Free Web NovelChapter 403: Chapter 400: The Century Egg Spirit Under the Golden Tree
The Tower Spirit’s consciousness was also active within the Vesicle. After Caroline conveyed her clear intent to upload, the Golden Tree extended its roots to connect with her Spirit Body. Next came the Casting.
Rorschach watched as a radiance flowed from her Spirit Body toward the Tree of Law, but it stopped at the base of the main trunk. The swirling light outlined a circular shape. Judging by its size, Rorschach guessed it was the "Perfect Prototype Core" that had fused with the Golden Tree.
Watching something spin in circles, whether on a computer or a tree, was always a bit irritating. The radiance would only be released to continue its climb up the branches of the Tree of Law once the Tower Spirit completed its analysis.
Caroline uploaded the First-Ring [Door Sealing Technique], Second-Ring [Gaze Curtain], and Fourth-Ring [Dimension Anchor]. They noticed that the upload and analysis speeds were rather slow.
Rorschach guessed that the Tower Spirit had analyzed his own magic so smoothly before because, while it hadn’t inherited his Casting Ability, it did possess related memories. It wasn’t difficult to extract those memories, which sped up the analysis process.
However, all three of Teacher Caroline’s magic spells were completely new to it. For the Tower Spirit, this meant it had to mimic the panel and deconstruct them into "attributes."
This was reflected in the changes to the Tree of Law: new branches slowly grew, overlapping with the existing parts and gradually forming new nodes.
With "nodes," there was clearly no need to reinvent the wheel. Perhaps as the more common nodes were gradually perfected, the upload speed for those who came later would increase. The Tower Spirit would likely also benefit from the accumulated experience.
Once the upload was complete and the new branches had grown, Rorschach felt a sudden awareness. He opened his panel and was surprised to see three new magic spells—the very ones Caroline had uploaded. For example, the attributes for [Door Sealing Technique] were "Mapping (Yellow)" and "Solidify (Yellow)." A new "cloud" UI icon had now appeared in the top-right corner.
[Dimension Anchor] also had the "Solidify" attribute. When Rorschach focused his gaze on the "cloud," the icon went dark, and the color of the attributes changed: attributes he had already mastered, such as "Mapping," reverted to purple, while the newly acquired attributes turned white.
’Interesting. Does this mean the panel can link up with the Spell Cloud?’ Rorschach had only ever used the panel in the past. Later, he broke free of his dependency on it. But now, he was starting to grow curious about the nature of this thing.
’For instance,’ he wanted to ask it, ’what the hell is your relationship with the Tree of Law?’
"What is it?" Caroline’s voice interrupted Rorschach’s train of thought. Rorschach smiled. "I was just thinking, you’re a really good teacher. Thank you for trying this out."
"I’d rather say I’m a witness to a groundbreaking creation," Caroline said, looking with satisfaction at the newly grown Tree of Law. "It’s a good thing the Magic God is only a faint legend. Otherwise, you’d either be His most beloved Favored One, or an enemy He would have to destroy."
’Heh, who’s afraid of who? I even dared to swipe an offering meant for the Lord of Order. Why would I be scared of some skulking rat? If he really comes knocking, I’ll... I’ll...’
Caroline reminded Rorschach again, "You absolutely must keep this place a secret from everyone else. You need to work with the Tower Spirit to find a way to upload magic from the Material Realm as soon as possible. The fewer people who enter and exit this space, the better, and you especially cannot let the Great Mages find out."
A transcendent, stable space is something all Great Mages dream of. And the "Golden Tree" within it is countless times more precious than gold—it supports an entirely new Casting System!
Rorschach was touched by how much Caroline was looking out for him. Her analysis wasn’t over:
"If the Vesicle really operates on a predictable pattern, as the Tower Spirit calculated, it means other Space Explorers could very well discover it. Before, it was in a chaotic state and not worth much attention. Now that it’s undergone a fundamental transformation, it will likely become far more conspicuous."
Kano’s research group isn’t the only one exploring the spaces beyond the Material Realm. Caroline was worried it would be found. "Even though it’s located in the Transformation Layer Flow, which is fatal to most people, you’d best design and create a Guardian here to fend off any intruders."
Rorschach agreed with her suggestion. In the Material Realm, he would have set up Defense Arrays and other such measures. But in a place that leaned more toward the Symbolic Realm, creating a biological-like entity to serve as a Guardian was more fitting. He just needed to outline and create a shell propped up by energy and concepts; the actual control could be handed over to the Tower Spirit.
Then, Rorschach began to visualize. The grains of Transmuting Dust shifted once more, coalescing into a gelatinous mass. It turned from golden-yellow to transparent, then was dyed a deep, dark hue... just like a century egg, one of Rorschach’s favorite foods.
To Caroline, however, who was unfamiliar with such an outlandish food, the glob Rorschach had created possessed a profound and mysterious aura, reminiscent of the void of a starless sky.
Then, a long neck, a tail, and multiple pairs of wings and limbs—all barely distinguishable—emerged. Caroline joked, "Don’t tell me you’re trying to create a Black Dragon? According to legend, He is the destroyer of the World Tree, yet you want to make one its Guardian."
However, after forming that barely distinguishable shape, Rorschach stopped sculpting. The result was a round century egg with a few limbs, a neck, and a tail stretched outward from its body. It had achieved a level of supreme ugliness that was almost, in a strange way, beautiful.
"That’s it?" Caroline couldn’t believe it.
"It’s not over yet." Rorschach’s words allowed Caroline to breathe a small sigh of relief, but his next sentence nearly made her faint. "The Tower Spirit needs to take over this body now." In other words, its appearance wasn’t going to change.
The Tower Spirit received the signal, and the roots of the Golden Tree began to burrow into the "century egg." Golden, crystalline patterns spread through its interior like the branches of a pine tree, forming something akin to meridians. Then, the "Guardian Beast" came to life and began to expand.
This Guardian Beast was under the complete control of the Tower Spirit. It could draw upon the power of the Golden Tree and wield the magic stored within it.
After swelling to the size of an elephant, it nimbly dove into the sandy ground, which parted for it as if it were water.
’This isn’t what I had in mind,’ Rorschach thought. ’How did it pick up a sand-burrowing habit?’ He didn’t dwell on it, however. Caroline, too speechless to critique it further, used the late hour as an excuse to withdraw from the Vesicle.
Finally, Rorschach thought of something. "We should give this mini-plane a name, don’t you think?"
Caroline immediately perked up. Then, Rorschach continued, talking more to himself, "It exists in the layer between the Material Realm and the Symbolic Realm, possessing properties of both... How about calling it the ’Boundary Land’?"
Caroline said, "...Whatever makes you happy." With that, her Spirit Body descended, returning to the real world.
Rorschach followed, beginning his descent. Just before he completely left the "Boundary Land," the head of the "century egg monster" popped out from beside the Golden Tree. The Tower Spirit’s voice echoed, "You’re making a reference, aren’t you? You’re making a reference..."
「Back in reality.」
Rorschach leaped up from his lounge chair and pulled out a large gold Pocket Watch to check the time. "It’s almost evening! Teacher Caroline, we have to go eat! Otherwise, the workers getting off their shifts will overrun the cafeteria and all the nearby restaurants!"
But Caroline was focused on something else. "Rorschach... your Pocket Watch... was it a gift?" She’d noticed that the large gold watch didn’t quite suit Rorschach’s usual style. He always favored simple clothing and rarely wore formal attire, yet the Pocket Watch was ostentatiously flashy and gold, with complex and delicate engravings.
’It has the aesthetic of the Nobility,’ she thought. ’Was the giver a noble lady from Valuva or Bayern? Some rich man’s daughter?’
"Ah, yes. Does it really clash that much?" Rorschach wondered if he should switch to a smaller silver watch. The craftsmanship on the gold one was truly excellent, though—he still hadn’t needed to calibrate it—so he’d never gotten around to replacing it.
Rorschach stroked the watch face and said with a touch of melancholy, "The person who gave it to me is in Valuva. I’m afraid he’s in a terrible situation right now."
TICK. TOCK. The second and minute hands turned, pushing the hour hand forward. The latter’s pace was slow and heavy.
Maxim watched the large clock on the wall of the National Assembly hall, feeling weary. He used to have seemingly endless energy and passion, but now this hall, filled with vermin, had become a quagmire for him and the entire "Mountain Faction." The feeling of being trapped so deep within it was a bitter one.
BANG! The speaker brought down his gavel. The rapid rapping that followed silenced the entire hall. He then announced, "Regarding the motion to depose Charles XVI, three additional supplementary proposals have been submitted. By a majority vote of the delegates, discussion of the original motion and its supplements is hereby postponed until tomorrow!"
