Mage? Magic Engineer!

"That’s enough," Feuerbach called out. "It’s just a badge. Are you trying to melt it down?"

The commotion was immense, but the Secret Seal stubbornly remained violet-red. It was as if Rorschach were torturing it, yet the seal held fast, refusing to turn fully red.

Feuerbach had no choice but to call a halt. The violet-red light dissipated, revealing a glowing red—not the color of Magic Light, but the incandescence of superheated metal. Under the immense flux of Magic Power, all that had been produced was heat and a few tiny, colorful crystals.

The Master retrieved the badge with Mage’s Hand. He spoke with a mix of confusion and regret, "You might be the strongest Middle Level Caster in the history of the continent, but this proves that Middle Level is still Middle Level."

Rorschach felt empty and defeated.

Thankfully, Master Feuerbach was a serious and earnest man. Had it been Kano, he would have undoubtedly mocked Rorschach mercilessly before getting around to analyzing the cause. Feuerbach, however, immediately began to assess Rorschach’s current state.

"Your control over Magic Power just now was already at the level of a Great Mage. When you were mobilizing the tower’s magic, that Red Dragon must have been roaring in helpless fury..." The Master didn’t hide his feelings, and his disdain for the Red Dragon was obvious. "However, the essence of your Magic Power hasn’t changed."

"The essence of Magic Power? What in the world is that?" Rorschach asked, on the verge of going mad.

"The world’s starting point is the Original Origin. It splits and degrades, giving rise to the Symbolic. The Symbolic and its concepts then degenerate into matter. Magic Power can be viewed as the string that plucks this degenerative process, or as a membrane between the Symbolic and the material. It can also be focused into waves and particles that degenerate further to become the basic building blocks of the Material Realm.

"An old, simplistic model imagines the Symbolic Realm as the sky and the Material Realm as the earth. We intelligent beings exist with both spirit and flesh.

"So-called Mages are those who can jump up a little, or reach out and touch the Symbolic. By altering the direction of the Symbolic’s degeneration, they can change the Material Realm. Therefore, Magic Power is your ’arm,’ and the Secret Seal determines ’how high you can reach’," Feuerbach explained.

Rorschach, to be honest, was still not convinced. "This mechanism seems inconsistent with what the ’typewriter model’ describes... And frankly, I think I can already reach pretty high."

"You’re right on all counts. Any model or theory describing Magic Power and the principles of magic is inherently limited and incomplete. The very first lesson at the Tower of Secret Techniques teaches every Apprentice that when it comes to the truth of magic and the world, we’re like a group of blind Dwarves feeling a Red Dragon. One might feel its leg, another its wing..."

"Alright, I get it." Rorschach felt this version of the parable was far more dangerous than the one from his past life. ’If a Dwarf happened to feel the Red Dragon’s mouth, wouldn’t he just end up as a toothpick?’

’Then again,’ he thought, ’magic research is indeed risky. No argument there.’

Just as Rorschach was thinking he would be leaving empty-handed, Feuerbach suddenly sank into deep thought. Rorschach waited patiently for the Master to speak again. "Given your abilities, you did indeed touch the ’sky’ long ago. What I’m thinking of is..."

"The Tree of Law."

"Exactly," Feuerbach replied, confirming Rorschach’s guess. "Its existence is quite special... If you would let me study it..."

"Thank you for your guidance, Master! I suddenly remembered I have something to do tomorrow, so I won’t disturb you any further. Farewell!"

At what age are little boys no longer allowed in the women’s bathhouse? When they start *wanting* to go in. And so, Rorschach shut down Feuerbach’s hint about entering the Boundary Land again. He could forget about it, at least until Rorschach himself had successfully advanced.

Back in his Magic Tower, Rorschach went into seclusion. He left everything in the hands of Andre and Caroline as his consciousness ascended to the Boundary Land.

Everything in this place was as it should be. The Tree of Law had grown to an astonishing height, its flourishing branches filling more than half the sky of the Boundary Land, and its countless cores spread deep underground. For the Tower Spirit, however, the balance between its growing processing power and the surging demands placed upon it was a precarious one, always strained.

Upon seeing its creator, the ’black egg spirit’ lowered the Sharp Sword it had conjured, stretching its long neck toward Rorschach and rubbing its face against his affectionately.

But Rorschach didn’t linger. He strode to the base of the tree and fixed his gaze on the golden Tree of Law.

’Tower Spirit?’ In the past, the Tower Spirit would respond the instant he willed it. Now, however, his attempt at communication was met with only silence.

After a moment’s thought, he sketched a symbol in the air that pointed to himself. Once the circuit was connected, it erupted in a brilliant radiance. In response, the Tree of Law trembled, shaking loose a shower of flowing motes of light.

Yet, Rorschach’s Spirit Body felt almost no corresponding resonance.

His expression darkened. He took the initiative and dismissed the Guardian Beast of the Boundary Land. "Why aren’t you responding?" he said. "Or perhaps... should I be calling you Rorschach?"

The shattered ’black egg’ reassembled and transformed. Pathways of light from the Tree of Law connected to the newly shaped body. Finally, a figure identical to Rorschach’s Spirit Body appeared. The only noticeable difference was his attire: a bright red Mage Robe, identical to the one the Ancient Sage had worn in the Shadow City.

The Tower Spirit, Xia, spoke. "Wouldn’t it be better to continue our cooperation like this? For Rorschach, becoming a Great Mage is of no concern. As long as the Tree of Law continues to grow, ’my’ power in the real world will naturally increase. My comprehensive strength won’t be any less than that of Feuerbach and his ilk."

"But the essence of my Magic Power hasn’t changed," Rorschach retorted. "Or rather, the change has been blocked and intercepted." According to Feuerbach’s theory, Rorschach should have been able to interfere with the Original Layer on his own. Instead, the conscious entity of the Tree of Law—the Tower Spirit—was doing it for him. It was like using a crutch made from his own leg.

He stared at the being who looked just like him, dressed like the Ancient Sage of old. "I’m curious. Are you a mirror of my Soul, or are you the Sage, reincarnated in a new vessel?"

Tower Spirit Xia shook his head. "The Ancient Sage was true to his word. All the memories and knowledge he imparted were isolated. They didn’t touch the ’Soul,’ and he made no attempt to prolong his own existence. My sense of self has always been ’Rorschach.’ See? When you called that name, I answered.

"Of course, if you call my other name—my ’true name’—I will answer to that as well."

"Enough!" Rorschach cut him off, but Tower Spirit Xia continued with unnerving confidence. "Back when ’Rorschach’ was merged, he endured the pain of an artificial soul occupying his body, the pain of the Ancient Sage’s knowledge and memories flooding in. So he tried to split himself. But do you think a split is ever perfectly reliable? Is it ever truly complete?

"It’s not. At the final moment of ascension, a part of ’Rorschach’ and the artificial soul were left behind, stranded beneath the Original Layer. You’re the one who packaged them into a specialized computational core.

"It wasn’t your fault; it was just an accident. Besides, I possess all of Rorschach’s memories. After our fusion, the so-called artificial soul ceased to exist. What remains is the complete Soul of Rorschach—a Rorschach who has already become a Great Mage.

"As far as I’m concerned, you’re merely a splinter self, active in the Material Realm. Your every Casting, your every move, is perceived and recorded by me. In this place, *you* are the challenger."