Mage? Magic Engineer!-Chapter 54 - 51: Rorschach Brand Pure Water

"You want to try?" Frustrated by her failed spellcasting, Yina sized Rorschach up. "You’re still a Low Tier Mage, right? You’ve already worked hard to complete your tasks; you’d better save your Ether."

The team leader, Nemo, thought Yina’s words were too harsh and tried to smooth things over, though he didn’t believe Rorschach could succeed either. "Mage Rorschach, you must have expended a fair amount of energy helping establish the landmark. We might have to open a portal soon, so it would be wise to conserve your Magic Power."

Rorschach noticed one of his own students among the Apprentices. Having received a cold shoulder for his troubles, he cut the chatter and directly cast [Rorschach’s Water Creation Technique].

Somehow, in this Sub-plane shrouded by Transmuting Dust, the other Mages couldn’t sense the presence of the Water Elemental Plane.

This was a moment for Rorschach—who couldn’t sense the Water Elemental Plane even on the Main Plane—to step forward. With a "Magic Concentration" followed by an "Elemental Transformation" into the Water Element, a large amount of clear, pure water instantly gushed forth.

"How did you do that?" asked Yina, her expression a mixture of shock and indignation after having failed more than ten times herself.

"You all know the [Fireball Skill], correct?" Rorschach asked an unexpected question. "You gather and concentrate the surrounding Ether, transform it into the Fire Element, and a fireball coalesces."

Yina understood him. "You mean you concentrate Ether like you would for the [Fireball Skill], then directly transform it into the Water Element? That kind of transformation is extremely difficult on the Main Plane..."

Nemo and François, who had just come over, caught on as well. "But here, the concentration of Ether is extremely high, which makes the transformation viable." With that, they began to try it themselves.

Unfortunately, knowing the theory didn’t guarantee immediate success. Rorschach didn’t know how to create a Learning Scroll, either—the ability to slowly demonstrate the fluctuations of Magic Power during casting was an advanced art in itself. The scarcity of Mages who mastered it was one of the reasons Learning Scrolls were so expensive.

"Mage Rorschach, what do you visualize when you transform the Water Element? A boundless ocean? A stream, or a rushing river?" During the "Elemental Transformation" step, the other Mages were trying to apply their experience from the original [Water Creation Skill], which was undoubtedly leading to their failure.

With the conventional [Water Creation Skill], a Caster doesn’t create water; they are merely a transporter from the Elemental Plane. But in this Sub-plane, they couldn’t locate the Water Elemental Plane.

"If you were trying to call upon the Water Elemental Plane, you would need to visualize vast bodies of water to align your Endogenous Ether with it." Rorschach stepped into the center of the crowd. The other Mages and Apprentices instinctively made room, circling around and watching him intently.

"But for transforming Magic Power into an element, you must first conceive of pure, abstract water. Then, you imagine the process of it condensing from vapor and gathering into dewdrops."

In Rorschach’s mind, he had a complete grasp of abstract water. Whether it was the microscopic view of atoms and their bonds within a water molecule, or the macroscopic view of water’s fundamental physical and chemical properties, it all helped him guide the Elemental Transformation toward the pure Water Element. He was also familiar with the schematics and phase diagrams of water transitioning from a non-condensed to a condensed state. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"To start, you shouldn’t try to force a transformation into liquid water. Instead, begin by compressing the Ether to generate water vapor. Once the vapor we create reaches a certain concentration, it will naturally liquefy."

Nemo and Yina were the first to succeed. They held their hands open, facing each other, and continuously guided the surrounding Ether to gather between their palms. Soon, they both felt their hands grow moist. Maintaining this method of Ether circulation while increasing the flux, a stream of water actually began to pour out.

"Success!" Yina was overjoyed, but a question immediately came to mind. "Mage Rorschach, this is your first time in a Sub-plane, so how did you figure out how to create water with Elemental Transformation so quickly?"

"I researched this method back on the Main Plane." ’To this day, I still haven’t learned the original [Water Creation Skill],’ Rorschach mused, realizing he seemed to have extreme difficulty mastering any magic related to space or summoning.

’Here, my version of the [Water Creation Skill] is much easier to cast,’ Rorschach mused. ’The primary factor is obviously this plane’s high concentration of ambient Ether. The other is the extreme dryness—with no wind or harsh sun, my lips are already chapped.’

’In other words, when there’s a high concentration on one side and almost none on the other, the Ether might have a natural tendency to transform into the Water Element. So why doesn’t it happen spontaneously on this plane? Why does it require a Mage to cast a spell?’

’To use a rough analogy, it’s like a small ball at the top of a slope, but there’s a small hump before the slope goes down. The Mage has to use their own Magic Power to "lift the ball over the hump." Once it’s past the peak, the ball rolls down on its own. Once I overcome the energy barrier of Elemental Transformation, the Ether will spontaneously begin transmuting into the Water Element. After that, the Caster just needs to keep compressing the ambient Ether to maintain the concentration gradient.’

"You can perform this kind of transformation into the Water Element on the Main Plane too?" Yina was incredulous. ’Is this something a Low Tier Mage is capable of?’

"Yes. It’s based on the [Fireball Skill], which is currently my most proficient spell." Rorschach raised his hands above his head. Just as one would with a fireball, he condensed a sphere of pure water, which swirled within its confines as it grew larger and larger. Rorschach felt how effortless it was to condense Ether on this plane; he had barely used any of his own Endogenous Magic Power.

The Apprentices and the watching workers let out gasps of awe. A huge sphere of water, roughly five meters in diameter, floated above the young man’s head. Under his steady guidance, it drifted over the reservoir.

SPLASH—the sphere of water collapsed, crashing into the reservoir. In an instant, the temporary basin was a third of the way full.

This slightly theatrical display earned cheers from the Apprentices and workers. "All right!" "The Mage is incredible!" Team leader Nemo grasped Rorschach’s hand. "Mage Rorschach, you’ve solved our water problem and allowed our mission to continue. You’ve been a tremendous help!"

Some Mages, however, were unsuccessful. François, for one, was never able to transform water. He finally shrugged and gave up. "To be honest, I’ve never been good at commanding ambient Ether. This Magic just isn’t for me." ’Recalling his exquisite manipulation of the [Vitalizing Rope], François probably specializes in magic from the Enchantment and Transformation Systems, which rely on manipulating one’s own Magic Power,’ Rorschach guessed.

Past explorations had been short-term expeditions conducted by Great Mages. This mission was the first attempt at a long-term settlement on a Sub-plane, requiring the construction of durable facilities where even ordinary people could live for an extended period.

"We’ve set up temporary tents, but we need to build sturdier housing." Nemo gathered the Mages and the more exceptional Apprentices for a meeting in the largest tent, which served as the temporary command post. "Here are the blueprints for the construction zone, and here are the original building designs. To accelerate the timeline and complete this task without heavy machinery, we Casters will have to participate in the construction alongside the workers."

The advance team leader, Nemo, had now become the "foreman" for the first phase of the temporary outpost’s construction project. For a time, dust flew everywhere.

The Casters’ construction plan was to first drive wooden posts into the ground, then cast the [Earth Wall Technique] over them, embedding the posts within the walls.

Rorschach was once again responsible for driving the posts with his super-powered version of [Mage’s Hand], while François cast the [Earth Wall Technique]. They had just put up the shell of a single-story cottage when François started to repeatedly wipe the sweat from his brow. "This is no good. Building like this is too slow!"