Crying

Collins scoffed at Victoria’s efforts.

“Your perspective is too narrow. No one ever said that alchemical purification must be done using fire. You can use water as well. Have you ever considered water-based spells like torrent or surge?”

Victoria was stunned.

“Water magic?”

“Yes. In alchemical purification, fire-element frameworks are the mainstream, but water, wood, and earth elements have also been used by various alchemists to develop corresponding purification methods.”

“Compared to the raw and forceful nature of fire-element magic, water-element magic is gentler and more prolonged.”

“According to a report by the grand mage Aions, purification using a water-element framework takes three times longer than with a fire-element framework.”

“This long-duration purification process is more successful and productive for people who are less agile or have slower reaction times.”

Victoria thought about it.

In truth, this girl’s knowledge in spellcasting and magic array disciplines was only superficial.

There are six branches of magical studies, and each one is as difficult to master as climbing a new mountain.

Although deeper magical research requires more interdisciplinary understanding, Victoria wasn’t yet at that level.

Her shallow knowledge in magical arrays was just enough to support the basics of alchemical research.

Even she knew that most of her aspirations were wishful thinking.

Now that she heard Collins speak, Victoria suddenly felt her previous belief—only needing to master her own field—was embarrassingly naïve.

The wider one’s magical knowledge, the higher the margin of error allowed in research, and the easier it became to find solutions.

Just like how Collins now mentioned using a water-element framework—it did seem, in theory, to be more suitable for Victoria’s data collection process.

“So, can I take a look at your experiment data?”

Collins fixed his gaze on Victoria’s stack of paper notes.

Victoria’s grip loosened and tightened again.

Even though her experiment wasn’t complete, the data was very valuable.

If she sold it, it could cover an ordinary student’s tuition and living expenses for an entire year.

Although, to gather this data, Victoria had already spent what amounted to ten years’ worth of a normal student’s tuition and living expenses.

She handed the data over.

Collins carefully accepted it.

And that look lasted two hours.

When Collins finally looked up and exhaled the heat that had been caught in his throat, their eyes met.

At some point, Victoria had already fixed her gaze on Collins’ face as he focused on reading her notes.

At that moment, their eyes met.

Victoria blushed, quickly turned her head away, and mumbled something under her breath.

“Just as I thought. If you keep going like this, your research will never yield good results.”

“W-why?”

“Because your magical knowledge isn’t broad enough to support your research.”

“I know a grand mage who once told me: the further you go in magic, the broader your magical knowledge must become.”

“Breadth can sometimes be more important than depth.”

“For example, that grand mage admitted that when it came to magical branches he hadn’t studied, he was no better than a high-level mage.”

“That’s why, unless it’s his own field, he always delegates research in other disciplines to someone else.”

With how far magic has developed, the days of a lone mage hiding in a tiny lab for decades, waiting for a breakthrough, are long gone.

Modern magical research values collaboration and complementary skills within a team.

Though this means sharing the credit, there’s no doubt that such teams are more likely to achieve results, and their error margins are much lower.

“As for your research—both the purification framework and your rune placements are at an apprentice level.”

“The mistakes and gaps are so bad they’re almost unbearable.”

“And yet you still managed to construct a basic framework and gather data.”

“I have to ask—did you spend at least a year on this mess of a framework and your trial-and-error data?”

Victoria opened her mouth in shock.

Collins was right.

She had spent one and a half semesters gathering data.

And she had spent an entire year preparing and collecting material for her experiment—even before entering university.

She had poured nearly half her life into it.

Throughout her time in university, Victoria had spent nearly every single day in the lab.

“I don’t understand something.”

“If you spent so much time on your experiment data, then why didn’t you think of asking seniors from the rune or magic array departments to help you correct your experimental foundation?”

Victoria lowered her head.

“I-I was a special-admission student. I got my own lab as soon as I entered the school.”

“So you locked yourself inside your lab and never came out?”

Victoria turned her head away.

Her fair skin stood out against the dark surroundings, and a faint blush colored her cheeks.

That shyness surfaced without restraint.