A Man's Romance

Just as Rhode had expected, there were no clues left at the scene.

Still, he had found something.

He sensed some mana residue, the traces left behind after a mage cast a spell.

A mage really was responsible.

And killing someone without leaving a trace was beyond the abilities of a magic apprentice. The culprit had to be a fully fledged mage, a Novice Magic User at the very least.

That narrowed the pool of suspects further.

However, there wasn't a single fully fledged mage in Audric's Tower right now.

Perhaps it was a mage passing through from somewhere else? That would take more time to investigate.

After saying goodbye to Lieutenant Drake, Rhode returned to his study and opened Assembly and Technology of Constructed Creatures again.

After studying for the past few days, he had gained a certain understanding of the subject's basic theories.

But he hadn't studied construct crafting just to make some little Arcane Golem.

Rhode wanted to build a Magic Mech he could ride in!

Giant mechs were every man's romance, after all.

Even if it did nothing to improve a mage's combat strength, it would still beat running around barefoot as a means of transportation.

It would also temporarily make up for his inability to learn spatial spells.

Rhode now flipped to the later sections of Assembly and Technology of Constructed Creatures.

Those pages explained the process of building a Magic Mech.

Although he hadn't fully mastered the earlier material, his ability to simplify complex spell models should allow him to jump straight into learning this... right?

First, he would sketch out the entire mech's design according to his own ideas.

The Magic Mechs taught in the book were all conventional small models. How could those satisfy Rhode?

A man had to go big!

"The core goes in the chest," Rhode said, drawing a core in the center of the parchment.

"The head will have one large eye, with a zoom telescope function and the ability to fire beams to strike targets."

"The neck needs to be flexible so it can turn easily."

"The right arm will have an iron fist capable of delivering a hundred thousand horsepower in close combat."

"The left arm will have biometric recognition, allowing it to lock onto an enemy's skeleton for precision strikes."

"The legs need shock absorbers, with magnetorheological dampers at the ankles, plus thrusters."

Rhode drew as he thought, and the design before him gradually took shape.

It looked roughly like this:

╭(└`\⊙/`┘)╮

As for its height, the taller the better, of course. It had to be at least four or five meters tall.

Of course, it would be great if it could be as huge as that Fel Reaver in Hellfire Peninsula in the game...

"Give it a red paint job... hmm, red stands out too much. Blue it is. All done!"

In fact, Rhode had based this machine on the combat mechs from Pacific Rim, a movie he remembered watching, though it wouldn't be anywhere near as large.

Of course, this one would have a single pilot. He wasn't about to design something that needed two pilots and give himself extra trouble.

Once I build this killing machine, how could those useless Scourge losers possibly stop me?

The corners of Rhode's mouth curled upward.

But when he broke down the components in his design into spell model diagrams, he realized he had gotten a little ahead of himself.

A single leg alone required over a hundred energy circuits! The spell nodes numbered two or three hundred.

At that rate, wouldn't completing the entire design take at least one or two thousand energy circuits and four or five thousand spell nodes?

That was far beyond what Rhode could handle with his current theoretical knowledge and practical skills.

Moreover, unlike an ordinary magical summon, this kind of Magic Mech required vast quantities of magical materials to support it, things like enchanted thorium ingots and arcane crystals. He didn't even know where to find them, and they were probably expensive too.

And finally, even if he gathered all those materials and finished building the Magic Mech, it would still need a power source: a core.

Just like a car, it ultimately needed an engine to get moving.

The core of this Magic Mech would probably need an output of at least ten thousand horsepower. Otherwise, it couldn't maintain the structure's stability.

Where was he supposed to find such a powerful source of magical energy?

And so, Rhode called GG.

This thing didn't just test his magical abilities. It tested his finances too.

The Magic Tower was wealthy compared to ordinary people, but it was only the equivalent of a small business, not something with wealth to rival a nation.

Money is a superpower too. -Batman.

For now, he could only give up and take things one step at a time.

Rhode was slumped dejectedly in his study chair when a voice suddenly came from the doorway, its tone rather arrogant. "Oh, so this is the new vice president?"

Rhode stood and looked toward the door.

A young man in mage robes approached from that direction, his expression haughty.

"And you are...?" Rhode asked tentatively.

"I'm Hearthglen, a student of Kel'Thuzad of the Council of Six." As he spoke, Hearthglen scrutinized Rhode from head to toe, exuding arrogance.

So it was him.

Audric was right. This Hearthglen really was full of himself. He couldn't even introduce himself without dropping his teacher's name.

Who knew where he'd been gallivanting these past few days? Had he come looking for trouble the moment he got back?

His Mana Surge really wasn't very strong. Although he was probably an intermediate mage too, he was indeed weaker than Rhode.

Good. As long as I can beat him.

Rhode composed himself a little and said politely, "Ah, Vice President Hearthglen. Please, come in. What brings you here today?"

"Oh, hahahaha... we're colleagues, after all. It's perfectly normal to pay a visit." Hearthglen laughed, walked over to the desk, and plopped down in a chair.

Rhode said nothing and sat back down at the desk as well.

So far, he seemed reasonably polite, but Rhode had no idea what this spoiled young man Audric had described actually wanted.

"Oh, Vice President Rhode, you're quite diligent. Were you just reading?" Hearthglen immediately spotted the open copy of Assembly and Technology of Constructed Creatures on the desk. He picked it up with interest and flipped through a few pages. "Worried your skills aren't up to scratch, so you're cramming at the last minute? I suppose you got this vice presidency through connections..."

Here it comes. Here he goes.

His politeness hadn't lasted three seconds before he actually started taking shots at Rhode.

"Oh, this is indeed rather difficult. I take it you haven't mastered it yet either, Hearthglen?" Rhode said mildly.

"You..." Hearthglen clearly caught Rhode's implication and was about to flare up when his eyes suddenly caught the large mech design spread across Rhode's desk.

Hearthglen stopped short. He stared at the drawing for a little while longer, and what came out next was something entirely different, his voice trembling slightly:

"Is... is this an Arcane Giant?"