Wizard: Surviving in the Steam Age with Points for Demon Hunter

Chapter 94 Changing the Mechanical School (Bonus Chapter for Monthly Tickets)

At this moment, the red moon hangs high, illuminating the entire earth.

At the highest point in the central area of ​​Castel, on the bell tower of Krims Cathedral, Andrews and Allais sat facing each other, each holding a glass of beer and drinking large gulps of barley beer.

"Alles, you've gone too far today."

Andrews put down his glass and began to protest.

"If things had really gone too far, those clergymen probably would have stormed into the Secret Investigation Department this morning, right?"

Alles wiped the beer spilling from the corner of his mouth. "If anyone's going to say something's wrong, it's you guys. You didn't describe it that way at the last meeting."

"What's the difference? It's either dawn or a storm. You can't expect them to choose the red moon, can you?" Andrews didn't think he'd done anything wrong. "Like that time..."

"Andrews, I advise you not to continue."

Ares's expression turned cold. "The world is not only about the church. Faith is power, but also a shackle. I believe you know this better than anyone else."

Andrews didn't argue, but poured himself another beer and said with a wry smile, "The important thing is to stay alive, isn't it?"

"Alive? Tsk tsk, if I had known you would turn out like this, I should have abandoned you in the first place."

"Then you'll also die on the Sea of ​​Córdoba?"

"..."

Alles swallowed his anger, and after a long while, he finally spoke: "Speak, what did you call me here for this time? If it's the same as this morning, then don't say anything, so I don't waste my last bit of energy on you."

Andrews turned to look in the direction of Parliament, and the amiable expression on his face disappeared in the light of the red moon.

"Let's not talk about things that have already failed... This is my personal request; I hope you can protect that girl for me."

"You said the same thing last time."

"This time is different."

Ares looked at him suspiciously and asked, "What happened?"

"I don't know," Andrews shook his head slightly, "I just have a bad feeling."

"A premonition? That's not a good thing. Your premonitions are usually very accurate..."

"That's why I'm asking you for help, Ares. I know you don't have much time left, but actually... I don't have much time left either."

"Um?"

Andrews pulled up the sleeves of his white robe with gold trim, revealing his clean arms, where a pattern drawn with gold thread was visible.

"Dawn is already calling me."

Ares stared at the pattern, his face darkening, and asked with a hint of anger, "When did it start?"

"This afternoon..."

"Is it related to the morning's celebration?"

"I'm afraid so," Andrews said, pulling up his sleeves and sighing. "According to past records, I have 100 days left from when it appears."

"There should only be 99 days left."

"...Ales, with your personality, it's really not easy for you to have survived until now."

Ares took a sip of his drink, a hint of sadness flashing behind his monocle. "Thank you for the compliment."

"So you agreed?"

"Yes, as long as she's within the Secret Investigation Division, I'll keep her safe. You know I can't go too far."

Andrews smiled kindly again. "That's good. Hopefully, my premonition won't come true this time..."

"I said that a long time ago, but when has it ever come true?"

"Just this once!"

"hehe……"

……

……

It's not clean anymore, it's not clean anymore...

Wayne stared blankly at Claire, never imagining that one day he would be forced to adjust the position of the clock's disc and the direction of its hands.

Especially that pointer, its color is just too pink.

Claire released his hand, her face flushed. "How is it? Is it fixed?"

"No, after all, there are two hanging bells, so we'll have to wait a while..."

"Well, you can go slower. Remember to adjust the time. It's 10 p.m. now, so just twist it ten times."

"Ten laps? That's clockwise, right? Then counter-clockwise would be fourteen laps, I..."

[You've been corrupted by the power of desire; unfortunately, you've succumbed to it once again. Evaluation: Hmm... it takes two to tango. Special Reward: Resilience Level -1.]

I'm fucking idiot!

Wei En woke up with a start, sat up, looked around, and said with a wry smile, "It was just a dream..."

It's all Claire's fault. If she was going to leave, why did she have to tease him like that before she left? It made him have those kinds of dreams again…

grass,

Wayne suddenly remembered that he wasn't at his residence, and he hadn't brought any change of clothes...

"Well, you're in luck today, you can run an empty car."

Left with no other choice, Wei En could only tidy up a bit and stare blankly at the red moon outside the window for a while.

He's been in this world for over ten days now, and he wonders what the other world is like.

They must be very sad, right?

"Since I can't go back, let me take a good look at this wonderful world."

After a long while, Wei En let out a long breath and sealed these memories deep within his origin.

Memories are precious, but he hasn't yet reached the point of being unable to extricate himself from the past, especially since his current environment requires him to be more focused and cautious...

Immediately afterwards, Wayne opened his box, took out paper and pen, and, referring to the knowledge of runes in his mind, carefully drew the rune array for the mechanical puppet.

In the past two days, he has completed dozens of blueprints for mechanical puppets.

But each drawing brings him a different experience, especially when disassembling the various parts. Some parts are only the size of a fingernail but have more than a dozen lines engraved on them.

This is undoubtedly the crystallization of the wisdom of our predecessors.

Therefore, when drawing the blueprints, Wayne became more and more careful, earnestly trying to understand the purpose of the design. If there was anything he didn't understand, he would consult Jerry Wizard's notes.

The progress is not slow.

After studying it for a period of time, he realized that the mechanical puppet was not a mecha from the technological side, but a combat weapon that could be manipulated through rune arrays.

Just like the core rune array of the [Ironheart Fury], in addition to the Unyielding Heart and Fury Burst runes, there are also connecting runes for easy manipulation.

This connecting rune is the foundation of the mechanical golem, or rather, the foundation of all mechanical golems.

Its function is not only to connect with mechanical wizards, but also to easily convert wizards' thought commands into mechanical puppet movements, even down to the smallest finger joint movements.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it the core of the mechanical golem's core.

Therefore, after figuring this out, Wayne focused his research on dismantling and reassembling the core rune array.

He knew very well that only by mastering each rune to its fullest extent could he completely assemble the entire rune array.

This step might be difficult for others, but for Wayne, it was the simplest.

[You have successfully crafted the Heart of Fortitude rune... Special reward: Survival Points +3, Spirit Level +1.]

[You have successfully drawn the Spirit Transformation Rune...]

[...Keystone Runes...]

Keystone Runes?

So that's what the Link Rune is called?

That's quite a vivid description—the cornerstone of mechanical puppet construction.

After disassembling all the runes related to [Ironheart Fury], Wayne drew a total of four runes: Heart of Fortitude, Fury Burst, Keystone Rune, and Spirit Transformation Rune for replenishing energy.

He then used the panel to upgrade the level of the four runes to the maximum level.

[Congratulations! Your Rune Knowledge: Keystone Rune has reached the maximum level. Effect: The success rate of drawing this rune is 100%.]

【…】

[Congratulations on gaining a max-level Rune Knowledge. Your Rune Proficiency advancement progress: 4/100. Special Reward: Spirit Level +1.]

As these runes reached their maximum level, more knowledge surfaced in his mind, along with what he had accumulated from his previous rune learning, for Vayne to refer to and study.

There are no omissions in the Keystone Runes and Spirit Conversion Runes, but there are a few areas where Heart of Steel and Fury Burst can be improved.

After the improvements, the effects of these two runes can be increased by 15% and 33% respectively.

With the new runes drawn, it will be easier to disassemble them into the mechanical golem's parts.

"Is only the Keystone Rune a six-pointed star?"

Clang, clang clang...

Before he could begin the rune fusion, the red moon outside the window quietly receded as the bells rang, giving its light to the rising sun.

The room was also brighter.

Wayne glanced at it and then continued to bury himself in studying the fusion of the foundation runes and the Death God's origin runes.

[You have successfully combined the Origin Rune of Death, Olane, with the Keystone Rune and completed the drawing. Evaluation: Mechanical Puppet? Mechanical Lifeform? Special Rewards: Survival Points +5, Spirit Level +1, Resilience Level +1.]

Mechanical life...

No way?

Looking at the evaluation on the panel, Wayne's breathing became more rapid. Could it be that the fused keystone runes could give life to the mechanical puppet?

Then, can it still be considered a puppet?

He couldn't help but look at the driver next to him, wondering if he should give it a try.

Keystone runes are merely one component of the runic array applied to mechanical golems; they do not belong to the mechanical school of spell runes, and once imprinted, they cannot be used…

"Driver, I'm not quite sure about the effects of this rune. I'd like to test it on you, is that alright?"

After much deliberation, Wayne couldn't make up his mind and ultimately decided to let the driver make the decision himself.

It's worth noting that after being branded with the Soul Devouring Rune and the Mechanical Box Rune, the driver's intelligence also increased significantly, making simple thinking possible.

The driver didn't answer immediately, his gaze shifting to the ghost beside him, especially to the large and three small shimmering rune marks on his forehead...

"Baba, give me one."

Wei En smiled and nodded, "Then let's do it."

If it ultimately proves ineffective, he'll accept it; at worst, he can create another puppet system once he has another primordial sub-body.

Having made his decision, he no longer hesitated and began branding the back of the driver's head with his own.

[You have successfully imprinted the Foundation Rune (Death), learned the Foundation Rune (Death), Level 1. Evaluation: If Death were to awaken, he would probably come out and kill you immediately… Special Reward: Survival Points +5, Spirit Level +2.]

[Note 1: Foundation (Reaper) Level 1, Effect: Can transform mechanical golems into mechanical lifeforms, which will then be loyal to you.]

[Note 2: Mechanical lifeforms possess the ability to learn and improve themselves, and are particularly adept at manipulating mechanical puppets.]

[Note 3: Only one mechanical puppet can be transformed per upgrade.]

Wayne stared at the information on the panel, "I think I've created something amazing..."

I never imagined it would actually be a mechanical life form, and one with self-learning and self-improvement capabilities, and skilled in puppet manipulation...

Although it's unclear how many levels it can add, even just one mechanical life form is enough to change the entire puppet-type mechanical wizard system of the mechanical school.

That's right, it's about changing the entire system.

You should know that even a genius wizard like Jerry never recorded anything like this in his entire journal...

The driver glanced at his forehead, his eyes now crossed, and grinned, "Dad, have I become stronger too?"

Wayne hugged him and kissed him, "It's not just strong, it's incredibly powerful."

If the effect of the Keystone (Death) spell is like this, then if it is combined with the rune array of a mechanical golem, will it also turn the golem into life?

If that's really the case—then they would truly be invincible.

Once we get back, we'll start working on making the mechanical puppets!

Wei En smiled; he had gained so much today.

Thank you, Death, thank you for providing the source, and even more so, thank you to the person who transformed Death into the source runes; you are truly powerful.

As for the warnings on the panel...

If Death wants to kill him, it'll have to wait until He wakes up...

Sorry for the late update. There are three more chapters to go as a bonus for first-time subscribers.

(End of this chapter)