I made up magic and taught a world-destroying witch?

Of course, it's not like this is something that can't be discussed at all, but it's a bit too early to think about it now.

After all, he hadn't even mastered the two skills he already had, yet he was already considering expanding his skill pool. It was somewhat like someone who had just learned how to fry an egg starting to research how to host a royal banquet.

Moreover, he doesn't even know the principle behind this so-called reverse feedback.

Does a student's ability to grasp the concept guarantee they will receive feedback?

More importantly, will these spell slots be able to become stronger in the future?

Thinking about this, a very dangerous but tempting idea suddenly flashed through Joseph's mind.

If it can be upgraded, then should Mia and Grace use it more often?

It would be best to find some real-world environment, such as letting them encounter monsters.

Joseph immediately dismissed his own thoughts as soon as he thought that.

No, that's too dangerous.

I haven't heard of any low-level monsters around here that are particularly suitable for teaching.

If there were any tutorial-type monsters that you could encounter every few steps, with low attack power, a gentle temperament, and no grudges after being hit, the Grey Pigeon Town patrol team and church knights would have rushed over in a swarm long ago.

How could the students of the Royal Academy possibly get a chance to practice?

Besides, they each only have one unstable skill right now. Using that to test against monsters would just add a tragic chapter to the adventurer's story. They should at least get a few more skill slots first.

However, there should be training grounds for knights or adventurers a little further away, right? Even without monsters, it wouldn't be entirely impossible to create a few immobile magical golems or capture some harmless magical creatures.

With magic, who wouldn't want to have a blast in battles?

Since he could still go out and use project funds, Joseph felt that he had a new hope for life.

Of course, I'll elaborate on the specific teaching methods tomorrow; that's all for today.

Even great magicians need to sleep.

  

The great mage, who had just escaped death from under the abandoned portal and had also given two students career planning advice, especially needed to get plenty of rest.

When he returned to the experimental tower and lay down on the bed, he even felt that he had touched the edge of happiness.

As a result, Joseph did not wake up naturally as planned the next morning.

Marco arrived shortly after dawn.

Joseph couldn't understand why Marco, a passionate worker, would appear in the Royal Academy, where everyone from professors to administrators treated just getting by as their life goal.

Is he somewhat out of place in the workplace environment of this world?

Or perhaps, Marco is actually a working goblin or an administrative monster that absorbs life force by processing documents. If he doesn't work for a day, the few strands of hair on his head that are already in danger will immediately lose their life completely.

Thinking about it this way, it seems much more reasonable.

After a long while, Joseph, with a belly full of resentment that had nowhere to go, sat down in his office and listened to Marco's rambling on and on.

This administrator is in an unusually good mental state today.

His already sparse hair was neatly styled, each strand appearing to have been carefully distributed to cover the most vulnerable areas. He excitedly handed the documents to Joseph, completely oblivious to the almost palpable resentment emanating from Joseph.

"Professor Grantham, the association has agreed in principle to provide additional funding! However," Marco changed the subject,

"The additional funding will only be available after the project review is officially approved a month later, before it can enter the final approval process."

Joseph took the document and glanced at it.

It was stamped with the Magic Association's seal, and the title was quite long, but the core message, when translated, was actually just one sentence: "You can pay more, but you have to see the item first."

Joseph was not surprised at all.

It would be abnormal if they approved a large sum of gold coins without even looking at anything else.

If such a thing were to happen, he would suspect that the Magic Association had gone so far as to be desperate for money that it was planning to give him a sum of money to make him take the blame for some old, outdated project that even Academician Wade couldn't handle.

"What about the review request?"

"There are two main items." Marco immediately pulled out another document, and no one knew how his not-so-wide document bag could hold so many papers.

"It's similar to what I told you before: we need repeatable training records and spell slot observation schemes."

After all, currently everyone can only see the final result; there's no way to directly confirm whether the spell slot itself exists, nor can anyone observe the model embedding process.

Joseph leaned back in his chair, feeling less panicked than before.

If it were a few days ago, upon seeing these two requests, he would probably have already begun seriously considering how to safely transfer the funds within a month, and then take a boat south under cover of night.

But things are different now, and he has already cast both spells himself, although the methods were somewhat disrespectful to magical education.

As for the observation plan... isn't the Dwarf Merchant Guild about to send over a batch of equipment?

Whether the spell slots can be seen directly is hard to say, but setting up the equipment with charts and a bunch of explanations that no one can understand is much better than having students stand there with their eyes closed and then telling the reviewers that they have boxes in their heads.

For the first time, Joseph felt a little more confident about the review process a month later.

Marco observed his expression.

He had assumed that Professor Grantham would at least give it a moment's thought after hearing the association's additional requests.

Unexpectedly, the young great mage only glanced at the documents a few times before leaning back in his chair without a trace of panic on his face.

As expected, Professor Grantham must have been prepared.

Perhaps the so-called repeatable training records and spell slot observation scheme were originally part of the second phase of the new magic project.

The association's current request is simply to catch up with the professor's research progress!

Marco became increasingly excited as he thought about it, and quickly continued:

"Sir, if you need help, I can assist in organizing the training records. Rest assured, I am very familiar with the document formats required by the association."

It has to be said that although this person likes to disturb others' sleep early in the morning, he is indeed useful in this situation. Professional matters should be left to professionals.

Although, given Marco's work ethic, it might eventually evolve from a single folder into an entire filing cabinet, it doesn't matter anymore, as long as it's not in his office, it doesn't matter where it is.

"Thank you for your hard work, Marco."

"It's what I should do!" Marco replied immediately.

Joseph then briefly confirmed a few more details about the materials with him.

Then, with practiced ease, he ended the morning work report by citing the fact that the project leader still needed to conduct overall planning for the next stage.

Marco picked up the file folder and said goodbye, satisfied. But as he reached the door, he stopped and turned back to look at Joseph.

"Professor Grantham."

"Um?"

"Don't worry."

Marco said with a serious expression:

"If this review goes smoothly, the new magic project will likely be included in the key projects for next year."

Joseph paused for a moment as he was about to open the box of pastries Grace had brought.

A key special project? Sounds like there'll be more money involved.

But there will probably be more responsibilities and meetings as well. Never mind, let's just listen to the first half of this sentence for now.

Money is everything. As for the job, we can figure out a way to postpone it once the money arrives. You have to understand that many things in the world can be delayed as long as the deadline hasn't arrived.

"I understand," Joseph said calmly.

Marco felt even more admiration for him when he saw that he had no excited expression.

Even when faced with a key special project that could change the future of the entire project, the professor remained so restrained.

Perhaps in Professor Grantham's eyes, funding is merely a tool to advance new magical paths.

Marco suddenly felt that he had been a bit too mundane to bring up the key project earlier, so he stopped bothering him, quietly closed the door, and left the office.

Joseph let out a long breath only after the footsteps had completely disappeared.

They've finally left.

He glanced down at the association documents on the table, then at the sky outside the window, which had just begun to brighten.

It seems a bit late to go back and catch up on sleep; it's all Marco's fault.

Just as Joseph was about to push the documents aside and examine the snacks first, the sound of wheels came from outside the experimental tower.

"Slow down!"

"Raise the left side!"

"That box can't be turned upside down; the recording pins inside aren't secured yet!"

Joseph: "?"

"Sir! Miss Penny is here!" Mia's excited voice came from outside the experimental tower.