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When Pierce saw Alok standing up, he immediately felt regretful. He should not have hesitated and did not even have the courage to fight. No wonder he could not be promoted to an official wizard.
"What's your name?" Lynn asked curiously.
"I am Alok, Professor!" the wizard said loudly.
So your name is Alok...
Lin En nodded. Yesterday, he just happened to accept a favor from the other party's father, asking him to take care of the boy.
Isn’t this opportunity coming?
"Elok, right? I must remind you first that you cannot give up this bet. Now that you have played it, you must fill up the entire square, and the money you put up will be used as research funds for this subject. This is the price you pay in exchange for my promise and the [Source of Magic]!" Lin En kindly reminded.
"Of course no problem!" Alok said, patting his chest. Although he couldn't calculate how many copper coins were needed to fill these squares, he was very clear about the value of a copper coin and a bottle of [Source of Magic].
This is a gap of millions of times!
Millions of copper coins would be enough to fill up these thirty-six squares. No, perhaps only twenty or thirty thousand copper coins would be enough.
But the [Source of Magic] is something that cannot be bought with money!
"Then please come in!" Lynn pointed at the square table and put on a signature smile on his face, indicating that Alok could start his performance.
Alok was not at all nervous. He took out his purse and placed the first copper coin on the first square.
Then came two, four, eight, sixteen... thirty-two...
By the time he placed the coins on the sixth square, he had run out of coins. The seventh square required sixty-four coins...
Elok held a silver coin in his hand, hesitated for a while, and did not put it down directly. Instead, he turned his head to look at the students who were watching the show, and said very proudly, "Can anyone lend me some copper coins? When I fill this square, I will return it double tomorrow!"
Encouraged by Alok, the wizard apprentices present donated generously and took out their purses without worrying that the other party would not be able to pay it back. Pierce, who was still regretting, even took out all his savings - six gold coins!
Soon the borrowed coins filled the entire table, and only Johnny stood by and watched with no intention of taking the money.
"Johnny, aren't you going to make some money?" Lin En asked curiously. "Or have you already figured out the result?"
The silver-gray-haired girl rolled her eyes at him. Although she couldn't figure out how many copper coins were needed to fill the thirty-six squares, she knew that there was definitely nothing wrong with Lin En's brain, and he couldn't come up with a bottle of [Source of Magic Power].
Alok on the side seemed full of confidence. With the funds of all the apprentices put together, there were more than twenty gold coins and more than two hundred copper and silver coins. No matter what, they would be able to fill in all the squares!
Thinking of this, Alok grabbed a handful of coins and filled in the second row of squares.
After spending a total of forty silver and ninety-five copper coins, one-third of the square table's grid had been filled.
Easy, too easy.
Most of the apprentices had begun to regret why they did not step forward first. Even Johnny, who had great confidence in Lynn, began to waver. Could this square table really be filled?
Alok was even more excited, and he piled forty silver coins and ninety-six copper coins into the thirteenth square. However, when he continued to fill it up, he vaguely sensed something was wrong, because the last square in the third row needed to hold a full thirteen gold coins!
This is probably... seems... seems... a bit too much?
Alok's expression became hesitant, and he didn't have enough money to fill in another square.
“You can just write down the amount with a pen, and we’ll calculate it together when the time comes!” Lin En reminded him indifferently, with no intention of making things difficult for him.
Alok looked at the half remaining square, gritted his teeth, picked up the feather pen beside him, and began to fill in the lines one by one.
Two hundred... no... three hundred... As long as the total amount he spends is less than three hundred magic gold coins, his father should be able to forgive him. After all, the [Source of Magic Power] cannot be bought with money.
However, with this idea in mind, after filling in four squares, Alok discovered that his budget had been used up and he had to pay a lot more.
Under Lynn's "kind" gaze, Alok's hands were shaking as he wrote the numbers. The numbers were so huge that he had to use paper and pen to assist in the calculations starting from the third line.
But Alok would rather not be able to figure it out. His heart tightened with every number he wrote down. When he wrote the fifth line, he was about to cry.
Alok had already silently calculated the family's assets in his mind, and then he discovered something that horrified him.
They seem to be bankrupt...
No, this is no longer a problem that can be solved by bankruptcy.
Because to fill the last one in the fifth row, you need a full 53,687 magic gold coins!
Alok's mind went blank and he fainted. Even if he became a formal wizard in the future, he would not be able to earn so much money even if he worked non-stop for hundreds of years!
And there is still a whole row on that square table that has not been filled!
"Elok...Elok!"
Elok's sudden fall to the ground scared everyone present, including Lin En. He didn't want to scare anyone to death during his first class.
After using his limited medical knowledge to check, Lin En quickly found that the other person was not seriously injured. He immediately made an ice cube and pressed it on the man's forehead, which soon woke the man up.
Alok looked dazed. He seemed to have just had a dream. He dreamed that he played a game with the professor and then owed him a debt that he could never repay in his lifetime...
When he opened his eyes, he discovered a fact he didn't want to face - this didn't seem to be a dream, but reality...
"Now that you're awake, fill in the last square as agreed!" Lynn patted Alok's shoulder and said encouragingly.
There was an expression on Alok's face that was uglier than crying, but he had to sit in his seat. In the end, he could only give up completely and comfort himself in his heart that he couldn't afford 50,000 magic gold coins, so what difference would it make even if he increased it to 200,000 or 500,000?
There really is a difference!
A long string of numbers wrote Alok's brain collapse.
After filling in the last square, Alok had to count the units one by one with his fingers.
Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions... Alok couldn't bear to count any more, so Lin En revealed the answer directly.
"It's 34,359,738,368 copper coins!"
Hearing this terrifying number, the students present felt dizzy and looked at the square long table in front of them. It was hard to imagine that 33.3 billion copper coins could be accommodated in this small square!
Johnny also had an expression of disbelief on her face. Although she could imagine that it would take a lot of copper coins to fill the squares, she never expected it to be so horrible.
Let alone Alok, I'm afraid even if I sell the entire Yieta harbor, I still can't raise enough money!
Just a grid game instantly made all the wizard apprentices realize the horror of exponential growth!
Lin En looked at the students who were silent and still immersed in the huge numbers, and spoke solemnly.
"This is the power of Olympiad mathematics! If someone could transform the power of Olympiad mathematics into magic, it would be a force powerful enough to destroy this planet and even the entire universe!"
This is no joke!
Theoretically, if a piece of paper is folded in half 103 times, its theoretical thickness will exceed the diameter of the observable universe.
Anything that can maintain exponential growth of 2 will soon burst the entire universe!
Chapter 64: "Basic Principles of Magic" and "Analysis of Elemental Magic"
When q≠1
Sn=a1（1－q^n）/（1－q）
Lynn used magic as ink to write out the formula represented by the grid game, and then looked at the apprentices who had not yet recovered from the horror of exponential growth, and spoke loudly.
"Why don't you write this formula down?"
Johnny and others quickly turned the pages, picked up the feather pens and copied down the formulas that they could not understand at all. Alok, who was standing there in a daze, was the best example of the consequences of not learning Olympiad mathematics!
"Professor Lin En..." Alok looked at Lin En and shouted tremblingly, his eyes filled with tears and he was about to cry.
"Elok, I just heard you say that you are good at math?" Lin En asked.
I am not, I didn't, don't say anything...
Alok hurriedly shook his head and wanted to deny it, but Lin En waved his hand and continued speaking.
"How about this, as long as you can accurately calculate the total value of the copper coins in these thirty-six squares before class tomorrow, then this bet will be settled!"
"Of course, you only have one chance to speak!"
Lin En glanced at the large amount of coins piled on the square table with a hint of regret, but he had no intention of accepting them.
First of all, it was impossible for the other party to come up with such money. Secondly, it was a bit too scary that he let all the apprentices spend all their savings just by playing a game.
Who would dare to attend his Olympiad math class from now on?
Alok stared blankly at the floating magic fluorescent lights, completely unable to understand what these operation symbols meant. He even began to doubt whether he could count...
Pierce, who had been envious of Elroq, immediately became gloating. Fortunately, he hesitated for a moment, otherwise he would be the one making a fool of himself.
Unexpectedly, Lin En changed the subject, looked at the people present, and continued speaking.
"Same for you!"
"If I remember correctly, when Alok borrowed money from you, he said, 'If he can fill all the squares, he will pay you back double.'"
"Unfortunately, Alok failed to do this, so the promise is invalid. Not only will you not get more gold coins, but the money you deposited before will have to continue to be kept with me!" Lin En reached out and picked up a few gold, silver and copper coins on the square table, and said playfully.
Upon hearing this, there was a sudden wailing in the Olympiad Mathematics classroom. Pierce and others kicked Alok in anger. This kid actually cheated!
Lin En raised his voice a little and pointed at the exponential summation formula floating in the air. "There is a simple way to add exponential operations. If it were me, I could calculate the sum of them in ten seconds if I knew the last number!"
"The after-class assignment I give you is to find the pattern and solve the formula I wrote! When you get the answer, you can take the money back!"
Lin En looked around at the students who were holding feather pens and calculating hard, and nodded with satisfaction. Only this kind of personal experience can make people truly feel the charm of Olympiad mathematics!
In addition, he also used this game to find out the math level of these apprentices.
Judging from Alok’s performance, they have already learned the most basic calculation rules. Maybe we can start by teaching them slightly more difficult formulas next time!
The two-hour Olympiad mathematics class ended quickly.
Although they did not learn any new magic, all the students maintained great enthusiasm due to the desire to get their deposits back, and they even couldn't wait to share what they saw and heard in class with others.
In just one day, the name of Professor Lin En's square board game spread.
In order to let more people understand the charm of exponential growth, Lin En moved the square plate directly to the front door of Yieta College, and changed the squares into seven rows and seven verticals, a total of forty-nine squares, and erected a sign on it, rewriting the rules of the bet.
If anyone can fill up these squares with the corresponding copper coins, he will give away the alchemical formula used to destroy the harbor town.
That's right, you just need to start with one copper coin and fill it up according to the rule that the number of copper coins in the next grid should be twice that of the previous one. After filling it up, you can even take the money back, and he won't charge a penny!
This time, not only the wizard apprentices, but also several professors in the academy were tempted.
Is there such a good thing?
This alchemical formula requires a lot of preparation to unleash its powerful power. Although it seems troublesome, it can produce special miraculous effects in some special occasions.
You know, the power of this thing is comparable to five-ring or even six-ring magic!