A mage? A spell engineer!

Chapter 571: What's more important than research than romance?

Never mind, I'll just consider it a contribution to the research.

Of course, caution is still necessary. Rorschach used the materials in the border area to create a Stand, established a connection with the Stand, and then had the Stand complete the contract, which was essentially a safety bottle.

Having received Rorschach's offer to sign him, the mask found its way, its roots plunging directly into the Stand and connecting with its magical circuitry.

Instantly, a surge of magical power poured in, forcefully turning the green of the roots into a blue glow, and the simulated energy body also began to fluctuate violently.

It's really fragile. The Stand is probably about 70% of his level, which is about the same as Master Humboldt. However, Rorschach didn't control its power. The moment the circuit and roots connected, the Mask-Energy System was completely cleansed by the magic power in Rorschach's body under extreme imbalance.

Wait patiently for it to stabilize. Rorschach tested its performance and found it to be better than the original Nature Spirit, capable of handling third-circle magic.

After a thorough examination, Rorschach confirmed that the mask itself did not possess any divine power or divinity. Perhaps it had in the past, but Sylvanas was probably long gone. This was for the best, ensuring safety.

Considering that it was intended for use by non-spellcasters, Rorschach then tested the second item.

The "prototype" of the mask has been registered in the border area. He then created another one, and now all the parts have been "produced in China". The main feature is that it is safe and controllable and can be put into the information technology innovation market to make money.

He started over, from casting the spell to retrieving the Stand. This Stand didn't inherit Rorschach's magical abilities at all; like Martin, it was almost completely immune to them. He first manipulated the Tree of Law to extend its thinnest branches to entwine the Stand, then had the mask replica extend its roots to bridge the gap.

This time, the energy body was flooded with golden light, which also transformed it—the root-like magic circuits developed again, becoming even more complex.

Another round of stress testing ensued, with Rorschach using almost all the spells collected by the spell cloud. This time, the limit was fifth-circle spells, but unfortunately, there were biases and limitations.

For example, the power ceiling of Evocation magic is not high, which is only at the level of a low-level mage; among other complex spells, nature magic is effective, while spells involving illusion, mapping, etc. will basically fail unless the spell frequency sent from the cloud has a sufficiently complete "descriptor".

The power of a spell is also limited by the energy body's ability to gather magic power. Like a real spellcaster, it can accumulate environmental magic power and continuously absorb it to replenish itself. The difference is that its concentration is not high, and the consequences of exhaustion from spellcasting are more severe than for humans. After all, its existence is based on magic power itself, and when it is exhausted, it will only collapse and dissipate.

The result was less than satisfactory by Rorschach's standards, because he knew very well that they were at the boundary, and what they got was theoretical performance, like a phone running benchmarks in a refrigerator. Consumers—well, we can call the users of this system "contractors"—would never reach the performance ceiling.

To put it optimistically, at present, it can only allow ordinary people to experience the "joy" of being a magic apprentice.

That's not bad either.

The mask's construction is based on purely biological principles, using oak wood modified with elven technology. Rorschach would never ask those elves for oak wood; even if he could offer them "tickets" in exchange, it's a crucial component. How could he let them hold him hostage?

Its power lies in its ability to create simulated magical circuits, which can not only automatically adjust according to the shape and size of the energy body, but also connect the contracted person with the spirit of nature, completing the conversion between two completely different systems.

To understand the characteristics that Rorschach needs, the first step is to convert the two systems to a fixed state. Although there may be individual differences among the contracted individuals, the Tree of Law is actually the one that provides technical support for the "cheat code," which is a one-to-many relationship.

"The prototype has already been figured out, and I can replicate it here. How could I possibly be held hostage by an elf? That's impossible!"

If purely virtual replicas are allowed at the border, what material would be needed to replace the special oak wood once it reaches the material plane? Rorschach quickly came up with a solution.

Martin returned to the forbidden biological laboratory. He hadn't been there in so long that he was even a little rusty when it came to completing the safety disinfection procedures.

It is said that Master Rorschach has gone into seclusion for some time again, refusing many visitors. Principal Caroline is also away from the school most of the time. It seems that a group of green-robed Forest Tower mages have visited, but they can be seen sometimes and then disappear again. They have never been seen going to the fields.

Now that Rorschach has ended his reclusive state, Martin is a little nervous because he didn't expect the first person he would look for is himself.

The lab remained spotless, and the experimental organisms had been removed; they were reportedly transferred to Bassford for testing some new drug. Martin's knowledge was limited; he had only heard that new drugs were extracted from coal.

Even refining gold from coal is more likely, or maybe he misheard. Thinking this, he approached Luo Xia.

"Are you still wearing the pendant? You've taken good care of the symbiote inside," Rorschach praised.

Martin chuckled, "Even if there's no progress, we've developed a bond over time. It's quite obedient and can recognize me now." Hannah occasionally hoped Martin would get rid of this "evil creature," but he couldn't bear to part with it and had been feeding it to it in a daze until now.

When Martin mentions his lover, a smile involuntarily creeps onto his face, and he starts rambling on and on. Rorschach has to interrupt him to check on the symbiote.

So Martin demonstrated how to feed them in front of Rorschach: he opened the pendant's container and extended his index finger close to the clump of microorganisms inside.

The sludge mass instantly grabbed his index finger. Judging from Martin's completely indifferent expression, he felt no pain. After about half a minute, the small tentacles that the symbiote was clinging to Martin's index finger automatically released them. When he raised his hand, Rorschach saw a tiny drop of blood. The wound was so small that it was almost invisible.

The symbiote does not currently exhibit much intelligence, but compared to the native species' aggressive behavior of being active in the water, eating people and being bloodthirsty, it is already intelligent, dignified and calm.

"Not bad, not bad at all." Rorschach praised him a couple more times and then patted Martin on the shoulder: "You've kept the promise you made back then."

"Really? Thank you." Martin was somewhat pleased, but not particularly surprised. Perhaps this is the ease and composure of someone who's successful in life.

Damn it, could you have reacted any stronger, or at least pretended? You've ruined my sense of accomplishment after all that work.

Rorschach took out a cup of potion, added processed transmutation dust into it, and followed the same process as "fusion" and "activation" at the border, resulting in an aqueous solution that resembled a spirit.

He then incorporated a portion of the symbiote that Martin had cultivated into it.

Originally, "Rorschach bacteria" lived in water. After confirming that there was no rejection reaction between the symbiote and the alchemical potion, he added everything into it, and the symbiote, which received ample energy, rapidly increased in size.

Rorschach remained calm. He presented a metal disc with an extremely complex circuit. In the center of the array was a bowl-shaped groove, and in the middle of the circuit was a crystal ball. The symbiote was thrown into the groove and frantically pounded on the wall, while Martin, as Rorschach had instructed, placed his hands on the surface of the crystal ball.

The inscribed magic circle was a weakened version of [Axiomatic Creation], which he named [Simulated Creation]: "Activate the scroll, then imagine the image of a creature, making it as perfect as possible, not too large in size, and not too flamboyant in appearance. If this fails, your symbiote will die."

Actually, this step requires Martin to provide a blueprint for the "mapping". Even if you can't cast a spell, you can still imagine it, right?

"Okay." Martin did as instructed.

As the image took shape in Martin's mind, the mixture of the symbiote and the pseudo-spirit began to change. The magic circle activated, taking over for Martin to complete the other steps.

In addition, the magic array on the metal disc will induce some of the symbionts to differentiate into woody tissue, and even tissues harder than woody tissue to form a skeleton. Its skull is equivalent to a mask, and it extends countless roots invisible in the material world to form magic circuits.

Finally, the puppy-like creature ran happily from the center of the magic circle to the front of the crystal ball, licking Martin's little hands and wagging its tail wildly.

"Once you complete the final step of the contract, you will become a contracted being capable of casting spells."

"So cute! I'm going to show it to Hannah, she'll definitely love it!" Martin blurted out his first thought, not having heard Rorschach's words for a moment.

Having a partner doesn't make you any special. Enough already!

(End of this chapter)