Winning People Over with [Reason] (Please Follow)

Across heaven and earth, winds surged and clouds roiled, thunder boomed, and lightning flashed.

Downs heard nothing at all.

He had entered a typical state of complete absorption, forgetting both himself and the world.

His mind was filled with the shocking scene his master had just demonstrated, and he exhausted his imagination trying to picture what it would look like to shatter a star.

Sorry!

As the descendant of a fallen knightly family, he truly could not imagine it. At most, he could picture the scene before him magnified a hundredfold, enough to blast apart a mountain range.

Even so, it was enough to leave him so shaken that he could not control himself, to the point that he forgot to breathe.

A feeling of being able to do nothing but bow in worship filled his entire chest—What kind of incredible master had I taken as my teacher!?

Meanwhile, Lein appeared to be waiting for his disciple to steady his breathing and come back to his senses.

In truth, he had been badly startled too!

Lightning striking something and then being diverted by a Lightning Rod—that was scientific.

But for lightning to strike the instant he raised his hand? That was very unscientific.

Before transmigrating, there had been fifty thousand thunderstorms around the globe every day, with an average of four thousand lightning strikes per second.

But why had one happened to strike right in front of Lein? It was practically like...

Suddenly, Lein found the answer in the system that had been playing dead on his retina for ages.

A whole flood of green text appeared:

[Since the host's first disciple has already begun his training, the Physics Experiment Demonstration System is hereby activated...]

[This demonstration system is intended solely for physics instruction and will not cause any physical harm to people. The energy required for system demonstrations is drawn from the host's teaching points!]

Lein discovered that the option for [Lightning Rod Principle Demonstration] had already turned gray.

The most absurd part was that it even came with a note:

[Technology too outdated; may be demonstrated.]

Looking more closely, it seemed that any physics experiment that already existed on Earth and was familiar to Lein could be demonstrated through this system.

Here came the important part:

[This system believes in winning people over with (reason). When a target refuses to be reasonable, the master has the right to use physical means to reason with them!]

Wait!

Why was there an axe at the center of the system display, wreathed in terrifying lightning and shaped like the character for "reason"?

If this was how it worked, then he could win people over with [virtue] too!

The only thing that left Lein slightly conflicted was the [Li Word Axe]. This thing needed charging too.

He would not think about that for now.

Snapping out of his shock, Downs habitually gave a deep bow. "Master, please begin your instruction!"

Since this crappy system worked like that, then he would teach.

Honestly, Lein had no expectations of actually teaching him anything. He always felt that whatever achievements Downs attained in magic later on probably would not have much to do with him.

Casually, Lein found a so-called blackboard.

It was the sole remaining wall of a ruined house. He had no idea whether it was marble or something else, but after being struck by lightning, the entire wall had been charred black. Yet it was incredibly smooth, making it perfect for writing and drawing.

Dipping his hand in some white ash, Lein began teaching on the "blackboard" by himself, writing in Chaos script thanks to the language proficiency granted by the system.

"Voltage—also known as electric potential difference or potential difference—is a physical quantity measuring the energy difference produced by differing electric potentials acting on unit Electric Charge in an electrostatic field. The voltage from one point to another equals the work done by the electric field force when a unit positive Electric Charge moves from one point to another. The direction of voltage is defined as pointing from high potential to low potential."

As an aside, Downs was absolutely not illiterate.

Before a knight apprentice of noble birth could formally become a knight, he needed to undergo training and education in religion, morality, cultural knowledge, military matters, and more.

For Downs, who was not from a higher-ranking noble house, reading and writing were also basic requirements.

But this knowledge, which even Science and Engineering Dogs on Earth needed to memorize by rote, was practically a heavenly tome to Downs.

It was like when a teacher began class by saying one plus one equaled two. You lowered your head to take notes, then looked up again and found the blackboard covered in calculus...

A total kill!

What made it worse was that Lein was rather ruthless. He forcefully tapped the "blackboard" with his knuckles. "Every noun here, every single word, is important. It will all be on the test. If you cannot even understand this much, then you have no right to delve into [science]!"

Lein was deliberately making things difficult for this kid, Downs.

Honestly, it was not that he did not want disciples. He was simply scared.

The idiot had studied some damned electromagnetic induction and then dared to touch an electrical outlet in the middle of the night. If Lein had discovered him even a little later, the person before him might not have been Downs, but a charred "Downs" macchiato.

Lein was not afraid of people dying. He just did not want anyone dying in front of him, okay?

Downs could not afford the cost of expanding his psychological trauma!

Since this was a disciple-recruitment system, why not recruit anyone else as a disciple? Find someone more normal and slowly accumulate points—wouldn't that be better?

Besides, Downs already had the most basic Lightning Magic, a cantrip. Lein considered himself a teacher who was not exactly scamming him.

If he was feeling generous, he could even consider refunding half the tuition.

While Downs put on a stern face and the manner of a Strict Master, secretly thinking about how to fleece him for money, the "gifted disciple" opposite him fell into the greatest crisis of his life.

Cold sweat poured down Downs's body until he was drenched from head to toe.

He had imagined that a teacher as powerful as Lein would teach harshly and that his lessons would be difficult, but he had never imagined that [science] would be this difficult.

What should he do?

Panic!

No! Wait.

How had I forgotten again?

Why did Master not teach anywhere else? Why did he specifically choose this wall that had been charred black by lightning?

Whenever Master reminded me of something, wasn't it always hidden in his words?

Master's words absolutely cannot be understood as complete sentences! They must be broken down word by word.

"Every noun, every single word, is important"... I understand now! No wonder I could not understand these theories and formulas at all. I was supposed to break them apart and examine them one by one!

Downs's eyes shone brightly, the divine light bursting from them rivaling a Stream of Light.

When he acted like that, Lein suddenly felt something was wrong. No way? Why do I have that ominous feeling again that this kid has misunderstood something?

Once could have been a lucky coincidence. Could it happen twice?

Unbeknownst to him, in Downs's eyes, the formulas and theories had completely changed.

They became little figures, standing in lines that were not especially neat but definitely contained a pattern, as though each one were baring its fangs and brandishing its Claws.

"They are the truths of the world. In other words, the Spells of Lightning Magic. Spells form the legendary Magic Circle. As long as I understand them this way, then I know—" He began with a murmur so quiet it was nearly inaudible, but as he went on, Downs grew louder and louder, making the transmigrator opposite him tremble with fear.

Suddenly, Downs shouted, "Master! I understand!"

Lein instinctively decided that whatever this kid understood was definitely not what he had taught, and could not help asking, "You really understand?"

"I really understand!" Downs said with absolute certainty.

But Lein was even more certain that they were absolutely not talking about the same thing.

Sure enough, the surrounding air began to hum the next second.

The sound of wind at roughly forty decibels rose, mingled with the faint crackling of Electric Current.

In the next instant, five lightning claws shaped like hooks appeared over the five fingers of Downs's right hand.

If the claws had not been made of lightning but instead of bony talons, Lein would have believed they were a tiger's Claws.

The system notification arrived at just the right moment:

[Congratulations. The host's Eldest Disciple, Downs, has cast Level 1 Evocation Magic (Electric Claw). Once he successfully masters three Level 1 Magic spells, he will successfully advance to a Level 1 Mage.]

The Famous Master was completely dumbfounded. No way. That worked too!?