Magic is the study of prediction. The more accurate the prediction, the more the mana consumption and rebound are reduced exponentially. Because of this, there is a certain ‘something’ that has become the common enemy of all mages.
Wind. Air.
The most capricious of the six great elements. For combat mages, whose primary tactic was long-range firepower, there was no element more resentful than 'wind'. This sentiment was shared among the researchers of the Magic Tower as well.
[Great Mage Trafalgar, who studied Wind Element Magic his entire life, died from a rebound. Shuperin took over his work, and he too died from a rebound. Now, it is our turn to learn Wind Element Magic.]
This was the introduction to the textbook for Wind Element Magic majors. For that reason, it was essential for wind mages to train their bodies. When a rebound strong enough to deplete their mana struck, they had to endure it with their physical strength.
Gedrick, the chief professor of Wind Element Magic at the eastern Magic Tower, was one such person. One day, a junior researcher, thoroughly drunk, stormed into Gedrick’s office and asked.
“Professor… do you have any regrets?”
Gedrick spat out his words.
“I do.”
“Then, why do you research this damned magic?”
“Because wind came out highest on my element affinity test.”
“Just for that?”
“Yes.”
Just for that. His life had taken a truly twisted turn. The junior who visited Gedrick that day became paralyzed from the waist down a year later due to a rebound.
Despite the sacrifices of countless mages, 'Wind Element Magic' failed to advance. Their desires could not flow, only piling up layer by layer. In the end, this year too, they failed to create a high-level application problem.
And this was only at the undergraduate level.
“I understand. I’ll tell them we can’t do it.”
Gedrick’s steps were heavy as he took on the responsibility.
‘Still, didn’t we try our best?’
He asked his other colleagues.
“Can you really not do it? Really?”
“…”
“…”
It was then.
Thud.
The disciple of Doloren and Valerius. Isaac Upperhills stood up alone.
He spoke.
“I can create one. A high-level problem.”
“What…?”
Despite the protests of the other professors, Isaac stood before the blackboard.
“For a constant amount of gas at a constant temperature, the volume of the gas is inversely proportional to the pressure.”
He continued.
“Using this rule, we can create a ‘transformation’ problem that goes beyond simply filling in the blanks of a magic circle.”
Isaac wrote a problem on the blackboard.
[The magic circle below is designed to precisely double the pressure applied within a sealed space. When this magic is activated, 'predict' the change in the volume of the internal air and complete the magic circle perfectly so that no rebound occurs.]
The meeting hall was thrown into an uproar by the problem.
“Sealed? Then there would be no wind, so how is that Wind Element Magic?”
“Young Mr. Upperhills! I know your talent well. But to engage in such deception is…!”
Some professors fiercely objected, questioning how this could be considered Wind Element Magic. However, Gedrick did not see it that way.
He spoke.
“Does sound ride the wind to be classified under Wind Element Magic?”
“…”
“Sealed or not, let’s at least hear him out.”
At Gedrick’s words, the professors who were about to criticize Isaac fell silent. They too were well aware that the classification of elements was arbitrary. In this moment, Gedrick had a strange conviction.
All attempts to treat 'living, moving wind' itself as the essence had ended in failure. Because of this, Gedrick and some other researchers from the regional Magic Towers had shifted the direction of their research. They had decided to study a 'motionless, virtual gas'.
Just like Isaac was doing now. Gedrick looked straight at Isaac and said.
“Do you really know? The answer that will eliminate the rebound?”
“Yes.”
Isaac walked to the blackboard and drew a single control rune in the empty space of the magic circle. And next to it, he added.
“The answer is, ‘when the pressure doubles, the volume is halved’.”
“How can you be so certain?”
Isaac answered.
“I will prove it now.”
A moment later, glass tumblers gathered at Isaac’s gesture. He then heated the tumblers, creating a long, J-shaped glass tube.
“Incredible… to use telekinesis and heating at the same time.”
“…Remarkable proficiency. That young man, does he have experience as a combat mage?”
“No.” “Then how…?”
“…!”
No one could understand how such a thing was possible. But Isaac did not stop. He poured mercury into the completed glass tube.
The mercury filled both sides of the J-shaped tube to the same height.
He spoke.
“You remember Professor Gedrick’s paper from five years ago, ‘The Weight of Wind According to Altitude,’ right? According to it, the air on both sides of this J-tube right now is…”
“At the same atmospheric pressure. Because the mercury levels are the same.”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
He continued.
“We just need to take one more step from here.”
Isaac’s telekinesis pressed down on the surface of the mercury.
“Now, I will ‘double’ the force that the air normally exerts on this mercury.”
Isaac visualized the magic circle so that everyone could see it. There were two circles in total. It was the 2nd-circle spell, ‘Atmospheric Telekinesis’.
Isaac modified the magic circle to double its output.
Gedrick spoke.
“…Be careful. You’ve modified a standard spell, so if your prediction fails, a rebound will occur.”
“I know.”
The moment the pressure doubled. The volume of the trapped air at the end of the J-tube was reduced by exactly half.
“…”
“…!”
The professors fell silent at the sight. There was no sign of a rebound on Isaac, who had used the magic. Gedrick stared blankly at the results of Isaac’s experiment.
‘Inversely proportional…? And so perfectly?’
Goosebumps rose on Gedrick’s arms. In that moment, Wind Element Magic awakened from its blindness. PV = k This was their first cornerstone.
‘I knew my thoughts were right.’
Gedrick’s suspicion turned into conviction. Nothing could be solved with fluid gases. For now, the problem had to be solved with a static ‘ideal gas’.
Just as Isaac was doing. Gedrick wasn't the only one who reached this conclusion. A professor shot up from his seat and shouted.
“This is crazy, it’s real!”
The professor’s curse acted as a trigger, and the room grew noisy.
“…Am I seeing this correctly?”
“We were right…? Not the capital’s Magic Tower?”
“Hey! Hurry up and replicate it!”
Forgetting the danger of a rebound, the professors all tried to replicate Isaac’s experiment one after another.
“It really works?!”
“There’s no rebound! It’s not just small, there’s none at all, damn it!”
Not a single one of them experienced a rebound. Parchment flew through the air, and cheers erupted. Gedrick was almost swept up in the frenzy.
His eyes turned red. Gedrick’s and Isaac’s gazes met.
“…!”
“…!”
‘How could such a young man…’ …give meaning to the wind that could not flow and had only piled up layer by layer.
He couldn’t cry in front of such a young junior. Gedrick quietly left the room.
‘What is this?’
The professors’ reactions were unusual. Boyle’s law was a rule they would have discovered on their own eventually. They already knew that air pressure varied with altitude, and they had succeeded in representing it arithmetically using mercury.
All I did was use those facts to derive Boyle’s law. So I thought I’d receive a few words of thanks and that would be it…
“It really works?!”
“There’s no rebound… It’s not just small. There’s none, damn it!”
This was hardly the NASA control center. Everyone’s reaction was over the top. In the midst of that pandemonium, my eyes met with Gedrick, the only one who seemed to have kept his wits about him.
Gedrick said nothing and quietly walked out. I followed him. I spoke to Gedrick’s back.
“So, for the high-level problem, we can just use what I just showed and be done with it…”
“…!”
It didn’t seem like the right time for such words. Gedrick’s monocle was stained with tears. He was leaning against the hallway window, blankly wiping them away.
Gedrick spoke.
“What are you staring at… Go back inside and enjoy it. You’re the star of the show.”
Just as Gedrick said, the exam deliberation room was in a festive mood.
Waaaaaaaaah~!
We did it! The cheers leaking through the crack in the door echoed down the hall.
Gedrick spoke.
“It’s not strange. I’m crying because I’m happy.”
Gedrick took a small glass tumbler from his pocket and slowly replicated the experiment I had just performed.
Sniffle.
Sniffling intermittently, he spoke.
“It really works. This is insane.”
“…!”
“This magic, it works when the ‘temperature is constant,’ right?”
“That is correct.”
“From experience, a gas that has been heated becomes more active. It becomes more unpredictable, you see. Dammit. I fainted several times just trying to get a feel for this one thing…”
Sniffle.
He wiped his nose and stood up. By then, Gedrick’s tears had dried.
“I’ve found something new I want to research.”
I have a feeling I know what he plans to research. Now that he knows the relationship between volume and pressure, he’ll probably try to define the relationship with temperature. In that process, ‘absolute temperature’ would be defined.
‘I guess the mages in this world aren’t fools after all…’
The existence of mysterious and convenient magic had only hindered their progress. Gedrick started walking toward the deliberation room again.
“Young Mr. Upperhills. Thank you for the good inspiration…”
Then he stopped short. His steps halted.
“…Don’t tell me you already know everything?”
“Pardon?”
Gedrick’s gaze turned to me. His eyes were filled with conviction.
“The relationship between a gas’s volume and temperature, I mean. There’s no way you don’t know. There’s no way you haven’t looked into it.”
The man’s intuition was uncanny.
“Tell me honestly. You know, don’t you?”
“…Yes.”
“I knew it. Then I’ll have to give up on the research.”
“Pardon? Why?”
Gedrick smiled.
“Are you telling me to snatch the discovery of a brilliant young scholar?”
“…!”
“Publish it as a formal paper. I, no, we will support you.”
However, Boyle’s law was not put on the exam as it was. The Shohoku team that poured all their strength into the battle with Sannoh… Ah, no. Not that.
It was because they couldn’t possibly ask the test-takers something the professors themselves had just come to realize. But the atmosphere in the deliberation room was brighter than ever. I sat at a distance, watching the professors chat amongst themselves.
“If asking about the relationship between pressure and volume directly is too much… we’ll have to change it to an easier format, right?”
“I found it. Among the existing circle spells, there are some with a precise two-fold pressure difference.”
“Can one be derived from the other?”
“…Hmm. The transformation takes over 30 steps, but it’s possible.”
“Then let’s go with that.”
It was obvious how the question would turn out. They would find an easier answer using ‘some theorem’ for themselves, while forcing the students to use a complicated, by-the-book solution… A classic trick I’d seen many times before.
‘A typical entrance exam-style problem.’
And so, the day came to part ways after all the questions had been created. Even after being cooped up for several days, the professors were all smiles. Right before we left, I shared a brief hug with Gedrick.
“Uh… please don’t squeeze too tight…”
“Oops!”
Crack.
“Ack!”
My bones screamed. I clutched my back and sank to the ground.
“You should have said something sooner. I didn’t realize you were so frail.”
“I guess we can’t even hug like this.”
As I clutched my back, the professors offered a word of encouragement each before departing.
“Young Mr. Upperhills, a strong mind resides in a strong body. Don’t neglect your training!”
Dyke Juquir, the chief professor of the western Magic Tower.
“Contact me when your paper comes out. Our branch will immediately begin follow-up research!”
Professor Granell of the eastern Magic Tower.
“Now I suppose I’ll have to tell my disciples to endure with their bodies a little less. Thank you so much.”
Professor Marshall, also from the eastern Magic Tower. I had never received such a warm welcome, not even at academic conferences in my past life. I could feel my ears turning red for no reason.
After everyone had left, Gedrick, the last to remain, placed a hand on my shoulder.
“It’s an honor to have met you. I hope you’ll have at least a master’s degree by the next time we meet.”
Pfft.
A laugh escaped me.
“I feel the same way.”
Gedrick asked me.
“I can look forward to the paper, right?”
“Yes. I’ll whip up an interesting one.”
“Good. Thank you.”
Pat, pat.
He patted my shoulder and boarded his carriage. Watching the carriage gradually recede into the distance, I thought. It seems the time has come to start igniting the science-magic revolution.