Faced with results opposite to her expectations, Rin looked a little discouraged.
Servant: "Anyway, your movements earlier have improved considerably. Also, thinking of using hidden weapons to attack the enemy's eyes is very good."
The puppet spoke words of encouragement.
Rin: "Just now, Master mentioned tactics to deliberately lure me into using sand as a hidden weapon, right?"
The girl keenly noticed and asked with slight annoyance.
Using words to guide the enemy to act according to one's will was also among the tactics mentioned earlier.
Hearing the question, the puppet sat down and said:
"Rest for 15 minutes."
Then, the puppet tilted its head, sat still, and no longer moved—like a lifeless object.
Seeing no answer, Rin puffed her cheeks and said:
"Master, you bully."
Not receiving a denial was already like a confirmation of her suspicion.
Once again, Rin realized the vast difference in their experiences.
She sat down beside the puppet, took out her water bottle to drink, and glanced toward the corner of the training ground where Tris was.
Curious about what he was doing, Rin asked:
"Master, what exactly are you doing over there?"
Servant: "Researching new magic."
The puppet beside her replied.
Rin: "Researching magic?"
What she saw was a pile of earth-and-stone body parts stacked around Tris. It looked like he was assembling a life-sized model of himself.
Rin: "It looks like you're making puppets. What kind of magic is that, Master?"
Servant: "A type of earth-and-stone clones."
When parting with Coris's group, Tris had received several books from Mira about magic. One of them recorded a Water magic that could create combat-ready clones—the same magic Mira had used in the battle against the cultists.
Tris wanted to adapt that magic into a version more suitable for himself.
The modifications included:
First, change the attribute used from Water to Earth. The reason is obvious—Tris is far more compatible with the Earth element, which makes the effect stronger compared to using the original Water magic.
Second, Tris wants to alter the way the clones are controlled, making it the same method he normally uses to manipulate his puppets. The original control method of this magic was like assigning a few simple commands to the clones only. The user could not make them perform complex actions such as executing combat techniques.
The final change, and also the most difficult one, is to ensure that the earth clones can maintain their form even without any magical intervention.
In the original Water magic, if the controlling energy was cut off, the clones would collapse into a puddle of liquid. Tris did not want the same thing to happen to his earth-and-stone clones because of certain tactical uses he had in mind.
To prevent such a collapse, Tris needed to ensure that each clone created had a real physical structure. They had to resemble magical puppets, with solid bodies and joints that allowed their limbs to move flexibly.
The challenge was that if each clone required preparation time to be built like that, Tris might as well craft a magical puppet instead. Therefore, those clones could only be truly useful if they could be instantly created in large numbers with a single magic.
The first two modifications were already complete. The final one was what Tris was working on now—designing a suitable body, memorizing its structure, and making its creation instantaneous with one magic.
From the outside, it looked like a child playing with stone models. Only top Mages could understand the complexity of what Tris was doing.
Of course, Rin—who hadn't even formally studied magic—was not among them. To her, it looked like magical puppets she had seen before.
Even the mere existence of magical puppets was enough to leave Rin amazed.
She still couldn't comprehend how her Master could act normally while simultaneously controlling a puppet as if it were an independent being.
When she once asked about this, the answer was that Mages train their minds to achieve complex, powerful calculations—similar to how Warriors train their bodies for strength and reflexes through long, arduous practice.
The fifteen-minute break quickly passed, and the puppet beside Rin once again came alive and stood up.
Servant: "Earlier, you practiced a lot on offense. Next, you need to strengthen your evasion, defense, and counterattacks."
Hearing this, Rin nodded, quickly took her stance, and recalled the puppet's movements from before.
The match began, this time with the puppet taking the offensive.
It didn't rush in but walked slowly toward her.
Watching it approach, Rin felt a strange illusion. Though the puppet's body was identical to hers, she sensed an overwhelming pressure—as if facing a much larger opponent.
Swallowing nervously, Rin calculated how the opponent might attack and how she should respond—whether to dodge, defend, or counter.
Then, in the blink of an eye, the puppet closed the distance using the same footwork Rin had learned earlier.
It literally happened in the blink of her eye. As Rin blinked, the puppet seized that moment to move, making its approach sudden and harder to react to.
Rin was a beat too slow, panicked, and failed to respond properly.
As a result, she was easily defeated.
Lying on the sand, Rin heard the puppet say:
"You must train until your body can react instantly without wasting time deciding what to do when the enemy is already upon you."
Rin: "Yes, Master."
Acknowledging her weakness, Rin stood up again and prepared for battle.
They continued training like that for the rest of the day.
By the end of practice, Rin's reaction speed had clearly improved. Her movements became smoother and faster, and her techniques more refined.
Witnessing her rapid progress, Tris nodded in satisfaction.
It won't be long before she can truly join battles against Magical Beasts, or even face adventurers.