Evening, Fire Oil City, inside the Wizard College.
Philip was speaking passionately at the podium, explaining to the apprentices and official wizards about the seventh element on the periodic table—Nitrogen!
As the most abundant element in the atmosphere, and one of the first elements that apprentices come into contact with, it had not been much valued by wizards in the past.
After all, it was difficult for it to react magically with other common elements, and many schools even considered it a useless element.
However, this was clearly just a reflection of some people not studying nitrogen deeply enough.
For instance, in Master Lynn's "Research and Analysis on Plant Photosynthesis," it is mentioned that nitrogen is one of the essential nutrients for plant growth.
Rumors have it that the archbishops of the church hold a special Divine Art—"Natural Rain" that can significantly increase the yield of crops, mostly by utilizing nitrogen as a fertilizer, the effect is over sixty percent higher than the yield-increasing magic developed by some elemental schools!
This was enough to show that the church's understanding and application of nitrogen had surpassed many others, and it was now time to vigorously catch up!
"But, Professor Philip, didn't Master Lynn develop a way to magically create bread? Why do we still need to develop magic that increases crop yields?" a student curiously asked.
"Magic bread is indeed real, but we can't always eat bread, can we? It's good to change the taste..." Philip replied with a smile.
The yield-increasing magic that used nitrogen was not only effective for wheat but theoretically applicable to any plant, and effective for some magic potion ingredients as well.
Moreover, the fact that nitrogen does not easily react with other elements could also be used in reverse, using it as a protective, filler element, like in the magic lights scattered throughout Fire Oil City, lighting up the night sky, which contained a lot of nitrogen.
During Philip's continuous lecture, the melodious magic bell quietly rang.
"Alright, let's finish today's chemistry lesson here. The characteristics and applications of nitrogen are topics well worth researching. Next week, each of you needs to submit a paper describing your understanding of this element... who can develop a new technique from this will receive a hundred credits as a reward..." Professor Philip said, still seeming enthusiastic.
The wizards below were indeed very excited.
Credits were a new system within the Wizard College, evaluated based on class performance, paper quality, and magic exams, and concerned their future job placements after leaving the Magic Academy.
If one could earn over a thousand credits within an academic year, they would receive the professors' recommendations, graduate and join the Magic Research Institute or even gain the appreciation of the grand wizards and become a core member of the council.
Developing new magic or proposing novel magic theories was naturally the quickest way to earn credits.
For example, Lean, the most dazzling magic genius in the Wizard College, had earned over six hundred credits in just over two months with three papers discussing Celestial Motion!
These three papers had reportedly shocked several council members, and joining the Magic Research Institute was already a done deal!
This naturally made the other wizards particularly envious, knowing that the members of the Magic Research Institute specialized in the most cutting-edge magic theories, a paradise for all scholarly wizards!
Philip, who taught elemental studies, had mentioned to them that the periodic tables distributed by the college were incomplete, listing only about fifty elements, while the real periodic table had twice as many!
Besides metals and non-metals, there was also a new type of element named by Master Lynn, known only to the council members and elemental wizards within the Magic Research Institute.
The students talked among themselves as they left the classroom, the universally recognized magic genius, Lean, receiving much adulation, as everyone could see his boundless future potential, perhaps becoming the next Magic Star!
"Do you have any idea for the research paper on nitrogen, Lean?" a tall, thin wizard asked with a bit of a headache.
This element wasn't really suitable for magic application, and if one were to work on the plant yield aspect as Philip had mentioned, standing out and gaining high marks was nearly impossible.
After all, people had already tried it, possessing relatively complete magical theories, and in the short span of a week, it was very difficult for their research to exceed this framework.
No wizard would be content to see their hard research simply vanish into the crowd!
If anyone had the ability to forge a new path, it would naturally be Lean, who was a magic genius!
Facing everyone's expectant gazes, Lean smiled. "I suppose so; I already have some ideas and am devising a magic involving nitrogen."
"So soon?" The wizards present were astounded; they were still considering which direction to start their research from, yet Lean had already begun developing new magic.
"Actually, the direction has already been pointed out by the Magic Star, and I am merely expanding on the research basis set by Master Lynn," Lean said rather modestly, but his face was filled with satisfaction.
"Truly impressive. At this rate, you could leave this academy in no more than two months and join the Magic Research Institute," the envious wizard remarked.