Mage Adam

"If an apprentice tries to use this rune set for a Fireball spell, they may fail to gather the elements, and they may also cause an explosion and hurt themselves. For an apprentice, that's a big problem. Without a teacher to guide them, they'll have to figure it out on their own, which could be costly and waste a lot of time."

Adam wasn't interested in teaching a transdimensional mage how to correctly cast a Fireball spell. After explaining a few basic points, he gave a voice command to the Flame in his hand. "Scan the rune set in front of me, find the mistake, and create the correct model."

The Flame glowed softly, capturing the flawed rune group and immediately started its calculations.

Adam deliberately slowed down the process. In front of both him and Priscilla, the Flame systematically removed the mistakes and unnecessary parts of the rune group, showing the correct structure.

"As long as the spell exists in the database, it can correct and teach like this," Adam said. "Even with the most complicated beginner meditation techniques. With this tool, apprentices could learn much faster."

Priscilla seemed intrigued. "That's a useful feature. I know how things are at the academies. Most mages don't like teaching, and if senior apprentices are left in charge, they could give wrong instructions to the beginners."

Adam nodded. "If this were a finished product, I'd call it a smart chip. Mages or apprentices could sign a contract with it and merge it with their soul. This would let it work directly in their mind or soul. They'd instantly learn the right way to build rune groups and never forget them. It's almost like having a second brain. If a mage allowed it, the chip could even help with casting spells."

"The best part is, it can help those who struggle with spatial imagination to create complex, high-level spell models."

Priscilla didn't seem too impressed. "Anything else?"

"It also has a quick search function. When I was on Titania, I saw how they managed information. They ditched paper books and stored everything digitally in a cloud... or what we'd call a database. If we could set up something like that or open part of the Mage Network, it would really help with research."

"For example," Adam switched the Flame's thread and said, "Search for information on electrical magic. Keywords: electromagnetic, release."

The Flame flickered briefly, then a notification sounded. "Five items found with matching keywords. Railgun, Plasma Cannon---would you like to search further?"

"Show the Railgun content."

"Railgun, an electromagnetic spell. Creator: Mage Adam. Application knowledge as follows, core knowledge as follows, rune group construction as follows, mana consumption as follows..."

Adam ended the task and gave another command. "Search for information on Cthulhu and the Dragon Plane."

The Flame, as usual, completed the task perfectly.

Adam added, "This Flame holds all the knowledge I currently have, so there's no need for permission. But if I shared it with others, I'd add a permission system. Users would need the right access to view certain things. And if they had to pay, it would charge the standard rate."

Seeing this, Priscilla finally smiled. The chip system was indeed practical. The Mage World had been around for hundreds of thousands of years, accumulating an immense amount of information.

For any individual or team, sorting through this vast sea of similar materials to find what they needed took too much time and patience. If this chip system became widespread, it would make things much simpler.

Adam continued, "The chip also has a data-tracking feature. For instance, at the first level, key stats like physical fitness, mental strength, and mana are all set at 100. The chip can monitor changes in real time. And, to skip the formalities..."

Adam summoned Garfield and commanded the Flame to scan him. Instantly, it reported the data: 499, 400, 420.

"It can also scan other individuals' physical data. The conversion standards are customizable, but I used the simplest method."

Priscilla gave a light clap and said, "Adam, I have to admit, your imagination is impressive. A personal chip is a brilliant idea. However, it's not enough. The features you've shown are convenient, but they won't be enough to convince His Holiness or the Mage Council. The Mage Network is too crucial. Allowing lower-level access could lead to serious consequences. If the benefits don't clearly outweigh the risks, they won't agree."

"And honestly, it's not revolutionary enough."

Adam had anticipated the mages' concerns, but he hadn't expected their resistance to be this strong. He knew the current features were more than enough to help apprentices quickly become full-fledged mages. Yet even that wasn't enough to persuade her.

In such an advanced world, to create a true breakthrough, he needed to offer something much more profound.

"Do you understand the importance of data?" Adam stopped showing off his inventions and posed a different kind of question.

Priscilla raised an eyebrow. "Data? Are you talking about experimental data, statistics, or something else?"

Adam nodded, but then shook his head. "What you mentioned is data, yes, but the concept of data goes much deeper."

"Oh?"

"Our war intelligence, the number of mages who ascend each year, the number of mages who die in battle, the time it takes to cast a simple spell like Fireball, the mental and mana costs, the names, attributes, research directions, and even the health status of every mage---all of this is data."

"Take experimental data alone. I don't know how many full-fledged mages exist in the Mage World, but I'm sure many of them share the same research focus and have conducted similar experiments. The problems they face in these experiments are often the same. If there were a platform that gathered and summarized the data from these experiments, future researchers could avoid many unnecessary detours, saving both time and resources."

"And the time and resources saved could then be redirected toward deeper research, leading to even greater advancements."

Priscilla began to picture the potential. Adam was right---these issues were real.

Countless repetitive experiments were happening all the time, with the same problems arising repeatedly.

The Mage Network only recorded established knowledge, and because of permission restrictions, it didn't provide much direct guidance.

This feels like me presenting my research result to the professors so I can graduate.