Volume 7 Chapter 20 I Just Wanted To Know My Limits
"Oh? You brought a big group today!"
The students, led by Noah, who was fully ready, greeted Randy and his friends when they arrived at the Magic Tool Research Club.
"Yeah, they're pretty strong, as you know."
"That's good to hear."
Noah smiled and said, "Welcome," as he led everyone inside.
"Shall we start the experiment now?"
Randy tilted his head, thinking. "I was planning to, but..." He explained that the Illusory Strain Crystal was harder to work with than expected.
Its two main traits—changing with magical power and bending magical power—were very complex and connected.
"To measure how it bends magical power, it changes shape because of magical power."
If it changed the same way every time, it would be fine. But even a small change in magical power makes it change shape, and that changes the bending angle too. This makes calculating the bending rate very tricky.
"I've got a rough bending rate, but... I need more data to understand how it changes with magical power and its patterns."
"I see. That's why you gathered everyone."
"Exactly."
Randy nodded and looked at the group.
Catherine and Cecilia were very knowledgeable, and Julius and Luke were also smart about magic. Julius was as smart as Liz, Cecilia, and Catherine.
"Let's decide on tasks and methods."
"Yeah, we have some ideas, so let's work them out."
With Randy's command, they started planning the experiment to test how the Illusory Strain Crystal changes. With help from the Magic Tool Research Club, people like Catherine and Leon, who usually work together, repeated the magical power tests following the set rules.
To decide these rules, Noah gathered everyone in the lobby.
Collecting data might sound simple, but it involves many small, detailed steps.
Just seeing the changes is a big task. They must watch how the Illusory Strain Crystal changes "in what way" when they alter conditions. It sounds easy, but they need to carefully check how each change affects the crystal.
They also need to verify if the bending rate Randy calculated matches, including the numbers.
"The amount of magical elements is a variable too, right?"
"Yeah, probably."
"Counting magical power, counting magical elements..."
"What are the standards for lens size and focus..."
Still, everyone is smart, among the best at the academy.
They quickly decided on measurement methods and data collection. Members spread out—in the lab, design room, warehouse, and even outside—to handle tasks.
Liz and Ellie looked back at Randy, who stayed in the lobby.
"Randy, please plot the data on the graph."
"We need to know if it's linear or not."
They waved at Randy, who smiled tiredly.
"...Is it okay in Japanese?"
Randy, who understands the least, had to ask Noah and Emma for help while sitting down. "What does 'plot' mean?" Meanwhile, others started collecting data.
Everyone worked on tough, repetitive tasks. They did the same things over and over, finding patterns in the data to figure out lens shape and magical power needed.
Even so, when everyone worked together, things moved quickly and happily. Members sharing data started discussing hard topics. Randy, looking confused, got help from Noah and Emma to plot points on the graph.
"Wow, this is amazing."
"I knew it, but everyone is so talented."
Noah and Emma were impressed by the data. No surprise—Randy's group (except Wayne) were all gifted. Even Wayne and Livia could organize data and give ideas.
With such a talented team, after 2 hours...
"We got detailed data, didn't we?"
"That was fast..."
"Even I'm surprised."
In front of the three smiling awkwardly was a strangely shaped graph. "It looks like a squashed 'S,'" Noah said.
Randy was confused, but most people understood. They wrote equations in their notebooks.
(What are these equations? They're almost all letters.)
Randy watched with a smile, while Wayne nudged him.
"...Do you always do this?"
"Heh, show some respect."
Randy smirked at Wayne. Then Ellie handed him a note: "Try writing an equation."
"I'm not feeling great today."
Everyone sighed loudly.
Despite this, with the data, the academy's top minds quickly figured out the Illusory Strain Crystal's secrets.
"We've got the right thickness, shape, size, and distance. We'll control the magical power here. This should work."
Ellie handed Randy a note with a smug look: "Here, it's done." Randy smiled. The note had the perfect distance for the lens, not equations.
It's simple: to use the magical power or lens to magnify to the desired size, place it at this distance.
"Shall we try it now?"
Following Ellie's note, Randy adjusted the lens and set up the photo...
"Stop!"
Liz stopped Randy.
"Let's take a different photo."
"There's a guy who's been bored the whole time."
Ellie laughed, and Randy looked surprised, realizing they noticed he left most work to Noah and Emma.
"Yeah, let's take a photo of you looking silly."
"We'll make it a poster and put it all over the academy."
With Luke and Catherine's approval, Randy was seated on a sofa in the lobby as the model.
"Alright, pose."
At Liz's command, Randy crossed his legs and posed.
"He looks so dignified."
"It's annoying."
"Later, let's write 'eyebrow hair' or something."
Despite the teasing, the photo shoot ended. Under the photo, Liz wrote Randy's name and, as Catherine suggested, the phrase 'a clean vote'.
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