A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 391 War Fever

When the clone planted the tree, the original body sensed the change.

"Teacher?" Andrei couldn't help but worry as the altar remained unchanged. But Rorschach simply removed all the ritual booths: "It's over. The objective has been achieved."

"Then what about your clone?"

That wisp of soul can't be retrieved now, but it's not gone; it's buried deep within the spatial bubble, so it hasn't caused any damage to the main body. Could this be considered a blessing in disguise? Luo Xia sighed. Exchanging a clone for a piece of unclaimed land was worthwhile (obviously, neither he nor the clone knew what this space was originally for).

The only negative impact would probably be that he would no longer be able to cast the [Summoning Spell]. If his soul were torn apart again, his physical body would also be unable to bear it. If his soul were to split too many times, losing his nose and hair would be a greater loss than gain.

"What happened today must be known only to the two of us; no one else is to be told," Rorschach reminded Andrei. Compared to achieving his goal of finding the spatial vesicle, Rorschach was now more concerned with the information he had obtained at the Temple of Thoth.

He picked up the extinguished Balan pearl, played with it in his hand, and thought: At that time in the Second Temple, besides the many statues of "Bate", the most important thing was the emblem.

On the right side of the main hall, standing at the head is a double-faced Thoth with a "dragon head" and a "baboon head." The pattern on the wall seen from the right is undoubtedly the secret code of the "Arcane Hermitage," a pattern hidden in the insignia of all the guild's mages. When Rorschach's clone gazed at this secret code, it responded, displaying a series of blue-purple-red lights.

The other side is even more intriguing, with Balan among them, as well as Chulimo, the patron saint of travelers—Rorschach recalls the second statue on the left, all elements pointing to Him.

However, the statue opposite the double-faced Thoth only has an empty base. Either the original statue disappeared for some reason, or the deity never had a form to begin with.

It's easy to draw parallels to the invisible god worshipped in neighboring regions, similar to the two-faced Thoth!

Whether in words or sculptures, His characteristics seem to be expressed directly. He has no form and cannot be described.

Like the gods of wisdom, medicine, and the moon, who correspond to "creation of writing and alchemy," He doesn't seem like a god receiving offerings in the temple, but rather stands like a guard. In fact, all the statues are like a line of guards, and the entire second temple seems to have been built for the central image, or rather, the being that the image represents.

But looking from the left, it is actually the Holy Symbol of Order.

Balaam was a follower and prophet of the invisible god, while the right-hand seat of the Lord of Order was also suspected to be the invisible god.

I think I've discovered something incredible; the clichés of certain mythological conspiracy theorists have actually found a basis. Amateur investigator Rorschach consulted further materials and found descriptions of the monsters in the great hall in the scriptures of the gods of light and order:

Herubeni, the archangel who guards God's kingdom as commanded by the divine, is touted by charlatans as the prototype and presence of all living beings. He appears in various forms in different accounts, mostly as a winged beast with a human head, but also as an eagle with a griffin-like head or a strange bull's head.

So I still got the classic version. Rorschach chuckled, then remembered another detail: the clone rolled into the second veil from the right side of the main hall, under the illumination of the Hermitage's secret code. What if it had come from the left side of the main hall?

Given the appearance of the gatekeepers of the divine kingdom, could Rorschach possibly roll into the divine kingdom of the Lord of Order?

Oops. Almost got a shortcut to heaven. An unbeliever trespassing into the territory of a powerful, still active deity—you can't exactly say to Him, "Hello, I'm here to look at houses. I think this land is nice; would you like to sell or rent it?"

In any case, Rorschach now occupies a perfectly suitable space capsule, but further utilization will require relocating the Tower Spirit's mainframe.

No, there is another prerequisite: to determine whether that area is more inclined towards the material phase or the virtual phase. If it is a material-like realm like the "sub-plane", it is the simplest, just a matter of moving. If it is the latter, it is a symbolic realm, and it is unknown what problems will arise after the main body of the tower spirit enters.

All of these operations require the assistance of an expert in spacetime. Rorschach wrote another letter to Professor Caroline, but this time it was no longer a suggestion; instead, it was an invitation to join Rorschach's personal mage tower as a collaborative researcher.

"I've stumbled upon a small, unclaimed independent dimension. My initial assessment is that it's in a transmutation laminar flow. Fortunately, the spatial walls are stable enough. I'd like to invite you to explore and research it together." Rorschach was confident; this one sentence alone was enough to lure Ms. Caroline into working and collaborating on the research.

Will Caroline come? Very likely. Rorschach's offer of a "small independent dimension" is bait, and external factors are also urging Caroline to find a new job.

When she returned to the campus, the war had already begun, and the students of the Royal Magic Academy were unusually excited about it. They actively discussed the various battle reports that had been compiled.

Since most of the academy members came from wealthy and noble backgrounds and had their own channels of information, they were able to exchange news of their victories much faster than the public media. They enthusiastically discussed the heroic achievements of the Imperial Army, and there was a saying in the capital that the growth rate of the Moonlight Lake Restaurant's revenue reflected the speed of the war's progress.

Merit, fiefdom, and war bonds became frequently used words, filling the campus and surrounding areas with the fervor of victory.

The empire and the school were happy to see this happen, and even intended to give it a push: veterans who had made great contributions in the war were invited to come to the campus to promote their wartime achievements when they were temporarily relieved of their duties on the battlefield.

In the open-air plaza where the graduation ceremony had once been held, the speaker had changed from the principal to a senior student, and the content of his speech had transformed from soporific to inspiring. Dressed in a standard military uniform, the mage's robes overlaid with it couldn't conceal the gleaming medals: "The Empire needs more land under the sun! But the gods have ceased creating land; where will our land come from?"

Opinions varied among the audience, but the general sentiment was the same: "Cut it off from our enemy!" "Shoot it down!"

The senior colleague was very dissatisfied with the disorganized answer: "I can't hear you! I can't hear you! Speaking so softly, you think you can go to the battlefield?"

The apprentices finally raised their voices and shouted, "War! War!"

The speaker was satisfied: "Good, very spirited! That's right, only iron and blood can get us what we want, and only by forging swords can we use plows."

"Gentlemen, every time the empire expands its territory, it fairly rewards those who have contributed. We are far more fortunate than the earliest trainees, who received only manors in the harsh northern lands, while we will receive the rich Valois!"

Caroline disliked this atmosphere; the students' minds were no longer on the mysteries of magic, and they were even more inattentive to her lessons—studying stars and spacetime was not something that low-level mages could use to attack enemies.

It wasn't until Caroline heard that some students, after learning about her background, privately called her "Valois girl."

"This can't go on! I think there's no normal teaching environment anymore." She angrily approached the new discipline chief, a retired military monk.

But the school's discipline officer disagreed. He was about to tell Caroline something else: "Madam, I regret to inform you that you need to undergo a security review and will need to suspend teaching until the results are available."

(End of this chapter)