The First Day of the Project

Philip's specially set clock spell went off, reminding him that it was already very late.

Philip sighed. His day hadn't gone smoothly. First, the project was crammed with so many mages that he couldn't handle them at all and could only let them do their experiments on the sidelines.

His project didn't go very smoothly either. Before starting the project, he had already thought of several areas for optimization.

Today, he experimented with one of those directions, but it was a complete failure.

His idea was to increase the power limit of the magic device and extract the White Star Sand from the matter more quickly.

This is the basic idea behind optimizing alchemy: when you encounter a difficult problem, the best approach is to directly increase power and solve the problem with overwhelming force.

Many classic alchemical products have had their yields greatly increased by using enhanced equipment.

However, this line of thinking seems to have become largely ineffective now. When people want to experiment with a certain alchemical product, this approach is basically no longer feasible.

The fact that he can still produce at the original capacity is considered good; however, many people following this approach have actually reduced production significantly.

Philip was not discouraged. This situation was very common in alchemical experiments; anyone who had done a few experiments knew that failures were frequent.

Often, when all methods fail, the only option left is to give up.

Philip shook his head, trying to clear his mind of any negative thoughts. This was only the first day of the project; he shouldn't be thinking about the future.

He tapped the table lightly and said to his apprentice:

"Go and call them all over."

The apprentice, who had been busy all day and was carrying a thick cable on his shoulder, hurriedly went to call everyone over upon hearing this.

After hearing the summons, the monks gradually arrived.

Each of them carried their own magical device, but these devices had undergone some changes because they were not members of the Alchemy School.

The first thing to be affected was a mage's magical device, which was covered in cracks, making it highly questionable whether the device could still be used.

Another mage's magical device was covered in charred marks, looking as if it had been exploded.

In comparison, the layer of metal that Fran covered up wasn't very prominent here, since everyone's magical devices weren't necessarily the original ones anymore.

Philip first looked at Dylan and took the White Star Sand that Dylan, an Alchemy School, had concocted from his hands.

"A total of two grams and nine centimeters." Philip measured it in detail using a measurement spell and then stated the result.

His words made the surrounding mages' faces turn somewhat ugly. They hadn't expected that other mages would produce so much, far surpassing them.

Leo, in particular, was full of confidence and made many efforts, but in the end he only managed to refine one gram and three units of White Star Sand.

"After all, they're from the Alchemy School, so it's normal for them to be ahead of us in this matter," Leo comforted himself.

Then Philip cleared his throat and slowly began to speak.

"I know your output can't compare to this mage from the Alchemy School, since none of you had access to magical devices during your apprenticeship like those from the Alchemy School."

"But I never expected you to use this magical device perfectly or achieve its ideal output. I just wanted you to try it out."

"Now I will teach you how to analyze a magical device that you don't understand at all, and how to maximize its output."

Next, Philip talked about many tips and tricks for analyzing devices, as well as a lot of knowledge about using Mental Power to control magical devices.

"You need to meticulously record your actions. The simplest method is to make minor modifications to your previous steps to understand the specifics."

As Philip had said before, he wanted these mages to do it themselves in order to guide them, not to actually expect them to extract the product at the ideal yield.

So he only looked at the White Star Sand that Dylan had extracted, without even glancing at the other mages, and started talking right away.

The techniques he taught were things that any mage could use when conducting spell-related experiments. Even Fran secretly memorized them, thinking they might be useful.

After Philip finished speaking at length, he brought up another matter.

"Alright, put the extracted White Star Sand here. If you have any unrefined Grey Ghost Iron, put it here as well."

He pointed to the table and addressed the group of monks.

These materials were all painstakingly approved by him from above. Whether it was the Grey Ghost Iron or the extracted White Star Sand, it represented a considerable sum of money, and he naturally couldn't let these mages take his money back.

"That's it for today, "Philip thought. "I'll go grab a fruit bar later..."

Just as he was pondering what fruit wine to drink next, Fran approached him, carrying the magical device coated with a layer of leather and a large handful of White Star Sand.

"More than fifty grams?"

Philip looked at the bottle of White Star Sand that Fran had put in her hand with great confusion. His first thought was, "Why is she showing me these ten Gold Coin?"

So much White Star Sand, being a second-tier material, is naturally quite expensive. But here's the question: why is Fran showing me all this White Star Sand?

Philip was stunned for a long time, unable to organize his thoughts, when Fran spoke up:

"Professor Philip, I've found a way to greatly increase yields; this is the White Star Sand I've extracted."

The news struck Philip like a bolt from the blue, leaving him momentarily dazed.

He looked at it with a mixture of anticipation and disbelief, as if he were confirming something:

"Is it this magical device you modified? Could you demonstrate it?"

His tone carried an urgency, as if he wanted to verify the matter as soon as possible.

He didn't disbelieve Fran's words; after all, Fran wouldn't gain anything by lying to him, and so much White Star Sand was terrifying.

He still couldn't believe it. This magical device looked ordinary, without any major structural modifications, yet simply coating it with a layer of skin could dramatically increase production. It sounded like a fantasy.

Fran even let Philip operate them himself, and she even added a clip to the lids of each magical device so that he wouldn't have to press them down with his Telekinetic Hand.

With excitement, Philip threw in one hundred grams of Grey Ghost Iron, and after he activated the magic device, a different kind of magical fluctuation emanated from it.