"O-okay." The cold snort made Hogarth even more uneasy. He gingerly picked up the draft and started reading, character by character.
Soon, Hogarth felt cold sweat breaking out on his forehead...
The further Hogarth read, the paler his face became, and the more his heart thudded with dread...
Because Hogarth could clearly see that Joey's calculations had also changed a data point and swapped out a formula, but the resulting spell model fit perfectly into Vanrison's Formulas.
What did this mean...
It meant that Leon hadn't cut corners in his calculations—the formulas and data Hogarth provided were simply wrong to begin with...
If it had just been a careless mistake, Hogarth wouldn't have minded so much. But this was beyond carelessness—Leon had completed the entire spell model, and all Hogarth had to do was fit it into Vanrison's Formulas. Right and wrong were plain as day.
Yet instead of doing that, he just started yelling at the Crystal Orb—and then had the nerve to bring the whole mess to Star Sage Joey.
This time, he'd really stirred up a hornet's nest...
At that moment, Hogarth wished he could bury his head in the drafts—at least then he wouldn't have to face Star Sage Joey's wrath.
Unfortunately, that was just wishful thinking on Joey's part.
Because right then, Hogarth heard Star Sage Joey's cold laugh.
"Just look at what you've done. He helped you by correcting the data and swapping out the formula, and not only did you not appreciate it, you actually berated him. Who do you think you are? Do you think you'll never make a mistake? Do you honestly believe a Grand Mage has no right to point out your errors?"
"No, no, no, Star Sage Joey, that's not what I meant..."
"Then what do you mean?"
"I..."
"Enough, Hogarth. Do you think I don't know what you're thinking? You believe a Grand Mage isn't qualified to participate in Vanrison's Formulas research. You think working with a Grand Mage somehow lowers your status as a ninth-level Archmage, don't you?"
"Star Sage Joey, let me explain..."
"Explain? Heh. Hogarth, haven't you always wanted to know who provided those four key data points? Well, I can tell you right now—the one who gave you those crucial numbers is the very Grand Mage you think isn't qualified to correct your mistakes!"
... Hogarth heard this and gasped, his mind going completely blank.
There were only seven people involved in the Vanrison's Formulas research. Except for Star Sage Joey, no one knew who had provided those four key data points. In private, nearly everyone admired that mysterious mage, convinced he must be a learned elder, perhaps even a true powerhouse beyond the rank of Title Archmage.
But now, Hogarth had just heard Star Sage Joey admit it outright—the one who provided those four key data points wasn't some learned elder, nor had he surpassed the rank of Title Archmage.
He was a Grand Mage in his twenties!
And just moments ago, Hogarth himself had called him a 'goddamn Grand Mage'...
For a moment, cold sweat trickled down Hogarth's back.
"Now, go apologize to Leon!"
"Yes, yes..." Hogarth left Joey's study in such a hurry that he was practically fleeing.
Back in his own study, Hogarth immediately sent a request for a visual transmission to Leon.
But there was no response.
Because by then, Leon had already left the Gilded Rose, and the empty Alchemist's Lab had no one to answer Hogarth.
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