Chapter 476: Research Results (1)

Chapter 476: Research Results (1)

Joren, one of two head researchers of Corco's cultivation research project, looked, in many regards, quite similar to Eclestius. Both men were carefully groomed, both looked like scholars, and both had default stoic expressions plastered on their faces. To Corco, it was a mystery how two people could look so similar yet get along so poorly. As expected, Joren's first words after entering the room were already enough to make Eclestius frown.

"Hello, boss! It's been too long!"

His intimacy stemmed in part from the fact that he had known Corco for years — ever since their days at the Fastgrade Merchant Company — and he simply had kept using Corco's old title from back then. The other part of the unreasonable greeting, of course, stemmed from the fact that Joren was simply bad with people. The debut release happened at N0v3lBiin.

Since he was a socially awkward weirdo, Corco thought he was perfect for some long-duration research on an isolated island. Not to mention, Joren had always been particularly keen on the methodology lessons other researchers routinely avoided, ever since his old days as the archivist of the Fastgrade merchants.

While ignoring the confused and angry looks from his wife and his uncle respectively, Corco motioned towards a seat at the table, which Joren gladly took. In the process, he shoved aside refreshments and cups, to occupy the entire space with a number of well-organized files instead.

He's even color-coded them, a bemused Corco noticed. A true archivist indeed.

"I'm sure you discovered something interesting," Corco repeated, more hopeful than before in the face of so much data. "So how about we skip introductions and you just tell us what I've spent so much tax revenue on?"

"If by 'interesting', the king assumes basic and unhelpful, then surely we have discovered much," Eclestius commented.

"I'd like to refute such a claim." Joren replied in a dry, matter-of-factly voice, before he turned towards Corco with an enthusiastic smile. "We have made great strides in foundational research on the topic of cultivation. There have been some fascinating results recently."

"Then please, go ahead and present your findings." Corco motioned the archivist to continue, yet his opening was already all wrong.

"Of course. In our first base study, the results-" he began as he picked up a rust-red folder, but he didn't get very far.

"Stop," Corco interrupted the researcher, before he prompted: "Start by introducing the experimental setup first. Some of the people here haven't heard about it yet."

Although Corco motioned towards his wife, he himself was in dire need of a refresher as well. It had been years since he had helped design the early tests for the cultivation research. Since then, he had been busy with one crisis after another. As a result, he had barely found the time to read the reports, much less carefully interpret them. As a result, he would be hopelessly lost without a short rerun, though he wasn't willing to admit it.

Since Corco's little lie wasn't exposed, the researcher offered a sour look to Sumaci, as if she was wasting his time. Although Corco felt guilty for pushing all the blame onto her, his best student and favorite human just grinned back at the researcher, without trying to explain herself at all.

After all, she wasn't some uneducated girl, as this reclusive researcher seemed to assume. Most likely, she thought that showing him up with tricky question would be funnier than exposing her own background right away, so she stayed quiet for the moment.

Thus, after a short but intense stare-down, an awkward Joren looked away and picked up a folder in light yellow, before he began to explain.

"First of all, the overall goal of this series of research projects has been to understand cultivation, that is, the mechanisms which guide and underlie the process we understand as cultivation. First, since there are amateurs present, we should begin with a definition of cultivation to establish a baseline of knowledge."

Again, Joren stared at Sumaci out of the corner of his eye, and again, Corco had to interrupt him.

"No, stop," the frustrated king said. "No need to go that far back. Just start with the setup."

"So there is a good chance that all-cultivator societies are possible," Sumaci concluded, this time out of genuine interest, rather than sheer spite. After all, this was a question she herself had brought up on their way here.

"In principle, yes." Joren nodded as he pointed towards a piece of paper. "Here, I have written a short treatise on the subject. Based on our current knowledge, all-cultivator societies should be possible, at least in low-density populations. In addition, Group One contained people of different social classes, genders and races."

"So what did you find?" Now that the important answers to many of his questions were right before him, Corco was getting more and more tense. What if there was a difference in performance between classes? Wouldn't his entire concept for an equal medalan society need an overhaul? Luckily, Joren responded in the way Corco had hoped.

"Every test subject in Group One has managed to cultivate without any significant difference in performance," he said. "It can be assumed that race, gender, and social class have no impact on cultivation ability."

Just as Corco was happy that his plans for a society of equals remained possible, Eclestius spoke up and ruined all his plans.

"The lower classes were slower," he bluntly stated. In response, Joren finally turned towards Eclestius, for the first time since he had entered the room.

"However, when taking into account their unfamiliarity with the act of cultivation, their lower levels of fitness and lower levels of education-"

"They were slower," Eclestius interrupted his fellow researcher again. While Joren was still searching for words, the exiled prince turned towards his nephew to complain about his colleague. "I thought this commoner was here to make sure we follow these scientific methods. He only seems interested in his own opinions."

Once again dragged into the internal conflicts between his subordinates, Corco had to sigh and hold his face in his hand.

"Please stay objective, Joren," he bluntly cautioned. "We're here for facts, not opinions."

For a second, the archivist looked like he wanted to argue some more, but the king's stare finally let him understand reality.

"Of course," he said, though with a voice tinged in unhappiness. "Either way, it could be proven that all classes are able to cultivate, though at different speeds. It remains to be seen whether or not this difference is hereditary in nature, or caused by other factors."

"What other factors could there possibly be? The class system exists for a reason," Eclestius argued. This time however, Joren had his arguments ready as well.

"The warrior test subjects are simply more familiar with the concept of cultivation than their commoner counterparts," he insisted. "They also have better language ability due to their higher level of education, and they are generally healthier and stronger, due to their rich upbringing. Of course the warriors would be faster cultivators."

"Excuses, nothing more," Eclestius shouted back. "If the commoners are that great, then why-"

"Uncle, please. Decorum," an exhausted Corco reminded. This time, it was Eclestius' turn to huff and keep quiet. Meanwhile, Joren had pulled out another piece of paper from his endless supply of folders.

"Here, I have made some rough calculations, although some of the numbers had to be estimated. If I exclude the influence of education and experience, I could detect no statistical difference between commoners and nobles when it comes to cultivation. Here are the numbers."

As he spoke, Joren handed a piece of paper to Corco. While the king looked at the mess of numbers and graphs — which were most likely filled with assumptions and questionable statistical trickery — Sumaci was already thinking further ahead.

"If that's true, it would be our first revolution, right?" the queen said excitedly, in reference to the king's previous claims that cultivation could bring them a great revolution.

"That's right," Corco confirmed, though he was unwilling to go any deeper into the topic.

All they had for now were some unconfirmed results and some doctored numbers from a researcher who clearly had an agenda. Thus, he preferred to move on, instead of idly imagining a future which might not correspond to reality. Finally, they were about to get to the interesting part.