Mage? Magic Engineer!-Chapter 53 - 50: Barren and Lifeless

"Gaisde Yazi, take good care of yourself while I’m away."

"QUACK!"

In addition to its garden maze, Stella Garden also had an artificial lake and a lawn. The lake was home to geese and ducks. Rorschach tied a small silk scarf around Gaisde’s neck and left it to get along with the other ducks in the lake.

’Hopefully, ducks aren’t as territorial as people...’

With his departure imminent, Rorschach organized his Storage Ring. In addition to his usual money and books, he also packed Vibrating Quartz Sand and sugar. Granulated white sugar was currently very expensive, used only in small amounts by the Alchemy Department for alchemy. It was much easier to buy brown sugar, which came in solid blocks.

Rorschach rode in a carriage with Kano to the outskirts of the city. A huge tent had been erected in an open field next to some farmland, so large one might suspect it was commandeered from a circus. Many carriages were parked around the tent, and workers were busy widening the road. The air was thick with the smell of cow and horse manure.

"It’s still a bit of a mess out here. Let’s hurry inside." Inside the huge tent was much better. Aside from the numerous bundles of supplies piled along the perimeter, a raised platform in the center took up most of the space.

"How was this place discovered?"

"You must be Mage Rorschach. Hello." A sharp-looking young man walked over. He wore practical hunting attire instead of a loose magic robe. "I am François, a Second Level Mage. As the son of its discoverer, I can answer your question."

He led Rorschach and Kano onto the raised platform. An inscribed magic array covered nearly its entire surface, its channels flowing with a metallic liquid that looked like molten gold. "Last winter, a farmer reported to the Lord that his well had suddenly gone dry. He said the well had been there since his grandfather’s childhood and had never run dry before."

"On the Lord’s recommendation, the farmer went to the Masons’ Guild, which is affiliated with the main Guild, hoping to have a new well dug. My father found it strange that the ancient well had dried up, so he went to investigate as well. At the bottom of the well, he found a magic circuit."

François pointed at the magic array. "That’s right, this is the very array. It had absorbed the groundwater and somehow been activated. After my father and the other Masters conducted some experiments, we constructed a larger magic array in the same spot and successfully crossed over to a new plane."

"Your father, Great Mage Granor, is a man of exceptional courage," Kano chimed in. "Sub-planes are often unsuitable for human survival. Back then, your father left behind a locator coordinate for this side and went straight through."

The young man in the hunting attire smiled even more broadly. "Opportunity always favors those who possess both strength and courage. The day before yesterday, His Majesty the King granted my father and me an audience. He lavished us with praise and encouraged our continued exploration of the planes."

Rorschach noticed that while Kano nodded, his expression was somewhat unnatural. The three of them stood on the platform for a short while before they were called down.

"We’ve got a new kid here, taking Master Kano’s place..." The expedition leader, also dressed in hunting attire, was solidly muscled with broad shoulders and thick limbs. The man, whose name was Nemo, had sharp eyes that constantly scanned the area, anticipating potential dangers.

He gathered all the apprentices and mages who were about to enter the sub-plane and went over the necessary precautions.

"Everyone, if you don’t have a tag, come get one! This is your lifeline! You don’t want to get lost and be left to starve or die of thirst in the desert..."

The leader, Nemo, personally fastened the tag to Rorschach’s left wrist. The goatskin strap was cinched tight, securing a round brass disk that resembled a watch face. It was clearly enchanted with magic that could track the wearer’s location.

"Let’s move." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Eight Great Mages, including Kano, positioned themselves evenly around the circumference of the magic array and extended their right palms. Drums began to beat and horns sounded. At this signal, the eight Mages simultaneously poured their Magic Power into the array.

The liquid metal within the magic array began to boil. Rorschach could clearly feel all the Ether around him being mobilized by the Great Mages, surging toward the magic array in a torrent.

’The magic power fluctuations from these Great Mages casting in unison are even more violent than in the square back in Antorrela...’ Rorschach thought, making a silent comparison.

"Step right onto it." The leader tightened the pack on his back and leaped into the array. Rorschach followed suit. It felt as if he were stepping onto something soft; his body was buoyed by the concentrated Magic Power, and a brilliant red light flooded his vision...

Red.

After a long moment, the expanse of red began to differentiate:

Above, a constantly shifting firmament, where an uneven pink color surged chaotically. There were no celestial bodies, only a vast, pale-red atmosphere.

Below, a vast, boundless land stretched to the horizon—a reddish-orange desert scarred by ravines, devoid of any sign of life.

Vast, empty, and deathly still. If one were to paint this landscape, a single color would suffice. It was easy to imagine a lone person being swallowed whole by the crimson sands and utter desolation.

Rorschach and the other members of the advance party now stood on a high point in the wasteland. Beneath their feet lay a magic array even larger than the one they had used to arrive. It was simply inscribed into the red earth, with no flowing liquid metal.

The air here was dry and the temperature pleasant, yet all the Mages present felt a "scorching" heat. This sensation came not from the atmosphere, but from the dense, turbulent Ether.

"The Ether here is so dense that the magic array can be activated without needing to consume any Conductive Fluid."

In the Main World, magic arrays and scrolls all required a medium capable of carrying Ether to form their magic circuits, such as liquid metal or ink mixed with special minerals like crystal powder.

But that wasn’t necessary here. Rorschach tried using his Magic Power Drive and could feel that the Ether he drew upon was thick and viscous.

"Let’s clear the magic array quickly. The next wave of personnel and supplies will be coming through."

The magic array lit up again, teleporting through workers and bundles of supplies. Everyone was amazed by the experience, and the first thing some of them did was check to make sure they hadn’t lost any arms or legs.

"Alright! Roll call! Once everyone’s accounted for, we’ll start setting up camp!" Nemo, the leader, began to organize the group.

One team of workers began digging pits in a lower-lying area, while another started putting up woolen tents. The apprentices also helped with the tents.

The Mages, however, had other important tasks.

"Alright, Mages, first we need to erect the clock tower. It will serve as a landmark for our camp and will also keep time for us. This plane has no celestial bodies, nor does it have a day-night cycle, so we must rely on a mechanical clock to tell time."

The portal’s limited capacity meant that aside from supplies, no large construction machinery could be brought through. This was where the power of magic came in.

Rorschach used his Mage’s Hand, as powerful as a Qilin Arm, to lift timbers and set them in the pits, while François used a very interesting spell: Vitalizing Rope.

At his command, the rope began to writhe, fastening itself to the central timber and to four wooden stakes driven into the ground at the corners, forming guy wires to secure the central post.

The workers couldn’t help but watch the Mages cast their spells, and they broke into spontaneous cheers when the mechanical clock was hoisted onto the post.

Another group of Mages wasn’t having as much luck. The leader, Nemo, and a Middle Tier Mage named Yina were tasked with using the Water Creation Skill to fill the reservoir. They were assisted by several apprentices who also knew the spell. There was some drinking water among the supplies, but it wasn’t nearly enough for the dozens of people on the expedition.

"It’s no use." Yina tried casting the spell again, but the familiar, subtle sensation of summoning the azure element refused to manifest in this plane. There was only the dry earth, as if the very land rejected the existence of life.

’Will we have to abort and return to the Main Plane ahead of schedule?’ Just as Nemo was weighing his options, he heard Mage Rorschach’s voice.

"Are you trying to create water? Let me give it a try."