Researchers at the Research Institute

By the time Xu Yi finished meeting with Heinz and the others, it was afternoon. The downpour had eased a little, and a glimmer of light had returned to the cloud-darkened sky.

After a moment's hesitation, Xu Yi braved the rain and headed back into Bunta City.

His first stop was not home, but a quiet little building in the west of the city.

This was the home of the Xinfei Merchant Guild's Magic Research Institute.

Under Xu Yi's original plan, the Magic Research Institute would have stood beside the factory, making it easy for the two to communicate at any time.

But then he had considered the particular circumstances of the Sains Continent. Mages tended to think rather highly of themselves, and the institute's first hire was Stille, a young and beautiful woman. So Xu Yi had rented a separate building for the institute.

Later, Akali and Avita had joined the institute as well. Xu Yi had intended to rent them a separate place to live, but the two took a liking to the little building and suggested living right there.

Xu Yi had no objection. Now the quiet building served not only as the Magic Research Institute, but also as its dormitory.

The door opened to reveal Akali's round face.

Apparently surprised to find Xu Yi visiting in the middle of a downpour, Akali jumped. Then she recovered and invited him inside.

Xu Yi glanced around the room, which appeared to be the living room, and found it in utter disarray. Drawings lay scattered across the floor, magical materials had been left wherever they pleased, and several pieces of women's clothing were strewn about. Among them were even two pieces of underwear.

Noticing where Xu Yi was looking, Akali blushed. She hurriedly gathered the clothes, dashed into a bedroom to put them away, and returned wearing an awkward smile.

Xu Yi smiled back, not particularly bothered.

In fact, during college, he had served on dormitory inspection duty and visited the women's dorms a few times. He had discovered that they were not spotless, as he had imagined. They were just as messy as the men's dorms, and some were even worse.

Since then, Xu Yi had known that women and men were not so different. Both had their share of tidy people and lazy ones.

Akali mistook his smile for mockery. Her face reddened further, but she could not help giving a huff and glaring at him. "Guild Master, what brings you here all of a sudden? Did you need something?"

"Yes. Where's Avita? Ask her to come down too. I have a research assignment for you both," Xu Yi said.

Hearing that it was about work, Akali forgot her embarrassment and irritation. She motioned for Xu Yi to wait, then hurried upstairs.

Watching her rush off, Xu Yi shook his head.

Akali really was fresh out of school. She still had a great deal to learn about dealing with people.

He was the guild master, after all, yet she had left him standing there without so much as offering him a cup of tea.

Xu Yi picked up a few drawings from the living room floor and looked them over, nodding slightly.

They all concerned the Magic Harvester the two women were researching. Judging from the Magic Arrays drawn on them, they were gradually approaching what Xu Yi had asked for.

Akali and Avita must have worked hard lately. Otherwise, they could not have made so much progress in so little time.

At this rate, they should finish researching the Magic Harvester's core Magic Array soon. That would leave plenty of time for the Magic Machine Tool Workshop to build around the array and conduct extensive practical tests.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs again. Xu Yi turned and looked up, his eyes brightening.

Akali had a carefree personality. In the institute, which was almost like home to her, she paid little attention to appearances. Not only had she left the living room a mess, she had hardly tidied herself up either.

Avita was entirely different. Though she wore loose, simple clothes for lounging at home, she was immaculately put together, without a thing out of place.

She already had delicate features and a quiet air. Beside Akali, her neat appearance made her stand out all the more.

Approval flickered in Xu Yi's eyes. He beckoned to them. "Come here. I'll show you your next research assignment."

Avita frowned slightly. "Guild Master, we're still researching the Magic Array for the Magic Harvester."

"They won't interfere with each other. You can start this after you finish the Magic Harvester, and it's much simpler, so it shouldn't take long. Here, have a look." Smiling, Xu Yi spread out the drawings he had just shown Heinz and the other two.

Avita and Akali leaned in, studied the drawings, and nodded together.

"It really is much simpler." Akali traced a finger across the drawing, then looked up. "Guild Master, what's this for? With such a simple Magic Array, it can't be anything particularly powerful, can it?"

"You're right that it's simple, but don't underestimate it. One day, every household might have a use for it." Xu Yi smiled. "Here, let me explain..."

About fifteen minutes later, Akali and Avita had heard Xu Yi out. They both stared at him in surprise.

"Guild Master, what goes on inside that head of yours? How do you keep coming up with such strange ideas?" From the way Akali moved, she seemed ready to reach out and feel Xu Yi's head for herself, though good sense stopped her.

"Akali, don't talk nonsense!" Avita scolded her. "Of course the Guild Master is different from ordinary people. Otherwise, Stille wouldn't..."

Avita abruptly fell silent.

"Stille wouldn't what?" Xu Yi asked curiously. "Has she been saying things about me behind my back? Has she been bad-mouthing me?"

"No, no, of course not." Avita waved her hands. "She just... she just... Anyway, she wasn't saying anything bad about you. Really! Believe me! You're such a good person, Guild Master. Why would Stille say anything bad about you?"

"Was that your way of giving me the biggest 'nice guy' label imaginable?" Xu Yi rubbed his nose, disheartened. "Never mind what she said. Focus on the research and try to finish this as soon as you can. I plan to put this product into production at the beginning of next month. Do you think you can complete the research before then?"

"The beginning of next month? That gives us half a month..." Akali tilted her head and thought. "It should be fine. We only need another week to finish the Magic Harvester's Magic Array. This thing is so simple that I think a week will be enough."

Avita nodded gently. "I think we can manage it too."

"Good. That puts my mind at ease." Xu Yi stood and looked around. "By the way, how have you been getting on here? Is there anything you need? Just ask if there is. And if there's anything you'd rather not tell me, you can tell Stille and have her help you."

"We don't need anything. We've been doing well here." Avita glanced out the window. "Guild Master, are you leaving already? It's still raining hard. Why not stay a while? You could go over some questions with us. We've run into quite a few problems lately, but they don't seem to have much to do with Magic Arrays. I think they're related to the mechanical principles you mentioned before. We don't understand those very well, so if you could explain them, it would help us with our future research."

"Right, there are lots of things that seem strange," Akali added. "For example, why does that Gale Array on the Magic Harvester have to be so small? That makes the gale much weaker. And why do we have to make sure its wind speed doesn't drop? That's really hard to control. Wind magic is known for being unstable. The solution you used for the Wind Spiral Array in the Magic Fan was clever, but I think we could change it like this..."

Looking at their eager faces, Xu Yi thought for a moment and nodded. "All right. Since I'm here, I'll explain some of the basic considerations behind my Magic Machinery designs. Then you can take them into account when researching Magic Arrays, and your work should go more smoothly."

"First, let me tell you what Magic Machinery is. The 'magic' in Magic Machinery doesn't mean the magical power a mage possesses. It means power supplied by magic. Put simply, magic provides the driving force. At the heart of Magic Machinery is a Magic Array that produces the magic needed to drive it, so the array is its core power source. As for the machinery, the Magic Fan you've seen and those Machine Tools are all examples. The most important question is how to combine magical power with the machinery itself, so that magic can drive it properly and make it perform its intended task. That requires some knowledge of mechanics. Let me start with the simpler Magic Fan..."