Did the villainous professor survive today?

Chapter 96 The True Face of Klein's Magic Circle

"Teacher, do you not need to soak this in water before eating it?"

Allen looked at Kroenke as if he were an alien, or as if he were looking at a crocodile.

Kroenke: "————"

He was silent for a few seconds, then scooped half a cup of water from the iron bucket and drank it.

Consider it a supplementary ticket.

"Teacher, you have such good teeth," Allen said enviously.

"normal."

Krenk's tone was calm and even, and he licked his palate with his tongue, feeling that it was a little hot.

Even if his physique is upgraded to the third level, that piece of black bread can still cause him great harm.

Just then, Chiara came to the table with the grilled fish, looking surprised: "Where's the bread?"

"I've eaten—" Perhaps to cover up his embarrassment, Krenk nodded. "Thank you for the meal."

Chiara was dumbfounded for a long time: "Teacher, you have really good teeth."

"Thank you for the compliment—"

Kroenke took a tactical sip of water, thinking to himself, "Don't praise me."

"Try grilled fish."

Kroenke changed the subject.

The grilled fish in front of us was only the size of a palm, making it difficult to divide among three people.

During a break in the meal, Chiara cautiously asked, "By the way, teacher, may I ask what brings you to our house?"

"It is every teacher's duty to take care of students' family circumstances."

Kroenke tore off a piece of fish and put it in his mouth. During this time, he only asked about Allen's basic situation and tried to avoid the topic of Allen's father.

Soon, the three of them finished the palm-sized grilled fish, leaving only the clean fish bones.

"Thank you for your hospitality. I am busy with official business, so please allow me to take my leave now," Kroenke said.

"Teacher, let me take you there."

"It's alright, Madam, you should get some rest."

"Mom, let me see Mr. Klenk off."

"Okay, be careful."

Chiara nodded.

The two left the house. The street was empty, and they could vaguely hear the sounds of drinking and singing from other streets in the distance.

Allen followed behind Kroenke and said, "Teacher, I thought you would tell my mother about it."

Kroenke glanced at Allen: "What's the use of telling her? If your mother finds out, she can only worry helplessly. Will worrying help?"

"----All right."

Allen pursed his lips, unsure of what to say for a moment.

Both sides moved forward in silence. Just as they were about to leave Stone Pillar Street, Krenk suddenly spoke: "Allen."

"teacher?"

"Do you remember what I taught in the first class of the semester?"

"Remember to ask yourself what you originally wanted to do."

Why do you want to learn magic?

"I want my mother to have a better life so that she doesn't have to walk more than ten miles every day to sell water."

"Alan, if the only way to give your mother a better life was to fight back, would you do it?"

"I----"

"Isn't that what your father was like? Fighting in underground boxing matches just to make a living for his family."

"If this is the only way—I—I will." Allen nodded hesitantly.

Allen thought for a moment, then asked, "But, teacher, is it only right to beat someone to a pulp, like Agura said?"

"People who are inexperienced in the ways of the world always think that fists are a guarantee of dignity, but dignity is the meaning of fists."

Hearing this, Allen was somewhat bewildered.

Krenk continued, "As I said in the first lesson, war is the driving force behind the development of magic, but magic is not just a synonym for violence. Different ways humans use magic will give it different meanings."

"Similarly, a fist is just a tool; dignity is the goal. But dignity is not gained by smashing someone's head with your fist; it is gained by making someone put down their fist."

"The highest level of fist is the one that makes people not need to raise their fists."

Allen looked thoughtful, standing there silently.

"You'll have to figure out the reasoning behind this yourself," Krenk said, not in a hurry. "Let's go to the riverbank; I'll show you the Klein Magic Circle."

The two strolled along the riverbank. On the opposite bank, they could see the bustling side of St. Auster. Even from a distance, they could see beams of white light shooting out from outside the city walls.

Right next to it is the bridge connecting the upper and lower city areas, and there are lights coming from under the bridge.

Those were prostitutes who had no business tonight. The drinking and singing sounds I heard earlier came from them. Girls who do this kind of work are already living hand to mouth, so they live for the moment and pass the time this way when there are no customers, while also fantasizing about the life of the upper class.

"Let's do it here."

Krenk looked at the pitch-black surroundings and knew that if they went any further, it would take Allen a lot of time to walk back.

"The reason you haven't been able to form the Klein Magic Circle is because you haven't understood the coordinates of the fourth dimension."

As Krenk spoke, he stretched out his hand and conjured a Möbius magic ring in his palm.

"Allen, in your eyes, it's a three-dimensional ring, but have you ever thought about what it would look like in two dimensions?"

Listening to Krenk's explanation, Allen suddenly became confused: "Two-...two-dimensional? Like compressing a three-dimensional object into a two-dimensional form?"

"That's right."

Krenk nodded. This time, instead of extending it to four dimensions, he began to flatten the Möbius strip. "You can see that when it becomes two-dimensional, it looks like this."

"So, Allen, please tell me, why do the lines sometimes intersect?"

Kroenke asked again.

Allen pondered for a moment and then understood: "Space. They lack upward space, so they can't get around each other."

"Then what is it that prevents Klein's magic circle from displaying properly in the three-dimensional world?" Klenk asked patiently.

"Something's missing—" Allen's lips moved, but he couldn't find the right words for a moment. He could only use his previous answer, "Space?"

"That's one way to understand it."

Krenk nodded. "Then, how do we artificially create this 'space'?"

Allen shook his head.

Kroenke didn't keep them in suspense: "The correct answer is time."

"time?"

Upon hearing this, Allen was stunned for a moment, then quickly became excited: "Teacher—you mean—"

"That's right, by observing the projection of Klein's magic circle in the three-dimensional world at different times through the passage of time."

Kroenke once again began to simulate Klein's magic circle in his hand.

Unlike the first time when the bottle was spinning, this time Krenk made the magic circle operate extremely slowly.

As time was divided, Klein's magic circle transformed into a pipe with an extended head and a disappearing tail.

Allen's perspective was like that of an ant on a Möbius strip, gradually completing the entire process as the tube stretched.

Finally, Kroenke once again displayed the complete Klein magic circle to Allen: "When the magic circle operates fast enough, it will take on the shape of a bottle, and this is the true form of the Klein magic circle."