"I took a look; the level of magic puppet construction hasn't changed much from a thousand years ago. The standards are similar; they've just replaced manual components with the Heart of the Magic Puppet. The materials in your kitchen are enough to make a basic combat-type magic puppet. What do you say? Want to try making one first?"
Rose examined the pile of magic puppet materials in the kitchen with his Spiritual Power.
These materials were provided for free by the school; they are common goods with poor compatibility with Magic Power and elements. They can only rely on the strength of the materials themselves for combat, almost unable to use magic. But they're good for practice.
A new generation of technology has introduced things Rose didn't know about, so he had to find a way to make up for it, lest the young girl underestimate him.
"I am the invincible Evil God. If I can't teach her this and need to be taught by a little girl, I might as well kill myself."
"Are you going to teach me how to make a magic puppet?" Hilia's eyes lit up; she closed the "Holy Word" and jumped off the chair, running to the kitchen or, rather, the workshop.
Even though Rose didn't know what the Heart of the Magic Puppet was, he knew everything else, and that's enough for Hilia to benefit greatly.
"The complexity and grade of magic puppets are related. For a Tier One magic puppet, other than the missing Heart of the Magic Puppet, you basically have all the pre-made parts here. Hmm... Try making the body parts of the magic puppet first, starting with the Arcane Furnace, which serves as the energy supply. Let's see how far you can go."
The materials Hilia had were all basic, most of which were already engraved with magic lines with key places reserved, similar to a circuit board with numerous circuits and reserved interfaces.
Hilia picked up the parts for the Arcane Furnace and began to assemble them, mumbling, "I haven't understood the reaction knowledge inside the Arcane Furnace yet, so I can't make it by hand. I had to spend money to buy this—the most basic Arcane Furnace, which only supports the Magic Power input of a basic Magic Crystal."
"That's enough."
Hilia evidently had been studying these things as well, assembling the Arcane Furnace quickly. After that, she began to assemble the limbs, but her speed slowed considerably at this point.
"When assembling the limbs, you need to consider the focus. If you want the magic puppet to focus on speed, add some Fluorite Powder to the blood origin to carve the magic lines. If you want to focus on defense, add grey stone powder..."
"This pattern can be streamlined a bit; it shouldn't be drawn like that, but like this..."
"Keep in mind that the control lines for the so-called Heart of the Magic Puppet should also be reserved so that it can be placed directly later on once you get the Heart of the Magic Puppet."
"You picked the wrong one; that's an arm part you're attaching to the leg. Are you trying to make it fly?"
"..."
Rose began guiding Hilia in making the magic puppet. This knowledge had already become instinctive for him as he mastered his own power, as if he'd activated an omniscient, omnipotent cheat.
Seeing Hilia's unsteady hands, Rose added, "You can practice drawing the magic lines on paper first to avoid wasting materials. If your hands aren't steady enough, you can let me handle the parts, and I will help draw the missing magic lines."
These words seemed to trigger something. Hilia's hand trembled, and the feather pen veered off course, destroying the half-drawn magic line. The whole board emitted a puff of black smoke.
"Ah... it's ruined."
"You can first practice with an ordinary pen on paper and then draw with the feather pen."
"Okay." Hilia switched to an ordinary pen, picked up some draft paper, and began slowly drawing according to the lines provided by Rose.
Her talent wasn't bad; after a few attempts, her hand steadied, and she started drawing on the materials.
Watching her draw the magic lines and attach the magic puppet parts, gradually giving it a humanoid form, Rose thought the Summoning Contract would be completed soon enough.
"Now it's just the issue of the Heart of the Magic Puppet. I wonder how expensive this so-called Heart of the Magic Puppet is."
As time slipped by, Hilia wiped the fine sweat from her forehead when she finally fitted the head onto the torso, looking expectantly at Rose: "Did... did I succeed?"
"Whether it's a success or not, you still need to install the Arcane Furnace and Magic Crystal, run your Magic Power through the magic puppet, and imprint your exclusive mark to find out."
"C-can I continue tomorrow?" Hilia asked cautiously, "I'm a little tired and want to get some sleep. Can I continue tomorrow?"
During the guidance, Rose transformed into a stern mentor, making her so nervous she didn't dare to speak loudly.
"Of course, why not?" Rose sensed Hilia's mental and physical exhaustion and suddenly thought of something, "What time is it now?"
"It's already late at night."
"Oh, I almost forgot. You need sleep. Go and rest."
Hilia remained motionless, but a blush slowly crept over her cheeks.
Hmm? Blushing?
Could it be...
"You like to sleep naked?!"
"Absolutely not!" Hilia blurted out, then slowly lowered her head, like an aggrieved little kitten: "Um, I want to take a bath. Mr. Rose, could you... step aside?"
Only then did Hilia realize the severity of the issue.
Rose had been lingering in her mind. Normally, it was fine, even sleeping... she could just sleep with clothes on. But during a bath... wouldn't everything be exposed?!
What to do? Not bathing is not an option; her body was all sticky.
If she'd known earlier, she wouldn't have thought about finishing everything in one night.
Yet she was in a rush to send him away...
The girl didn't yet understand the truth that inviting a god is easy but sending one away is hard.
Upon hearing Hilia's words, Rose finally understood the reason for her embarrassment.
He had originally intended to say, "I've lived for so long, what sight haven't I seen?" But he suddenly realized that, whether in games or reality, he'd really never seen a girl bathe—except in those little movies.
Reality need not be mentioned, a lifelong solo, and in games, there's no R-rated content. He'd rather conquer new territories in an open-world sandbox game than engage in romance.
After a moment of silence, Rose withdrew from Hilia's mind into the dark, sealed place.
It was pitch-black here, with nothing, and all his perceptions were sealed completely by the Sealing Array, unable to extend outward.
Rose casually pinched out the magic puppet Hilia had painstakingly assembled, mumbling to himself: "I never imagined I'd be stuck here for a thousand years... perhaps skipped over by the world's will."
Elsewhere.
"Mr. Rose? Lord Evil God? Are you still there?"
Hilia called a few times but received no response from Rose. She carefully evaluated the Spiritual Space in her mind, not finding any trace of Rose; it seemed he had left.
Mr. Rose is so polite.
Hilia thought.
But on second thought, being a weak Tier One Mage, if he wanted to hide, she wouldn't be able to see anything.
No, no, if he really wanted to see, even dressed, it probably would be like not wearing anything, right?
The girl blushed deeper and deeper, thinking as her face got redder by the moment. After much hesitation, she ultimately couldn't stand the sticky feeling on her body any longer and dashed into the bathroom with a look of resignation.
See if you want!