Hilia was nervously watching the magic puppet.
Just a moment ago, Rose had told her a hypothesis.
And now, the hypothesis was being conducted.
She didn't have to wait long before she saw the magic puppet's neck move slightly, then it glanced around.
The magic puppet opened its mouth but nothing came out.
Rose's voice echoed in Hilia's mind, "You forgot to add a voice component to the magic puppet."
Hilia blinked sheepishly, "I didn't expect you could enter the magic puppet and control it."
Apart from magic puppets with special functions, ordinary ones typically do not have voice components added.
Magic puppets don't need to chant spells to cast magic; simply having the Heart of the Magic Puppet direct the magic power input by the controller through a cycle within the body can release the magic.
Even if they could speak, at most they would output a few simple syllables to enhance the aura.
Of course, Hilia wouldn't add a voice component either, because she never imagined Rose could enter the magic puppet to replace her in controlling it.
Or rather, use the magic puppet as his own body.
Rose manipulated the magic puppet a bit and frowned, "This body's so weak, it feels like it will fall apart with a slight movement."
Hilia exclaimed in horror, "Lord Rose, please don't break it; we don't have money to make another one."
"One more flight competition should do."
"No, please don't."
Rose carefully assessed the strength of this magic puppet's body, discovering that the basic materials provided by the school could only barely use Tier One Magic, thanks to the Water Divine Fragment. He had thought the Water Divine Fragment was commonplace, but other materials turned out to be even more so.
Only Water Element magic works decently.
"Only using Tier One Magic is quite limiting."
"It's alright; I just became a Tier One Mage."
"By the end of the term, well, by the annual exams, if you're still a Tier One Mage, it'll be my failure."
"Tier Two... it's not that easy to achieve." Hilia thought of the ratio of Tier Two Mages in school.
In the first year, Tier One Mages are rare; most people only become Tier One Mages after studying for about half a year.
The minimum requirement for an annual assessment for regular students is to become a Tier One Mage.
For a prospective Holy Daughter, there's no requirement to become a Tier Two Mage, but she must possess combat prowess comparable to a Tier Two Mage.
The number of Tier Two Mages is highest in the third year, and only a few manage to advance in the first year, reaching only the third year at most. In the fourth and fifth years, the graduation requirement is merely to become Tier Three Mage.
Successfully advancing to Tier Four is considered exceptional for graduates, allowing them to remain at school as instructors.
Otherwise, they might join the Holy Court as a bishop.
If it weren't for the prospective Holy Daughter selection, Hilia felt her goal might be to become a bishop or priest.
She didn't believe her talent and capability would allow her to become a Tier Two Mage by the end of the term; advancing to Tier Two by the second year would already be satisfying.
Yet Rose insisted on making her a Tier Two Mage before the term's end...
Hilia suddenly remembered something —
The covenant with the Evil God is to make a magic puppet eligible for the assessment. Now that the magic puppet is completed, the covenant must be fulfilled, right?
Hilia looked at the magic puppet in front of her.
The magic puppet wasn't under her control at the moment, ignoring her commands.
Because Rose was testing the various functions of the magic puppet.
Hilia wanted to ask whether the covenant had ended but didn't dare to voice it.
She remembered that in the Holy Court's blessing ceremony, if a deity was truly summoned, once the wish was fulfilled, the connection between them would be severed.
If not severed, it indicates the covenant hasn't been completed.
Hilia wasn't aware of how covenants with the Evil God worked, whether they were the same as with other gods.
She didn't dare to ask.
Oh well, she thought she'd ask later!
The girl thought.
Seeing Rose testing the magic puppet's limits, Hilia felt it was pointless to watch idly, so she went off to study Holy Word magic.
Much later, Rose finally stopped testing the magic puppet.
"Generally speaking, it can move and run, but lacks combat strength. In a real fight, magic can't be used casually or the material will quickly overload and become unusable.
"If I were to use this body in combat, I'd probably have to rely on spiritual power to analyze the opponent's actions and then engage in close combat."
Feeling the magic puppet approaching, Hilia looked up, "Mr. Rose, is the testing done?"
Rose nodded: "Yes, this magic puppet can't randomly use magic; at most, it can cast five before reaching its limit. Further use would cause paralysis. It's best suited for melee combat.
"But the materials limit melee strength too, necessitating an enhancement in material performance."
Hilia nodded vigorously: "I will! However, all the materials for the magic puppet are pricey, so for now I'll use this one until I can earn enough to replace it..."
Enhancing the magic puppet is certainly the most important task; its improvement must match the mage's advancement.
Of course, a whole new magic puppet can be replaced directly too.
There's a thrifty way—just cobble together a magic puppet to make do and enhance one's worth, then when advancing to high-tier seems impossible, craft a custom one.
Like wanting a computer with a 1080 graphics card in youth, but lacking the money and grappling with the rapid updates, one settles for a makeshift computer, then gets a 4090 when finances improve...
Hilia's thinking was along these lines—get something to make do, and later, after earning money and advancing, consider replacing it.
Instead of switching with each Tier, it's better to wait until Tier Three or Four for a swap.
By then, the performance of the artificial Heart of the Magic Puppet should be much better.
Waiting never harms.
Regarding her idea, Rose outright rolled his eyes, "Adding... the magic puppet with the Heart of the Magic Puppet greatly enhances your growth. I don't recommend skipping stages.
"Retaining resources initially doesn't benefit advancement; the magic puppet should progress with you. Although this Heart of the Magic Puppet is ordinary water-element, it's still precious. While others might replace it at Tier Two or Three due to immature extraction techniques, my modification lets it last up to Tier Six."
"Tier Six?" Hilia blinked. "In the entire Divine Magic Academy, only the principal is a Tier Six Mage... Can this ordinary Heart of the Magic Puppet really last till then?"
"Certainly."
Despite being of an ordinary Lower God's Divine Fragment, it's still a Divine Fragment, easily lasting until the human's limit—Tier Six.
As long as it's used correctly.
Rose was confident he could improve the bridge device for this Heart of the Magic Puppet to let the Divine Fragment perform at 100% efficiency.
"Do you remember what Oston said to you?"
"Fishing?"
"Yes, your school's forest holds many good things. Gathering some to strengthen the magic puppet would be quite beneficial."