System

"Taylor, go bring me that piece of red metal."

"Taylor, help me connect the mana-link channels of this Construct Puppet. Optimize them as much as you can; I'll give you guidance."

"This is a book on the types of magical metals. Study it carefully and memorize it. It will be extraordinarily useful for future research into puppets and constructs."

Taylor had barely moved into Wizard Krite's Wizard Tower before Krite began using him like an apprentice.

After their initial exchange, not only Taylor, but also Kano and Bobby within his mind, had to marvel at Wizard Krite's knowledge. It was as vast as the ocean—he was practically a living library.

From elemental knowledge and sorcery runes to puppets, Construct Puppets, and even vaguely touched-upon spatial studies, Wizard Krite seemed versed in nearly everything.

Wizard Krite's personal Wizard Tower appeared to be only twelve meters tall and three stories high, but in truth, every floor involved spatial compression. Sorcery formations formed from all kinds of sorcery runes compressed vast spaces into the small tower, making its interior more than a hundred times larger than it looked from outside.

Although living in the Wizard Tower meant he could not use his Plane Traversal ability, Taylor felt no dissatisfaction. Here, he could see more of the world, learn more methods for creating puppets and constructs, and gain access to more resources.

"Taylor, when it comes to connecting mana channels, you are already more skilled than I was at your age."

Before an enormous Construct Puppet, Krite carefully examined the mana-link channels Taylor had drawn, then fed his own mana into them for testing.

He found that while the channels' strength and stability did not match those he made himself, they had already reached the limit an apprentice could achieve.

Amazed by Taylor's potential in puppet and construct studies, Krite said with a sigh, "As expected, an apprentice like you is a great help in both research and experimentation."

He had already lost count of how many times he had said that.

Standing beside Krite, Taylor wore gloves on both hands as he handed over a metal ingot mixed with black-red power.

"Teacher, this is the Abyssal Iron you requested."

With a wave of Krite's hand, the black-red Abyssal Iron immediately floated into his palm. He then tossed it into a special furnace, and before long, it melted into a pool of black-red liquid metal.

"Taylor, watch my next steps carefully."

After reminding Taylor, Krite focused his mind and prepared for the next stage.

Before Krite's powerful mental force, the pool of black-red liquid metal was like an extension of his limbs, nimbly transforming into all kinds of sorcery runes. Some symbolized burning, some explosion, and some penetration.

They formed formations of different sizes through countless combinations, enchanting the Construct Puppet's massive right arm. They seeped directly through its metal body and became beautiful patterns.

As Krite used the liquid metal transformed from Abyssal Iron to enchant the Construct Puppet, Taylor watched with rapt attention. Not only him—Kano and Bobby within his mind also focused on the scene with all their strength.

If such a scene were shown among the apprentices outside, it would surely cause a huge uproar. After all, it was rare to see a Level 1 Wizard personally demonstrate how to strengthen and enchant a Construct Puppet with Abyssal Iron, a material with exceptional magical conductivity.

After the enchantment was complete, Krite did not even glance at the enormous Construct Puppet. It was merely part of a deal he had made with another wizard. His focus and attention were now on his newly accepted apprentice, Taylor.

"How much did you learn from watching what I just did?"

"Teacher, I learned..."

Krite could not have been more satisfied with Taylor. Not only did Taylor possess wildly imaginative ideas regarding Elemental Golems and Construct Puppets, but he had also independently proposed simplifying Construct Puppets into a stripped-down version that even apprentices could make. That was an astonishing innovation.

Although the simplified Construct Puppet had been given the strange name Magic Mech, Krite clearly did not care in the slightest. After all, it had been proposed by his apprentice.

Discovering an apprentice as gifted as Taylor in construct-puppet studies had made Krite's daily life much easier.

Today was only Taylor's first day here, yet Taylor's deep foundation of knowledge and talent in construct-puppet studies had already greatly reduced many of Krite's usual burdens.

Taylor could handle some mana-channel connections, as well as the enchanting and combination of certain sorcery runes. This not only tested and honed Taylor's practical use of sorcery runes and mana-channel linking, but also eased Krite's own workload.

All Krite needed to do now was inspect Taylor's completed work, point out its shortcomings, offer his own opinions, and then teach him some knowledge so Taylor could improve on his own.

It saved both effort and worry, and Taylor could even help out. Wasn't an apprentice like this exactly what Krite had dreamed of?

After completing the required construct assembly and the composition of the Elemental Golems, Taylor followed Krite into a room filled entirely with books and began discussing theories and designs concerning puppet studies, magical conduction, elemental resonance, and Magic Mechs.

From then on, such "exchanges"—or rather, lessons—would take place about once a week.

Under normal circumstances, the gap in knowledge between an apprentice and a wizard was like an insurmountable chasm. It was simply impossible for an apprentice and a wizard to exchange ideas as equals.

Because Taylor was now effectively three-in-one, with three consciousnesses able to think, clash, and communicate continuously, and because he had an entire plane behind him as support, with knowledge of magical runes, Magic Mechs, and magical conduction, he could barely sustain discussions with Krite.

In many cases, Taylor merely put forward a conjecture or threw out some knowledge from the Zombie Plane, while Krite completed the rest of the discussion alone. Rather than an exchange, it was more like Wizard Krite testing and guiding Taylor.

Among apprentices, Taylor was indeed outstanding, but by a wizard's standards, his knowledge remained far too shallow.

Krite enjoyed this as well. The novel viewpoints and novel ideas gave him greater room to advance along his future path in construct studies and puppet studies.

After all, behind the Taylor speaking with him stood a plane that had popularized magic and runes, and had even created inferior Construct Puppets for military competition.