Lynn's gaze lingered over the ten first-circle spells, and after much deliberation, he selected *Touch of Ice* as the subject for his improvements.
The principle behind this spell was exceedingly simple—manipulating the water vapor in the air, lowering its temperature, and condensing it to hinder the enemy. However, its effectiveness in battle was limited. If not for its advanced form, *Domain of Ice*, few would bother to learn it.
Lynn had no intention of learning the spell in its current form. Instead, he planned to modify it based on its underlying principles, perhaps by utilizing a different element to cast the spell.
The element he chose was... nitrogen!
This element was known in the land of wizards as *Serlu*. In Koru's manuscripts, it was even classified as a useless element...
Considering that nitrogen is an inert gas, generally unreactive with other substances, it made sense that some wizards might overlook it.
However, Lynn knew that nitrogen was far from useless. Not only could it be used in the production of fertilizers and serve as a protective gas, but it could also be combined with hydrogen to form the toxic gas ammonia.
Most importantly, nitrogen's boiling point is a frigid minus 196°C, a temperature so extreme that it can freeze nearly anything in an incredibly short time.
Of course, due to the Leidenfrost effect, the human body can momentarily withstand such extreme temperatures, but the vapor layer that provides this protection is exceedingly thin, breaking down in mere seconds.
After that, the fragile skin would be directly exposed to the piercing cold. The cells on the surface would quickly die and peel away, followed by the instantaneous freezing of all fat, muscle, and blood.
The second reason Lynn chose nitrogen was its abundance in the atmosphere, making up about seventy to eighty percent of it. This meant he wouldn't need to expend magical energy to generate the element; he could create a vast ultra-low-temperature field with ease.
"071, activate overload mode..." Lynn silently commanded, closing his eyes to sense the elements. In the vast sea of elements, the nitrogen was so plentiful and active that it required no effort to locate or control.
Within four or five seconds, the temperature around him began to plummet rapidly. The near-liquid nitrogen manifested as a white mist, spreading outward in all directions.
Crack~
A soft sound echoed through the room as the tea on the table instantly crystallized into ice as the mist passed over it. Not only that, but the surrounding table, sofa, and various decorations were also covered with a layer of frost.
A fairy, who had just flown in through the chimney to tidy up the dishes, collided with the white mist. She immediately felt an intense, bone-chilling cold, as if her skin, bones, and blood were all freezing.
Before the terrified fairy could even let out a scream, she was frozen solid, her body suspended in the air like a statue, her hands and the table serving as the only points of contact.
"So cold..." Lynn shivered involuntarily and quickly cast a fireball to ignite the room's fireplace.
The system's prompt echoed in his mind.
"Energy consumption: five percent. Remaining energy: fifty-three point seven percent..."
"Did it really consume that much?" Lynn frowned. Although he had skipped a step in the magical simulation, controlling such a large amount of elements simultaneously indeed demanded significant computational power.
Perhaps reducing the control range or, like *Touch of Ice*, focusing the effect in one direction might be a more efficient approach.
Moreover, the casting speed had been too slow. In a battle, the enemy wouldn't give him a full minute to cast a spell. He would need to practice regularly to improve his speed.
As Lynn evaluated the pros and cons of this new spell, he glanced around at the room, now resembling a world of ice, and sighed. Then, he noticed the stiff, frozen figure of the fairy beside him, and his expression turned slightly regretful.
Of all times, she had to come while he was experimenting with magic.
Lynn immediately stood up and approached the frozen fairy to check if there was any chance of saving her. If the exposure to ultra-low temperatures hadn't lasted too long, there might still be a glimmer of hope after thawing.
However, as he reached her, the fairy's slender arm snapped off and fell to the ground, shattering into icy fragments...
Well, there was no saving her...
Lynn shook his head, realizing he would have to dispose of the poor fairy's remains.
In the land of wizards, there was no such thing as magical creature rights, and it wasn't uncommon for unfortunate fairies to wander into a student's training grounds or a laboratory, only to meet an untimely end.
The usual penalty was merely a fine...
After all, these magical creatures were considered the property of the academy!
"I shouldn't have conducted experiments here!" Lynn sighed, rubbing his now light coin pouch. Already strapped for cash, this incident only worsened his financial woes. Clearly, establishing an alchemy workshop was now more urgent than ever; otherwise, he wouldn't even have a private place to practice his magic.
Money, oh money...
Lynn lamented his misfortune, changed out of his nitrogen-stained robes, and took his professor's badge. He was headed out to find some money!
...
That evening, on the west side of Iyetta Harbor, in a secluded workshop...
Darren, a halfling, was fiddling with one of Lydia's little inventions out of sheer boredom—a T-shaped flying toy made of hollow wood. If he spun it hard enough in his hand, it would take flight on its own using the wind.
But why could this toy fly while larger flying machines could not?
As Darren puzzled over this, the wind chime at the door suddenly rang.
"Welcome to the Halfling Workshop..."
Darren quickly put down the toy and turned to the entrance.
The visitor was Lynn.
To avoid drawing too much attention, Lynn wasn't wearing the professional robes issued by Iyetta Academy or his badge, but Darren quickly recognized him as a wizard.
Lynn had appeared alongside Grand Wizard Heralam in the plaza a few days ago, engaging in a lively conversation with him.
Realizing this was a significant customer, Darren immediately jumped up from his chair, rubbed his hands together in excitement, and respectfully asked, "What can I do for you, esteemed wizard?"
"The workshop is full of novel and interesting items. Take this fan, for example—it doesn't need any magic to spin on its own. And this steamship model, put it in water, pull this string, and it really moves..."