I Pioneered Scientific Magic - Chapter 304 (Patreon)

Chapter 304: Unveiling the Origin of Magic!

The following day, at the crack of dawn, a group of wizard apprentices stepped into the examination hall, their hearts brimming with apprehension. As they received their respective question papers, furrowed brows and quick calculations ensued.

Pearce wasted no time and cast his gaze upon the first question.

"Two individuals, A and B, start from opposite points and after four hours, they meet at a distance of five thousand kilometers from the center. Given A's faster speed than B's, determine how many kilometers faster A travels per hour compared to B."

Pearce's brow furrowed at once. This seemed like a mathematical problem, solving for the unknown, but the provided conditions were scanty. After some contemplation, he finally discerned the approach, sketching out a diagram of line segments.

On the other side of the examination hall, several wizards responsible for invigilation were perusing through the examination papers.

Regarding this graduation examination at the Iyeta Academy, Flora and others were deeply intrigued. Thus, they volunteered to supervise these students, feeling a slight inclination to partake in the questions themselves.

Initially, Flora assumed these questions were tailored for apprentices, not for fully-fledged wizards like herself. But after glimpsing through a few problems, she was taken aback.

"Do they teach these things regularly at the Iyeta Academy?" a male wizard puzzled. He thought the exam content would revolve around elemental studies, herbs, alchemy, and morphological studies.

"Indeed!" Lord Lynn nodded, glancing at Flora and others before explaining, "Overall, it encompasses mathematics, chemistry, and physics... Perhaps later they might even introduce biology."

"But what's the use of learning these? It'd be better to dedicate time to mastering more spells..." Flora shrugged.

Lord Lynn adjusted his tone. "Mathematics forms the basis of all natural sciences, chemistry studies the composition, structure, and transformations of magical elements, while physics explores the laws governing the world."

"Studying these subjects is to probe the origin of magic!" Lord Lynn affirmed firmly.

The origin of magic?

Hearing this, everyone present felt a profound stir. Despite studying magic in the past, they rarely delved into this fundamental question.

Lord Lynn continued, "Regarding their utility, haven't you all seen it already? They're omnipresent in the entire city! Everything you witness—be it glass, parchment, airships, vessels, or even electromagnetic railguns—falls under these three subjects!"

Reflecting on everything they had observed since arriving at Iyeta, Flora suppressed her earlier disdainful thoughts, earnestly scrutinizing each question.

However, lacking systematic study in mathematics, she found herself momentarily at a loss on how to approach these equation-based questions, turning to Lord Lynn for guidance.

Lord Lynn gestured, creating a soundproof barrier nearby before proceeding to explain, "This question is relatively straightforward. It merely takes a slightly different approach. If A and B were traveling at the same speed, they'd reach the midpoint simultaneously. However, they meet at a point five thousand meters away from the midpoint. Hence, the faster A covered double the distance compared to B, totaling ten thousand meters."

"As both traveled for four hours to meet, performing a simple division yields A's speed being 2.5 kilometers faster per hour than B!"

Lord Lynn succinctly elucidated the problem-solving approach. In truth, this question wasn't excessively difficult and required just a bit of thinking.

The examination he prepared consisted of fifty questions, each worth two points, totaling one hundred. Sixty points marked the passing grade, meaning only thirty correct answers were necessary! These questions were meticulously designed by Lord Lynn, encompassing twenty-five 'free points,' twenty 'easy' questions, and five 'moderately difficult' ones.

As per his calculations, if Elok and others took diligent notes, breezing through all the 'free points' should be a walk in the park. Then, solving five 'easy' questions would secure a passing grade.

Nonetheless, Lord Lynn aimed for a few outstanding students to foster for specialized research purposes—they were the talents for scientific exploration.

Of course, apart from the "arts" examination, these students also had to undergo a practical course assessing their combat and basic spellcasting abilities. Their combined average score would decide if an apprentice was qualified to become a certified wizard, offering a chance even for those specializing in certain fields.

After Lord Lynn explained a few mathematical problems, Flora and others swiftly began to appreciate the joy of problem-solving, engrossed in their thoughts, completely forgetting their role as supervisors for the students' exams.

For Orlando, these 'free points' questions were negligible. Glancing over them, he shifted his focus to the questions marked as 'easy' by Lord Lynn on the examination paper.

"A wizard piloting an airship encounters an accident, falling from a height of four hundred and eighty meters. After free-falling for a distance, they initiate a decelerating motion using a gradual descent spell at a rate of two meters per second squared. Upon reaching the ground, the velocity becomes zero. Neglecting air resistance, determine the total time of descent and the distance of free-fall..."

Hmm, this seemed like an equation-based problem too.

Orlando pondered. He recalled Lord Lynn mentioning that free-fall motion was a uniformly accelerating straight-line motion with an initial velocity of zero, represented by the formula v=gt, where g stood for the acceleration due to gravity, which was around ten meters per second squared? What was 't' again? It must be time?

But the fall was divided into two segments, both time and distance being unknown variables that needed to be solved for as answers. Simply applying this formula wouldn’t suffice...

Orlando deliberated for a while, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

He realized he... couldn't solve it!

"Headmaster Lynn, aren't these questions a tad too difficult?" Orlando couldn't help but voice his concern. "These are marked as easy? Are these really what apprentices should be tackling? Isn't this a bit far-fetched?"

"Are these challenging?" Lord Lynn glanced strangely at Orlando. He remembered discussing the related formulas and even publishing them in the Magic Daily, allowing not only interested wizards but even citizens to enjoy the pleasure of mathematics.

Moreover, each wizard was akin to a human calculator, and even an apprentice's computational abilities far surpassed those of ordinary people. These questions should ideally fall within an acceptable range.

As Lord Lynn was about to explain further, his expression suddenly changed. He snapped his fingers, and a surge of magical energy enveloped him. In an instant, a copper nail shot out, thunderously embedding itself into the examination paper and quill held by one of the apprentices...

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