Marvel Magic Case Files

Chapter 647 Folklore Professor (Second Update)

"Spacetime is derived from the superposition of a series of historical paths of transitions between different nodes and connections in a dynamic spin network. You have studied Feynman diagrams, Hilbert spaces, and differential manifolds, so we can also understand spin networks. This topology provides a descriptive language for the quantum geometry of space, and spin bubbles play the same role in the quantum geometry of spacetime. A spin network is a one-dimensional graph with labels on its vertices and edges. Spacetime can be viewed as a superposition of spin bubbles, which is a generalization of Feynman diagrams. The boundaries of spin bubbles are spin networks. Just as in manifold theory, the boundaries of an n-manifold are (n-1)-manifolds."

To the average person, Professor Selvig's lectures were nothing short of the devil's whisper. Even undergraduates at Royal Holloway, University of London, struggled to fully grasp all his material, as he consistently overdid it, much to the dismay of many who came seeking his expertise. For instance, this time, he merely touched upon understanding spacetime before veerging into quantum geometry, then on to generalized covariance and background independence. The blackboard quickly filled up, and Professor Selvig pulled up a whiteboard, writing the ADM notation on it. Salomon gently patted the hand of the nearly collapsing undergraduate beside him, who leaned against his shoulder.

"Get out of my way, bitch!" Daisy reached out and shoved the female student aside, taking her seat and then leaning on Salomon's shoulder. Ever since Jane Foster won the Nobel Prize, intern Daisy had become quite arrogant. This arrogance was limited to snatching food from Salomon's plate when they went to eat in Egham, and everyone took this childish behavior as Daisy's new joke.

"Is Professor Selvig always like this?"

"Otherwise, there wouldn't be so few people attending this course. Did you really think I understood it all?" Daisy pursed her lips. Ever since Professor Selvig became connected to the two alien invasions—the Battle of New York and the Battle of London—the school no longer intended to interfere with his teaching schedule, no matter how eccentric the old man's lectures were. For Salomon, Professor Selvig's lectures weren't too difficult; he had already learned everything he needed to, and he didn't think he was wasting his time—Professor Selvig's brain had most likely been inspired by the Space Stone; otherwise, it wouldn't explain why he could still conduct such valuable research after becoming a respected druid at Stonehenge. No one knew when Professor Selvig would suddenly come up with a shocking yet equally correct viewpoint.

"You're a graduate student, Daisy!"

"I am a graduate student in social sciences, not in astrophysics."

“I’m not here to listen to a lecture either. Although Jane often dumps us here when she’s busy, I have other things to do today.” Salomon winked, then lowered his head mysteriously and said to Daisy, “You know what I mean. It’s… my main profession.”

Daisy thought for a few seconds, then her expression suddenly turned horrified.

"A vampire, or a werewolf?" She involuntarily lowered her voice, nervously scanning the lecture hall. "Is it in this classroom?" She sniffed, trying to reduce her volume until only the hissing of air passing through her throat remained. Salomon could clearly feel Darcy's body trembling; she was practically shrinking into Salomon's seat. "Could it be that undergraduate? My God, I just pushed her! Is she looking at me now?!"

"Uh..." Salomon gave the undergraduate an awkward smile. "I think she just wants to settle scores with you after class. Not a vampire, not a werewolf, but..."

"That painting!" Darcy loosened her grip on Salomon's neck. Her eyes widened, and she looked even more frightened.

The painting she mentioned is an oil painting from 1864 by Sir Edwin Henry Lansier. It hung on the wall of the examination center and depicted two polar bears tearing apart the flesh of crew members, inspired by the disappearance of the British Arctic expedition in 1845. However, the horrific imagery isn't the reason Daisy associated it; the painting's horror stems from a chilling rumor from the 1920s—a student committed suicide by stabbing himself in the eye with a pencil during an exam, writing "The polar bears made me do it" on his exam paper beforehand. But if we trace back to a documented rumor, it would be a 1960s tale among students: anyone sitting in front of this painting during an exam would fail.

From then on, whenever the school held exams, the painting would be covered with a large enough Union Jack.

"The last two survivors of Franklin's expedition died from cannibalism," Daisy said, growing increasingly frightened. Salomon, however, rolled his eyes. What awful superstition! While some magic is closely linked to superstition, less than two hundred years had passed, and a painting universally despised wouldn't cause any real trouble. Besides, Oxford University had far more ghost stories than Holloway, such as the ghost of William Law, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was beheaded in the St. John's College library. Oxford even had real, insane vampires who wanted to fall in love with humans—and Salomon had wiped them all out on his first day of classes there. What was there to be afraid of in mere ghosts and curses?

"I've wanted to burn that painting for ages! Isn't that the Queen Mary University cemetery?"

“No, do I look like an exorcist priest to you? Although I am a professional exorcist, that doesn’t mean I’ll tell you every detail of exorcisms.” Daisy’s eyes were full of confusion when Salomon asked her question. “Do you know Professor Selvig’s achievements in folklore? This is a new academic field that Professor Selvig has expanded into. Although folklore seems like a sandcastle in the face of serious physics, that doesn’t prevent him from studying religious folklore through mythology—especially since Saul is also on good terms with him, he has almost no rivals in this field.”

"I...how come I didn't know about this!" Daisy's courage grew again. Taking advantage of the ringing bell, she forcefully patted Salomon's arm. Salomon shrugged, looking completely innocent. "Hurry up, or that bitch will come after me!" Daisy, pulling the two-meter-tall sorcerer along, tried to hide in the departing crowd. Clearly, she didn't realize this was futile; it only made her and Salomon more conspicuous. Once they had finally escaped the crowd and were on their way to the professor's office, Daisy finally asked the question she had been holding back for so long (about five minutes).

"Then what brings you to Professor Selvig?"

"Jerusalem Grove, a small town located east of Cumberland, twenty miles north of Portland," Salomon said. "I need to go there to retrieve a lost dark magic book. That book can create vampires through a horrific ritual, and I plan to take my apprentice there. Before that, I need to find old newspapers published by the Cumberland City Library in England, looking for clues, because that magic book was brought to America from England. I believe Professor Selvig can be of help."

Please vote for me!

(End of this chapter)