126 Automaton

The Magic Structure or Core of an Automaton wasn't as simple as those that was being used for a standard Mana Artfifact.

Wallace had to carefully think of a plan before he picked up the Basilisk and Jax Stone.

"It's better to use my own formation and array..."

After Wallace said this, he removed the prearranged Mana Gathering Formation and Mana Stabilization Array from the Artifact Forging Device. He noticed as well that they were just a standard formation and array and doesn't have unique arrangements on them.

'Luckily, I can still use them on this stage.' Some of the rewards given by the Pathfinder were memory crystals containing knowledge about the two auxiliary magic.

He had revealed it during the TMAC as well when he created Mirror of Trace using the Ancient Abyssal Glass, a fragment of glass with mysterious origin, to guarantee one of their Combat Magician's victory.

Those two memory crystals were the High-Level Unhindered Gathering Formation and 12 Cycles of Mana Stabilization Array.

This time, Wallace carefully placed the formation and array as he didn't dare to modify them for now since didn't have sufficient time to do so and it was safer too.

The Artifact Forging Device that they have right now isn't a box but it does look like a large altar with a protruding metal slab. The slab was there for the forger to place their hands on and connect to the system. This will make their minds connected to the device and control the creation process of the structure.

Wallace made sure to remember the inner workings of this artifact forging device as much as possible. He used his Divine Sense to check every inch of it's structure so he could use it as a reference for his future creations.

After this, Wallace placed the Basilisk stone on the device and willed his mind to start creating his magic structure.

He wasn't planning to create a very complex magic structure for his automaton. He was aiming to create one that was at least capable of basic movements and protection other than possessing high-attack power.

Indeed, in his very first automation, Wallace aims to create one that can obliterate any obstacles. Some may focus in movement, defense, adaptability, and others, but Wallace thinking was simple not because he thinks it was the best possible automaton but because this is what he was good at.

When he was still repairing a Mech Frame in outer space, the most common parts they had to repair aside from armor was the weapons.

It can be said that brittle weapons were always targets of the enemy rather than the tough armors. Once they had destroyed the enemy's weapon, they will be just a moving target waiting to be destroyed.

This time, Wallace picked up the Basilisk Stone thanks to Van as he had managed to create a powerful offensive type magic structure. This will greatly enhance the fighting power of his automaton.

The Jax Stone was obviously an insurance because he noticed a Lamat Stone in the selections. Although the Magic Jammer's magic structure was difficult to find, it was only for those average Magicians. The 12 Mana Technicians here were definitely people who possess knowledge about it.

Wallace himself was aware of it but didn't bother to create one since it would just add some burden in the Automaton's internal calculations. It must be remembered that once a Magic Jammer was used, even the user will be affected. But his opponents may not think the same and planned to gamble on it. Anyway, the Magic Jammer Canceller's magic structure should he under wraps by the NMTI as Yumi told him, so he could avoid any problems that Magic Jammer could do.

Luckily, the Jax Stone was also used for unique magic spells that requires an influence of gravitational force. One sample of this was Kyla's Continuous Flame Orbit that she had used in TMAC.

Wallace had spent almost an hour for his Magic Structure which was not a surprising thing as his design in his automaton was a simple one. He used a standard Magic Structure Crystal, Basilisk and Jax stone, a total of three cores for his Automaton.

He only needed another hour to complete it as he already had a little experience when he made his Amplified Assault Armor.

***

"Take a look at that... Olga had finished his Magic Structure for only half an hour. I'm a bit worried about his Automaton' functionalities though." One of the female announcer immediately noticed Olga's figure moving to create his automaton's design while leaving his magic structure placed on top of his Artifact Forging Device.

"Of course, the faster he made it, the more unpolished it is. But who knows? Maybe he's not finished yet. He still has about two hours anyway."

"That could possibly be the case. He can still try improving it after he was done in his Automaton's design." Most of the time, the quality of the core would depend on how much time you spent creating it so it was normal for the announcer to have some doubts at the magic structures that was finished so quickly.

"Now, let's see our home team's work. Hmm.. their design really resembles each other."

"I wonder if that will be effective in the combat round later on. After all, if they have same functions, they will have same weaknesses as well which can be exploited by calculative automatons."

"That fully makes sense, I hope they have a clear plan about their combat strategy."

The man approved the other announcer's analysis. Similar creations might be good for the sake of stability, but in their case, they should consider some other things as well like how it requires for them to have some uniqueness to avoid being predicted by their opponents. Because if there are similar attack patterns, movements, and energy in those three, it can easily be seen through by perhaps even the lowest grade automaton.

"How about those from Zairus?"

"They are the only team that has 2nd year students, there were even two of them, so many people were really looking forward on their performance. I hope the two wouldn't disappoint these people."

"Haha! Aren't you looking forward to it as well? I don't really mind but their presence gives inspiration to others. We all know how hard it is for Mana Technicians as well. I hope that in the next competition we could find more younger generation magicians capable of participating here..."

Of course, these were just an empty words. Third year and second year student only have a very small gap in their Mana Study.

The announcers continued their job to introduce the participants and their creations. They were closely observing each of the participants for about five minutes before it changed their perspective to view the other's progress.

"Amazing, Jun Richardson had finished making his design for his automaton. Probably some finishing touches would do. But now, he has to create his Magic Structure core and hopefully he could make it on time."

"Looking at the design, it resembles a praying mantis with eight blades."

"Eight blades? Such a unique design... It surely requires comprehensive core too. It seems that this third year has an ambitious design. This will surely be tough."

"On the other hand, his two teammates was still dealing with their Magic Structures."

The two, Wallace and Sheryl, were seen forging the vessel they selected for their magic structure and although they named stones that was used, the announcers did not fully discuss it to the audience.

Although they are providing information about the abilities of the participants and insights about their selected path or design, they weren't going too deep about the components of their Magic Structure due to various reasons.

***

Half an hour before the start of the competition.

Khamir was standing in front of his two teammates. He was the leader of their small Artifact Forging team.

In Maja, their home country, they had learned a lot about automatons. Their academy specialized in puppetry and being able to create an automaton was their entrance examination. So with this segment of competition, they have high confidence being on top 3 in the rankings.

The three 3rd year students here planned to create a human design with various sizes for their automaton, which they were extremely familiar with.

"Alright, I'll make the strength type. Saida specialized in agility type automatons and Ilia will create a genuine mage type automaton. This should be enough." Khamir said to his team. They already planned the automatons that they will make and although he said it was strength type, it was just a heavily armored automaton that could still send an acceptable attack magic.

The agility type automaton was the one capable of doing close combat and has a high-burst magic attacks.

For this competition, they plan to go all-out and show these magicians the ability they have learned in their academy.

"We wouldn't have a problem with the core of our automaton but I'm worried about the battlefield that will be used in the next round. So please keep that in mind when your designing your Magic Structure."

"I understand~"

"No problem. I and Ilia are fully aware of this. Don't worry." Saida smiled as she felt excited for the competition.