Chapter 1 - Applicant
It was early June, the beginning of summer. Banta City was like Beijing in the previous world, they were both sweltering.
Wearing the graduate uniform of the Senkaiser School, Xu Yi who was completely covered from head to toe was already feeling hot after walking a little bit down the road.
If it wasn’t for the fact that he had used his magic to cover his body in a miniature Frost Array, his entire body would be soaked in sweat right now.
“Is it here?”
Xu Yi stopped and looked up at the thirty meter tall building in front of him. The bottom floor was a Magic Tower that surpassed over ten thousand square meters. His eyes finally fell onto the plaque at the door at the front of the Magic Tower.
“Camilla Magic Tower.”
That’s right, it was here.
Seeing the plaque, Xu Yi’s heart was filled with nervousness, even causing him to reveal a smile of self ridicule.
His current mood was as nervous as when he graduated from university five years ago and went to work at his first large mechanical engineering company.
Xu Yi didn’t belong to this world.
Three years ago, he was one of the most important mechanical engineering masters of the largest mechanical engineering company of his country on earth, having an outstanding reputation in the business. He was only twenty four at that time, it could be considered very rare and he had bright prospects for the future.
However, the world was unpredictable. Three years ago, during an engineering survey, he fell into the water and woke up to find that he had transmigrated to another world.
In the beginning, Xu Yi thought that he was like a protagonist in one of those novels, easily becoming a super magician in this magic focused world, reaching the same peak in life.
But it was a pity that reality was very brutal.
It could be said that Xu Yi’s magical talent wasn’t bad and after coming to this world, he had adapted in just six months. With his effort, he spent two years to get into a magical school, completing a course that normal students needed four years or longer to complete. He was called a magical genius by many of the teachers of the school.
The problem was that Xu Yi’s time in this world was too short and the magicians of this world began training in magic since they were young. No matter how much talent Xu Yi had, it was hard to stand out immediately.
Not to mention he didn’t have any foundation in this world, so he could only enter the Senkaiser School which was a very normal magical school in the Lampuri Kingdom. The magic being taught wasn’t especially strong, so even though Xu Yi could far surpass his peers at the Senkaiser School, when placed on the entire continent, it wasn’t worth anything.
Therefore after Xu Yi graduated from the Senkaiser School, he faced the same awkward situation as many university graduates on earth would face, unemployment.
“No matter what, I have to make the interview today a success.” Xu Yi forcefully shook his head, shaking away the nervousness and chaotic memories of his previous life from his mind. After focusing himself, he took a deep breath and walked into the Magic Tower.
Great Magician Camilla was one of the most powerful magicians in Banta City. If he could obtain the opportunity to help with this magician’s research, Xu Yi believed that he could rapidly increase his magical power, thus achieving his value in this world.
What surpassed Xu Yi’s expectations was that the guarding of the Magic Tower was not that strict, as he easily walked through the front door. Although there were people wearing different robes passing by him, they at most gave him a look of curiosity. Most people chose to ignore him.
Looking at the rapid steps of these people and the looks of serious contemplation on their faces, Xu Yi couldn’t help thinking of the mechanical engineering research facility he belonged to back on earth.
The researchers of the facility, including him, would usually have this kind of expression on their faces.
Thinking of this, the nervousness in Xu Yi’s heart disappeared without a trace.
He came to the unlatched front gate of the Magic Tower with a few steps and without any hesitation, Xu Yi pulled open the door. When he had just walked in, he suddenly heard the sounds of rushed footsteps coming from behind. He immediately reached out his hands to stop the doors that were about to automatically closed and kept them open.
Turning around to take a look, Xu Yi was a bit stunned.
The one rushing forward was actually a beautiful young girl with a head of bright yellow hair. Although she was wearing the same simple black magician’s robe, it still revealed her beautiful figure. Matched with her stunning facial features and her slim face, that had a confident smile hanging on it, she was filled with a young vitality.
Back in the research facility, from time to time, there would be beautiful girls like this girl who came as interns.
The girl saw Xu Yi holding the door waiting for her to come over. After being surprised for a bit, she revealed a smile to Xu Yi and nodded in gratitude.
Xu Yi returned the smile and after she came in, he turned to head to the Magic Tower’s affairs department he had just seen behind the door.
The girl behind him saw Xu Yi’s simple departure and was stunned again. She took one deep look at Xu Yi’s back before turning to leave.
She went to the magical ladder at the center of the Magic Tower and directly headed to the highest level of the Magic Tower.
If Xu Yi understood the Magic Tower a bit more, he would know that the peak of the Magic Tower was the personal space of the Magic Tower’s owner, which was the Great Magician Camilla.
But Xu Yi didn’t have time to consider this. After he stated his purpose after arriving at the affairs department, they quickly prepared two people to interview him.
But it wasn’t that smooth.
When the two interviewers heard that Xu Yi had graduated from the Senkaiser School, the expression on their faces changed slightly.
Xu Yi was very familiar with this change because he had seen it many times in the past half a year.
This was clear despising.
The Senkaiser School wasn’t considered famous in the Lampuri Kingdom, so as a Senkaiser School graduate, Xu Yi wasn’t regarded as anything important.
“Eh…..Xu…..Xu Yi, right? Have you participated in the Magicians Guild’s certification testing yet?” The slightly chubby interviewer on the right continued asking him questions.
This question was considered goodwill to Xu Yi, but it was a pity Xu Yi could only awkwardly shake his head.
He had been in this world for less than three years, it was already quite hard for him to graduate the Senkaiser School. When would he have time to take the certification test for the Magicians Guild?
The more important thing was that the fees for the Magicians Guild’s certification tests were not cheap and Xu Yi was already being stretched paying his fees for the Senkaiser School, his living fees, and the occasional consumption for magical research. How could he possibly have spare cash to spend?
Seeing Xu Yi shake his head, the two interviewers looked at each other. The slightly chubby interviewer gave a soft cough and he had an apologetic look on his face.
“It’s like this. Mister Xu Yi, thank you for coming to apply, but I’m very sorry……”
Xu Yi’s face sunk. He was clear on the fact that since the interviewer said this, it meant that this application had ended in failure.
But if he failed this interview, because he didn’t have much money left on him, he could only find some other work to make ends meet.
Like this, he would be separated from magical research for a long time. His magical power would only fall instead of increase, which would have a great influence on his future development.
Thinking of this, Xu Yi raised his hand to cut off the interviewer.
“Mister, I think that it isn’t important which school I graduated from, right? You need an assistant that can help Great Magician Camilla with his magical research, not a graduation certificate from a magic school or a Magicians Guild certification. It’s fine as long as I can show I’m capable enough, right?”
“Oh?” The slightly chubby interviewer looked at Xu Yi like he had seen something funny, “Then young man, what do you have to prove that you have this ability?”
Xu Yi took out a small box from the bag on his back and handed it over.
“What is this?” The two interviewers looked over the box for a while, feeling perplexed.
“It’s this.” Xu Yi reached out a finger to gently tap the box and a bit of magic came out of his finger.
Although the two interviewers weren’t powerful magicians, as assistants to Great Magician Camilla, naturally they wouldn’t be unfamiliar with magic. They could easily feel the trace of magic from Xu Yi, revealing looks of surprise at the same time.
Although Xu Yi’s magic was a bit weak, they could feel the purity of this magic and how stable it was. There were no fluctuations from the magic at all.
Even some powerful magicians would find it hard to do this, not to mention that Xu Yi looked like he was a young man in his twenties.
Because of this trace of magic, the two interviewers looked at Xu Yi differently. They watched as the box in his hand started glowing and became a bit cautious.
After Xu Yi had injected his magic, this square box suddenly split open and a clear music floated out of the box.
The two interviewers looked right at it and found that after the box opened, there was a model of a piano inside.
This model piano was only the size of a person’s hand, but it was actually very finely made. There was even a clear division between each key.
What surprised people even more was that those keys kept falling with the music. It was like an invisible hand was playing the piano, releasing music from it.
The two interviewers looked at the piano for a while before the slightly chubby interviewer placed the box down. He looked at Xu Yi with a frown and asked, “This is only a toy, how can it prove your magic power?”
Xu Yi revealed a faint smile, “Mister, this is indeed a toy, but the driving force for this toy is the Magic Array that I’ve imprinted on it. As long as a person places a trace of magic in, it will automatically start. Does this not prove my magic power?”
Actually, the core of this toy was indeed the Magic Array inside it, but the decisive factor was Xu Yi’s mechanical engineering knowledge.
This toy was made during his spare time at the Senkaiser School, unifying his mechanical engineering knowledge with the knowledge of magic he learned after coming to this world, while also including Xu Yi’s hobby, playing piano. It could be said that he was combining his original world and this world, so the level of technology contained within was not low.
Those two interviewers looked at piano model, but they shook their head at the same time.
“Young man, I’m very sorry. Although your toy is very novel, it still isn’t able to meet our requirements. You…..”
Xu Yi knit his brows and couldn’t help revealing a bitter smile.
The people of the Sines Continent focused on magic, but they mainly focused on the destructive might of magic, with few focusing on the practical application of magic. Up until now, there had been no magician that had seen through the level of technology in his so-called “toy”, so naturally it was hard for him to prove his magic power.
When the slightly chubby interviewer was about to give Xu Yi his “death sentence”, the door suddenly opened with a squeak.
The slightly chubby interviewer was cut off by this nose. He looked up at the door in dissatisfaction, but said in a surprised voice, “Young Miss Still, why are you here?”
Xu Yi turned his head over curiously and was also surprised.
The Young Miss Still that suddenly came in was actually the young girl that he had met at the gate of the Magic Tower.
After seeing Xu Yi, the girl also revealed a surprised look, but she only nodded at Xu Yi. She came in front of the interviewer table and looked at Xu Yi’s resume on the table. She picked it up to look it over and nodded before looking back at the piano model beside it. She turned back to Xu Yi and asked, “This was made by you?”
Xu Yi nodded in a daze.
Based on Young Miss Still’s casual movements and how the interviewer addressed her when she came in, her status was probably not low.
“Can you let me see it?” Still tapped the model piano.
“Of course.” There was a trace of hope in Xu Yi’s heart, giving a go ahead gesture towards the model piano.
“Very interesting.” After looking it over, Still revealed an interested appearance. She looked back at Xu Yi before saying to the two interviewers, “Just hire him.”
The two interviewers looked at each other and said with difficulty, “Young Miss Still, he has only graduated from the Senkaiser School and hasn’t passed the Magicians Guild’s certification test. This seems to…..not conform to the requirements, right?”
Still just casually waved her hand, “He thinks very actively, this is better than some stiff brained old magicians. Perhaps he will be able to help grandfather.”
Hearing Still say this, the two interviewers helplessly looked at each other. The slightly chubby interviewer gave a cough and said to Xu Yi, “This…..Mister Xu Yi, congratulations on passing the interview. May I ask, when can you report for work?”
Xu Yi was instantly filled with joy. He looked at Still with gratitude, but found that Still wasn’t looking at him at all, rather she was looking at the model piano.
It was like to her, this model piano was more interesting than the creator Xu Yi.
Xu Yi could only turn back to the interviewer and nod with a faint smile.
“Anytime.”
Chapter 2 - It’d be great if there was a desk fan
“Hot! So hot!”
A loud complaint suddenly resounded through the room, instantly causing an echo.
“That’s right, why is it so hot? It’s simply driving people to death!”
“Right, I wish that I can take off all my clothes!”
“Scram! Rem, you idiot, there are girls here!”
[TL Note: I feel pain translating his name as Rem, but it’s technically the same characters…..]
“Che, Wella, are you considered a girl?”
Hearing the complaints of his coworkers, Xu Yi looked up. He wiped off the perspiration pouring out of him with his sleeve.
It was indeed quite hot.
Without knowing it, he had already been working at the Camilla Magic Tower for a month now.
It was already the beginning of July and they were in the middle of summer, so naturally the weather was very hot.
During this month, he had been doing odd jobs in the magic research laboratory under the Great Magician Camilla. He hadn’t participated in the magical research work at all.
Xu Yi wasn’t surprised by this. For someone like him who had had several years of work experience on earth, he was very clear on the fact that new people had to slowly do foundational work before they were slowly integrated.
Not to mention, his magical power was not outstanding at all among his coworkers and the matter of his interview had already spread. Right now, the others all treated him as someone who Young Miss Still had let in through the backdoor, so there were quite a few coworkers that looked down on him.
“This fellow, is it because he looks a bit good that Young Miss Still has set her eyes on him?”
Xu Yi could only reveal a bitter smile at this. Since seeing Still at the interview that day, he hadn’t seen her a second time in this entire month. He learned from chatting with his coworkers that Still was Great Magician Camilla’s granddaughter, but he knew nothing else about her, so god knows how this rumour had spread.
Of course he was clear that these so called rumours had no basis at all.
So he didn’t explain them at all and only focused on working hard, while also increasing his level of magical knowledge by observing the experiments of his coworkers.
Xu Yi’s talent was indeed quite good, although he had only been observing from the side, his level of magic had increased by quite a bit in a single month.
After all, Great Magician Camilla’s level was not something the teachers of the Senkaiser School could match. Even if it was an experiment he had only arranged a bit of, its level was much higher than what Xu Yi had learned in the Senkaiser School.
“That’s right, when I was called over by his excellency Great Magician to report in, found that his room was very cold. Why is that?”
The one who spoke was Rem who was called an idiot. After passing the Magicians Guild’s certification test, he was graded as a Fifth Grade Magician, being placed third among the seventeen people in the research lab, including Xu Yi. He was a very extroverted person, being a fiery existence in the research lab.
“Idiot, his excellency Great Magician’s room has a large scale Frost Array set in it, of course it would be cold.”
The one who responded was Wella who Rem had complained about. She was a Fourth Grade Magician, being weaker than Rem. She had a serious personality and didn’t skimp on reprimanding Rem normally, but most people could see that she treated Rem rather special. They had already been secretly placed as a pair by others.
“Oh? Then why can’t we place large scale Frost Arrays in our laboratories?”
“You still don’t believe me when I call you an idiot! Just setting a large scale Frost Array costs thirty gold coins, not to mention it requires ten High Grade Magic Crystals to maintain each day, which requires five gold coins. That takes a hundred and fifty gold coins each month. I say, Rem, how much do you get paid each month?” Wella snappily responded.
“This…..ha, ha……” Rem gave to dry laughs and didn’t dare respond.
Xu Yi knew that even though Rem’s monthly salary was high, it was no more than thirty gold coins. Not mentioning the consumption of the large scale Frost Array, he didn’t even have enough to set one down.
In the entire Camilla Magic Tower, the only room that had a large scale Frost Array was the respected Great Magician Camilla’s room. There were no other rooms that had one.
“Actually, I was lucky enough to visit Great Magician Eisenkel’s Magic Tower last time, they had Frost Arrays in each room. There was even red wine in each room…..” A rather timid voice spoke up.
This voice belonged to the one closest to age to Xu Yi and was the weakest in the lab, Sarash. Because she was placed last among everyone in the lab before Xu Yi arrived and she had a weak personality, she would be rather timid at all times.
“Great Magician Eisenkel? Isn’t that one of the richest Great Magician’s in our Lampuri Kingdom? Their situation is naturally better than ours. Tell me, why is it even though they are both Great Magicians, Great Magician Eisenkel has so much money and our respected Great Magician Camilla doesn’t even have enough money to install Frost Arrays for us?”
Rem let out a long sigh, but he found that no one sympathized with him. He looked around in a daze and found that everyone was looking down, clearly signaling that they didn’t want to speak to him.
He only saw Wella glaring at him, signaling him with her eyes.
Rem instantly understood and knew that spoken too much, saying the wrong things. He quickly lowered his head and didn’t dare say anything else.
Xu Yi who had seen everything from the side couldn’t stop his lips from raising and revealing a smile.
Rem’s questions made him remember his professors when he was a graduate student. The better ones could pull in more topics, so naturally they earned more. The weaker ones would naturally earn less.
Of course, there were differences in professors that earned more. Some would share the rewards with the students under them, letting everyone be happy.
There were also professors that wanted more for themselves, so they were very stingy to the students under them, naturally raising complaints.
So which kind was Great Magician Camilla?
Xu Yi didn’t even have the qualifications to see Great Magician Camilla, so without understanding anything, he wouldn’t be able to make a decision.
“But speaking honestly, putting in a single large scale Frost Array is good. At least it would be this hot anymore.” Xu Yi pulled back and forth on the front of his shirt, trying to let himself cool down a bit.
Although he could arrange a small scale Frost Array under his clothes for the summer, it consumed a large amount of magic to maintain this array. With his current magic, he could maintain it for less than half an hour and it would take him over three hours to recover. The losses far outweigh the gains.
What was more important was that working in the laboratory meant he had to use magic at any time. So, even for a Fifth Grade Magician like Rem, he didn’t dare casually waste magic on anything.
Xu Yi habitually looked up at the wall of the laboratory and saw that it was completely empty. How could there be a trace of an air conditioner?
“This technologically backwards world…..” Xu Yi could only shake his head and let out a sigh, “It’s fine if there’s no air conditioning, it would be good if there was even a single electric fan.”
Thinking of electric fans, something popped in Xu Yi’s mind like he had thought of something.
After being in a daze for a while, Xu Yi suddenly slapped his leg.
“Idiot! If there isn’t one, why don’t I just make myself?”
The “pa” sound from Xu Yi slapping his leg surprised the people working around him, causing them to look at him with surprised looks. They found that the person who had always silently worked by himself had suddenly encountered something he was happy about, revealing an overjoyed look on his face.
“Did this fellow go crazy?”
How could Xu Yi care about their gazes, he was already completely focused on the idea that had just popped up in his mind.
That’s right, he suddenly thought of making his own electric fan!
Of course, there was no electricity in this world, but there was something that could replace it. It was magic!
Xu Yi quickly organized the thoughts in his mind and quickly pulled over a piece of paper, wildly drawing on it.
As someone who focused on mechanical engineering, although Xu Yi did not specialize in productions, he had always been fascinated by the mechanical production industry since he was young. So, he had a very clear understanding of the structure and principle of an electric fan.
Adding in his specialized mechanical engineering knowledge, Xu Yi quickly finished a blueprint for an electric fan.
After looking it over, Xu Yi quickly confirmed his conversion path.
If he wanted to use an automatic electric fan in this world, the first thing was to have a power source.
There was no electricity in this world, but he could achieve the same effect with Magic Arrays. This was exactly what Xu Yi had been studying at the Senkaiser School the entire time without stopping.
The model piano he took out during the interview, it could be considered the embodiment of his research.
The structure of an electric fan was very simple to a high level mechanical engineer like him and replacing the power source with a Magic Array also wasn’t hard for him. Xu Yi spent less than an hour and he had already finished the Magic Array.
This Magic Array was a primary grade Wind Magic Array, it could simulate low level wind magic and create rotating wind.
Xu Yi now just needed to combine this Magic Array and the structure of the electric fan together to create an electric fan.
Of course, Xu Yi still had many problems to solve.
For example, how fast would the wind of the Magic Array have to be to actually move the electric fan’s blades, replacing electricity in activating the fan?
Or for example, if the Magic Array was placed inside the electric fan and it could be used, would it affect the shape of the electric fan?
Or for example, if Magic Crystals were used as a power source for the Magic Array, what grade would it have to be to ensure that it would work?
Or for example…...
As he thought of more and more problems, Xu Yi instead became even more excited.
In that instant, it was like he had returned to his time on earth.
Whenever his research facility came across any difficult problems, Xu Yi would always become excited.
He was in every sense a madman for research. Whether it was researching something or solving a problem, it was even more enjoyable than any form of entertainment.
It was already time to get off work in the blink of an eye, so his coworkers began to leave.
Xu Yi of course kept studying. His coworkers already were not surprised by this.
During this month, Xu Yi stayed overtime almost every day.
His coworkers actually admired Xu Yi for this kind of mindset.
Only they didn’t know that this time, he wasn’t just doing research on magic.