Enlightened Empire

"Let's get to the interesting parts then," Corco said. "Group One just confirmed that people can cultivate. So what about Group Two? That's where the magic should have happened, right?"

In response, Joren returned to his folders and replied in the same impassive voice as before.

"At twice the population density, Group Two was still able to cultivate at speeds comparable to group one. After we had increased the density to about 2.8 times that of group one, their cultivation progress began to decrease rapidly. At almost five times the density, cultivation became entirely impossible, even for seasoned cultivators. Afterwards, all test subjects were taken to a sparser environment, where they were once again able to cultivate immediately. Further, once the number of test subjects on Experimental Site Three had been reduced, all test subjects there were once again able to cultivate normally."

"So there is some natural limit to the number of cultivators in one place," Corco concluded.

"Seems like that answers your basic question on all-cultivator societies," Sumaci added, a bit hastily. As always, it was Corco's job to reign in his overexcited student.

"It's a start," he tempered expectations. After all, they still had far too little information to draw such strong conclusions. For now, what they needed most was more data. Thus, the king turned towards his head researcher to get just that. "What about groups two and four?" he asked to get the full picture.

"The lone test subject of Group Two cultivated normally, at a speed slightly slower than the average of Group One," Joren replied. "It appears as if a single person will not cultivate faster than many within the same space, which means cultivation in a smaller group is only helpful up to a point. As for Group Four, they have so far failed to cultivate at all."

"So cultivating at sea is either impossible, or very slow," Corco concluded.

"I could have told you that, without any time-consuming research," Sumaci said, with the smugness of a straight-a student. "That's something the Yaku of the Verdant Isles have known for generations."

"But it wasn't backed by proper data," Corco argued back.

For a moment, the two stared at each other, locked in an argument without words. Although Sumaci was stubborn, and insistent on her home's superiority in this regard, she would know as well as anyone else in the room that her anecdotal evidence was no good. At best, it could serve for the formulation of hypotheses to be tested further. Thus, after a few seconds of silent conflict — in which Sumaci glared and Corco showed a confident smile — the queen finally looked away with the most haughty head spin she had in her repertoire.

Once the conflict between husband and wife had concluded, Corco once again turned to Joren.

"Anything else?" he asked, eager for any further information. So far, they had only heard about four of the seventeen test groups. Surely, the others had achieved great results as well.

"Yes, indeed," Joren confirmed his suspicions. "After the basic tests let us understand some basic environmental requirements for cultivation, groups one to three were further divided, to test which parts of the classic cultivation techniques are necessary, sufficient, or helpful. To that effect, we taught cultivation, but without the use of mantras, cultivation without the use of proper breathing techniques, and cultivation without the addition of physical exertion or herbal concoctions for support. There were some other attempts as well. For example, we let one group only use mantras in a language they did not understand, to see if an understanding of the words is necessary for a noticeable effect on the cultivation speed."

"Now we're getting into the good stuff. What were the results?" Corco leaned forward in anticipation.

This was the most important part of their research, at least the most important part of the research conducted here around the Lonely Island. If they could understand which parts of the cultivation techniques contributed to the overall effect in which ways, they would be able to begin improving the old techniques in a targeted manner.

"The results were quite enlightening," Joren lead. "After taking away one — — presumably essential — requirement for each cultivation technique, every single technique still functioned. However, all test subjects showed significantly reduced efficiency in their performance. Furthermore, the test subjects who did not exert themselves physically — as well as those who did not use mantras during cultivation — saw a deviation in the intended effect of their techniques, as if their improvements were less focused on their intended targets. Those who used mantras in foreign languages showed the same results. To conclude, mantras and physical exercises seem to focus the effort of the cultivator in a specific direction — like greater endurance or strength — while the breathing technique seems to amplify the effect. For now, it appears as if every part of the old cultivation techniques seem to contribute to cultivation in a meaningful way."

"Something I predicted from the start, of course," Eclestius chimed in before an excited Corco could say anything. "The ancestors may not have known everything, but they were no idiots, much unlike what some here seem to think."

As he spoke, he stared straight at Joren, as if anyone hadn't already understood who he considered the idiot in the room. In response, the archivist turned towards his colleague again, this time with his whole body.

"To make progress we need to-"

"Not waste any more of my time," Eclestius interrupted an argument they must have had countless times already. "How much of my energy have I wasted on redesigning ancient cultivation techniques in meaningless ways, all in the name of so-called progress, for little return?"

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"Well, right now, both of you are wasting my time more than anything," Corco cut off the exchange before they could derail the conversation even further. "I mean, isn't this exactly the reason I appointed you as my head researcher?"

After all, Eclestius hadn't received his position as a reward alone. While he didn't understand much about modern scientific methodology, no Medalan outside of the Ancestral Hall was more suited to modify existing cultivation techniques for the purpose of research. After the disguised compliment, Eclestius huffed some excuse and finally stopped arguing.

Meanwhile, as the king was wrangling with his unruly subordinates, his wife just sat on the sidelines, ate some grapes, and watched the carnage unfold with a gleeful smile on her face.

What happened to her plan to disrupt the presentation with tricky questions? Maybe it's just more fun to sit back and watch them tear into each other.

Left without support, Corco suppressed a sigh, before he attempted to refocus their efforts once more.

"So is that it in terms of results? What else have you done with your time here?" he asked Joren again. As if he had only waited for the opportunity, the previously curt researcher almost jumped out of his seat as he explained his plans to Corco.

"We have more experiments planned, for example an experimental setup to determine if breathing the right type of air makes a difference for cultivation. However, the oxygen masks I have requested for this experiment are supposedly 'not feasible to produce at acceptable cost', even though I sent perfectly reasonable blue prints with my request."

"Okay, that sounds promising," Corco said in a noncommittal manner. If the request had been rejected by one of his ministries, there probably was a good reason for it. "Have you sent a detailed report to Saniya?" he thus probed further.

After all, if he hadn't sent a proper report through the proper channels, that alone would be enough of a reason for rejection. However, things weren't quite so simple, at least not according to Joren.

"Of course." He glanced over to Eclestius, before he continued. "However, I suspect the daughter of our Lord Eclestius here has spent her days in Rapra Castle in endless attempts to block all of my proposals, in fear that I may achieve a major breakthrough and upstage her father's precious ancestors."

"Listen, you-"

Once again, the two of them began to quarrel over perceived former slights. Maybe sticking these two onto a deserted island together hadn't been the greatest idea in hindsight. Still, this was getting ridiculous. Didn't these people have any sense of time and place? Even if they didn't, at least they should have some respect for their king's time. The more he thought, the angrier Corco got. Just as the king was about to explode into one of his classic rants, the support he had expected ages ago finally arrived.

"I'm sorry, but is this it?" Sumaci's lazy voice interrupted the conflict. At once, everyone focused on the unexpected interruption. Maybe in their anger, the two head researchers had already forgotten about their queen's existence.

"This is all very fascinating, but you have not really discovered anything major, have you?" Sumaci criticized. "I mean, your mutually assured incompetence aside, shouldn't you have managed to get farther after three years of research? The stuff you've found is all foundational. I understand that these things are important, but that should be the start of your research, not your end point, right? We didn't come here for a lecture on theory, but to find something we can use to bolster the power of the kingdom. Haven't you done any more concrete experiments, like attempting to change the mantras in order to strengthen the effects of certain cultivation techniques?"

At once, the two adversaries turned towards their queen in unison. Faced with her lazy derision, both of them suddenly seemed united like never before, as if their previous conflict had never existed.

"Of course we have," Eclestius argued. "After all, this is the very reason I have been appointed as head of this project. Only a master of cultivation — such as an elder member of House Pluritac — could even attempt to change the ancient formulas in any meaningful and targeted manner."

"And only a genius researcher could make sense of all the data and adequately interpret the results of the experiments," Joren added. As if he had practiced it, he hesitated for a second, before he pretended to look frustrated. At least Corco was quite sure he was acting, since he wasn't very good at it.

"Unfortunately, while we have achieved more substantial results with other experiments, those results cannot currently be accessed by us," Eclestius finally said, with an equally frustrated appearance. His acting wasn't much better. "Thus, they also cannot be presented to King Corcopaca and Queen Sumaci."

"And why can't you access them?" Corco asked, although he already knew where this conversation was going. After all, the two of them had clearly practiced this very speech long in advance. It would be a shame to not let them perform.

"Since all research happens on separate islands, it has become hard to control every experiment, and to collate all the results," Joren explained as if he had only waited for the opportunity. "This problem is further exacerbated by the high level of security surrounding the cultivation research project. Every single paper exchanged between islands needs outside approval, which has been a nightmare, frankly."

"That is one issue we can agree on." Eclestius nodded. "With all the foreign interference, work across islands has become almost impossible."

This was pretty much exactly what Corco had expected. The two were apparently unhappy with the safety features the ghost warriors put around this top-secret project, and wanted to use this poor excuse to scam more freedom and authority out of their king.

No doubt, they still had more than enough data ready from the other experiments on other islands, but they wouldn't present any of it until Corco had agreed to their terms. At that point, they could simply call the data 'outdated' and pretend like they had never tried to blackmail their king with the results of their research. However, in this case, the two of them had grossly miscalculated. As far as Corco was concerned, their lack of cooperation was exactly what he wanted.

"Right," he looked back and forth between his nervous looking researchers, as a grin slowly formed on his face. "Since you can't tell us any more about the rest of the research, it seems like we'll have to visit more of these islands to see it all for ourselves."

"Oh no, sounds like we will have to extend our vacation," Sumaci added in a dramatic tone of pure fatalism. She even covered her eyes with the back of her hand, like a true lady with the vapors.

"What a shame," Corco added quickly, to interrupt the two researchers who wanted to interject. "Though in order to support our two head researchers here, it needs to be done. In the name of science."

"Yes, we would love to go back home and return to our duties immediately, but unfortunately, we will have to continue our cruise, for science."

At this point, Sumaci and Corco were openly laughing as they made up nonsense one after another. Meanwhile, Eclestius — who had understood what was happening —held back Joren, who still wanted to argue.

After all, the king and queen had found an excuse to be lazy. If the two of them were to disrupt their plans, neither of them would benefit. Thus stuck without the support they had envisioned, the two quarrel-embroiled researchers soon had to watch their monarchs leave the Lonely Island, to further extend their vacation in the waters of Medala.