A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 115 Another World: "Oil" in the Sky

On a beautiful spring afternoon, Rorschach returned to the lab but did not see Pascal.

"Where's my senior brother?" Luo Xia asked Paulina, who was organizing the materials.

She was clearly in a good mood: "From today onwards, you're the senior member of our research group. As for the eldest senior member..."

Stop! I don't want to be the second senior brother!

Kano led two eager newcomers along, saying, "First, Pascal is currently in a crucial period of preparing for his permanent position evaluation, so I've arranged special training for him to solve some of the lab's biggest problems; second, we have new recruits in our lab!"

Good, good, the goods have finally arrived. The two people looked to be about the same age as Luo Xia himself, and they were also a man and a woman.

"This is Paulina, a third-tier mage, and Rorschach, a fourth-tier mage."

"Greetings, Senior Sister! Greetings, Senior Brother!" Hearing that everyone in the group was a fully-fledged mage, even third and fourth tier, the clueless apprentice was still full of anticipation, unaware of what a "gap" meant. Seeing how young Luo Xia was, he secretly thought: "As expected, the chief professor's students are all geniuses! I'm so lucky to have joined!"

The female apprentice gave a common courtly greeting: "Fatima, Valuwana." Miss, is it really necessary to emphasize that you're from the capital? Do you possess some kind of divine marking? For some reason, Rorschach seemed somewhat displeased with this new apprentice.

Another student, not to be outdone, puffed out his chest and said, "Paul, I come from Gascoigne, a place famous for its fine wine, black pork, and heroes."

"What are you talking about? These are all apprentices from the Tower of Stars!" Kano suddenly doubted his judgment. What kind of people had he recruited?

According to the tradition of the Tower of Stars, senior apprentices must work in their mentors' research groups while preparing for the mage qualification exam under the guidance of their teachers. However, due to Pascal's presence, the Kano group has been unable to accept new members normally, which is one of the reasons why Kano accepted Rorschach so readily after his arrival.

Fortunately, last year Lionel Cano became the chief professor, and his illustrious title finally lured these two unsuspecting newcomers to the scene.

"If you all work hard, you can become full-fledged mages just like your senior brothers and sisters soon. Paulina, go to the new laboratory and take Paul and Fatima to familiarize themselves with the environment and procedures. Rorschach, come with me."

After settling the newbie in, Cano led Rorschach to the old laboratory: "Let's discuss your next task here."

The old laboratory has been somewhat renovated, but the large-scale instruments and equipment have been largely retained, and a teleportation array has been added to the metal disc in the center.

"The previous experiments weren't very technical; they were just repetitive. It would be a waste of your talents to have you continue doing them." Kano moved the crystal cover, took out a metal plate, and explained to Rorschach, "What you said at that group meeting about making good use of the energy within the 'transformation dust' is quite interesting."

Going forward, I will improve the stability of the channel to control the amount of transmutation dust ejected within a reasonable range. On the other hand, I need you to find a way to utilize the energy it contains. This is not a small project; it can be a long-term research topic for you.

If you accept, I will guide you in writing your research proposal and apply for funding from the Senate. If you produce results, you will be qualified to graduate, and whether you stay or leave is up to you.

So, it's time to choose a direction? Luo Xia thought about the previous topic of magic arrays and spell manifestation, and felt that his expertise was not enough to tackle such a broad and grand field. This topic is also based on magic arrays, and with Master Kano's guidance, it's a good opportunity to learn from it.

Of course, there are still risks. There is no mature system in this field yet. Transmutation dust itself was accumulated in large quantities in the sky after the collapse of the old empire, and there is very little research literature.

Typical research is like standing on the shoulders of giants, building upon the work of predecessors to reach a point of innovation without creating a dead end. However, current developments are more like pioneering projects with no precedent or future successors.

However, Luo Xia is still very young, and youth is an advantage. People might call a seventeen-year-old intermediate-level mage a genius, but a twenty-seven-year-old intermediate-level mage is also talented, still far ahead of most people, and has a promising future.

After considering this, Luo Xia nodded in agreement: "Okay, thank you. But Senior Paulina has always done repetitive research, and Luo Xia wondered if Kano should prioritize her for this project?"

"Never mind your senior sister. She has her own research. Besides, she could have graduated long ago if she wanted to. She's just waiting for some jerk."

Sigh, Pascal was a real bastard.

With everything ready, the magic circle was activated, and just as Rorschach had seen before, colorful metamorphic dust burst forth, followed by falling ashes.

"This is the current stable configuration of the magic array. It can continuously erupt for about three seconds, and after clearing away the dust, it can immediately proceed to the next one."

"In that case, could we flip the magic circle? Suspend the flipped magic circle and let the decaying ashes fall, so that we don't need to clean it up so often."

Furthermore, the crystal dome needs improvement; its decay time is too short. If we want to utilize it, we need to analyze the properties of the transmutation dust as much as possible. To analyze its properties, we need to ensure it remains stable for a period of time and find methods to characterize it.

Based on the experimental observations, transmutation dust does indeed contain concentrated ether, and its energy density should be quite high. However, it is unstable; for unknown reasons, it will rapidly release ether upon contact with matter, triggering irreversible mutations in the contacted material.

Secondly, the most fatal problem is that in addition to ether, it also contains various divine powers. These divine powers may be the cause of the mutation. If it is to be used, it must be eliminated or rendered harmless.

Rorschach currently has two initial ideas: one is to improve upon the Kano device by using a magic loop to directly collect the energy released during the decay process, thus creating a controllable magic output device; the other is to find a way to remove the mixed divine power and dull this magical substance before it decays, and then reactivate it when needed.

The first approach should be the simplest path, with the key being the design and improvement of the energy-gathering array; the second path is much more difficult and complex, but its prospects are much broader.

Currently, there is no high-density energy storage material for ether. The only option is to construct an energy storage circuit based on alchemical potions. However, the current limit is only enough to support the instantaneous casting of spells. The solution on the airship is to make up for the lack of density by using three alchemical ink pools to store the ether input by the mage.

If we could obtain passivated and purified transmutation dust that could exist stably in the prime plane and be transported safely, then many high-energy spells would not need to first condense the aether in the environment, and could be cast continuously or maintain their effects without restriction.

In addition, given the magical properties of transmutation dust, it may still be a versatile alchemical material.

If this could actually be developed, it would be a fantastical version of "oil" for this world! But this "oil" would float in the sky—that's magical, isn't it? Rorschach was filled with awe at his own idea.

"Excellent. I will give you all the manufacturing process of the crystal protective shell and the information on the magic array on it." Master Cano was satisfied that Luo Xia had found a solution so quickly.

"Take it one step at a time. Your initial goal should be to study the properties of transmutation dust. You can also find a research proposal on file in the archives on the second floor and rewrite it following the format of those who came before you."

"Oh, right, there's one more thing," Cano handed Rorschach a letter of appointment: "Don't rush the thesis proposal. In previous years, the old guys wouldn't start reviewing it until the second half of summer. You can start working on it first."

Then, starting next month, you will be teaching at the Higher Normal School on the second, fourth, and sixth mornings of each ten-day period. I've included the schedule in your appointment letter. You can choose the textbook yourself, or even compile one yourself. Then, send it to the school committee of the Higher Normal School.

"It's already started?" This efficiency doesn't seem like the Holy Kingdom and Valuwana people that Rorschach knows.

"With money, a ready-made house, and the great cardinal personally overseeing things, how could it not be fast?" Cano shrugged. "The cardinal's limelight at court has been overshadowed by the finance minister, so he's focusing on building schools."

(End of this chapter)