His words immediately redirected everyone's attention back to Alex.
When a mad dog barks at you, it's often when it's most afraid.
You needn't take it too seriously; just shoo it away with a stick.
Nathan understood this well, and moreover, he was utterly confident in this situation.
Caught off guard, Alex felt a surge of panic, but a glance at the blackboard, at what Nathan had written, sparked an idea.
With a sneer, he strode towards the blackboard.
Nathan watched, all smiles, from the side.
Approaching the blackboard, Alex eyed the problem – it was about the relationship between flames and material changes.
He picked up the chalk and declared arrogantly, "Since he's brought us to this point, let me show you what true understanding of arcane magic heritage is."
In his view, since the information was already public, delving a bit deeper wouldn't matter.
Having been immersed in his family's legacy of fire arcane magic from a young age, he believed his expertise far surpassed Nathan's.
He thought exposing Nathan in this way couldn't be more perfect.
Clearing his throat, he announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, please observe. In truth, the relationship between flames and material changes isn't that significant. Flames always burn upwards, following a certain directionality..."
He began to explain according to his understanding.
But it wasn't long before the audience sensed something was amiss.
While Alex's explanation had its merits, it only scratched the surface compared to what Nathan had discussed.
It was at best slightly more advanced than common knowledge of fire magic, far from the level that would captivate the audience.
Certainly not reaching the awe-inspiring insights Nathan had provided.
The difference between the two was stark.
At first, Alex was brimming with confidence about his lecture, even pausing deliberately now and then for effect.
But as time ticked by, many had lost interest in what Alex was saying.
Some even started whispering about other matters.
Those who had been eagerly awaiting Nathan's embarrassment, expecting a spectacle to unfold, found themselves sighing in disappointment, unable to witness the scene they had hoped for.
Baron, the third prince of Dracoria seated among the crowd, shook his head slightly, internally criticizing Alex for his ineffectiveness.
By all accounts, as the Sacred Emperor's third son and Nathan being his aunt's disciple, he should have been supportive of Nathan.
However, Nathan's reputation plummeted in his eyes after becoming the Chief of the Imperial Intelligence Bureau.
Seeing Alex cause a disturbance today, he had merely acted on a whim.
But now, his interest in Nathan was piqued once again.
At the blackboard, Alex too gradually realized the problem.
He had thought he could accuse Nathan of plagiarizing his family's theories, but when it came down to explaining, his arguments seemed feeble compared to Nathan's.
He could claim Nathan's points were from his family, but his explanations failed to truly articulate his family's arcane magic theories.
Moreover, he noticed the attention of the audience drifting away from him, turning to unrelated matters.
It wasn't just those in the classroom; even outsiders noticed something was amiss and began to jeer!
Alex felt an immense pressure as he noticed this shift, a bead of sweat trickling down his forehead, finding himself at a loss for words.
It was only then that Charlie, who had been standing aside, let out a sigh of relief, realizing his reaction might have been a bit too much.
He was annoyed with Alex, who was still stubbornly refusing to leave.
Striding over, he grabbed Alex and pointed towards the audience, saying, "Alright, student, as you can see, no one is interested in what you're saying. Let's set aside the issue of plagiarism for now and address the matter of you disrupting the club."
Alex's face turned pale, unwilling to concede: "What I'm saying is true! You have to believe me!"
At that moment, a young man from the Inspectorate Department stepped forward and said, "If I recall correctly, you're Charlie, right? If you want to report this Alex fellow for disrupting the club's order, you can file a complaint with the Inspectorate Department."
"But for now, he needs to come with me to settle this case. Really, there's no need to add to the chaos here." With that, he shot Alex a stern look and led the way out.
By this point, Alex's expression was extremely unpleasant as he reluctantly followed.
This incident not only cost Alex his dignity but settling the case also meant paying a significant amount of credits.
Many who had suffered at the hands of the dark dealings of the Inspectorate Department couldn't help but revel in schadenfreude at the sight.
The minor tumult not only failed to hinder Nathan's performance but inadvertently aided him.
The onlooking students spread the word, making the topic of the Flame Research Institute widely discussed within the academy.
The conflict between Nathan and Alex was now out in the open, and many were aware of the tragic raid that had taken place in Dracoria Crystalis.
...
A week later, the fire magic theory Nathan released was officially uploaded to the association's magic resource library, earning Nathan his first substantial credit payout.
"Nathan, please open your grimoire!"
In the resource room on the second floor of the Flame Research Society, Charlie, flipping open a blue-covered magic book on his desk, addressed Nathan.
Nathan took out a similar magic book and opened it.
Charlie recited a spell.
Instantly, a red arc of light formed between the two books, as if energy was flowing between them.
This process lasted for two seconds, after which Nathan, observing the changes, nodded in satisfaction.
"Nathan, you better take good care of your grimoire! These two thousand credits could keep those brutes in the martial class struggling for a year, haha!" Charlie said with a hint of envy in his laughter.
Nathan flipped open the blue magic book, and upon seeing an additional two thousand credits, he nodded in satisfaction.
In the magic academy, credits serve as a form of currency.
And the vessel for these credits is the grimoire that every new student receives upon enrollment.
The grimoire is not only a guidebook for every student at the academy but also serves to hold credits.
With just a simple spell, students can transact using the credits on their grimoires, eliminating the hassle of dealing with coins and paper money.
Within the academy, credits have many uses, almost equivalent to money in the outside world.
The academy has also set up various outlets to facilitate the recirculation of this currency.
However, earning credits is challenging, and students who aren't particularly affluent tend to be frugal in their spending.
Last month, Nathan exchanged credits for a level 3 Fireball magic, which nearly left him penniless.
Hence, he was quite eager to acquire more credits.
"Pleasure doing business! I won't disturb Brother Charlie any longer," Nathan said, preparing to leave.
"Ah, hold on a moment, Nathan," Charlie stood up and walked around the desk, smiling mysteriously, "Next month, there's a competition event at the club headquarters. Our president asked me to recommend someone. I wonder if you might be interested..."
Ten minutes later, Nathan walked out of the Magic Research Association with an additional two thousand credits and an invitation to the club headquarters for the following week.
It was now noon, and the preliminary exam for the Inspectorate Department was scheduled for the afternoon.
Nathan hurried towards the testing floating island.
The preliminary test was set in a magical experimentation garden located on middle-40 floating island.
Nathan took out his grimoire again and flipped to the "Geography of Nebula Academy" chapter.
He found a page and, using the index, located the teleportation point for middle-40 floating island.
After over a month, Nathan had roughly gotten the hang of the academy's layout.
Getting to know a place is usually straightforward, but at Nebula Academy, it was a major undertaking due to the sheer number of floating islands.
Among all these floating islands, only a small fraction have been developed and utilized by the academy, while the majority remain either partially developed or completely undeveloped.
On those undeveloped floating islands, either the environment is harsh, or they are home to various powerful magical creatures.
Generally speaking, the higher the level of magical creatures on a floating island, the richer the resources available.
Based on the richness of resources and the level of dangerous creatures, the academy has classified these floating islands into four tiers: intermediate, advanced, elite-tier, and grandmaster-tier.
For instance, the magical creatures on an intermediate floating island possess strength equivalent to a human intermediate magus, and the resources available are common ones like iron ore, copper ore, longevity flowers, and cherry wood;
Nathan heard from Brother Charlie that the high-9 floating island, where the Fire Arcane Magic Association is located, was inhabited by a fire-based specter at the time of establishment, whose strength astonishingly matched that of a human advanced magus.
The resources there are also slightly more abundant than those on a primary floating island.
Some veins of gold and silver are found amidst the copper and iron ores, and the flora is of greater age.
After a millennium of development, all floating islands have been artificially ranked.
Depending on the level of development, floating islands of the same tier are numbered, with lower numbers indicating safer islands and higher numbers indicating more danger.
Only those marked as "fully developed" are considered safe.
This middle-40 floating island is one such partially developed floating island.