Adam probed tentatively at Mage Victor. "If I could make an energy source that stands independent of mana, safe and harmless, and that a mortal body can operate completely — would it be worth spreading?"
Mage Victor mused it over. "You mean the electrical element? If you really could pull it off, it would be of some use. As for its value — I don't know. But I'm not optimistic."
In a mage's thinking, anything meant for mortals meant low energy and low efficiency. The pittance of resources to be squeezed from mortal hands was beneath the notice of most full-fledged Mages; at best it went to the academy to be handed out to apprentices. What a full-fledged Mage needed was ether crystals, and ether crystals came either from applying to the tower — or even the Spire — on the strength of research results, or from planar campaigns.
Adam did not see it that way. Magitech and technology ought in the end to converge on the same road; followed to its end, the path of technology should not come out weaker than the power of magic. There were already signs of that trend on the Mage Plane — it was only that their long-standing convictions kept them from noticing it.
Earth's humans had feeble individual strength and short lives, and their knowledge could not pass directly into technique, so their technology advanced slowly. Yet in their imaginations there were prototypes of a great many horrifying weapons. That something could not be done on Earth did not mean it could not be done on the Mage Plane.
Take the things bound up with Adam's soul inclination: the railgun, the positron cannon, the plasma cannon, and every sort of particle and photon radiation weapon.
Adam even suspected that in the higher-tier magic of other systems, mages could already achieve what Earth's imagined weapons achieved — for instance, given the Second Elemental Spire's research into gravity, an artificial black hole was quite possibly within reach.
For now, though, Adam did not argue with Mage Victor. Without solid theory and a certain amount of empirical proof, empty talk would only be taken for shallowness.
Mage Victor was well disposed toward Adam, and seeing him say nothing, he offered encouragement. "Of course, if you can do it, then on behalf of the tower I give you my word: so long as it is worth spreading, the tower will not stint on investment."
After seeing Mage Victor off, Adam said to his assistants, "You have a few days' leave to do as you like. In five days we begin the next round of empirical proof."
Months of high-intensity experiment had left them all worn out, yet nobody wanted to leave now. Frank spoke up. "What exactly just happened?"
That was what everyone cared about most. They were desperate to know what knowledge Adam had actually come up with.
Adam considered. The core theory could not be published, but letting them see the results would help deepen the team's confidence, so for the first time in months he walked out of the laboratory.
He had barely stepped out when he ran into Elliot coming the other way. He had not seen this friend since they parted at the apprentice bar, but it occurred to him that an apprentice might at any moment hit on some topic and start experimenting, so he had not gone to disturb him.
"Adam, my friend!" Elliot cried with exaggerated drama, flinging his arms wide and running toward Adam.
Adam raised his new psychokinetic barrier. Unlike the old one, across which bursting electric current had roiled, this time the current ran in an orderly way along a single direction, and with it came a magnetic field closing around Adam.
Elliot was halted five meters in front of him.
"Buddy, it's been so long — can't we be a little more affectionate?" Elliot said, aggrieved, then curiously poked a finger at the invisible obstruction before him. "Huh? What is this thing?"
Adam dispersed the defense. "New Mage Armor," he said.
"So you've given up your research on the electrical element? That's a wise choice." Elliot took it that Adam had recognized the limits of the electrical element, and said so approvingly.
Adam shook his head. "No. This is what the electrical element research produced. I call it a magnetic field."
The devil flashed out from behind Adam, took human form, stepped up and hugged Elliot, and said with a cack cack laugh, "Elliot, your news is far too out of date! Just now my master very nearly advanced to full-fledged Mage!"
Elliot scoffed at him. "Garfield, you're still such a braggart. How could advancement be that easy? Isn't that right, James?"
Elliot had expected agreement, but James shook his head. "No, Elliot, it's true. Adam just stopped his own advancement. Headmaster Victor confirmed it himself."
James's feelings were tangled. He had squandered a whole lifetime just to become a full-fledged Mage, and yet just now, before his very eyes, Adam — an apprentice a quarter his age — had voluntarily given up the chance to become one.
"My friend, you..."
Elliot stared at Adam in shock, mouth working, and found himself with nothing to say. He had only just finished creating a new kind of toxin, proving that his road had been the right one all along, and had been brimming with joy, eager to share the good news with his friends — only to learn that Adam was already capable of becoming a full-fledged Mage!
Adam was calm about it. "The theory isn't complete yet. I never expected ether's gift to be so generous."
Elliot sighed in dejection and smacked his lips. That was not what he had meant — but then, maybe this is just what a genius is like.
Once out in the open air, Adam demonstrated his new magic before them all.
He spread his hands, and lightning burst from his body in an extremely stable form; then a magnetic field spread outward with him at its center, out to a radius of a hundred meters.
Because the theory was still incomplete, Adam could not extend or retract the field at will and could only trigger it this way; likewise, the abilities and properties the field granted were incomplete too, but it was already enough to make everyone's eyes pop.
Under Adam's control, everyone inside the field seemed all at once to be wrapped in an illusion. They could not command their bodies, and every sense — sight, touch, sense of direction — was plunged into chaos.
"What's going on!" the assistants shouted in panic, wanting to run and flee, only to find they could not even stand. Only Elliot and a few others managed, with difficulty, to resist the control through spiritual power and mana.
Adam dispersed the ability. Everyone felt out their own bodies again and turned frightened eyes on Adam.
Adam paid them no mind. Holding the field, he lightly stamped one foot on the ground, and metal particles rose from the earth, forming metal weapons one after another across the whole field. Adam gave a casual wave of his hand, and the metal weapons began to gather together and vibrate at high frequency.
The crowd stared in terror at the sky full of metal and all raised psychokinetic barriers. They had no doubt these metal weapons could easily kill them.