A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 21 Temporary Secret Experiment

Magic surged toward the lamb like a tide, making Rorschach feel as if he were facing a raging storm. He decided to step forward, but was stopped by Unuk.

"The situation is getting out of control. The dancers at the front of the stage and the person holding the ointment are suspicious. I'm being watched."

Unuk frowned, gathered his long, loose hair, and glanced around. Sure enough, several eyes immediately darted away. "You need to find a way to get your companions down first. Don't make any big movements that might cause a commotion. I'll contact the garrison and keep an eye out for these crazy people suddenly attacking us."

Rorschach squeezed to the front of the stage and gave Tasia, whose face was pale, a look. Tasia immediately understood and nodded.

Rorschach then cast a spell with minimal hand gestures, disintegrating a section of the stage's supporting beams. As Rorschach had calculated, Tasia was indeed in the collapsed area, quickly rolling down the sloping planks. Rorschach activated his mage hand to catch her, preventing her from rolling any further, and pushed her towards himself.

The surge of magic in the square made it even more difficult for Rorschach to control his mage hand. He seemed to have used too much force, and Tasia was thrown into his arms. Tasia gritted her teeth and whispered, "How did you even think of making me roll down here, senior?"

Luo Xia grabbed Tasia's hand: "We can say thank you later. Let's go and meet up with Mr. Aller and Singhlev."

"Am I giving thanks?" Tasia recalled her experience and the surging magic, reminding herself, "I sense a similar aura to when the Holy Mother's Order held their ceremony."

Rorschach nodded: "Got it, hurry up and catch up."

The other dancers seemed oblivious to the collapse of the stage and the loss of a person. The revelers continued to move closer to the giant lamb, and more and more people stepped onto the ruins of the stage.

Mr. Aller, experienced and knowledgeable, noticed the unusual activity in the crowd and quickly covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief. Singhlev's dwarven poison resistance seemed to have taken effect again; he was the only one completely unaffected by the resonant magical winds and smoke. Aller and Singhlev managed to push through the crowd and find Rorschach and Tasia. Rorschach nodded to the mage Unuk, who had been watching them closely. The mage immediately pulled out a scroll, activated it, and a flash of light shot into the sky, exploding into a red orb.

"Isn't this just fireworks?" Rorschach thought the resident mage could freeze everyone in the square with a single scroll, but it turned out to be just a magical firework. Unaware of the spectacle, some of the revelers thought it was part of the show and cheered.

"Lord Unuk, the resident mage of Andorella."

My companions: Mr. Alle, the merchant; Singrev, the soldier; and Tasia, the apprentice.

"Let's go, move towards the outer edge of the square."

While clearing a path, Unuk explained to the others, "It seems there's a large-scale ritual going on right now. We'd better leave before some god behind us responds. The radiant magic just now was a warning signal to the Imperial garrison. Red is the highest level I can issue under my authority; the Imperial army and the accompanying mages will intervene."

However, upon reaching the edge of the square, all the entrances were filled with people pouring in. Some even fell over, and others simply stepped over them, all wearing joyful and expectant smiles, clearly in a state of delirium and unable to feel pain.

Looking back, a vat of oil was poured directly onto the giant lamb and the dancer in the center. The two-meter-high torch fell and ignited the oil, erupting in cheers. The dancers continued to dance joyfully amidst the raging flames, their leaping figures rapidly shrinking in the firelight.

"Aren't you a magic apprentice? Something's clearly wrong. Why are you standing there frozen?"

"I have an affinity for nature magic, but I am most deeply influenced by the ritual environment of the Holy Mother's Order! For a moment, I could feel a great will casting its gaze upon the Lamb, and upon..."

Tasia was interrupted by a new wave of cheers before she could finish speaking. Her face, illuminated by the firelight, was frighteningly pale.

"Damn it, the ceremony has begun!"

The core fortress of Andorella sits atop the highest hill, now hollowed out. At its very center rises a steel tower, beneath which lie a complex network of pipes and a colossal metal sphere. The base supporting this sphere is, in fact, a series of rotors and the steam engines that drive them.

Inside this huge cavity, many workers were busy, wearing robes made of coarse linen that covered their entire bodies and were inlaid with extremely fine copper wires.

The two men in the middle were the only ones without any protective measures. The older one had his hands behind his back and was monitoring everyone in the area, while the younger one was holding a thick stack of documents and constantly flipping through them.

"How's the equipment setup going?" The man with his hands behind his back trimmed his meticulously groomed mustache. His voice was deep and serious, and his mustache didn't even move.

"The frequencies of the twelve generating units are still not completely synchronized, but there are no problems with short-term startup."

"Do we have enough fuel?"

"The Black Forest mining area delivered a batch of high-quality coal the day before yesterday."

"Let's fill the pack then, and prepare to start collecting data again next time."

"Sir, shouldn't we make some repairs? After all, these machines were secretly purchased from Valois, and we can't ask the craftsmen there to come if they break down."

The man with the mustache was somewhat annoyed by these words. He rudely interrupted his subordinate, "I won't consider these things! You guys handle it!"

The gears creaked, and a messenger descended from the elevator. He quickly saluted the man with the mustache: "Reporting, sir, abnormal magical fluctuations have been detected in the Andorella city district. Alert signals have been detected in the city square!"

"A warning? Issued by the resident monk?"

"Yes! This is a signal collected from seven stations within the city, indicating a large-scale magical fluctuation."

The man with the mustache took the report: "It's Harvest Festival now. Is this Mars? Or Chris?" He pondered for a moment, then smiled excitedly: "Good! Good! Good!"

Saying "good" three times, the man walked up to the large metal sphere: "Forget about any divine interference, this is the perfect opportunity for an experiment! Quick! Hurry! Prepare to start the experiment!"

The man turned to his messenger and instructed him: "Please report the following: An underground cult is suspected of holding a large-scale illegal ceremony near our military base without authorization. The ceremony is centered in the city square. Please deploy special defense forces to suppress it. Our unit will conduct Test No. 302 to assist in stopping the illegal ceremony."

"Yes!" The messenger scribbled furiously in his notebook.

The three then left the scene one after another. The massive and complex system activated, steam billowed out of the fortress, and explosive roars echoed through the underground space. The large metal sphere began to slowly rotate, its surface glowing with electric light, outlining geometric patterns.

The metal sphere spun faster and faster, accelerating under the pulsating sound of electricity. The patterns formed by the electric light became indistinguishable, and the entire sphere began to glow.

If Rorschach were here, he would be astonished—this very unmagical space was generating electricity violently and continuously spewing magic through a device centered on a metal sphere.

"Power storage complete, entering activation state, low-noise mode."

The magical energy surged into the sky, gathering enough energy density and flux to become visible, erecting pillars of light from the fortress, piercing the ominous night and soaring into the clouds.

"Hahaha! No matter how many times I see it, I still find it spectacular!" In the secure control room, the man with the mustache couldn't stop laughing.

"This is the culmination of the Empire's highest wisdom, and also your great achievement, teacher."

"What am I in the empire? The empire's magical technology is the best in the world!"

(End of this chapter)