A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 567 Evolution in Different Directions

Is this "Me and My Nature Friends"? Rorschach initially thought the mask's simple design was due to poor craftsmanship in ancient times, but he had misunderstood the elves. So this is what they actually look like!

She has two round eyes and a round mouth, framed within her round face, giving her an innocent beauty.

It seemed to have some self-awareness, its two round dots, which could barely be called eyes, glancing askew at the oak mask.

"I have a hypothesis about how to use the mask, which can be verified immediately." Humboldt released the original spell, and the energy body known as the "Spirit of Nature" immediately dissipated. But before it had completely dissipated, the master began to knead it, just like kneading dough.

He gestured with both hands in the air, the ancient wooden mask floating in mid-air, and he continued to murmur and chant.

This spellcasting process was much longer. Although Rorschach didn't understand the summoning spell, he could discern the workings of magic and heterogeneous energy, and he could understand that Humboldt was constantly making attempts.

Gradually, pale green light began to gather and adhere to the mask.

"It's done."

It is still the "Spirit of Nature", but this time its face has been replaced by a mask.

"So this is just a spell-casting aid?" Rorschach was somewhat disappointed. After some estimation, he found that the energy density of the Nature Spirit was very low. Judging from its rather unintelligent appearance, it was indeed, as Humboldt had said, a spell that wasn't very useful.

Unexpectedly, Humboldt shook his head: "Not entirely. Master Rorschach, you may have misunderstood something: the mask came first, and the magic followed."

Nature magic evolved from the divine spells of the Druid system. It's reasonable to speculate that the technique of using masks to shape nature spirits first existed, and was later modified by mages to directly condense and summon them. No longer relying on external objects can be considered progress.

"I even suspect that the reason they look exactly alike is because these spirits like the appearance of the masks, and they have continued to do so ever since." Humboldt touched the surface of the ball of light, and he was able to interpret some of the spirits' feelings: "They are conveying feelings of liking, which means they are very fond of the masks."

Okay, I was being naive. It seems the mask has significant historical value, at least.

But then something else surfaced in his memory: "Wait a minute, haven't we encountered this spirit of nature before?"

Before Rorschach could finish speaking, Humboldt nodded repeatedly: "You finally made the connection." In the Black Forest, they had encountered a destroyed elven village, which contained monsters created by the symbiosis of trees and fungi.

What makes those monsters move on their own is the "spirit" that is condensed from the forest; you could say they are also spirits of nature.

"The mages chose to simplify the aids of physical objects, summoning pure energy entities that exist briefly but conveniently. The elves of the village we encountered chose the other extreme, determined to give the spirits of nature complete bodies. Although there are many differences, they are fundamentally very similar."

The existence of this mask lies somewhere in between, more like a skill that, in the hands of mages and elven villages, developed in different directions, reaching two extremes.

"These are my speculations, but considering the age of the items and our own history, this is probably the truth. We can continue to delve into the details." Humboldt was very confident in his deductions.

The general direction has been identified. The next step is simply to have the people below find corroborating materials in various classic texts, increase the number of references, and conduct some comparative studies to enrich the content.

For the Grand Master, that's basically it.

Rorschach was somewhat disappointed, but he couldn't force it. He had determined from the beginning that the mask itself didn't have any special manufacturing method. His current efforts were more like making use of the time he was waiting for Humboldt's main body.

Giving up on digging deeper, Luo Xia casually asked, "So these spirits can also communicate?" After all, the master had just said that the spirits of nature favored masks.

"Yes, they can express emotions, much like animals. After acquiring a complete body, they might have more advanced thinking, at least they can imitate and form communities, but they don't go beyond the scope of ordinary animals, so they can't be called 'intelligent' or 'speech'."

He demonstrated again to Rorschach, gently touching the surface of the orb of light: "Of course, the spirit of nature currently lacks the ability to speak. If the caster touches it, it will convey emotions to you if it so desires."

Humboldt's face froze.

"What's wrong?" Does wearing this mask have a paralyzing effect?

Humboldt's face alternated between pale and flushed, and one could also see doubt and joy, which was extremely rare for the composed Alexander.

"Qi." After a long pause, he uttered a single word, still in Jacobi.

Rorschach tilted his head, not understanding, while Humboldt directly told the young man to reach out and touch it as well.

Suddenly, he felt his thoughts being stirred, as if something was trying to intrude. But it was very light, like a knock on a door.

As Rorschach lowered his guard, a thought, a vague voice, suddenly echoed in his mind. Just as Humboldt had said, it was the syllable "Che" from the Jaberian language.

This is a slap in the face for the master! Luo Xia smiled mischievously at Humboldt: "It seems that the things of the descendants of the gods are still special, even if they are just pieces of wood."

"Don't underestimate wood, especially oak—the sacred tree of the Istani elves." Humboldt was also trying to save face by giving the small piece of wood to himself.

After receiving the message, he decided to give it a try.

It turns out that this mask acts like a contract, forging a stronger bond between the caster and the nature spirit. Its effect is...

The mask's eyes lit up, and soon the brightness of the light orb also increased. Rorschach could feel that it was absorbing and reshaping the magic power in the environment like a mage casting a spell. However, something might have gone wrong along the way, and the magic power was not properly converted or consumed, but instead accumulated in the spirit body.

The result was that the ball of light began to tremble violently, as if boiling inside its body.

Humboldt's expression changed drastically. He quickly composed himself and remained calm for a while before attempting the experiment again.

The spirit of nature slowly raised its thick, round arm, and a stream of acid spurted from its fingertips. It was a magic trick: [Acid Splash].

"After signing the contract, I can control it to cast spells." Humboldt was greatly surprised by this result: "At first, I chose a third-circle spell, but its small body was obviously too weak, and the casting process almost killed it."

Can contractual relationships be transferred?

"The connection after the contract is established is limited to this summoning." Humboldt said, dispersing the ball of light for the second time, and the mask immediately lost its power and fell into his hand.

"Based on my experience with [Summoning the Spirit of Nature], the spirit will dissipate and regenerate. I almost destroyed it just now; it must be angry."

Sensing the other party's emotions, Humboldt decisively disbanded the summoning, which meant unilaterally terminating the contract: "So I can only try again after a while, when a new batch of spirits will be condensed."

Is this the elf version of "If you won't do it, someone else will"? Rorschach regained interest in the mask: "I'll give it a try."

A project that had been shelved for a long time suddenly had hope.

(End of this chapter)