A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 354 I Have a Bold Idea

Andrei is now suffering from significant mental and physical exhaustion.

He enjoyed a privilege that many magic apprentices could not experience—one-on-one tutoring. Even most apprentices in the Thirteen Mage Tower only attended large classes, bought their own scrolls to study on their own, and asked questions to mages during short breaks.

However, he then encountered difficulties learning the [Frost Ray]. Rorschach understood the mechanism using only a learning scroll, and then the entry breakdown appeared on the panel.

Although Andrei doesn't have a character panel, the fact that "freezing" type spells appear in the first level proves that the principle of "energy deprivation" is not complicated and can be done by low-level mages.

The next upgrades in spell ring rank are simply about producing more "coolness" and upgrading the form and range. At the pinnacle, it can change the climate of a place or create rays that approach absolute zero.

To achieve the eighth level of the [Polar Ray] or summon an ice blade that can cover an area, you need not only more magic power, but also an improved "energy efficiency ratio" and a well-thought-out casting strategy.

However, to suppress the immense heat of a [Fireball] spell or an explosion, one needs to achieve both a large area of ​​effect and a fast cooling rate.

"I'm sorry, teacher, I can't go on." Andrei wished he could just lie down. His exposed skin was burning, and his hair and clothes smelled burnt.

With only a rudimentary grasp of the [Ice Ray], he couldn't break Rorschach's [Fireball] spell, even when Rorschach controlled its power. Furthermore, Rorschach forbade Andrei from using other magic, so after several failures, Andrei nearly lost his eyebrow.

If you can't catch the fireball, you won't be able to meet the requirements of the series of spells.

Seeing that the sky was getting dark, Rorschach pulled Andre up. He first cast a healing spell, and then reversed the damage that the Fireball spell had done to the apprentice's clothes.

That's all for today.

"Shall we continue tomorrow?"

Rorschach was not satisfied with today's results. Using the same learning scroll as a teaching tool, Bart mastered more complex spells in just one night, while Andre's learning efficiency was much lower. However, unlike Bart, he wasn't a formally trained mage with a complete magical education, and his spellcasting ability was weaker compared to his peers in the magic tower.

The problem lies in the lack of early education; we can't force growth. Luo Xia reflected on whether he was too eager for quick success. He silently thought: Think about how he couldn't remember formulas, how his CET-4 vocabulary was stuck on "abandon," and how he couldn't write down the main materials of ion exchange membranes in the exam.

Okay, it's all over now.

Andrei didn't know what kind of mental change Rorschach had gone through; he only witnessed his teacher's expression change from a distorted, twitching look to a kind smile in an instant—which looked particularly terrifying under the shadows of dusk.

Andrei shuddered, regretting that he had said the wrong thing, as if he had inadvertently revealed his aversion to studying.

Fortunately, Rorschach's words weren't criticism: "Tomorrow has other plans, and you need to rest and review new knowledge. How about this, we'll arrange one or two practice sessions every ten days, and you can practice on your own the rest of the time."

"Well done today." Luo Xia patted Andrei on the shoulder to encourage him, though he didn't understand why Andrei felt a shiver run down his spine.

Despite the encouragement, Rorschach still wanted to accelerate Andrei's mastery of magic. Andrei's progress was average, but the reality was that he didn't have much room for slow, deliberate development.

The more intense the war becomes, the more problems will arise. Moreover, the factory's reckless construction will undoubtedly pose numerous safety hazards. If Andrei can handle any emergencies, the potential risks in the future will be greatly reduced.

"Actually, even just me and Andrei aren't enough." Rorschach suddenly had a bold idea: Andrei was only thinking about whether he could mass-produce scrolls and alchemical weapons. What if he could mass-produce spellcasters?

The Empire's single Royal Magic Academy is too slow. What Rorschach wants is for more people to learn magic, and for the spells they cast to be standardized like magic circles, reducing individual differences between different casters of the same spell.

This lowers the barrier to becoming a spellcaster, allowing more people with the ability to manipulate environmental magic to cast qualified spells.

Andrei's magical talent is mediocre. Both the alchemy experts and Bart believe that he will need considerable effort to become a formal mage. Indeed, based on today's observations, Andrei's ability to manipulate environmental magic is not strong, and his methodical approach to casting spells slows him down.

The more advanced human tools are, the less physiological factors such as muscle mass and endurance affect a person's productivity. The same applies to spellcasters, but Rorschach does not intend to rely on piling on staves, spell gems, and other such materials; he wants to explore more efficient and intensive methods.

"Teacher Rorschach?" Andrei saw that Rorschach seemed to have lost his soul and was rushing off to another path. He pulled Rorschach back to the right path and brought him back to reality from his reverie.

"Oh, it's nothing. Let's go eat."

Andrei was somewhat suspicious; he felt that Luo Xia was acting strangely today.

Luo Xia, who had no appetite, hurriedly stuffed the food into his mouth and then rushed into the research and development building at the former site of the food factory.

At this time, this building was the most important building in the entire factory area. Rorschach specially assigned two specialized golems to guard the door. These golems appeared to be mud covered with tung oil, just like the other individuals, but they were encased in staggered metal plates, similar to armor plates hidden under the skin.

Because the research building has not only transmutation dust collectors on the ground floor, but also a computing core cluster powered by two collectors.

At the very center is the core that holds the soul, while the other computing units that have not been modified by the [Enlightenment] spell are arranged around the core like stars surrounding the moon, communicating with each other through circuits made of mithril/copper alloy wires, using magical pulses as signals.

For the core that carries the mage's knowledge, this signal transmission method should be more efficient and compatible than mechanical transmission. Rorschach didn't know how much delay there would be, but at least it could handle the tasks it was currently required to perform.

Of the ten outer computing units, three are constantly lit and two are flashing, indicating that they are active—controlling the puppets and calling upon the "Sky Knights".

One machine was different from the other computing cores. After Rorschach entered, it was driven by the "Tower Spirit" and began to operate. Then, the [Communication] array lit up, and a voice sounded in Rorschach's mind: "Hello, Master."

Fortunately, it's a proper tower spirit, a creation constructed from a formless artificial soul, much like other intelligent constructs. If it were some kind of cheesy, cheesy version of Rorschach, he'd probably dig a mage tower out of his toes.

However, Rorschach still had a slight regret: the awakened wisdom was not the personality of the ancient sorcerer, proving that the wise man had no intention of possessing Rorschach. But Rorschach also lost his "old man".

It's good that the old man has completely retired.

Composing himself, Rorschach began to test his ideas. First, he drew the series of spells he originally intended to teach Andre onto a learning scroll. Because it was composed of multiple nested spells, the finished product was astonishingly large and extremely complex.

Then Rorschach attached a magic detection probe to the Fourier transform computing machine originally used to emit sound signals, just like in Poincaré's laboratory, and began to have the tower spirit record and analyze the entire magic.

In addition to the computing unit, the memory, which was modified based on the original design, also began to operate. After receiving the magic pulse, the tiny oscillating crystal particles bound to the circuit by the alloy wire began to deflect, and each one recorded a short pulse.

These thousands of crystal clusters form a matrix that releases specific oscillating signals the next time magic is channeled, replicating the message received at the beginning.

"Entry complete. Parsing in progress. Do not disconnect power." The Tower Spirit's notification sound always felt like something out of a certain operating system. It must be a broadcast method formed by reading Rorschach's past memories.

It can't possibly be Rorschach, the "King of Bad Jokes," acting as a language assistant here, right?

Once the analysis is complete, Rorschach can proceed to the next step.

He had tried to give the puppet the ability to cast simple spells when the tower spirit controlled it, but he failed.

However, what if the tower spirit and Andrei were to establish a connection to assist someone who already possesses the ability to cast spells?

Acknowledgments will be added to the next update. Thank you for reading!

(End of this chapter)