Enlightened Empire

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.

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."

By now at the latest, Sumaci could have told him off, but she seemed to enjoy wasting the man's time much more than clearing up the misunderstanding. Though in the process, she was also wasting everyone else's time. Not to mention that the archivist's deadpan face showed no signs of annoyance at all. In the end, only the king's nerves were being worn down.

"Of course," he just said, and skipped about a third of the yellow folder's contents. "First off, we received a total of 1057 test subjects for these experiments, and split them into 17 total groups of different sizes. Their exact distribution can be referenced in the reports. These groups were then sent to different islands in the Narrow Sea and along Medala's coast line to participate in individual experimental setups. The basic hypotheses to be tested-"

"Wait, test subjects? Humans?" Finally, Sumaci interrupted the speech, though now at an inopportune time, when Joren was just getting started.

"Of course," the archivist replied with the same dry derision as before. "We have yet to teach a pig how to cultivate."

"And where did you get those human subjects from?" the Queen probed further. While the two researchers at the table looked confused at Sumaci's strange concerns, Corco knew exactly what she was worried about. After all, he was the one who had told her horror stories about human experimentation because he thought it would be funny.

"Most have been volunteers," he explained, but his wife only returned a silent, critical stare.

"It's true," he insisted. "At first, most of the test subjects were criminals, who participated to have their sentences reduced. But some commoner groups in Saniya complained, or so I've heard. I wasn't all that involved in the process, though apparently they made quite the fuss."

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"Why would they complain?" Sumaci asked, now as visibly confused as the researchers. "Were some of the criminals their relatives?"

"They complained because the greatest honor they could know would be a bestowal of cultivation techniques, thus elevating them into a higher class of human," Eclestius explained before Corco could, with harsher words and a more arrogant tone than the king would have ever chosen.

"Basically, the act of cultivation is attached with lots of prestige," Corco added in a less virulent tone. "So, many people were happy to participate in potentially long and dangerous experiments, so long as there was a chance that they might become cultivators — and thus warriors — by the end of it. They didn't want to leave a chance like that to criminals, thus the complaints."

"All those commoners from the south say they disdain those 'rotten nobles' of higher class, yet they jump at the first chance to be one themselves." As he spoke, Eclestius looked over to Joren, who was looking on in growing impatience.

"Society," Corco simply commented, as if anyone would understand the reference. While there was clearly a story of class struggle hidden behind the relationship of the two head researchers, the archivist seemed entirely uninterested in the topic, and just wanted too continue his presentation.

Thus, he snorted and asked his king in a rude tone: "Should I simply come back later?"

"No, please continue," Corco said, happy to avoid complicated topics. He had come here to learn exciting new facts about cultivation, not as a marriage counselor.

"Of those 17 groups, four were used to test the basic requirements for cultivation first," Joren picked up the previous topic, as if none of the previous discussion had existed. "On this island itself — titled Experimental Environment One — we handled the control group — Group One — a total of 25 cultivators. The total number of people per square kilometer is roughly equivalent to the number of cultivators per square kilometer present in Medala proper. All of them were taught standard cultivation methods and instructed to cultivate them normally. On another island — Experimental Environment Two — we only allowed a single person to cultivate, to see if their cultivation speed would improve in a sparser environment, or if it would slow down in the absence of other humans. Finally, Experimental Environment Three housed twice the number of people per square kilometer as Experimental Environment One. As our tests in Experimental Environment Three progressed, we slowly increased the amount of cultivators on the island, and noted any changes. Finally, there was a fourth Experimental Environment, a ship at high seas which first anchored in the deep sea while the subjects cultivated, and then moved about as they did so."

"So what are the results?" Corco asked, before anyone else could derail the conversation again.

"Group One has shown no abnormality. Everyone in the group was able to cultivate, which confirms my hypothesis that the presence of non-cultivators is not necessary for cultivation."

"Or maybe it only works for a while, but eventually cultivation still becomes impossible without non-cultivators around. It might just take some time for the final results to show," Sumaci interrupted at the first sign of weakness from the archivist.

"I mean, that's true," Corco agreed. Confirmation was a strong word in this context.

"I tell him all the time: Don't jump to conclusions," Eclestius added, clearly eager to add some slander towards his fellow researcher.

"The conclusions are, of course, temporary, and under further review," Joren admitted. Clearly, he had gotten too excited when faced with numbers and graphs. "At the very least, my hypothesis that the presence of non-cultivators is not a requirement for cultivation has so far withstood our attempts at falsification."

"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.