I Pioneered Scientific Magic

Amidst the bewildered gazes of the onlookers, Elok affixed gears to the alchemical apparatus emitting beams of light, placing a peculiar-looking piece of glass amidst them.

It was only then that Lynn finally spoke up. "This is a half-lens! Unlike regular glass, as the name suggests, only one side allows the beam to pass through!"

Glenn peered back and forth in astonishment; one side displayed a clear view of the background while the other remained blurred.

"This experiment is straightforward. The alchemical device emits a beam, and when the gear is stationary, the light, passing through the gear's gap and hitting the reflective mirror on the opposite side, reflects back, striking the opaque side, creating a larger spot for us to see!"

As Lynn spoke, they activated the alchemical device, and immediately, two beams appeared in the air.

True to Lynn's words, the light passed through the half-lens, crossed the gap between two gears, accurately reaching a distant mirror, bouncing back, and passing through the gear gap to hit the half-lens again.

"But if this gear starts spinning... then the light passing through the gap on its return might be obstructed," Lynn paused, their mind urging the gears to move under the influence of Elemental Sight.

Without much explanation from Lynn, everyone witnessed the beam behind the massive gear intermittently appearing and disappearing on the half-lens, sometimes passing through the gap, sometimes blocked by the gear...

Just as the wizards were pondering this phenomenon, Lynn spoke again.

"In theory, if the gear's rotation is fast enough, as the light passes through the first gear gap and travels eight kilometers to return, it might just pass through the second gear gap, and in that case..."

Before Lynn could finish, Glenn, as if realizing something, exclaimed, "This means every light element that passes through the first gap will invariably return through the second gap, eliminating the possibility of obstruction. The beam and spot will become remarkably clear!"

Glenn's words were akin to dropping a boulder into a calm lake, causing a commotion among the wizards present.

"This is... a genius idea!" exclaimed Raphael, his voice trembling.

He had been contemplating how the magical luminary would measure the speed of light, never expecting such a simple solution!

The key to this experiment was synchronizing the time it takes for a gear to rotate with the time it takes for light to emit and return.

The brilliance lay in the fact that light needed to traverse a full eight kilometers while the gear needed only to move a fraction to reach the second gap!

Each notch on the gear represented a distance of eight kilometers for the light. If there were a thousand notches, a single revolution meant the light had traveled eight thousand kilometers. Ten rotations would equal eighty thousand miles!

Understanding this, the wizards involuntarily gasped; this small gear seemed like a super magnifier!

The speed of light might be incredible, but likewise, the gear's speed could escalate dramatically...

"This is matching gear and light speed!" Harof also exclaimed.

Yet Lynn was quite cunning; the gear moved five millimeters (the distance between two teeth), while light had to cover eight kilometers... a difference of tens of thousands of times!

Finally, understanding the multiple by which the distance the gear traveled was greater than the speed of light, simply observing the number of teeth on the gear and how many rotations it completed in a second could reverse-engineer the speed of light!

No wonder Lynn was so confident in measuring the speed of light...

"Amazing, truly the Luminary of Magic!" sighed Sanchez.

He was impressed; only a mind of this caliber could devise such a solution.

However, many onlooking wizards still wore bewildered expressions.

What are they talking about? Why can't I understand...

But to maintain their dignity as wizards, they nodded in pretended understanding, praising Lynn with a few words.

"Indeed, the Luminary of Magic..." "A brilliant idea! I knew they would figure it out!"

Amongst the chorus of praise were hidden dissenting voices; Yassos and others insisted that the speed of light was infinite. No matter how fast Lynn accelerated the gear, it would be futile!

"May we begin, Headmaster?" Lydia shouted loudly.

Lynn nodded, instructing the halfling girl to start the internal combustion engine, increasing the gear's speed.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the 720-toothed gear slowly began its rotation, then accelerated, five turns per second, then ten, fifteen... soon becoming a blur.

Meanwhile, the beam and the light spot on the half-lens kept flickering, the frequency increasing, as the light constantly switched between passing and not passing through the gaps...

"So fast..." Witch Nancy muttered to herself; she could no longer discern the gear's rotational speed. "At this rate, can light really distinguish those tiny gaps?"

Considering each gap was merely 0.5 centimeters, at such high speeds, they would become sharp cutting instruments. What if the light elements couldn't find the gaps when passing through? Then wouldn't they be unable to see?

"We might not discern it, but light surely can!" Lynn affirmed.

"Look, the frequency of the beam and the light spot seems... to be slowing down!" Raphael hurriedly pointed out.

Not just him, but many noticed this change. It was too distinct to be an illusion. As the gear's rotation speed increased again, the wizards present wore expressions of fear...

"The light spot... disappeared!"

Sanchez's eyes widened. Before them was an immensely peculiar sight. The faint beam emitted from the alchemical device stopped upon its return at the gear, whereas the beam from the gear to the half-lens vanished suddenly, no longer flickering as before.

This was the opposite of what Lynn had mentioned...

"What on earth is happening?" Raphael nearly pulled out his beard, consumed by confusion.

"Because all the light passing through the gap collided with the gear teeth upon return. This proves that light speed has limits; we've succeeded halfway!" Lynn's voice echoed among the crowd.

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