Compared to animals, plant-type creatures that couldn't move on their own and grew slowly had too many weaknesses.
But there was one thing that animals envied but could never obtain.
It had an incomparably powerful vitality and reproductive ability. As long as a portion of its branches met the right conditions, it would be able to become a complete individual. And the simplest branch cutting, crossbreeding, and grafting would be able to create a composite with the characteristics of both the mother and the father.
The pear apple was the most obvious example. Marrying the branches of an apple tree on a pear tree and cultivating a pear-like apple fruit (and apple pear were two different things).
And what Rorschach did was similar.
Helios was a special magical plant, and the current Morton was actually a special magical plant as well. The branches of Helios were grafted onto Morton's body, allowing him to have some of the physical characteristics of Helios the Sunflower.
It sounded simple and easy, but the technical principles of nuclear fission were also so simple that they could be explained in two sentences. The simpler the principle, the more difficult it was to realize the technology and achieve the conditions.
What Rorschach did was to change Morton's species and forcibly give him many possibilities of mutation. Then, among the many benign mutations, he chose what he needed — high-temperature absorption ability (fire element immunity/absorption ability).
If it weren't for that strange land, it would be impossible to achieve so many possibilities of mutation in a short time. If it weren't for Rorschach's Creator-level authority in plant creation, it would be impossible to forcibly choose this one.
But even so, to be able to let Morton obtain this ability in a short week was already a blessing from the heavens.
"… Heh, at least for the first step, I've won the gamble. The other party really sent Gabres."
Even so, Rorschach and Morton were still gambling.
They gambled that the other party would take the threat of their side seriously and send their strongest apprentice, Gabres. If it was a level three or four ice mage, thunder mage, or battle mage, all their preparations would be in vain.
And the gains often came with a price. Obtaining abilities like cheating also required the awareness of being "banned."
Although Morton had gained an unstable ability to absorb fire elements, it had also caused his body to show signs of collapse. His physical strength had been greatly reduced, and it was really impossible for him to tear down the house like he did a few days ago. If he encountered a high-ranking warrior, he might be chopped down like firewood.
There was no shortage of high-ranked mages who could deal physical damage, and a simple summoned creature could achieve such a result. In order to conceal this weakness, Rorschach had been making Morton act like a well-developed idiot these days.
He was in charge of all the transportation work. With the help of magic tools, he acted like a powerful mutated monster in front of the mercenaries. Then, through this channel, he passed the news to the other side.
If you want to put on a show, you have to go all the way. Not only were there no physical defensive items or equipment that you needed the most, there were also many elemental defensive items that you didn't need at all. Although there would be an obvious advantage if you succeeded in the intelligence battle, if you failed, it would mean that you wouldn't be able to make up for your weakness.
Gabres only needed to prepare a few tools to summon the Vajra Golem in advance, and he could easily crush Morton to death.
Rorschach and Morton were betting that the other side wouldn't make these two preparations at all. This wasn't a wild gamble without basis. In Rorschach's view, the arrogant elves were used to having everything under control. When they felt that everything was within their expectations, they wouldn't make any backup preparations in case of failure.
This was an arrogance rooted in the history of their race, especially the scholarly arrogance unique to mages, which exacerbated the possibility of leaving no way out.
His understanding of the elves made Rorschach dare to bet, and … he won the bet!
What if he lost the bet?
"… Then there's no other way. You'll have to fight to surrender and save your life. I hope the elves won't kill you."
This was also something that couldn't be helped. A second-order mage challenged a fifth-order mage, and even wanted to win. How could he not gamble?
Even if he gambled, the difference in strength was so great that winning the intelligence battle still didn't mean that he would be able to obtain the final victory, but … there was finally a possibility of winning.
Morton, who was brandishing his tortoise fists and beating up the high-level archmage like a sandbag, seemed to have a great advantage and felt good, but he was panicking in his heart.
But things had come to this point, and his enemy, the elven archmage Erwin, had already lost all face.
No matter what the outcome of the final duel was, in this mage showdown conducted through apprentices, even the elven mages had to admit that this big shot had lost completely.
The most important intelligence battle for mages was completely misled. He was crushed in wisdom and strategy, and with a third-order strength advantage, he was beaten down by a rookie.
In terms of apprentices, Rorschach had trained Erwin for less than two weeks, and Morton had been trained by Rorschach for decades. Comparing the two sides, Erwin had lost even more thoroughly as a mentor.
There was no need to mention it repeatedly. Although strength was still respected in the world of mages, the evaluation of a person's superiority and inferiority were more based on intelligence and results than brute force.
In the eyes of the mages, it was only natural that Irwin, who had the advantage in terms of strength, status, and resources, would win. Not only did he have to win, but he also had to win beautifully. Even Irwin thought so. That was why he called back his best apprentice and even used dirty methods to bribe the mages. He had to win the battle steadily.
It was like the Brazilian national team playing China's men's football team. Not to mention losing, if they didn't win beautifully, they would be scolded to the sky. If they lost, they would probably be scolded and disbanded.
But now, Erwin's face was very ugly.
Originally, because of his special identity, he was a peripheral person in the circle of archmages of the Mage Country. He probably already thought that he would become the laughingstock of the mage circle for the next three months, and if he lost, he would probably be nailed to the pillar of shame.
And at this point, he was afraid that he had already lost. As a mentor, as a mage who prioritized wisdom, he had lost to a young man who was less than a fraction of his age and about as strong as his apprentice.
The smiling Rorschach was in a good mood.
Rorschach had already fulfilled his promise to Morton. Yes, a promise.
"I know the difference in strength is huge, and I also know that as an eighth-order archmage, Erwin is already standing at the top of the world. Even if you, Mentor, personally went up, you wouldn't have much of a chance. But when I think of my family, I … I can't let him have it easy. At least, I want him to suffer and lose face!"
Hatred didn't burn away Morton's rationality, but it made him seem unwise. Risking his life to damage his enemy's reputation seemed foolish, but Rorschach appreciated this determination.
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