Chapter 8

Having been at Camila's Magic Tower for nearly two months, this was the first time Xu Yi entered the very top floor of the tower.

As soon as he stepped into the exclusive area of Grand Mage Camila, a refreshing chill immediately enveloped him, making him shiver and almost sneeze.

"Having a large ice frost array is really nice," Xu Yi rubbed his nose and smiled at Steer, who was leading the way.

"Really? Are you envious?" Steer turned to look at Xu Yi, her eyes full of curiosity.

Xu Yi's recent invention of the magic fan had already surprised her greatly, and she was even more surprised that Grandfather had suddenly summoned him. Coupled with the impression he left on her on his first day, Steer was very interested in Xu Yi.

"Of course I'm envious," Xu Yi answered matter-of-factly. "The seniors in the lab have said countless times that if they could set up a large ice frost array in the lab, everyone's work efficiency would at least triple."

Steer giggled and shook her head. "That's not possible. Grandfather is a notorious miser. He doesn't have the money to set up a large ice frost array in every lab. Even the one here is only activated on the hottest days; otherwise, it's just for show."

Xu Yi understood this but was still curious.

"Miss Steer, that doesn't seem right. Grand Mage Camila is a three-star grand mage. Regardless of other things, the kingdom's annual fixed investment in him is substantial. Why would he be poor?"

"Because he spends more," Steer shrugged, looking quite helpless. "You only know that Grandfather is a grand mage and enjoys special wages from the kingdom, but you don't know that researching magic, especially high-level magic, is extremely expensive. He spends most of his money on purchasing magical materials for research each year, and the rest goes to maintaining the magic tower. His life is actually quite tight."

"Is that so... But I've heard that other grand mages are very wealthy..."

"Are you saying Grandfather isn't good at making money?" Steer gave Xu Yi a look. "Don't you dare mention this to Grandfather, or he'll get very angry."

"No, no, of course not. I just heard that Grand Mage Camila is strongly opposed to mages focusing on making money..."

"Can't help it, Grandfather is just that stubborn," Steer sighed. "I've advised him many times, but he always says that mages should concentrate on researching magic. Thinking about making money all day is a disgrace to the name of a mage."

Xu Yi nodded, not saying more.

Grand Mage Camila's attitude reminded him of the professors and scholars on Earth who were dedicated to research and looked down on commercial activities, believing that academic research would be tainted by the smell of money.

Xu Yi didn't admire this attitude. Although excessive commercialization could have a significant impact on academic research, commercial investment could greatly improve research conditions and efficiency, accelerating the progress of research.

On Earth, there were many examples of the perfect combination of academic research and business, where both promoted each other, achieving better results than mere isolated research.

Moreover, the mechanical engineering field Xu Yi was in was a science closely tied to practical applications. If it couldn't demonstrate commercial value in practical use, it would be a failure.

"Here we are," Steer pushed the door open and gestured for Xu Yi to enter. "Go in, Grandfather is waiting."

Xu Yi straightened his clothes and walked in confidently.

Grand Mage Camila's private laboratory occupied the entire top floor of the magic tower, which was naturally very spacious, about four or five times the size of Xu Yi's lab.

The ceiling of the laboratory was very high, with the top more than five meters above the ground. Looking around, the place was almost as large as a slightly smaller basketball court.

In the center of the space was a huge table, behind which an old man with deep blue robes and dark brown hair was buried in his magical research.

This must be Grand Mage Camila.

Hearing someone enter, Grand Mage Camila looked up. After briefly examining Xu Yi, he nodded and continued his research.

Xu Yi was not surprised. He had heard that Grand Mage Camila was extremely obsessed with magical research and was probably immersed in a problem, unwilling to be interrupted.

Taking this opportunity, Xu Yi carefully observed the environment of the laboratory.

The laboratory was much neater than he had imagined, with various strange magical materials neatly arranged along the walls, categorized. Only the area around Grand Mage Camila's table was somewhat messy.

Strange marks could be seen on the floor and walls, likely left from Grand Mage Camila's magical experiments.

Many of these marks were quite deep, indicating that the situations during the experiments must have been quite dangerous.

Xu Yi's gaze suddenly stopped at a corner where a pile of scrap metal was placed. Despite its appearance, Xu Yi easily recognized it as the first magic fan he had made, which Steer had bought.

Judging by its current broken state, it had clearly been deliberately damaged.

As for the culprit...

Xu Yi's gaze returned to Grand Mage Camila, feeling a bit puzzled.

"Could Grand Mage Camila be interested in this magic fan? But the magical level in this thing is so low, it shouldn't be of any interest to him, right?"

Not long after, Grand Mage Camila seemed to have completed his research. He stretched, straightened up, and looked at Xu Yi, slightly startled, as if he had completely forgotten about him.

After a brief pause, he nodded at Xu Yi. "You must be Xu Yi?"

Xu Yi quickly bowed respectfully. "Yes, honored Grand Mage."

Grand Mage Camila waved his hand. "No need to be so nervous. I asked Steer to bring you here because I have a few questions."

"Please ask, Grand Mage. I will do my best to answer anything I know."

"Good." Grand Mage Camila looked around, went to the corner, and picked up the pile of scrap metal Xu Yi had just seen. "Steer told me this thing was made by you?"

"This..." Xu Yi looked at the almost unrecognizable magic fan and answered somewhat awkwardly, "When I gave it to Miss Steer, it wasn't like this."

"Don't blame Steer. I wanted to study it, so I did this to it," Grand Mage Camila casually threw the magic fan aside, rummaged through some papers on the table, and took out a diagram. "Here, I called you here mainly because I'm interested in the magic array you engraved on this magic fan. There are some parts I don't understand, and I hope you can explain them to me."

Xu Yi immediately held Grand Mage Camila in high regard. As a three-star grand mage, he was willing to admit that he didn't understand some aspects in front of someone who hadn't even passed the qualification exam of the Mage Guild, showing his seriousness about magic.

"Grand Mage Camila, you are too kind. I believe a grand mage like you would have no trouble understanding this magic array. The parts you don't understand are probably not related to magic."

Grand Mage Camila pondered for a moment and shook his head. "You could say it's unrelated, but it's not entirely unrelated. Come, take a look here..." Grand Mage Camila pointed to a point on the magic array. "I understand that your modification here reduces the wind vortex effect of the magic array, but I don't understand why you did this. Don't you want to make the magic array more powerful?"

Xu Yi leaned over to take a look and immediately smiled. "You are absolutely right. This modification does reduce the power of the magic array, but, Grand Mage, this magic array is mainly for providing power to the magic fan, and it doesn't need such a strong effect."

Grand Mage Camila shook his head. "That's not right. I tried your magic fan, and although the wind it produces is strong, have you considered that sometimes a stronger wind might be needed? For example, look at this room. It's so large that if you only place one magic fan, it will only cool a small area, which doesn't meet my needs."

Xu Yi smiled bitterly and spread his hands. "Grand Mage, when designing the magic fan, I did consider this issue, but due to the material limitations of the magic fan, the blades can only withstand this level of speed. If we increase the power of the magic array, the blade speed can certainly be increased, but the magic fan itself might not withstand it and would break down soon."

"I see..." Grand Mage Camila immediately recalled the first time he injected magic into the magic fan. The blades had spun violently and couldn't withstand the strain, turning the entire magic fan into a pile of scrap, for which Steer had scolded him for a long time.

"Alright, let's set that aside. What about this part?"

"Oh, this part. This is to ensure that the power output of the entire magic array remains within a small fluctuation range, so the wind produced by the magic fan won't be too unstable."

"What about this part?"

"This part needs to be considered in the context of the overall design of the magic fan. As you can see, this is the connection diagram between the magic array and the central axis of the magic fan. If it's not designed this way, the output of the magic array would be greatly affected, wasting magic crystals."

"Very good, and this part..."

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