Chapter 139: Chapter 136: A Lab Class Is a Sure Cure for a Teacher’s Low Blood Pressure

Transformation. Rorschach needed to figure out what process the Transmuting Dust underwent inside the Blue Light Barrier of Deryats, and how a portion of it was stabilized and transformed into Blue Crystals containing Ether. He needed to scale up this process to maximize the final yield of Blue Crystals and minimize the amount of prematurely decaying powder. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

However, this was just one path. What he truly envisioned was the direct extraction of Ether to create a limitless "Magic Well." If successful, it would become the core of Rorschach’s own future Magic Tower.

"When studying the process of transformation, it’s easy to be misled by superficial phenomena, focusing too much on what has changed. But true understanding of a process often begins with the elements that remain unchanged." Today was also a day Rorschach was teaching as a High Master, and he was now able to vaguely remember the names of the students in front of him.

Today’s lesson took place in the laboratory, requiring Rorschach to constantly patrol the room and correct students’ mistakes. "Andrew, you shouldn’t be picking up the weights with your hands."

"I’m sorry, Sir, but my name is Andre."

"Er... right. Andre. I’ll remember from now on. You also need to remember the proper experimental procedures."

The students took the white phosphorus out of the cold water, dried it, and placed it in a conical flask lined with fine sand. A glass tube was inserted through a cork stopper, and a small balloon was tied to the end of the tube protruding from the flask.

It wasn’t easy to equip an entire class with these simple setups. For instance, in this world, there was no synthetic rubber or artificial polymers; the balloons were made from sheep intestines and the sap of rubber trees.

The experiment Rorschach was having them perform was incredibly basic: the combustion of white phosphorus in a closed system. The students simply needed to weigh the setup before and after igniting the phosphorus to discover that the total weight of the system did not change. The mass of the reactants equals the mass of the products; mass is the property that remains unchanged during combustion.

The experiment was simple, but the ignition process carried some risk. A crucial lesson for these students was to gradually learn how to conduct experiments safely and properly. White phosphorus has a very low ignition point. Following Rorschach’s demonstration, heating the mouth of the glass tube while inserting the stopper and tube into the flask was enough to ignite the white phosphorus, which produced white smoke, light, and heat.

Of course, something had to go wrong. The paper used to dry the white phosphorus was very coarse. Some genius, afraid that residual water on the phosphorus would prevent it from igniting, began rubbing it vigorously in a corner of the classroom. He succeeded in igniting it with the rough paper, and the white phosphorus began to burn merrily in the open air.

"AH!" The piece of white phosphorus was only the size of a pea and vanished in a puff of white smoke. However, the heat released by the sample then ignited the absorbent paper, which continued the white phosphorus’s fiery mission on the iron-sheathed lab bench.

Rorschach didn’t immediately extinguish the small flame with Magic. He simply cast a spell to disperse the toxic smoke and then observed how the student who caused the accident would handle the emergency.

The panicked student had a bucket of sand at his feet and a bottle of water on the table.

Water... water... The student nervously grabbed the bottle and was about to pour it when he found his hand clamped firmly in place.

’Damn, I’m holding him with Mage’s Hand and he’s still trying to resist...’ Rorschach wanted to cry at his student’s foolishness. Batiss stared helplessly as his teacher approached with a dark expression. A Ray laced with frost shot from Rorschach’s hand, striking the paper with precision and extinguishing the flame.

"Batiss?"

"You got it right this time, Sir..." The other students who were watching snickered.

’This guy is a bit of an airhead...’ Rorschach began his interrogation. "Batiss, why did you grab that bottle?"

"Because I wanted to put out the fire, Sir, and there was water in the bottle."

"And can you tell me why there was water in the bottle?"

"Because... oh, because of the white phosphorus. The white phosphorus is stored in pure water, Sir." ’You finally get it, Young Master Batiss.’

Rorschach released his hold on Batiss, who had nearly added phosphorus to the fire. "I said at the beginning of the experiment that if a fire breaks out, you can extinguish it by pouring sand on it."

In truth, pouring that cup of water might not have ignited the phosphorus before dousing the flame, but it was undoubtedly a reckless action. Immediately pouring a colorless, transparent liquid on a fire was a habitual reaction that needed to be unlearned in laboratories and workshops. Rorschach mused that he should get some reactive alkali metals one day to really open these kids’ eyes.

He scanned the room and addressed the gawking students. "Those of you who aren’t finished, continue your work. After you’ve written your lab reports, you are to add your answers to a few thought questions: Why does this experiment demonstrate the principle of ’conservation of matter’ in non-magical transformations, and..."

’If they were apprentices from the Tower of Stars, they would also need to consider which magic spells could break this law of conservation, as well as their manifestations and magical mechanisms.’

But they were ordinary people. As per the agreement between this school and the Magic Guild, he changed his tune. "...and based on the ’three elements of combustion’ we learned earlier, devise three safe fire-extinguishing and fire-prevention plans."

Rorschach felt it was a good assignment. He could tell from the students’ expressions... no, that wasn’t it. Rorschach believed it was a good assignment because "designing effective fire safety measures based on the conditions and principles of combustion" was a skill sorely lacking in the industries of this world, which had only just begun to move past artisanal production. If these students were to work in workshops in the future, this skill alone would be immensely valuable.

’It’s definitely not because I’m secretly enjoying giving these students extra work.’ Rorschach put on a stern face and said to Batiss, "You, however, will write five plans, as well as a reflection on your series of operational errors."

As soon as he said this, the other students felt as if their own workload had suddenly been reduced. Batiss’s face fell, while the corners of the others’ mouths couldn’t help but turn up—pain and pleasure had reached a state of conservation in the classroom.

"The rest of you will also reflect on the shortcomings of your experiment. Andre, for example, can review the proper procedures for using a balance scale." The teacher’s "magic" broke the law of conservation of pain and pleasure. Now everyone was miserable, just to different degrees.

Rorschach didn’t get any satisfaction from "tormenting" his students, either. He assigned this work because he wanted them to conduct their future experiments more effectively and safely.

’It would be great if some of you, even without magic, could continue down the path of seeking truth, or bring benefit to more people.’ "To cultivate the best teachers for the advancement of human wisdom and art"—what a grand slogan... Rorschach looked at the clumsy students fumbling with their equipment and sighed to himself.

For the next class, he planned to build and bring in another apparatus like the one from "An Inquiry into the Efficiency Limits of Heat-to-Motion Conversion and Heat Engines," which he had used to demonstrate the "mechanical equivalent of heat." This would be to explain "conservation of energy in non-magical systems" to these students.

As for systems that included magic... Rorschach actually felt he could explain some of that as well. From Airships to the current workshops involving technology from the Alchemy Department, magical concepts were gradually seeping into industrial production. There simply weren’t enough Mages and Apprentices to monopolize all these positions.

Workshops were full of noise, danger, and waste. How many noble Mages or well-off Apprentices would be willing to stay in such places? If the device Rorschach invented could solve the supply issue for Ether, then even people without magic could be trained as operators of Magic Arrays in factories. They could even participate in the design of Magic Arrays and spells, despite not having enough Magic Power themselves.

’What would you even call that? A Mage who can’t cast their own spells?’

Rorschach watched the students pack up their lab equipment and chuckled at his own wild thoughts.

The bell rang, signaling the end of class. The students hurried off to their next lesson. After checking that the equipment was put away properly, Rorschach prepared to slip out, but he was stopped by a colleague at the door. "Teacher Rorschach, a moment!"

"Did you need something?"

"I’m Instructor... Teacher Druao. I have several things to inform you about. Since you always run off right after class and never stop by the faculty office, I had no choice but to lay an ambush here." The teacher who came to find Rorschach was a young man, about thirty years old, with the faint scent of tobacco about him.

"Well, your ambush was a success. Please, go ahead."