Chapter 1303: Dean

The last time Xia Duo saw Dean Bernie was over half a year ago, when he was observing Luo Zi's advancement, but over these past six months, he had still been able to see the man's name frequently.

During this period, the Research Institute had added nearly thirty Official Researchers in succession, and promotion to an official rank required one to be an Advanced Arcanist.

Although Xia Duo did not deliberately inquire, when he communicated with his collaborators, he would occasionally hear those newly promoted Official Researchers mention Dean Bernie.

These people's advancements were not all presided over by Dean Bernie, but Dean Bernie was, after all, the Dean of the Branch, and he presided over more sessions than anyone else.

In the end, the collapse of Arcane Fire was also a common occurrence!

Seeing Dean Bernie again, Xia Duo did not see any fatigue or displeasure on him; instead, he displayed a relaxed smile that only appeared in a state of leisure.

"Good afternoon, Dean Bernie."

"Good afternoon. You came to see me, is it because of those people outside?"

"No."

Xia Duo hurriedly shook his head. Facing the kind-hearted Dean Bernie, he really did not want to disturb him with those people outside. In fact, those people outside could not cause him any influence at all.

He simply said:

"I came here this time mainly to represent Hake, Luo Zi, and the others to express our gratitude to you, Dean."

Regarding this, Dean Bernie said: "No need to thank me. Regardless of which laboratory graduates enter, they are all in the Research Institute. Besides, your past achievements are worthy of me doing this! Especially you—"

"Maikade! If you hadn't been the first to break the unspoken rules in the institute, it would have been impossible for the unhealthy atmosphere in the institute to be cleared up in such a short time. From this perspective, as the Dean, I should be the one thanking you!"

"Dean Bernie, your praise makes me feel apprehensive. I only did what an Imperial Researcher should do; it is truly not worth you valuing me so highly."

Xia Duo felt a bit weary even saying these words himself, but for someone like Dean Bernie who truly cared about the revival of the Empire, it could not have been more fitting.

Just as Xia Duo finished speaking, Dean Bernie stood up solemnly, walked in front of Xia Duo, even patted Xia Duo on the shoulder, called out "Good," and said: "With someone like you, Maikade, in the Empire, why worry that it cannot be revived!"

Since crossing over and experiencing multiple Projection Planes, Xia Duo had long been accustomed to the safe distance deliberately maintained between Spellcasters. Even between him and Niya, they rarely got this close when interacting in daily life.

As for others, it was even more so; they would rarely get within half a meter.

Half a meter meant that when casting a spell, the Spell Source Point could potentially be directly interfered with by the other party, and beyond half a meter, one could only cast spells through the form of spell confrontation.

But in reality, half a meter was not a particularly secure safe distance. Generally, High Mages could place their Spell Source Points more than 1 meter away when casting, or directly interfere with Spell Source Points more than a meter away.

And for Arcanists, as long as they deployed the Micro Magic Net, the spellcasting distance would be greatly increased; almost any area covered by the Micro Magic Net could become an area for arbitrary spellcasting.

Of course, considering the possibility of being attacked after the Micro Magic Net is deployed, Arcanists would actually control it within a certain range when deploying it.

But even so, 1 meter was far from a safe distance.

Not to mention having a Great Arcanist put his hand on his shoulder; this almost broke through Xia Duo's psychological bottom line, and he became nervous all at once.

It was not entirely psychological nervousness; he was still quite restrained in his mindset. It was mainly his body, especially his shoulder, that almost immediately stiffened and began to resist the other party's contact.

Seeing this, Bernie's expression did not change, but he unobtrusively withdrew his hand, walked back to his original seat, and then continued:

"I think highly of you. When you become a Level 2 Researcher, I will recommend you to the Headquarters. I hope you can bring a new atmosphere to the Headquarters as well. Of course, if you want to stay here at the Branch, that is also fine; the institute will give you the greatest support!"

After finishing, Bernie added a reminder, "Advance to Arcanist as soon as possible; that is the best counterattack against those people outside. As for now, I will help you block them. But you must also be clear that as long as you do not advance for a day, the issue of rank Permission Level will always become a point for them to attack you, even if this point of contention does not actually exist."

"I understand. I will advance as soon as possible. Thank you for your high regard and guidance, Dean!"

……

Leaving the Xiu Xi Shi, when passing through the Reception Room outside, those few people had not yet left. Xia Duo walked straight past them without giving them another look.

After returning to the laboratory on the negative third floor, Xia Duo immediately prepared to start a new project.

Through research on the various links in the resurrection process, Xia Duo now roughly understood why Lord Leisen had lost his spellcasting ability in the resurrection experiment accident.

For the resurrection of the dead, the most critical step lies in repairing the link between the Soul and the physical body. Before this step is completed, no matter how perfect that body is, it is essentially still a corpse.

As a corpse, the Elemental Energy balance within it is lacking. Generally speaking, it manifests as a deficiency of Positive Energy and an overflow of Negative Energy.

This is also the general manifestation of a corpse.

If it undergoes a Positive Energy Baptism and the Negative Energy disappears completely, then the corpse itself no longer possesses the elements required for resurrection.

It is necessary to replenish it with Negative Energy; if it has not undergone Baptism or blessing, it also needs to be replenished with Positive Energy. In short, it is to make the Elemental Energy within it reach the state of a normal living person.

Only on top of this can one continue to discuss the issue of repairing the connection between the Soul and the physical body.

If an accident occurs during a resurrection experiment, it will to a large extent cause the already unstable "quasi-living person elemental balance state" to lose balance again.

The more severe situation should be what Lord Leisen encountered: a burst of Negative Energy overflow that also impacted the body of the Spellcaster conducting the experiment.

This is not just a matter of losing spellcasting ability; one's lifespan will also be affected as a result.

Xia Duo is not sure if this is the "downgrade Regret Pill" he wants, but in the Projection Plane, it would not hurt to try it out a little.

If it succeeds, this will surely become a strategic-level technology comparable to the 【Mythallar】.

……

After quickly writing the project application, Xia Duo hurried out and personally went to the Management Center to submit the Document, and the response from above was also quite rapid.

Only a few minutes had passed when he received a Sending from Dean Bernie: "Do not resist my Teleportation Spell."

Xia Duo knew that Dean Bernie had been paying attention to his research trends. He had just applied for a new project here, and the other party reacted immediately. It seems Dean Bernie is also someone who knows his stuff!

The fluctuations of a Teleportation Spell soon appeared in the surroundings. Xia Duo followed instructions and did not resist at all. The next instant, he returned to the same Xiu Xi Shi as before.

And Dean Bernie was currently holding the project application Xia Duo had just submitted to the Management Center. Seeing the person arrive, he immediately put down the Document and asked:

"How did you think of using Negative Energy impact to reduce the Spellcasting Level?"