A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 411 The Possibility of Symbiosis

While everyone else was reeling from the device and leaning against the walls, Martin straightened his back and helped Hannah up: "Where do you feel unwell?"

Rorschach recovered first and instructed, "Please have Professor Caroline and Miss Hannah rest before continuing the testing. Andrei will be in charge of recording the experimental data. I'll take Martin for a medical checkup."

Before anyone else could react, Rorschach dragged Martin out of the isolation room and into another room.

"This is."

"Does this look familiar?" Rorschach led him to the old biological laboratory, which still followed the same disinfection process. Inside, there were various jars and small animals being raised.

Another construct, equipped with multiple flexible arms, was feeding small animals that had sacrificed themselves for magic. It opened the cage, a sharp popping sound emanating from within; the construct stuffed food into the cage and immediately closed it again, the sound fading away. It's a good container for isolating smells and sound when necessary.

However, Martin noticed that the wall directly opposite the front door had been replaced with a transparent glass greenhouse. It was lush and green inside, but upon closer inspection, the plants were somewhat monotonous.

The greenhouse's light source must have been artificial; in the short time they had been there, the midday sun had faded into a dim, lingering glow.

Rorschach followed Martin's gaze and explained briefly, "Since the war began, the raw materials for producing energy potions have been cut off, so they are currently cultivating new ones. Whatever you do, don't go inside the door."

Martin didn't delve into the reason; he simply followed instructions obediently. Rorschach went through the magic test procedure with him again, marveling at it.

"When Andrei assessed you, he just wrote down 'one without magic' in a hasty manner, but now it seems that you are much more special, Martin. Even the plants in the greenhouse have a stronger spiritual aura than you."

Martin had heard this familiar assessment before, so his emotions weren't particularly affected. He shrugged and said, "Yeah, I know I don't have the talent."

"No, no, no, as long as you are special enough, it can definitely be developed into some kind of advantage. For example, right now, you are most suitable to replace Andrei in recording the experiment—in the isolation room, you are the only one who is not affected by the anti-magic device."

Martin felt better after being comforted, and Rorschach took out the live aquatic microorganisms from the pendant on his chest: "Look at the results of your feeding."

He opened it and found that the biological activity inside was not very good. Rorschach could see the gel slowly wriggling in the bottle, but the bacterial clumps exuded an air of "lying flat" and were listless.

Was it also because Martin's magic power was too low? Rorschach took half of the amount, added a small amount of white sugar to the small bottle to "nourish" these little guys, and resealed it to return to Martin.

The extracted samples were used for other purposes.

Rorschach opened a metal box, and Martin, standing nearby, immediately felt a chill run down his spine. The mage took out slime mold he had discovered in the Black Forest.

In the petri dish, they are white and fleshy, samples cultivated by the Forest Tower. They were once used to replace the tattered respiratory organs of a tuberculosis patient, and now that recovered boy is working as Mr. Hase's assistant under a different name.

Rorschach poured Martin's cultivated microorganisms evenly over the top, just like sprinkling berry jam on cream. However, the combination didn't result in a delicious dessert; instead, the two began to pupate and entangle each other.

Rorschach added another drop of culture medium, resealed the petri dish, and put it back in the "refrigerator." Before the heavy, thick door closed, the active bacteria inside made the glass lid crackle.

"As you can see, I mixed two organisms together. They didn't merge at first; instead, they fought. So, by placing them in a low-temperature environment, giving them an unsuitable arena, ideally, they won't fight to the death. Instead, they might eventually stop fighting and coexist."

When the spirit creations of the Black Forest were first discovered, their bodies were composed of white mycelium, plant-like substances, and other microorganisms living in symbiosis. The Forest Tower extracted these mycelium and cultivated them separately.

Because the discovery of mycelia and living aquatic microorganisms is related to Rorschach, he can still receive timely updates on the research results from the Forest Tower and occasionally obtain samples.

Professional research is conducted by professional mages. Luo Xia made bold attempts under the theoretical guidance of the Forest Tower, such as forcibly "matchmaking" two promising microorganisms by starting from the symbiotic habits of mycelium and the clustering characteristics of living water bacteria.

"The white tissue you saw earlier can even be used to repair or replace some human organs, but it requires multiple generations of special cultivation."

"As you can see, if the two little creatures can coexist, they could very well also establish a symbiotic relationship with humans."

Rorschach's words made Martin involuntarily swallow: "You mean, if I could..."

Rorschach interrupted him: "But the current mixing is just an experiment, and success cannot be guaranteed. So you need to continue cultivating the microorganisms in the vial to provide material for subsequent experiments."

"Yes!" Martin answered with even more enthusiasm, seeing a glimmer of hope.

Assuming everything goes smoothly, Martin will be able to form a symbiotic relationship with the two microorganisms, thereby gaining acquired spellcasting abilities. However, there is a risk: it wouldn't be fun if Martin turned into a monster.

Rorschach's gaze swept over the cages that had already been emptied.

Hopefully, Martin's unique physical condition will bring hope, and several additional safety measures should be added to reduce the risk.

As the two went outside, the experiment in the isolation room also ended. Caroline and Hannah tested all the spells logged into the "Spell Cloud" as planned, and Andrei recorded the anti-interference effect.

"Ugh, ugh." Hannah vomited as soon as she stepped outside.

The obsidian silver wire walls of the isolation room were originally designed for strong shielding, but this also meant that the dissipated magic would not form a magic-free dead magic zone, but would instead be reflected back by the walls, resulting in a "super-double" effect.

At some point, the construct also came out with Rorschach and Martin, a hand with a flexible tube extending out, precisely catching the vomit, and then handing over water.

Without a second thought, Hannah drank the water that was originally meant for feeding the animals.

"Professor Luo Xia, I'll organize the experimental results and data when I get back and hand them in to you tomorrow. I have things to do at the factory, so I'll have to go now."

"Thank you all for your hard work." Rorschach gestured for the others to leave as well, watching Martin help Hannah out of the mage tower's main hall.

Caroline didn't leave; she needed to check the stability of the portal again, especially after the isolation room triggered a continuous surge of magical energy.

She had another purpose: "What is this?"

"It's the construct that takes care of my Arcane Garden, hence the codename 'Gardener.' It can also be entrusted with cleaning inside the tower."

This construct has short legs, but all its flexible arms are very long, making it look like it's very good at getting things done.

Caroline stared intently into Rorschach's eyes: "This construct is not controlled by the Tower Spirit."

(End of this chapter)