Chapter 2

"Hot! It's so hot I could die!"

A loud complaint suddenly echoed through the room, immediately drawing a chorus of agreement.

"Yeah, how can it be this hot? It's like we're going to die."

"Exactly, I wish I could take all my clothes off!"

"Shut up! Rem, you pervert, there are women here."

"Tch, are you even a woman, Vina?"

...

Hearing his colleagues' complaints, Xu Yi looked up and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve.

It was indeed very hot.

Unconsciously, he had been working at the Camilla Magic Tower for a month.

It was already early July, the height of summer, and the weather was naturally extremely hot.

During this month, he had been doing odd jobs and running errands in a magic research lab under the Great Mage Camilla, hardly participating in any specific magic research.

Xu Yi was not surprised by this. With his years of work experience on Earth, he knew that as a newcomer, he would have to start with basic tasks to gradually integrate into the team.

Moreover, his magic strength was not outstanding in the lab, and the incident during his job application had already spread. Now, almost everyone in the lab considered him to have gotten in through Miss Steyr's back door, and many of his colleagues looked down on him with disdain.

"Is this guy only here because he's good-looking, and that's why Miss Steyr chose him?"

Xu Yi could only smile bitterly. Apart from meeting Steyr on the day of his application, he hadn't seen her again this month. He only knew from his colleagues' conversations that Steyr was the granddaughter of Great Mage Camilla. He had no idea how these rumors had spread.

Of course, he also knew that rumors were baseless.

So he didn't bother to explain himself. Instead, he focused on his duties and continuously improved his magic skills by observing the research his colleagues were conducting.

Xu Yi's talent was actually quite good. Even though he was just observing, his magic skills had improved significantly over the past month.

After all, Great Mage Camilla's abilities far surpassed those of the teachers at Senkoer Academy. Even the magic research she assigned was much more advanced than what Xu Yi had learned at Senkoer Academy.

"By the way, when I was called to give a report to the Great Mage the day before yesterday, I noticed that her room was very cool. Why is that?"

The speaker was Rem, who had been called a pervert earlier. He was a Level 5 Mage who had passed the Mage Union's qualification exam. In the lab, which included Xu Yi and a total of seventeen people, he ranked third in strength. He was very outgoing and often livened up the atmosphere in the lab.

"Idiot, the Great Mage's room has a large Frost Array set up, of course it's cool."

The one who answered was Vina, who had scolded Rem for being a pervert. She was a Level 4 Mage, slightly weaker than Rem, and had a more serious personality. She often scolded Rem, but everyone could see that she had a special feeling for him and was already considered a couple by the others.

"Oh? Then why don't we set up a large Frost Array in our lab?"

"Still calling you an idiot! Just setting up a large Frost Array costs thirty gold coins, not to mention the ten high-grade magic crystals needed to maintain it every day, which cost five gold coins each. That's 150 gold coins a month. Rem, how much do you earn in a month?" Vina replied irritably.

"Well... ha ha..." Rem laughed dryly, not daring to answer.

Xu Yi knew very well that Rem's monthly salary was one of the highest in the lab, but it was only thirty gold coins. It was impossible to afford the cost of maintaining a large Frost Array, let alone setting it up.

In the entire Camilla Magic Tower, the only room with a large Frost Array was the respected Great Mage Camilla's room. No other room had one.

"Actually, I had the honor of visiting Great Mage Eisenka's magic tower before. Every room there had a Frost Array, and even had red wine in each room..." a slightly timid voice said.

This voice belonged to Salsa, who was the closest in age and strength to Xu Yi in the lab. Before Xu Yi joined, she was the weakest, and her timid personality made her seem even more fearful.

"Eisenka, the Great Mage? Isn't he one of the richest Great Mages in our Lampari Kingdom? Of course, his conditions are much better than ours. Why is it that Great Mage Eisenka is so rich, but our respected Great Mage Camilla can't even afford to set up a Frost Array for us?" Rem sighed, but found no one agreeing with him. He looked around and saw everyone lowering their heads, clearly not wanting to respond.

Only Vina glared at him and gave him a meaningful look.

Rem suddenly realized he had spoken out of turn and quickly lowered his head, not saying another word.

Xu Yi, who had been watching this scene, couldn't help but smile.

Rem's question reminded him of the graduate advisors he had encountered during his master's studies. Some advisors were more capable and could secure many projects, naturally earning more. Others were less capable and earned less.

Of course, among those who earned more, some would generously pay their graduate students, making everyone happy.

But others, despite earning a lot, were very stingy with their graduate students, naturally leading to complaints.

As for which category Great Mage Camilla belonged to?

Xu Yi had no qualifications to meet her and had no information, so he couldn't make a judgment.

"But really, it would be great if we could set up a large Frost Array. At least we wouldn't be so hot." Xu Yi shook his shirt, trying to cool himself down.

Although he could set up a small Frost Array in his body to cool off, maintaining it would consume a lot of magic power. With his current magic power, he could only maintain it for less than half an hour, and it would take over three hours of meditation to recover. It was simply not worth it.

More importantly, the lab work often required the use of magic power, so even a strong Level 5 Mage like Rem wouldn't waste his magic power on such things.

Xu Yi habitually looked up at the lab's walls, finding them empty, with no sign of an air conditioner.

"This technologically backward world..." Xu Yi could only shake his head and sigh. "Even a fan would be nice if there's no air conditioner."

Thinking of a fan, Xu Yi suddenly had an idea.

After a moment, he slapped his thigh.

"Stupid! If there isn't one, can't I make one myself?"

The sound of Xu Yi slapping his thigh startled the others, who were busy working. They looked at him in surprise and saw that this usually quiet guy seemed to have encountered something that made him extremely happy, with a look of joy on his face.

"Is this guy crazy?"

Xu Yi, however, paid no attention to their gazes. He was completely absorbed in the idea that had suddenly popped into his head.

Yes, he had suddenly thought of making a fan himself!

Of course, this world had no electricity, but it had something that could replace it: magic!

Xu Yi quickly organized his thoughts and grabbed a piece of paper, drawing furiously.

As a professional mechanical engineer, although Xu Yi was not specialized in light industry, he had always been interested in mechanical engineering and was very familiar with the structure and principles of fans.

With his professional mechanical engineering knowledge, he quickly replicated the structure of a fan.

After some research, Xu Yi quickly determined his approach.

To use a fan in this world, the first thing to solve was the power supply.

This world had no electricity, but a magic array could provide the same power, which was something Xu Yi had studied extensively at Senkoer Academy.

The piano model he had presented during the interview was a manifestation of his research.

The structure of a fan was simple for a senior mechanical engineer like him, and the magic array to replace the electric motor was also not complex. Xu Yi spent less than an hour drawing the magic array.

This magic array was a basic wind magic array that could simulate the effect of a low-level wind magic—Wind Spin.

Xu Yi's next step was to combine this magic array with the fan's structure to successfully drive the fan.

Of course, Xu Yi still had many problems to solve.

For example, how fast should the wind spin generated by the magic array be to drive the fan blades and replace the motor of an electric fan?

How could he perfectly integrate the magic array into the fan's structure so that it could function without affecting the overall structure of the fan?

What quality of magic crystal should be used as the power source to ensure sufficient power?

And so on...

The more problems he thought of, the more excited Xu Yi became.

For a moment, he felt like he was back on Earth.

Back then, when the engineering research institute didn't encounter any major problems, Xu Yi would always be this excited.

He was actually a research fanatic. Researching and solving problems gave him more pleasure than any form of entertainment.

Before he knew it, it was already time to leave work, and his colleagues were leaving one by one.

Xu Yi, however, continued to work, and his colleagues were no longer surprised.

In the past month, Xu Yi had almost always stayed late to work overtime.

His colleagues appreciated his dedication.

But they didn't know that this time, Xu Yi was not just doing magic research.