Alphonse got up and walked to the front of the room.
Most of the students, whether they had failed or passed, weren't paying much attention. Ayumi, as always, had her papers in front of her and was taking various notes.
"I haven't even started yet; what could she be writing?" The boy was curious to the point that he decided to use his powers.
[Mind Connection]
"Please, no shocks," he pleaded as a thread of mana was expelled, quickly moving between the desks until it reached the teacher's neck and connected.
Ding
"Phew." The boy breathed deeply.
To the others in the room, he seemed like just a nervous student about to present; little did they know that Alphonse was utterly calm. He just didn't like the sensation of being shocked.
"All right. I'll start my presentation." The boy went to the small box he was carrying and removed the item inside. "I created a lamp that uses a Mana Crystal."
The students watching tried to hold back their laughter. This was one of the most common items in the empire—even though it was extremely rare and expensive, among the products made by Artificers, it was considered commonplace.
However, Ayumi raised an eyebrow, observing the boy closely.
"Let's see what he's thought up." Her thoughts were transmitted to the boy, who gained even more confidence.
"Currently, much of the empire's population only has access to lighting until sunset, which varies significantly with the seasons," the boy explained. "Obviously, other lamps like this already exist and serve their purpose, but they are expensive and difficult to produce, to the point that they're only available to the high nobility or some areas of the capital."
"Interesting." Once again, the boy could hear the teacher's thoughts.
"Because of this, I created this lamp and a method to mass-produce it. So far, I can build one per day." Alphonse concluded the basis of his explanation.
At that moment, several murmurs arose in the room.
"Impossible."
"Something like this takes months."
"He must be making it up."
"How did you do this?" Ayumi asked, her eyes shining at the presentation.
"Before I answer." Alphonse paused to turn the lamp on and off, proving it worked.
It was like any other lamp throughout the empire; nothing was new or surprising—except for how it had been made.
The boy walked to the chalkboard, making some notes.
"The biggest problem in creating an artifact is the complexity of its creation. Generally, we don't question this because it's how we've been doing it for a long time. For example, when we create an artifact that will emit light, we create completely new magic from scratch every time." Alphonse wrote down how the magic was made, describing that each mage thought of a way to generate light at the moment the lamp's handle was turned and to stop the light when it was turned the other way.
"This creates a complex magic that only high-level mages can perform. Instead of creating a magic, I propose an 'Arcane Programming.'"
"What do you mean?" the teacher asked, confused by the boy's statement.
"We're going to break the magic into several parts. First, a part that will extract energy from the Mana Crystal and carry it to the mana circuits. Second, one can control the mana flow depending on the position of the handle. And finally, a third that will simply check if there's mana arriving and, therefore, emit light," the boy explained.
As soon as he finished speaking, one of the students raised her hand.
"But in the end, won't you need to perform the three magics simultaneously? What has changed?" she asked.
"Great question. After defining the three magics, I used an intermediary magic. It serves as a translator and interpreter. Thus, it will read what I call the 'Arcane Programming' and perform the final conjuration by itself," the boy commented.
"Impossible. Your magic would have to be even more complex to interpret all this," a boy among them remarked.
The entire class began debating its functionality. Ayumi was amazed by the presentation; even though it wasn't as simple as he had explained, it was still an entirely new way of thinking, different from what the others were presenting.
"So, your invention isn't the lamp but this 'Arcane Programming,'" the teacher noted. "I believe we need a demonstration of it as well."
Alphonse had expected that she would ask for something like this. The audience's emotions were mixed; some were excited about the possible revolution in how magic worked, while others didn't believe what the boy was claiming.
"Great. I will assemble a magic that will release flames from this board, move to the center of the room, and then extinguish." The boy began writing on the board some symbols that the others didn't understand.
"In this first line, I'm describing the movement of mana and that it should become a flame. In the second, it should move for five seconds. In the third, that it should extinguish," Alphonse explained.
Ayumi tried to understand what he had just written, but she had never seen anything like it.
The boy then placed one hand on the board and executed a magic that none of them had known until that moment.
[Execute: Command]
Alphonse had this idea after obtaining his affinity with the Arcane; somehow, it connected with his memories of learning a bit about programming. He never pursued this professionally, but it fits with how magic works.
Just as the boy had described, a small ball of flame appeared in front of the board, moved to the center of the room for five seconds, and then extinguished.
"Any questions?" Alphonse asked.
However, neither the students nor even the teacher could say anything. After a few seconds, Ayumi was the first to speak.
"Revolutionary. Thank you very much for the presentation; you are approved, Alphonse. If possible, stay after class; I'd like to talk with you."
"Of course." Alphonse made a small bow and returned to his seat.
"Now, who will you underestimate?" the boy thought. However, there was no one else in that room who doubted him. Soon, he would even gain enormous fame among the students of the Arcane Course.
He was one of the few students who had been approved for the specialization in Artificery and wasn't even from their course—a true genius who saw a different way to apply Magic and Mana in the real world.
For those who had not yet presented, the following presentations were completely overshadowed; none felt pride or even confidence in their projects.
Everyone in that room realized that the bar had been raised from that moment on. Future classes could no longer just bring projects; they would have to bring research and innovations if they wanted any chance of being approved. This would soon become a legend among all production-focused specializations.
As the students left the room, Alphonse stood up but didn't walk toward the exit. He waited for the teacher.
"What do you aim to achieve by creating this new form of magic?" Ayumi asked the boy as soon as the others left the room.
"Development and money," he replied without hesitation.
"Money?" she questioned.
"Yes. If I'm providing a good that will change the world, I expect to earn a lot of money from it," the boy answered.
"But why do you want more money? As far as I know, you already come from a noble house," she asked, analyzing every detail of the boy's face.
"Although I'm a noble, my family resides far south of the empire, in a place not as safe as the capital. Having money will guarantee the safety of my family, territory, and people," Alphonse explained.
Ayumi wasn't judging character; she simply wanted to advance magic. But she needed to know with whom she would work and what he aimed to achieve.
"Is there a problem?" Alphonse asked.
"No, none at all," Ayumi thought for a moment. "You showed another magic being executed and not the creation of the lamp. Why?"
"As I explained, I can only create one per day. The problem isn't just the amount of mana required but also the success rate," the boy explained. "Simple commands are executed without much trouble; however, I still need to solve several issues in the interpretation magic for more complex commands. Currently, only 90% of executions are successful."
Ayumi nodded, understanding the reason. It wouldn't have been good to have an incident during the presentation that could jeopardize the outcome of what had been built.
"Excellent, you seem much more mature than your age," she commented. "I don't want you to just attend my classes; I want you to continue your research. At the end of the course, it would be important to present this to the world. These are my terms for you when entering this specialization. Do you accept?"