"Lynn, what is this? A mirror?" Lydia propped her feet on a chair and peered at the flawless round mirror on the workbench, her eyes filled with amazement as she asked.
In the land of wizards, there were mirrors, but they were usually polished copper mirrors. Some wizard lords even enchanted them. However, Lydia was sure that not even the best copper mirror in the wizard land could compare to this one.
"Yes, I call it a glass mirror," Lynn replied with a smile.
Darren and the other halflings gathered around, marveling at the clear reflection in the mirror.
"It's perfect, incredibly perfect... even clearer than the reflection on the lake's surface." Darren couldn't stop praising it. He had never seen such a beautiful mirror; it was like a work of art.
After receiving Lynn's permission, the halflings cautiously reached out and held the round mirror, gently touching its transparent surface as if it would shatter if they applied too much force.
Lynn watched their expressions, which made it seem like they had discovered a rare treasure, and couldn't help but find it amusing. He had assumed that the wizards, with their basic understanding of the celestial mechanics, would have already invented such an essential technology as glass.
However, he learned from Harof that the divination wizards, in their pursuit of observing the stars, had developed various long-range magic spells and even upgraded the design of alchemical eyepieces several times but never ventured into glass production.
There was no choice; magic was just too convenient. Lynn had also grown accustomed to using magic to solve problems, such as creating glass, which would normally require a furnace but was effortlessly accomplished with a flame spell.
Lydia toyed with the mirror, gazing at her own reflection in fascination. No young woman could resist a flawless glass mirror that could reflect her features so clearly.
"Professor, is this made from a special kind of sand?" Lydia reluctantly handed the round mirror to the next halfling and looked at the basket of raw materials on the table, curiously inquiring.
"How is that possible? This is definitely the effect of magic." Darren said with absolute certainty. Such an exquisite glass mirror could not be created with just sand and stones.
So, it must be enchanted.
Lydia paid no heed to Darren and looked directly at Lynn, awaiting his answer.
"Yes, the main component of glass is silica, which is found in sand. The process of making it doesn't require any magic; you only need to melt it at high temperatures and then shape it into the desired form..." Lynn nodded, confirming Lydia's guess and then briefly explained the process of making the glass mirror.
Since he had successfully created the glass mirror, Lynn was not content with using it for a simple experiment. Such a novel product would surely create a new trend in the wizard land. As for large-scale production in the future, he couldn't handle it personally, and there were few people he trusted. During the time of the airship operation, Darren had been delivering a sufficient amount of magic coins to him every month, and there had been no signs of embezzlement.
As for the leaked airship blueprints, Radak had acquired some information from Ralph's body with a psychic spell. Lynn couldn't blame a dead man for failing to protect the secrets in his mind.
Of course, Lynn had retained some slightly more complex techniques, such as making mercury and tin foil. He planned to teach these to a few wizard apprentices separately, breaking down the entire manufacturing process to minimize the risk of formula leakage.
After Lynn explained the process of making the glass mirror, the halflings were all somewhat stunned. Apart from the high-temperature furnace required to melt quartz sand, there was almost no technical difficulty involved.
And the cost was extremely low, probably just a few silver coins.
But if it were to be sold, Darren believed that even if they set a price of twenty magic coins, people would still be eager to buy it.
A profit margin of a thousand times, even if it was robbery, it wouldn't be this quick.
Two days later, at noon, thousands of wizards gathered in the conference hall of the Magic Research Symposium, eagerly discussing the agenda for the day.
They had all received the message that today, Lynn would reveal the final secret of the planet beneath their feet.
"Raphael, do you think Lord Lynn will use any method to weigh the planet beneath our feet this time?" Raphael looked at Ogest beside him and pondered, his hair had thinned out considerably in the past two days, with no clue in sight. It seemed like an impossible task.
"I believe he might use the method of division, just like when he measured the circumference," Ogest said confidently, wearing a smile that exuded self-assuredness.
"Since we know the volume of the planet, all we need to do is select a few areas as samples, weigh them, figure out the volume of one ton of soil, take an average, and then estimate the planet's weight based on the volume ratios." Ogest continued. "Of course, this is just my humble suggestion. Different regions have different geology, and there are special cases like mines and oceans that need to be discussed separately. My estimated weight is around three hundred trillion trillion tons, with an error that shouldn't exceed twenty percent."
Raphael and the others sighed in admiration at Ogest, the shining star of the magical world. His mind was truly remarkable, and he had come up with such an ingenious method.
They had all heard that when Lynn returned to Greenville, he immediately had two heaps of sand and stone delivered, and now it made sense; he must have been estimating their weight.
Rol also gazed at Ogest with great admiration, thinking that his teacher had probably glimpsed the truth, which was likely the only way.
As they were discussing this, they heard mocking laughter from the side.
"Mr. Carol, do you have a different opinion, or have you found a better way to measure the weight?" Rol glared at the male wizard beside him with dissatisfaction.
"Sorry, I have no idea what method to use to measure the weight," Carol replied with a shake of his head. He only knew that Lynn needed the sand and stone not for weighing but for creating some experimental equipment.
Without waiting for others to question him, Carol pointed to the curtains that had been suddenly drawn around them and said with a smile, "But I guess it's related to darkness."