Chapter 68

Magic Academy.

On the first day back at school, Ophelia met up with her friends and shared with them the specialty she brought from her hometown - the newly produced pickled vegetables in the Dore City Industrial Park.

The pickled vegetable factory has already started production, and bottles of pickled vegetables with various flavors are produced. The residents of Dore City first tasted them, and there was no time to expand the market to other cities. It was

the first time to taste these, the crispy pickled mustard, diced radish, sour beans and other side dishes, as well as eggplant sauce, green pepper sauce and other side sauces. Although there was no rice to match, sandwiched in dry bread, it also had a unique flavor.

The friends were immediately captured: "Ophelia, what is this?!"

"These are the pickled vegetables that Dore City will soon sell." Ophelia said truthfully: "They go better with rice."

"Rice?"

"I know." Another classmate said: "I heard that Dore City has discovered a new crop called rice, which can produce one thousand kilograms."

Others didn't quite understand what a thousand kilograms meant, but it was enough to arouse curiosity in their hearts: "What is rice? Is it delicious?"

Ophelia said softly: "It's delicious, just like bread. It is a staple food that is enough to fill the stomach. A piece of land can supply many people. I think that soon, rice will also be sold in the royal capital. When that time comes, these pickles will be paired with rice."

She distributed the pickles she brought to other friends, and kept one portion for herself, putting it in a small basket.

The next day, when Jiang Li was picked up by the palace knights, Ophelia also took the small basket to another building, where the magic teachers lived. During the holidays, students left school to travel or go home, and a few stayed, as did the teachers.

Standing in front of the familiar office door, Ophelia knocked on the door for a long time before she heard a loud "bang" inside, as if something heavy fell to the ground, which then triggered a series of loud noises. When all the noises stopped, the door in front of her opened with a "creak".

The light blond young man in the door stuck his head out and saw who was coming. He breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Student Dean, it's you. I thought it was..." He swallowed the rest of the words back into his stomach.

Ophelia greeted politely, "Teacher Brian."

Brian scratched his already messy hair, yawned sleepily, and a few drops of physiological tears flowed from the corners of his eyes. The white robe of the clergyman on his body was wrinkled and looked unpresentable. "What's the matter?"

"I want to ask about the magic circle." Ophelia raised the basket in her hand. The color of the pickled vegetables in the transparent glass bottle was very tempting: "Also, I brought some specialties from my hometown."

After glancing at the pickled vegetables in the basket, the visual impact made her stomach, which had not eaten since yesterday morning, growl immediately. Brian took the basket and opened all the doors: "The information is on the table."

The environment inside was in chaos. Books and materials filled every corner of the space, almost covering the original decoration of the room. Ophelia was used to it. She tiptoed over from the tricky angle, trying not to affect the original layout on the ground. She finally walked to the table, and the scene on it was even more messy.

Ophelia was in a dilemma and had no idea where to start.

Seeing her dilemma, Brian came over with a piece of bread that he hadn't eaten yesterday. He pushed the scattered things on the table aside without changing his expression and handed her a pile of information about the magic circle underneath.

Ophelia whispered thank you and took it and read it carefully.

Brian found a seat next to him that was filled with books. He curiously took out a bottle of pickled vegetables from the basket. It was dried radish. Brian glanced at Ophelia and saw that his student was concentrating on looking at the magic circle information in front of her. He lowered his head and looked at the half-eaten bread in his hand.

The bread had been left for a day and a night and had become dry and hard. It was not delicious at all and could only fill the stomach. He opened the glass bottle, and the pungent smell of chili hit his face, accompanied by a sauce aroma that was difficult to describe in words. Brian's eyes lit up, and he broke the bread without any instruction and sandwiched the dried radish inside.

He took another bite, and the dried radish tasted crisp and appetizing. The sweet taste of wheat became more obvious under the background of the heavy seasoning of the pickles. The bread that was originally dry and hard to eat suddenly became not as difficult to swallow as before.

Delicious, fast, what a good thing!

Brian quickly finished the remaining half of the bread in his hand, he looked at his students again, resealed the glass bottle, and solemnly stored the whole basket of pickled vegetables in the kitchen cabinet. When he came back, Ophelia had finished reading the documents in her hand and sighed subconsciously.

He took it for granted and threw himself into the seat, letting his already wrinkled white robe become more wrinkled. Or maybe it was because the surrounding environment was too horrible, as if monsters were passing through, and he didn't have the dignity that a clergyman should have: "Student Dean, you are too anxious. The improvement of the magic circle is not that easy."

Ophelia put down the materials in her hand and said softly: "Teacher, my hometown encountered a beast tide."

"... Beast tide?" Brian suddenly came to his senses: "I remember that your hometown is Dolei City, which is near the Monster Forest."

"Yes." The blonde girl nodded, "Fortunately, because of the help of two great magicians, Dolei City did not encounter misfortune. But..."

This time they escaped, what if there is a next time?

Whether it is the Monster Forest or Dolei City, they will not leave their original place. Even without the beast tide, the residents of Dolei City often face the threat of monsters. In order to protect the humans inside, there must be a solid defense.

For example, the city wall, such as the magic circle.

Each city gate has a magic circle to identify the demons, which is used to prevent the demons from disguising as humans and sneaking into the city. Similarly, there are many similar defense methods, but they all have many loopholes and accumulations. The magic circle also needs to be improved from generation to generation to make the defense precise and solid.

But the improvement of the magic circle also requires a lot of manpower, material resources and mental efforts.

Ophelia thought for a while: "Teacher, when can the new magic circle at the gate of the royal capital be promoted to other cities?" For example, Dolei City.

"Well..." Brian fell back and looked at the bright magic lights on the ceiling, "It depends on when those old guys can come to an end."

"..."

"But, our King is here." He winked at his students, his violet eyes full of uneasiness: "I guess there will be a result soon."

Unfortunately, his students did not understand his humor, and did not even glance at him, their eyes were attracted by some spare parts on the ground.

Following the blonde's gaze, he noticed the parts on the ground, and he felt a sense of emptiness for no reason. Although she was a student much younger than him, he sometimes felt that the old men in the church were nagging him for not doing his job properly.

Brian was a clergyman, but unlike other clergymen who dedicated their lives and souls to God, although he had an outstanding talent for light magic, he was absent-minded when praying. He came to the magic academy as a part-time teacher. Compared with light magic that can heal wounds, he prefers to study magic circles and alchemy. He

was also very talented in hobbies and made many outstanding improvements to the magic circles that exist today. Therefore, it also caused dissatisfaction among other people in the Church. If he had focused on using his talent in the right way, he should have achieved higher achievements.

In addition to the magic circle, Brian also invented a lot of alchemy products. Many of the hot-selling magic props in magic shops are his works.

Ophelia retracted her gaze, "Are those products from the supermarket?"

If she was not mistaken, the remains of those parts should have belonged to a flashlight. And in the corners of this room, there are many similar parts scattered around. Someone disassembled them all, but failed to put them back together.

"Yes, how did you know... Oh!" Brian remembered: "I forgot that the supermarket is a store from Dore City."

Ophelia stood up and tiptoed along the way she came. She had already read the information. Compared with before the holiday, Mr. Brian had not made any progress in improving the defensive magic circle, so there was no need to disturb him any further.

But Brian jumped up from his seat and asked, "Dean, do you know the secret of the battery?"

"What?" Ophelia paused.

"Batteries," he said, "These props from the supermarket can operate independently, without relying on magic circles, and there are no traces of magic on them. Everything that supports them is powered by batteries."

Brian took out a No. 5 battery from the pocket of his white robe, which was taken from those small props. He held it high, and the light of the magic lamp cast a bright arc of light on the edge of the small cylindrical battery. His violet eyes looked at this incomprehensible little thing affectionately: "This is a miracle!"

"..."

"The goddess gave us magic. Whether it is magic circles or alchemy products, all human progress is inseparable from the existence of magic. But!" He emphasized: "Batteries are not needed!"

"Incredible! It can do everything that magic can do without using magic. I have studied all the products sold in the supermarket. This battery is the cornerstone of all alchemy products. It can replace magic, but there are many contents that have nothing to do with magic alchemy... I still cannot understand its secrets."

Alchemy products are inseparable from magic. Most of the magic props sold in magic stores rely on magic circles to operate. But the products in the supermarket are different. In addition to the battery, each prop has a complex structure that allows it to operate independently. The battery is a kind of energy that supports the operation of those structures, but whether it is a battery or something else, with Brian's current knowledge, he can't understand all the principles.

Brian looked at his students and said, "Ophelia, do you know what this is?"

Recalling what she had heard and seen in Dore City, Ophelia said uncertainly, "Is it, is it technology?"