A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 340 You really are an evil sorcerer

When Rorschach saw Mr. Bors again, the man did not disappoint him.

The old man had his apprentice bring over two intricately designed spheres and explained, "We have completed three sets of parts as required. After assembly, we have two qualified finished products."

Due to the precision and tolerance requirements, completing two qualified machines in five days was already an achievement for all the craftsmen. In addition to Bart having advanced the money for materials, he also allowed these craftsmen to drink as much "Fanta" liquor as they wanted, maximizing their efficiency.

"Very good." Rorschach paid the final payment and agreed bonuses for Bors and the others, except for one of Bors' apprentices who didn't leave.

"Hey, stop bothering the master!" Bors, who was about to leave, scolded the inconsiderate apprentice.

"I'm sorry. But I'm still very curious." The young man stood there bravely and said, "I want to know what I'm doing. This is the first time I've assembled such a strange, exquisite and complex object, but I can't imagine what it's for."

"It has a built-in timing mechanism but no exposed dial. It has a series of repetitive parts composed of various springs and linkages that change differently when rotated. It has many similarities to a clock, but it is also quite different."

"But I still don't understand it. If you can't even figure out the purpose of the work you made yourself, how can you repair and improve it later?" The young man shook his head and said, "As a craftsman, this is unqualified."

Bart looked at the old man suspiciously: "Did your apprentice make this?"

Bors was terrified: "This kid is talking nonsense. The blueprints were provided by the two of you. How can we say that they are our own work?" He pretended to drag the dishonest apprentice out and give him a good scolding when they got back to the shop.

The apprentice remained stubborn: "Master's eyesight isn't good these days; he can't possibly read all those blueprints. Of course, only I can finish it. Master, that's not important. Please tell me! I just need one answer."

"You brain-dead idiot, how dare you ask me about the mage's affairs? Just do your job!" Bors wanted nothing more than to blow his apprentice's head off on the spot. He had always considered this kid his heir because of his superior skills. If nothing unexpected happened, they would sign a contract for the apprentice to inherit the shop and support the childless Bors.

But today, this kid put on a show of "If I hear the Way in the morning, I am willing to die for it," making Bors wish he could turn back the clock eleven years and kick himself when he took him on as a disciple.

"Mr. Bors, please go out first. I want to talk to this gentleman." Rorschach liked curious kids like this, so he asked the man's name.

"Behnken Goppert".

"Okay, first of all, its name is 'General Purpose Computing Core'. I don't know if you've heard of 'Differential Machine'. They are machines that use mechanical structures to perform operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. However, the two machines you assembled have a more compact structure than other machines."

"But I can't provide more information, because neither the other mage nor I were its designers. However, I have its complete set of blueprints, as well as the plaintiff's documents explaining its principles and how it works. Would you like to see them?"

Of course I want to, but before Gao Po could speak, Luo Xia's expression suddenly turned ferocious: "However, this machine involves the secrets of us mages. If you want to control everything about it, you must sign a contract with us."

This isn't some ordinary contract where you just write your name and put your fingerprint on it; it's a magical contract. If you utter even a single word of it to the outside world without permission, you will be torn to pieces.

As he spoke, a ghostly green flame ignited in his hand, as if he were preparing to draw evil runes. The eerie, pale green flame made his face, which had been suffering from poor sleep lately, look particularly frightening.

Bart's heart skipped a beat. He thought to himself: "Rorschach has been acting strange ever since he returned from Istani. Could he have fallen into the clutches of an evil sorcerer?"

"All the blueprints, and the design principles?" Goper looked directly into Rorschach's eyes, and finally nodded.

Bart watched as Rorschach conjured incomprehensible runes out of thin air, which then flowed into the forehead of the somewhat nervous and frightened watchmaking apprentice. Rorschach then wrote a letter and handed it to the apprentice: "It seems your master doesn't want you anymore. Take this letter to the Green Wind Inn and find Mr. Hassai. Ask him to give you a salary that will satisfy you."

"From now on, you're one of us. All the information is with Lanster; you'll have it soon."

The apprentice, who received only a blank document, looked utterly defeated. He felt as if he had become the mage's slave and began to regret his impulsive actions. He walked out of the mage tower like a lost soul.

"I think the apprentice is right. Since it's a mechanical structure, it's prone to malfunctions, and someone needs to master its improvement and maintenance." Rorschach touched the surface of the metal ball.

"That spell didn't actually work, did it? You were just trying to scare him?" Bart came to his senses, realizing he'd ended up finding an employee.

".you guess?"

Since the transfer of the soul was a matter of great importance and could not be disturbed, several clay statues were erected around the mage tower, each holding a sign that read: "The tower is closed today. Do not approach."

The location remains the bathroom in the Mage Tower, as it has become the magical hub of the Wirtz region, and Rorschach is most likely to enter a mage's state while sitting in the bathtub.

There was a ball placed in front of the bathtub.

Andrei became the busiest person in the tower, preparing all the materials, while Bart stood by with the recovery scroll at any time.

Although he didn't understand why Rorschach seemed to be facing a life-or-death situation simply because he was creating a tower spirit, Bart recalled the new knowledge the couple had recently gained from their nanny and had a bizarre idea pop into his head: Was Rorschach preparing to give birth to a tower spirit?

He truly did fall into the trap of becoming a wicked sorcerer! An evil spirit was gestating within him, and he was using the guise of creating tower spirits to be reborn in Würzburg.

Once a bold idea is born, countless pieces of evidence will prove it, and Rorschach's various strange behaviors seem to be explained.

You really are an evil sorcerer!

Bart gripped the scroll tightly in his hand; he was becoming an accomplice to the evil ritual, yet he was powerless against his friend.

No, my family is still here! Protecting Würzburg is the duty of the resident mage; we can't let Rorschach continue down this wrong path! Bart's expression gradually hardened. He still held the recovery scroll in one hand, but his other hand quietly reached for the [Lightning Bolt] scroll at his waist, a tool he always carried for self-defense and survival.

Rorschach saw Bart looking at him with a constipated expression, and his preparatory "out-of-body" meditation vanished. Rorschach reflected on his own actions and felt it necessary to confide in his friend to avoid any misunderstandings:

"Sorry, but I need to explain the principles to you before we officially begin. After all, you're a client of the 'Pioneer Project'!" Rorschach briefly recounted the story of Istani to Bart, albeit in a very simplified version:

"I stumbled upon a plot to return to the Holy Mother Order and was forced to hide in the underground of Storm City. There I met Teacher Caroline, who had a similar experience, and received the inheritance of an ancient mage. I thwarted the plot. The End."

"The price is that my current soul is mixed with the memories left by the ancient mage and an artificial soul, so I have to rely on a huge amount of magic power to suppress it."

He then introduced the preparation plan for the Tower Spirit: "I will use the [Descent Summoning Spell] to separate the soul impurities. This is an artificial soul made by the ancient master himself, so let's not waste it. It will be used as material for the [Enlightenment Spell] and poured into the universal computing unit to create the Tower Spirit's wisdom core."

"Alright, are there any other questions?"

All sorts of problems! But Bart breathed a sigh of relief, as long as Rorschach wasn't an evil sorcerer: "So you also saw Professor Caroline?"

"Yes, I invited a teacher to Byrne, and she said she'd been absent from school for too long and would be expelled if she didn't return!"

(End of this chapter)