Construct Design

By the time he emerged from the sea of knowledge, moonlight had long since streamed through the window onto Shane.

"This late already?" He could see the moon's position through the window.

"You have been reading continuously for fourteen hours. It is now one in the morning," the Eye of Truth reminded him.

"It's time to go back and rest." Shane cast a Return spell on the towering stack of books on the table, and dozens of volumes automatically returned to their original places.

As he reached the door, he saw a female elven mage wearing a low-cut red robe with slits rising high up her legs. The peaks of her chest were not quite Himalayan, but they were certainly Alpine.

"Hello. I'm Shane Dawnblade, a newly arrived mage."

"I am the administrator, Capernian. Your control is quite impressive."

"Thank you."

They merely nodded to each other before passing by. Shane could sense the unusually active fire arcana within her, so intense that she seemed capable of setting the entire library ablaze with a single thought. Her name also felt strangely familiar.

"Eye of Truth, search my deep memories for information about Capernian."

"Understood. Task established. Searching user's memories... Report: information on Capernian located."

"Read it," Shane ordered.

"Yes. Capernian. Female. Profession: astrologer. One of Prince Kael'thas's Four Advisors in Tempest Keep, the third to appear. Skills: Ignite, Arcane Explosion, Greater Fireball. Lines: 'The Sin'dorei are invincible!' 'Not yet... not yet finished!' The user was wiped out by her six times."

"Shut up!"

"Yes. Task terminated."

After hearing the first sentence, Shane knew exactly who Capernian was. He had not expected to encounter so many "familiar" people so soon. Counting them up, there were already three. However, thoughts of Capernian were quickly pushed aside. Shane still had many things to do. Back in his room, he meditated while three magic orbs revolved above his head like satellites.

Over the following days, he continued systematically studying Magical Construct Studies. He not only learned the system's knowledge but also read the experiences and insights left behind by his predecessors. He maintained roughly twelve hours of reading each day and practiced his control at night, becoming so diligent that he barely recognized himself. Many days later, Shane's hair was a mess, his beard stubble had grown long, yet his eyes remained bright and spirited—the very image of a mage.

That day, he was reading as usual. This time, however, he was not alone in the library. Two unfamiliar mages were reading in other sections. No one wasted time trying to build connections; when they met, they merely nodded in greeting.

"Mage Shane, the librarian wishes to see you. Please proceed to the fifth floor as soon as possible."

Shane looked up. The speaker was an arcane construct he had seen on his first day.

"Alright." Shane closed his book. What did the librarian want with him? He had heard from a former mentor that the man was a shut-in mage. Carrying his doubts, Shane headed up to the fifth floor.

The librarian was not the white-bearded old man Shane had imagined, but a sharp-looking, stylish man. Elves lived long lives, and it was impossible to tell his age from his appearance.

"Mage Shane." The librarian did not even raise his head, still focused on his spellbook. "I noticed you on your third day. Diligence is a rare quality among elves. You are the most hardworking mage I have seen in a thousand years. Most of our people indulge in the radiance of the Sunwell, living leisurely lives while hedonism runs rampant. But did you use a spell such as Mage's Touch while reading?"

Mage's Touch was a second-circle spell that helped mages memorize information by rote.

"Yes, I used Mage's Touch," Shane lied.

"I do not want your brains to explode and affect my evaluation in the council. You understand."

"I'll give myself three days off," Shane said. Magical knowledge was complicated and profound. Memorizing too much at once could easily cause mental confusion while organizing that knowledge; in severe cases, it could drive someone mad. But with the Eye of Truth's assistance, Shane would never face such danger.

Besides, memorizing knowledge was not what consumed most of a mage's time. The real challenge was putting that knowledge into practice. The two raid-wiping gatekeepers at the entrance to the Sunwell were representatives of the practical application of construct studies. Creating them required not only a high level of magical skill, but also superb craftsmanship honed over many years.

Shane left the mage tower and returned to his nursery. After so many days away, the kobold and murloc slaves had done a decent job. It was not impeccably maintained, but at least nothing had been ruined. There would be no incidents of roasting dogs with Greater Fireballs or grilling fish, either.

When he entered his little house, a dusty smell hit him head-on. After casually casting several Cleaning spells, Shane found no changes on the first floor.

"Looks like no one came by?" He felt a small twinge of disappointment.

When he went up to the second floor, that disappointment turned into a wry smile. The room was a complete mess, as though it had been overturned by an earthquake. In one corner lay a silver hair ornament, long and slender like a willow leaf, made of mithril and gold.

"Vereesa's hair ornament." Shane had seen Vereesa wearing it on her head all the time. "She probably escaped ranger training and came here, then got dragged back by her sister." If he were a master of the school of divination, he could have used a sixth-circle retrospection spell to see what had happened to the ornament's owner at that time.

He put away the hair ornament and prepared to clean the room. He could not use the Return spell, since many things had been shattered into pieces. He could imagine how fierce the fight had been. Even Alleria could not keep Vereesa locked up, but at the thought of her being caught by her sister like a chick, Shane smiled faintly.

"Is the user not reading today? Would you like to terminate the currently running analysis task?"

Only after the Eye of Truth reminded him did Shane remember that he had kept its analysis function active for the sake of studying. Instant memory allowed him to remember everything he saw with his naked eye.

"Terminate the task."

"Yes. Task terminated."

"Eye of Truth." Shane thought for a moment. It would be too wasteful not to make use of the Eye of Truth. "With the knowledge I've learned so far, can I create a construct creature?"

"Based on the knowledge the user has acquired recently, including raw materials, techniques, design, and finished-product production, the user possesses knowledge of the entire production chain and can therefore create a construct creature."

"Command."

"Yes."

"Create a design plan and help me complete a construct creature."

"Understood. Please provide the construct creature's performance parameters."

Shane would not bring out that previous wild idea again. What he truly needed was the process of honing his craftsmanship. For a mage, the greatest gains came from experience accumulated during research and the understanding gained while exploring the nature of magic.

"Prioritize reliability. Give me a design that maximizes its specifications."

"Understood. Generating blueprint."

The design provided by the Eye of Truth was eight meters tall and weighed fifteen tons, with exterior armor made from cold-forged black iron alloy steel. Its power core used four defensive construct cores, while its intelligence system used that of an ordinary defensive construct. Its weapon systems consisted of a chainsaw and a siege hammer; after the weapons were removed, its hands were two iron pincers.

"Does it have a shock absorption system?" Shane noticed the design's feet. Any bipedal walking machine would produce considerable jolting. He also had another idea: the construct creature could not be used only for combat; it could also serve as transportation. "Install powered wheels in its feet, shock absorbers on the frame, and add a passenger frame to its back."

"Understood. Regenerating blueprint... Blueprint complete."

"Very good." Shane was fairly satisfied. Every parameter in the design had a twenty percent margin to ensure reliability. Of course, reliability came not only from design; craftsmanship also played a tremendous role.

"Assessment: This design's output is four times that of a mass-produced model. Its armor weighs twice as much. Due to the powered wheels, its speed is approximately three times greater. Its internal design contains ninety-eight arcane nodes and five hundred thirty-three arcane circuits. Its controllability exceeds that of a mass-produced model. If core output is increased threefold, it can execute the Overload Strike skill from the user's memories. Its cost is eight times that of an ordinary mass-produced model."

Cost? If it consumed too many resources, this design would have to be abandoned.

"List all the materials required."

"Understood... List complete."

Shane's face darkened when he saw it, but it was not entirely impossible.

"Continue optimizing the design. The details must be refined to perfection."

"Understood. Continuing design optimization."

After gathering materials from the nursery and making himself a lavish meal as a reward, it was already evening.