I Pioneered Scientific Magic -
Chapter 63: Lynn's Game of Bankruptcy
"Good morning, everyone. I am Lynn, the newly appointed professor of arcane mathematics at the Iyeta School of Magic..."
Under the watchful, sometimes surprised and skeptical eyes of the students, Lynn stood at the lectern, using his hand as a pen and pure magic as ink, writing his name in the void.
The once quiet classroom immediately buzzed with excitement.
"Professor Lynn, we heard you came from the Misty Sea. Can you tell us what it's like out there?"
"Professor Philip said you think this continent is round. Why don't people fall off the bottom?"
The young wizard apprentices bombarded him with various questions. Lynn appeared younger than most professors, and as a result, the students weren't as reserved as they would be with other instructors. They were simply curious about the new professor from the Misty Sea.
Faced with this barrage of questions, Lynn didn't know where to start. But then Jonny, sitting nearby, asked a crucial question.
"Professor Lynn, what is arcane mathematics?"
Lynn breathed a sigh of relief and began to explain.
"Great question! Arcane mathematics is a discipline that studies complex concepts like numbers, structures, changes, and space. You can use it to calculate the circumference of this planet, explore the movements of the stars, analyze cosmic constants... Arcane mathematics encompasses nearly everything you see, making it a crucial tool for understanding the world!"
As he spoke, Lynn increased his volume using soundwave principles, causing everyone's eardrums to ring and effectively silencing the previously noisy classroom. Every apprentice in the room listened with fascination as Lynn discussed these sophisticated terms. Many of them realized they were in for a special magical class.
But after painting this grand picture, Lynn changed his tone and continued, "Of course, these advanced arcane math concepts are still too distant for you. For now, you must start with the basics of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division."
"Isn't that just basic arithmetic?" a student at the front couldn't help but interrupt. "We've already learned all of that in our foundational classes."
"Well, well, are you sure?" Lynn asked with a smile, then clapped his hands. With the help of his Mage's Hand spell, the desks in front of him floated into the air, assembling into a larger table.
The quill pens on the lectern dipped themselves in ink and automatically divided the large table into six rows and six columns, creating a grid of thirty-six squares.
"The rules are very simple. Place one copper coin in the first square, two in the second, four in the third, eight in the fourth, and so on..." Lynn surveyed every student in the classroom and continued with a highly enticing tone.
"If someone can fill these squares with the corresponding coins, I will immediately write an application to the Wizard's Council, stating that they have achieved a perfect score in arcane mathematics and grant them a bottle of the Mana Source..."
"Professor, is this for real? You're not joking, are you?" Another tall and thin apprentice in his twenties, named Pierce, stood up suddenly, brimming with excitement.
What is the Mana Source?
It's the most critical item for a wizard apprentice to become a full-fledged wizard, worth hundreds, or even hundreds of magic gold coins, and it's not something you can just buy with money. For someone like Pierce, who is in his twenties and hasn't completed any course of study, both of Lynn's promises were extremely important.
"Of course, I give you my word," Lynn nodded without hesitation.
Hearing Lynn's resolute response, Pierce hesitated for a moment. Life had taught him that nothing comes so easily in the world. Either the professor was fooling him, or there was something fishy about the whole situation.
Pierce tried to do some quick math but couldn't figure it out. He could only roughly estimate that filling the first row of six squares would require sixty-three copper coins, which didn't seem like a lot.
"Anyone wants to give it a try? There's only one slot!" Lynn tempted them once again.
"I'll do it!" The freckled young man who had interrupted him earlier stood up eagerly.
Pierce watched as Elloc, the one who stood up, and immediately regretted his hesitation. He should have been more courageous, instead of hesitating. He cursed himself for not having the courage to pursue it and for not being promoted to a full-fledged wizard.
"What's your name?" Lynn curiously asked.
"I'm Elloc, Professor!" The young wizard said loudly.
So, this is the kid named Elloc...
Lynn nodded, as he had recently helped the boy's father with a favor, so he thought it was a good opportunity to pay it forward.
"Elloc, I have to remind you that this wager cannot be given up once you start. You have to fill the entire grid, and the money you put in will be used as research funding for this field. This is the price for my promises and the Mana Source!" Lynn kindly reminded.
"No problem!" Elloc patted his chest. Even though he couldn't calculate how many copper coins it would take to fill all the squares, he knew the value of one copper coin compared to a Mana Source.
It was a difference of hundreds of thousands of times!
Elloc thought about it and estimated that he might only need two or three thousand copper coins to fill the thirty-six squares. And the Mana Source was something money couldn't buy.
"Then please, go ahead!" Lynn pointed to the table and wore his characteristic smile, indicating that Elloc could start.
Elloc wasn't the least bit nervous. He took out his coin pouch and placed the first copper coin in the first square.
Then two, four, eight, sixteen... up to thirty-two.
When he reached the sixth square, he had run out of copper coins. The seventh square required sixty-four copper coins...
Elloc hesitated, holding a silver coin in his hand, and turned to the students who were watching the spectacle. He said with confidence, "Can anyone lend me some copper coins? Once I fill this square, I'll pay you back double tomorrow!"
Inspired by Elloc's determination, the wizard apprentices at the scene generously emptied their purses, not worrying that Elloc might not be able to repay them. Even Pierce, who was regretting his hesitation, took out all his savings—six gold coins!
Soon, the borrowed coins had filled the entire table, with only Jonny standing on the side, watching and not offering any money.
"Jonny, aren't you going to make some money too?" Lynn asked curiously. "Or have you already figured out the result?"
The silver-haired girl gave him a look. Although she couldn't calculate how many copper coins it would take to fill all thirty-six squares, she knew Lynn's mind was always working, and he couldn't just produce a Mana Source out of thin air.
On the other hand, Elloc appeared confident. With the combined funds from all the apprentices, he already had over twenty gold coins and more than two hundred copper and silver coins, which should be enough to fill all the squares!
Thinking this, Elloc grabbed a handful of coins and started filling the second row of squares.
With a total expenditure of forty silver and ninety-five copper, one-third of the table was already filled. It was easy, too easy.
Most of the apprentices were starting to regret why they didn't step up first. Even Jonny, who had confidence in Lynn, began to waver. Could this table really be filled?
Elloc was full of enthusiasm as he piled up forty silver coins and ninety-six copper coins into the thirteenth square. However, as he continued to fill the squares below, he began to sense that something was amiss. The last square in the third row required a staggering thirteen gold coins!
This seemed... like... maybe... a bit too much?
Elloc's expression became hesitant, and he realized that he had run out of money to fill the next square.
"You can simply write the amount with a pen, and we'll calculate it together later!" Lynn said nonchalantly, showing no intention of making things difficult for Elloc.
Elloc looked at the remaining half of the squares, gritted his teeth, and picked up a feather pen from the side. He began to fill in the numbers row by row.
Two hundred... no... three hundred... as long as the total amount he spent was under three hundred magic gold coins, his father might understand. After all, a Mana Source couldn't be bought with money.
However, with this mindset, Elloc only managed to fill in four squares and realized that he had exhausted his budget and needed to spend even more.
Under Lynn's "friendly" gaze, Elloc's hands trembled as he continued to fill in the rows. The overwhelming numbers forced him to use paper and pen for calculations.
But even with his assistance, the numbers were still daunting, and Elloc was on the verge of tears by the time he reached the fifth row.
In his mind, Elloc began to assess his family's assets and made a terrifying discovery: it seemed like they were bankrupt.
No, it was a problem that couldn't be solved with bankruptcy anymore because he couldn't earn this much money in his lifetime, even if he worked tirelessly as a full-fledged wizard for hundreds of years!
And the table still had a whole row left to be filled!
"Elloc... Elloc!"
Elloc's sudden collapse startled everyone present, including Lynn. Lynn didn't want to be responsible for scaring someone to death on the first day of class.
After a quick examination with his limited medical knowledge, Lynn found that Elloc was not seriously harmed and quickly produced an ice cube to place on his forehead, waking him up.
Elloc looked dazed, feeling like he had just had a nightmare where he played a game with the professor and ended up owing an unpayable debt...
When he opened his eyes, he realized that this wasn't a dream; it was real.
"Now that you're awake, let's finish filling in the last square as agreed!" Lynn patted Elloc's shoulder, encouraging him.
Elloc's face bore an expression worse than crying, but he had no choice but to sit back at his place. He consoled himself, thinking that even if he couldn't afford 53,687,368, he could increase it to 200,000 or 500,000, and what difference would it make?
But it did make a difference! A long string of numbers nearly shattered Elloc's mind.
After filling the last square, Elloc had to count the units one by one with his fingers.
One, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand, million, ten million, hundred million... Elloc couldn't bear to continue counting. Lynn directly revealed the answer.
"It's 34,359,687,368 copper coins!"
Hearing this terrifying number, the apprentices in the room felt dizzy. They looked at the square table in front of them, unable to fathom how 34,333,333,368 copper coins could fit into such a small grid.
Jonny's face also displayed an incredulous expression. While she could imagine that filling the squares would require a substantial amount of copper coins, she never expected it to be this terrifying.
This sum of money, even Elloc, would probably not be able to pay off in his entire lifetime. Moreover, there was still one more row left to be filled!
"A simple square game has given a group of wizard apprentices a taste of the frightening power of exponential growth!" Lynn said solemnly.
"This is the power of arcane mathematics! If someone can convert the power of arcane mathematics into magic, it would be a force capable of destroying this planet, or even the entire universe!"
This was no joke. In theory, if you fold a piece of paper 103 times, its theoretical thickness would exceed the observable diameter of the universe. Anything that exhibits exponential growth with a base of 2 could quickly explode and destroy the entire universe.
The apprentices were left in shock, contemplating the immense power and responsibility that came with understanding arcane mathematics.
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