A week later, the Terestan City Center Theater.

Originally a theatrical venue, it used to be the site of many prestigious plays, but today it is home to a group of people dressed in robes.

These people are naturally mages, but they are not from the same place, they are not from the same faction, and most of them don't even know each other.

The mages sitting in the hall of the theater were a little noisy, but they all knew what they were here for.

"I heard that this is a reward for mages who study mathematics, why would someone from the High Council suddenly do this?"

"I didn't expect to be invited, I thought I had been forgotten a long time ago."

"You all study mathematics? I always thought that only I would devote my time to this. ”

......

The mages exchanged their research, and there were even heated arguments, but soon, as the lights dimmed, all the words gradually subsided, and the people looked to the stage.

It was a high-ranking mage, William of the Law Department. Saxony.

He invented calculus at about the same time as His Excellency Alberton, but he fell short of calculus in practical applications, and is currently the Master of the Seven Rings, serving as the president of the Weavers, the academic organization of the Law Department.

"Good afternoon, everyone, I'm William. Saxony, members of the High Council, you must have all known about this meeting through invitations, and naturally you also know that this is a meeting of mages from various factions and ranks who study mathematics, in order to reward those who have made outstanding contributions to the field of mathematics. ”

Saxon paused, then continued.

"In the past, because mathematics could not get feedback from the world, and could not directly improve the strength of magic, there were very few mages who were willing to study mathematics, and probably most of the people here turned to mathematics for support because they encountered problems in their routine research.

His words made everyone present nod slightly, indeed, none of them became mages for the purpose of studying mathematics, everyone only began to think when they encountered mathematical problems in their own research, some people applied them to their own spells and gained benefits, while some people still buried themselves in the books, solving one mathematical problem after another but still not seeing the end.

"Recently, His Excellency Alberton presented me with a paper, which is a purely mathematical treatise aimed at solving the unity of the equations of motion."

Saxony's words made everyone in the audience gasp, the unification of the equation of motion is a difficult problem that even legendary mages cannot overcome, could it be that the author of that paper has succeeded?

Next, Saxony gave a brief introduction to the paper, which he did not elaborate on as it was not the focus of the conference.

"However, it is a pity that this paper, which was written ten years ago, was buried because no one recognized it, and its author also died depressed, and it was not until ten years later that this paper was unearthed, which is a tragedy in the mage world, and it is also the evil result of the lack of attention to mathematics for many years."

The mages present were silent, they had all suffered similar glances to a greater or lesser extent, and the most common question they heard was what your research was for, and Saxony's statement made them empathize.

"Taking this mage's thesis as an opportunity, the High Council decided to establish an award to recognize those mages who have made outstanding contributions to the field of mathematics, they will receive magic items inscribed with sixth-order magic, a large number of academic points, and monetary rewards, we all know that choosing to study mathematics will in a sense delay their own path to advancement, and this award is to compensate for encouraging scholars who are focused on their goals."

At the same time, Saxon said, he also announced a number of measures, including the establishment of a special mathematical journal to enhance the academic exchange between mages in various places, and finally he said.

"It is well known that the Mercury Balance has the Hohenheim Gold Cup, and there are awards such as the Alberton Scepter within the Weaver, and these academic awards are named after well-known or legendary mages, and this prize in mathematics, at the suggestion of a relevant person, the High Council decided to name it after the author of the paper on the unified equation of motion, Siris."

Siris Award, the mages in the audience whispered the name.

"Before presenting the awards, I would like to have Reiner. Ian Gray gave us the award speech, and it was he who discovered the paper and gave it the credit it deserved. ”

"Reiner. Ian Gray !? "The Skullcrusher?" "Oh my God, I'm not going to have a cognitive breakdown, am I?"

......

Reiner walked to the center of the stage and smiled helplessly.

"Rest assured, everyone, what I am going to say next is absolutely safe and will not have any effect on your perception."

Hearing his words, there was a good-natured laugh from the crowd.

"I believe that all of you here have studied mathematics more deeply than I do, and understand the importance of mathematics in magic, but at the same time, the study of mathematics often falls into the question, that is, what is the meaning?"

Reiner's loud voice, combined with the unique structure of the theater, made it clear to all.

"Many mathematical theories may not be able to be applied for hundreds of years, and even some strange and contrary conclusions will not be understood in a lifetime.

His questioning caused the mages to ponder, and such self-questioning had lingered in everyone's mind.

"But what I want to say is that our exploration of mathematics, our pursuit of truth, is itself meaningful, in fact, mathematics may be the only discipline that we can transcend our time, and perhaps the formula we have found now with unknown meaning is the answer to the ultimate question."

Reiner smiled and continued.

"In fact, the means we create to solve a mathematical problem may also become the cornerstone of a theory, and we cannot arbitrarily evaluate this discipline that leads to the future with a narrow view of the present."

The mages present felt a little as if they had been seeking an answer for many years, or at least, someone could understand what they were doing.

"I didn't have much to say at this award ceremony, but I brought some mathematical questions that might be able to get you to discuss."

Reiner paused, made up his mind, and threw out these mathematically difficult peaks.

"The first is that when the integer N is greater than 2, there is no positive integer solution to the indefinite equation X^N+Y^N=Z^N, which you can call the Reiner conjecture."

Hearing Reiner's words, Saxon nodded subconsciously, his mind calculating rapidly, but as he calculated, a terrifying fact appeared in front of him.

That is, he could not think of a quick way to prove this seemingly self-evident conclusion.

Before Saxony could come to his senses, Reiner had already thrown out a second question.

"The second is that any flat map can paint countries with common borders different colors with just four colors, which I call the four-color conjecture for short."

The second question concerns reality, but Saxony is hard to refute at once when he thinks about it.

God, Saxon thought, and although Alberton had mentioned some of Reiner's thoughts about himself before, Saxon had no idea that the young man was even more bottomless than he had imagined.

As the crowd pondered over the two puzzles, Reiner uttered his third conjecture.

"The third conjecture concerns prime numbers, and that is, any even number not less than 4 can be written as the sum of two prime numbers, and you can call it the Ian Gray conjecture."

If the first two conjectures still give people room to think, then the third conjecture made Reiner take the breath away of all those who have a deep understanding of mathematics.

Behind the concise and elegant proposition, there is a deep thinking like a vast sea, and putting forward this conjecture requires not only a solid mathematical foundation, but more importantly, a heart of curiosity.

These three conjectures fit the perfect form of a mathematical puzzle: the formulation is simple, the conclusion seems self-evident, but the process of proof is extremely complex.

It is to be expected that for many years to come, these three conjectures will become the three shining jewels in the crown of mathematics, waiting to be picked.