Adam didn't care for the new group of exchange apprentices to be honest.
Adam patted Elliott on the shoulder and said, "I'm going back to my lab, how about you?"
Elliot shrunk and replied, "I want to see who steps out of the portal..."
Adam simply ignored him and turned to leave.
The Moldo Academy recruits apprentices every ten years. Thanks to Adam's several achievements, many more apprentices were able to enrol successfully thanks to his research. All of the apprentices consciously made way for Adam, and the apprentices who followed him were his assistants.
The rest of the apprentices looked at them with envy. They knew that if an apprentice joined Adam's laboratory, they would never have to worry about power stones ever again.
In the past ten years, thanks to Adam's research on electricity, ordinary people in large cities and villages were able to benefit from it, and Adam himself was offered huge benefits. Naturally, this meant he had a higher status among other apprentices.
Now, an entire floor was dedicated to his laboratory in the Elemental Laboratory Building, which is already larger than some qualified mages. Nearly a hundred apprentices were working for him, meticulously completing the tasks he explained.
Among the older assistants in the laboratory before, only Korver and James were left.
For some reason, Korver never left Adam's side despite his natural talent. Adam can sense his talent, and Adam guesses that if he wanted to do anything, the Academy would surely help him out and set up a project for him alone.
"Didn't you go to see the exchange apprentices?" Adam asked James.
James was getting older and older, no longer able to maintain his youthful appearance. Despite his hair greying, and wrinkles forming on his face, his eyes only got brighter. This wasn't good for Adam. This meant James had already accepted his fate.
"Are they here?"
James' voice was old and hoarse; Adam wasn't used to it, "I've said this many times -- if you want a vitality potion, I can go and get you one."
A vitality potion is a life-extending potion made for apprentices.
Hearing this, James laughed, shaking his head, "My old body has made me more sensitive to my mental power -- my lifespan means nothing to me. I can already feel where the road ahead is, so my remaining lifespan is enough."
Adam was a little speechless at how stubborn James was being, but it was his choice, so Adam couldn't force him.
"Yes, they are here."
James' eyes flickered, "Ah. How troublesome."
The assistants soon filed into the laboratory and went to their respective positions. Adam didn't set any working hours, instead choosing to assign tasks to each person or a team. As long as they were able to complete the task before the deadline, they will be paid handsomely. Korver overheard their conversation and asked, "What do you mean 'troublesome'?"
"The Monte Carlo apprentices are different from us... I guess... you could regard them as an antimage," James said, pausing in between his sentences. "No, not antimages -- they are unruly, savage; if our Academy cultivates apprentices via research, then Monte Carlo cultivates apprentices via combat. It's no surprise we lost the previous war -- many of my companions were beheaded before they could even sense the enemy."
Korver was shocked imagining the scene, "They won't cause trouble here, right? Surely the mages wouldn't allow it."
With a puff of smoke, the devil appeared and hovered beside Korver, "Na?ve, na?ve. If the mages allowed them to come here as exchange apprentices, they won't stop any fights that erupt within Academy grounds. After all, the weak deserve to die."
The devil's current appearance was no different from a normal human -- as Adam got stronger, they also gained huge benefits through the contract. If Adam was ranked #1 as the strongest apprentice, then the devil would be considered #2. Besides, the devil spent most of their time in the entertainment section of the Academy.
James nodded in agreement and said vaguely, "Perhaps... I'll be meeting my old friends."
"Your enemies during the war?"
"Enemy? Did Elliott tell you that? I was nothing to them at the time -- the fact I survived was entirely thanks to luck."
Adam stopped the conversation with a motion of his hands and ordered, "Report on the experiment."
"Slow progress -- when the current passes through the wire, a magnetic field will be generated to attract or repel the needle, but no current is generated during the movement of the conductor in the device," Korver said.
James continued, "According to your left-hand rule, we have determined the existence and direction of several uncertain forces, including magnetic field lines under certain circumstances, but they also have great contingency. In a high-magic environment, this direction is not regulated by rules, causing a slightly violent fluctuation."
Adam took the report from their hands and carefully read the process, locking his brows together.
This experiment to prove electromagnetic induction was unexpectedly difficult -- magic plays an elusive, but significant part in it. It causes the physical quantity to become unstable and unmeasurable. Adam wanted to combine several conclusions to verify everything, but the experiments had no intention of cooperating as it seems. This lowered the morale of his assistants, making them think that their previous success was but an illusion.
"Adjust the experiment according to the second set of plans, and conduct the process again in an active ether environment. Record every detail," Adam ordered.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m