Chapter 48: The Creator Revealed

As Klein’s voice faded, the vast tiered lecture hall descended into a silence even more profound than before.

If the previous quiet had stemmed from awe of the Eight-Ring Archmage, then this current stillness was born purely from the stunned inertia of minds momentarily seizing.

Hundreds of gazes converged into a tangible torrent.

They pierced through the air, collectively fixating upon the small figure in the classroom’s furthest corner.

This figure was almost swallowed by the towering backrest of the chair.

Lia, utterly bored, was idly tracing the intricate patterns on her sleeve cuff with a fingernail.

Her mind was still preoccupied, weighing the merits of vanilla-roasted dragon lizard leg against a savory Gulu beast steak for dinner.

She remained utterly oblivious to the commotion unfolding at the podium.

Not until she sensed the entire world fall into an unnatural quiet did her attention stir.

The air around her grew thick, and countless gazes transformed into palpable searchlights, locking onto her with unwavering intensity.

With a bewildered lift of her head, she found herself meeting Klein’s deep, cerulean eyes.

Within their depths, she discerned a faint, yet unmistakable, glint of amusement.

A sudden ‘buzz’ reverberated through Lia’s mind.

‘What did he say?’

‘The Creator?’

‘Here?’

Then, she watched as Klein’s gaze, sharp and precise, settled firmly upon her.

Every single person in the classroom followed his line of sight, their collective gazes converging intensely on her.

Lia found herself speechless.

A potent, ominous premonition coiled up her spine, swiftly reaching the nape of her neck.

“Because the mathematical tools required to describe all of this have already been brought into existence.”

Klein’s voice resonated once more, each word pronounced with such clarity that it seemed to be proclaiming a new universal law.

“And its creator…”

He turned slightly, extending a hand in Lia’s direction.

“Is right here.”

A rumble—

An irrepressible clamor erupted from the assembled crowd.

“Is it her?”

“That little girl? Lord Klein’s new apprentice?”

“Don’t be ridiculous! She doesn’t even look as tall as my wand!”

Doubt, perplexity, and outright absurdity.

These myriad emotions violently fermented within the crowd, weaving together into a dissonant hum.

As for the two Five-Ring mages, their expressions transcended mere shock.

They stared fixedly at Lia, their eyes wide with utter incredulity.

A wild conjecture began to surface in their minds, so audacious that they themselves scarcely dared to believe it.

“Come up.”

Klein’s voice, though not loud, effortlessly quelled all the clamor.

Lia ground her back teeth in frustration.

At that moment, she desperately wished to hurl the textbook in her hand directly at Klein’s impassive face.

Yet, she dared not.

Under the relentless scrutiny of hundreds of eyes, she resignedly rose from her seat, then, with a theatrical flourish, patted non-existent dust from her mage robe before making her way towards the podium.

Her diminutive stature made her appear almost ethereal as she traversed the wide, tiered aisle, each step seeming strangely unreal.

The apprentices watched her with an intensity typically reserved for scrutinizing a rare magical beast.

Lia, her gaze fixed straight ahead, ascended the podium step by deliberate step.

When she finally stood beside Klein, the stark contrast in their physiques made the entire scene appear even more peculiar.

She even had to tilt her head back slightly just to glimpse Klein’s chin.

Klein took a step back, ceding the entire podium, along with the massive black crystal board, to her.

“Answer his question.”

Klein’s instruction was brief and to the point.

Lia composed herself, then turned to face the dense, dark mass of people below the stage.

Her gaze settled upon the Five-Ring mage who had posed the question.

“Your question is excellent.”

Her voice, clear and calm, carried with precision to every ear in the hall.

“When ‘force’ ceases to be constant, ‘acceleration’ inevitably transforms into a variable.

Our five previous formulas instantly become invalid, for they describe an idealized, static, and unchanging process.

Yet, the real world is in a state of perpetual flux.

Your magical output fluctuates, the resistance affecting a flying wind blade shifts, and the temperature of a burning flame varies.

Therefore, we require a new methodology to describe ‘change’ itself.”

Lia extended a finger, lightly tapping the air before her.

As her mental energy surged, the five formulas Klein had left on the black crystal board were instantly wiped away.

In their place, a smooth, elegant curve materialized.

“Let us assume this represents the velocity of an object as it changes over time.”

Lia’s finger glided across the crystal board, and a luminous point began to trace the path of the curve.

“Its velocity is in constant flux, accelerating and decelerating.

How, then, can we ascertain its precise ‘acceleration’ at any given instant?”

She directed her gaze back to the Five-Ring mage.

“Let us conduct a thought experiment.

Imagine infinitely magnifying this curve, focusing on an infinitesimally small segment.”

As if by her very will, the image on the crystal board began to transform with astonishing speed.

The curve was rapidly zoomed in, its bending arc gradually smoothing out.

Ultimately, under this extreme magnification, that segment of the curve became an almost perfectly straight line.

“Do you see it?”

Lia’s voice, imbued with a unique magic, forcefully guided the thoughts of everyone present.

“Within a sufficiently small segment of time—one so minute it approaches ‘nothingness’—even the most intricate change can be regarded as simple, uniform variation.

This process, we call ‘taking the limit’.”

The words “taking the limit” struck the minds of the two Five-Ring mages like a pair of heavy hammers, unleashing a torrent of magical energy and mental upheaval.

The mage who had posed the question was named Erlar.

He instantly recalled how his mentor, who had since ascended to the Seven-Ring, had once spent three days and three nights in a state of profound contemplation before a parchment covered with intricate curves.

At the time, his mentor had pointed to a twisted trajectory, murmuring that it represented the energy decay curve of a curse spell.

“If one could only grasp ‘that precise instant’ of its change, rather than merely measuring a vague average, the power of this spell could be amplified by thirty percent!”

Erlar, baffled, had asked what “that precise instant” truly meant.

His mentor had merely waved a hand dismissively, explaining that it was a long-standing mathematical enigma, a “ghost” that a recent paper had purportedly solved.

However, the paper itself was so profoundly abstruse it bordered on maddening, and he would only teach Erlar once he had fully comprehended it himself.

Yet now, this very little girl, standing before them, had, with such intuitive and self-evident clarity, presented that “ghost” vividly before their very eyes!

“Through this method, we shall obtain an entirely new tool.”

Lia’s finger swept across the crystal board, inscribing a concise symbol: dy/dx.

“It will reveal to us the ‘instantaneous rate of change’ at any point along this curve that represents ‘change’.

In essence, it provides the precise acceleration value you seek at any given moment.

This, is ‘differentiation’.”

She then conjured another diagram.

“Conversely, if we know the ‘rate of change’ of this object at every single instant, can we then reconstruct its complete trajectory of motion?”

“Indeed, we can.

We meticulously reassemble those countless ‘infinitesimal’ segments.

This process, is ‘integration’.”

Lia turned, her gaze returning to the Five-Ring mage, who now stood utterly dumbfounded.

“Therefore, to resolve your problem, we no longer need to seek a single, fixed formula.

You what you must do is to employ a function to describe your varying ‘force’, and then, with the twin blades of ‘differentiation’ and ‘integration’, dissect it, analyze it, and ultimately reassemble it.

In this way, the motion of all things, no matter how intricate, will be laid bare within your calculations, with nowhere left to hide.”

As her words concluded.

A profound silence descended upon the entire lecture hall, so absolute that a pin drop would have echoed.

All the apprentices listened in a bewildered haze, failing to grasp the meaning of the symbols yet keenly sensing a revolutionary power within them—a power potent enough to shatter the very foundations of the old world.

Meanwhile, the bodies of the two Five-Ring mages had begun to tremble violently, uncontrollably.

Erlar’s eyes remained fixed on the curves and symbols displayed on the crystal board, his lips silently moving as he whispered “taking the limit” and “instantaneous rate of change.”

Within his spiritual sea, the magical models of motion he had painstakingly constructed in the past were now crumbling and shattering, inch by agonizing inch.

The other Five-Ring mage abruptly squeezed his eyes shut, beads of sweat forming on his temples.

The magical energy within his body surged wildly, in a manner utterly unprecedented, uncontrollably manifesting as distorted, flickering, and intermittently glowing miniature force fields around him.

This was his very cognition striving to simulate and comprehend this new law, this fundamental principle named “change”!

This was no longer mere knowledge.

This was a divine revelation.

It was the very key to unlocking the underlying logic of the world!

And the one who had bestowed upon them this profound key was, incredibly, the little girl standing before him, barely reaching his chest.

From the side of the podium, Klein had observed the entire spectacle in tranquil silence.

He watched Lia transition from her initial flicker of reluctance to the poised composure she exuded upon reaching the podium.

He watched her dissect the most profound truths using the most concise language imaginable.

He watched as a luminous wisdom, capable of shaking an entire era, burst forth from her small frame.

Klein’s icy demeanor softened somewhat, replaced by a complex blend of admiration and fervent possessiveness.

Ding-a-ling—

The sharp ringing of the class bell abruptly sounded, startling the audience from their profound awe.

Yet, not a single person rose.

Everyone remained seated, their gazes burning with intensity upon the small figure on the stage.

Klein stepped forward, naturally taking his place beside Lia, and surveyed the room.

“Class dismissed.”

His voice shattered the frozen air.

The students stirred as if waking from a dream, their faces etched with shock and bewilderment, gradually rising and departing.

However, the two Five-Ring mages slowly descended the steps and approached the podium.

They bowed deeply before Lia, performing an ancient and exceedingly solemn mage’s salute—one reserved only for grandmasters who impart profound wisdom.

“Thank you for your teachings, Lia… Master.”

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