Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2986: Chapter 2987: Imaginary Alchemy

When Laplace heard Angel’s call, she didn’t know what to do yet, but as she continuously probed her perception into the black and white nodes, some manipulation information started giving feedback.

Laplace’s eyes lit up, and she immediately began to manipulate her forelimbs and hind limbs according to the feedback she received.

Initially, Laplace could only lift and lower her limbs, unable to move at all. This wasn’t due to manipulation difficulty, but the interference of the mysterious influence made the operation tougher.

However, Laplace, having long encountered the Sweet Dreams, had some immunity to mysterious interference. After spending about five minutes, she took her first step.

This first step, due to excessive manipulation, had both forelimbs moving forward simultaneously, without properly controlling the hind limbs, leading to taking only a small step forward before losing balance and falling onto the reflection.

But this was already quite good. If handed to someone unfamiliar with mysterious objects, just learning this step could take much longer.

Though the first step was a major mishap, eventually, it was still taken. In the following time, with her extraordinary control and mental fortitude, Laplace successfully advanced from "baby walking" to the stage of "staggering steps."

Each step required over ten seconds, and covering a short distance of two meters took one and a half minutes. This progress was extremely slow, but considering it’s the Sea of Void Mirror, all complaints were immediately alleviated.

In the Sea of Void Mirror, "staying still and maintaining oneself" is very difficult, and moving while maintaining oneself, without being affected by tides, is even harder. As far as Angel knows, only Laplace and her Temporal Body could do this.

Now, the Heart Space has broken this authority!

Although the operator is still Laplace, the operator could change, and the person inside the Heart Space could also change. It means, with the Heart Space, the Sea of Void Mirror is no longer the most dangerous forbidden ground, at least, there is now a way to survive!

Laplace continued testing controlling her forelimbs and hind limbs to walk, though simple walking could be learned quickly, running swiftly was much more difficult.

The influence of the mysterious aura on manipulation could be intensified as perception deepens.

To adapt to the interference of the mysterious aura when "running," even Laplace would need some time.

On the other hand, Angel didn’t need to worry about interference from the mysterious aura, but since he handed the testing rights to Laplace, he naturally wouldn’t interrupt the testing halfway.

"The transformation from standing to walking is the greatest breakthrough. And going from walking to running is definitely achievable, but it needs time to adapt," Angel said.

As the manipulator, Laplace naturally understood this: "Indeed, if you can walk, you can definitely run. It’s just a matter of time. If it’s only about testing mobility, it’s already qualified!"

Angel: "If that’s the case, let’s set aside the black and white points for now. Now... activate the silver points!"

The two symmetric silver points were located at the very top of the heart. Before activation, Laplace didn’t know their effects, but based on the currently activated points, Laplace already had an internal answer.

Without hesitation, she activated both silver points simultaneously!

As the silver light blossomed, an incredibly dazzling pair of wings unfurled from a curled position, resembling the bloom of flower buds, filled with a sense of awe.

Moreover, within these white wings, there seemed to be a silver halo flowing. Just gazing at them could evoke a feeling of splendor and mystery.

"Indeed... they’re wings." Laplace had initially guessed this, but when she saw the wings unfold, she was taken aback for several seconds.

Moving the limbs was already quite astonishing, and if the Heart Space could fly over the Sea of Void Mirror, it would be even more terrifying!

The transition from standing to walking is an overwhelming transformation. And from walking to flying, not at all inferior in terms of intrinsic change.

But, can it really fly?

There’s no energy for riding the wind in the Sea of Void Mirror, all energy in the Sea of Void Mirror would gradually be worn away. The Tooth Fairies can fly over the Sea of Void Mirror because they inherently have wings. Still, they only dare to fly at heights of tens of meters, and very few dare venture into the Shadow Mist Layer. This is because the Sea of Void Mirror disrupts the energy in mid-air, easily dragging one into it, becoming a Hollow Tooth Fairy.

Heart Space grows a pair of wings thinking of flying is quite difficult.

Perhaps sensing Laplace’s doubts, Angel softly said, "It’s my first attempt too. Whether it works, we can give it a try first."

Laplace nodded and began trying to activate her wings.

Heart Space has a "reduced nature," solely referring to Heart Space size doesn’t appear large, which means the wings, in terms of data, aren’t large either, each span is just 72 centimeters. Even with the heart wall, the maximum wingspan is only about one and a half meters.

But that’s just in terms of data. If viewed with the heart as the core, these wings are very large. Compared to the non-reduced heart, these wings’ span length could even exceed a hundred meters.

Therefore, when the wings start flapping, it is actually quite magnificent. Especially looking outward from within Heart Space, this feeling is particularly prevalent.

Yet, no matter how fast the wings flutter, the heart showed no signs of taking off.

Several minutes later, Laplace shook her head at Angel: "It seems like a failure."

After a pause, Laplace said, "However, the first two tests already succeeded, which was surprising enough. This failure isn’t much... By the way, I can understand the fore and hind limbs are for movement, but that initial golden trumpet flower, does it have a special purpose? Is it a symbol?"

Angel could see that Laplace wasn’t attempting to comfort, but was truly thinking that. As for the sudden topic change afterward, though intentional, it also seemed to genuinely inquire about the trumpet flower’s role.

After all, in Laplace’s perspective, Angel’s tests only involved "movement," which the Heart Space already achieved. The wing test was just discretionary, not crucial. More than the failed wings, she wanted to know the golden trumpet flower’s purpose.

Angel: "The golden point’s function I’ll explain later. I’d like to try again... the wings."

While saying this, Angel had already delved his spiritual power into the heart wall.

Laplace understood Angel wished to personally operate the silver points.

Laplace comprehends the researcher’s spirit of "not giving up," so she didn’t say much, retreating her perception.

Angel then directed his spiritual power into the light points.

Previously, he confirmed that when his spiritual power enters the Mysterious Concrete Object, it won’t be affected by external tides, so he wasn’t concerned about it being washed away, boldly manipulating the Mysterious Concrete Object.

Soon, the wings outside started flapping swiftly, more vigorously and rhythmically compared to when Laplace operated.

"Why does it feel... there’s wind?" As Angel rapidly flapped the wings, Glaipnir softly murmured and glanced around.

Inside the Heart Space, there seemed to be wind earlier? But upon searching again, it couldn’t be found.

Was it an illusion?

As Glaipnir pondered, Laplace softly mentioned in her heart, "Looks like he’s still not giving up."

Following Laplace’s gaze, Glaipnir glanced outside, seeing that the wings on the heart wall were nearly invisible due to their speed, revealing Angel’s control was much stronger than Laplace’s.

But the wings still couldn’t carry the heart space for flight, not even budging a bit.

"An indomitable spirit..." Glaipnir shook his head, not saying much.

Angel, while unable to hear the mind dialogue between Laplace and Glaipnir, didn’t need to listen to guess roughly what they were thinking.

Angel was not bothered because they were actually mistaken.

Angel wasn’t being stubborn; rather, he was conducting deeper tests on the mysterious concrete object.

The wings, compared to the fore and hind limbs and that trumpet flower, were a more complex design.

For movements, as long as the joint structure was designed well, it’s not difficult; but flying was different, it needed to consider the external environment and a more complex internal structure.

If Angel were to rely on "alchemy" to refine a pair of wings capable of flight, he could complete the task quickly.

But the mysterious concretization isn’t alchemy; it’s a form of "imaginary concept."

Angel just uses imaginary structures and then utilizes the power of nightmare illusion to interfere with the material realm.

From a certain perspective, this resembles "imaginary alchemy."

True alchemy can add various traits to the refined tools to achieve the refining goal. But "imaginary alchemy" can only achieve effects similar to alchemy through the imagination of structures.

This structure imagination resembles mechanical principles: various machine structures, linked and connected through gears and chains, to achieve a certain effect.

Angel couldn’t directly "imagine" a specific effect; he could only try to simulate the effect roundaboutly.

Although ultimately, the wings couldn’t fly, Angel wasn’t disappointed.

Because through this test, he got some guesses and found the deficiencies.

When designing the wings, it was inherently impossible for Angel to rely on imagination to directly create "wings that can fly as a mysterious concrete object." His design was pragmatic, more oriented towards — upgrading the mechanical body.

Treat the heart and wings as a complete machine; the heart space as the airbags, the wings as the bearing structure, the two working together to initiate internal circulation to simulate flight models akin to biological or mechanical bodies.

If the entire design succeeds, the wings could drag the heart for flight.

Now it hasn’t succeeded; Angel originally thought his idea was wrong, that the guess of "imaginary alchemy, structure is king" was incorrect, but during the testing process, he felt wind in the heart space.

This wind itself was not unusual. But after Angel’s careful inspection, he found it was a wind leaked due to an error in the wings’ internal circulation.

This made Angel very excited.

This meant his "imaginary" structure was indeed functional.

This attempt at flight failed not due to fundamental or systematic errors, but due to design mistakes.

Fundamental or systematic errors would mean the imaginary alchemy framework needs a complete overhaul.

But if design errors occur, there’s room for correction!

Besides, Angel also thinks design errors are normal, as it’s his first time using a mysterious concrete object to create a mechanical-like construction.

Perhaps it can’t be a single integrated form but rather requires multiple structures to assist in forming; or perhaps there was a problem with the airbags and internal circulation structure; it could also be that the number of wings was too few, and increasing them might enable flight...

No matter what, as long as it’s modifiable, that’s what matters!

Angel also felt confident that given some time, he could likely correct the design successfully.

Thinking of this, Angel did not feel much frustration about the failed flight test.

Next time... or the time after next, he believes he can definitely succeed.

With confidence, Angel withdrew his spiritual power, and simultaneously erased the concrete object within the silver light point, returning it to the heart wall.

Anyway, he would redesign them next time; it was better to destroy these two wings for now.

...

On the other side, Laplace and Glaipnir also witnessed Angel erasing the silver light point.

They weren’t too surprised; erasing failed work was quite normal.

Compared to the dispersing silver light points, they were more shocked at how quickly Angel accepted failure.

"Indomitable spirits" are common diseases among many researchers; they’ve seen too many similar scenes, whether in reflections or among mirror sea scholars, such situations occur.

But for a researcher to give up usually takes a long time, sometimes even dragging down a researcher’s entire life.

It’s rare to see someone like Angel, confirming the failure and immediately erasing it after a brief test.

"Is this going to be a test for the trumpet flower next?"

They didn’t ask Angel about the test result to avoid provoking him; seeing Angel looking at the trumpet flower, Laplace took the opportunity to ask.

Angel nodded, "Yes, but this test not only requires cooperation but also some luck."

"Luck?" Laplace asked curiously.

Angel nodded, "Yes, luck indeed. Because the function of this trumpet flower... is to collect tangible objects floating on the Sea of Void Mirror."

To test the effect of the trumpet flower, one must first encounter a tangible object on the Sea of Void Mirror.

Looking around now, Angel didn’t see any tangible object yet.

Although the Ancient Tooth Fairy considers the Sea of Void Mirror as a "stocking up" place, it doesn’t mean this sea is filled with goods everywhere. The Ancient Tooth Fairy gets a lot of supplies by using search relay, which means finding an object first, then using this object to find others. This greatly increases the probability of getting more items.

Not relying on search methods to find tangible objects floating on the Sea of Void Mirror, this really tests one’s luck.