Mage? Spell Engineer!.

Chapter 567 Evolution in Different Directions

Is this "Me and My Nature Friend"? The mask's simple shape made Rorschach think it was made by poor craftsmanship in ancient times. He actually misunderstood it as an elf. It turns out it looks like this!
Two eyes and a mouth, both are round and framed in the round face, giving it a kind of innocent beauty.

It seemed to have a certain degree of independent consciousness, and two dots that could barely be eyes glanced crookedly at the oak mask.

"I have a guess about how to use the mask, and it can be verified immediately." Humboldt lifted the original spell, and the energy body known as the "Spirit of Nature" immediately dissipated. But before it completely dissipated, the master began to knead it, just like kneading dough.

He gestured with both hands in the air, the ancient wooden mask floated in the air, and he was still murmuring and chanting.

This time the casting process took longer. Although Rorschach did not understand the summoning spell, he was able to discern the operation of magic and heterogeneous energy, and could understand that Humboldt was constantly trying.

Gradually, a ball of light green began to gather and attach to the mask.

"finished."

It is still a "nature spirit", but this time its face is replaced by a mask.

"So this is just a prop to assist in casting spells?" Rorschach was a little disappointed. He estimated and found that the energy density of the Nature Spirit was very low. It didn't look very smart. It was indeed as Humboldt said, a spell of little use.

Unexpectedly, Humboldt shook his head and said, "Not entirely. Master Rorschach, you may have misunderstood a little: the mask should have come first, and the spell later."

Natural magic is a transformation of the divine arts of the druid system. It is reasonable to speculate that there was a technique of giving shape to the spirits of nature with the help of masks, which was later transformed by the mages into direct condensation and summoning. No longer relying on external objects is also an improvement.

"I even suspect that the reason they look exactly the same is that these spirits like the appearance of the masks, and it has remained that way ever since." Humboldt touched the surface of the light ball with his hand, and he could actually interpret some of the spirits' feelings: "They are expressing their feelings of liking the masks, and they must be very fond of the masks."

Well, I am superficial, but it seems that at least the mask has great historical value.

But he dug something out of his memory: "Wait a minute, have we encountered this nature spirit before?"

Humboldt nodded repeatedly without waiting for Rorschach to finish: "You finally figured it out." When they were in the Black Forest, they encountered a destroyed elf village with monsters created by the symbiosis of trees and fungi.

What makes those monsters move autonomously is the "spirit" condensed from the forest. It can be said that they are also the spirits of nature.

"The mages chose to simplify the assistance of physical objects and summon pure energy bodies, which existed for a short time but were convenient. The elves in the village we met chose the other extreme and were determined to give the spirits of nature a complete body. Although there are many differences, they are fundamentally very similar."

The existence of this mask is somewhere in between the two. It is more like a skill that developed in different directions in the hands of wizards and elf villages, reaching two extremes.

"The above is my speculation, but judging from the age of the items and our own history, the truth is probably so, and we can continue to delve into the details." Humboldt was very confident in his inference.

The general direction has been found. The next step is to ask the people below to find corroborating materials in various ancient records, increase the amount of references, and do some comparative research to enrich the content.

That's basically it for the Archmage.

Rorschach was a little disappointed, but he couldn't force it. He had determined from the beginning that there was no special manufacturing method for the mask itself. His current thinking was more like making use of the time to wait for Humboldt's real body.

Giving up on digging deeper, Rorschach casually asked, "So these spirits can communicate?" After all, the master just said that the spirits of nature like masks.

"Yes, they can express emotions, just like animals. After they gain a complete body, they may have more advanced thinking, at least they can imitate and form communities, but it is no more than ordinary animals, and there is no such thing as 'wisdom' or 'language'." He demonstrated to Rorschach again, reaching out and gently touching the surface of the light ball: "Of course, the current nature spirits have no language ability. If the caster touches it, it will convey its emotions to you if it wants."

Humboldt's face froze.

"What's wrong?" Does wearing this mask have a paralyzing effect?

Humboldt's face turned pale and blue, and one could see confusion and joy in it, which was rare for the calm Alexander.

"契." After a long while, he uttered a word, still using Yabe language.

Rorschach tilted his head in confusion, and Humboldt simply told the young man to reach out and touch him.

Suddenly he felt his mind was touched, something was trying to invade. But it was very light, like knocking on the door.

Rorschach let down his guard, and a thought and a vague voice suddenly echoed in his mind. Just like what Master Humboldt said, it was the syllable "qi" in Yabeish.

This is a slap in the face, Master. Rorschach smiled mischievously at Humboldt: "It seems that the things of the descendants of the gods are still special, even if they are pieces of wood."

"Don't underestimate wood, especially oak, the sacred tree of the Istani elves." Humboldt gave the small piece of wood to save his own dignity.

After receiving the information, he decided to give it a try.

It turns out that this mask is like a contract, which can build a stronger connection between the caster and the natural spirit.
The eyes of the mask lit up, and soon the brightness of the light ball also increased. Rorschach could feel that it was absorbing and reorganizing the magic power in the environment like a wizard casting a spell, but something may have gone wrong in the process, and the magic power was not properly converted or consumed, but accumulated in the spirit body.

The result was that the ball of light began to vibrate violently, as if boiling within.

Humboldt's face suddenly changed, and he quickly calmed down. After calming down for a long time, he tried again.

This time, the Nature Spirit slowly raised his thick, round arms, and a stream of acid oozes out from his fingertips. It was the trick [Acid Splash].

"After signing the contract, I can control it to cast spells." Humboldt was amazed at the result: "At first I chose a third-level spell, but it was obviously too weak for its small body, and the spellcasting process almost cost it its life."

“Can the contractual relationship be transferred?”

".The contact after the contract is signed is limited to this summoning." Humboldt said as he dispersed the light ball for the second time. The mask immediately lost its power and fell into his hands.

"According to experience with [Summon Nature Spirits], the spirit will dissipate and regenerate. I almost blew it up just now, it must be angry."

Humboldt, sensing the other party's emotions, decisively disbanded the summoning, which meant unilaterally terminating the contract: "So I can only try again after a while, when a new batch of spirits will be condensed."

Is this the elf version of "If you don't do it, there are plenty of people who will do it"? Rorschach regained his interest in the mask: "Let me try it."

A project that had been shelved for a long time suddenly had hope.

(End of this chapter)