Chapter 208: Familiar

The fleeting rhythm vanished. Ace activated the Soul Spell Insight Perception, observing the four small flames, each no larger than a palm.

While observing, Ace meticulously recorded in his Grimoire:

“The flame emitting bright light is composed of the Lesser Luminous Rune, so it is recorded as the Luminous Flame. The flame with a significantly higher temperature than the others is recorded as the Scorching Flame. The flame that is mostly unstable and constantly crackling is recorded as the Explosive Flame. The last flame, which is no different from the previous one, is recorded as the Thinking Flame.”

The Luminous Flame inherently possessed extremely strong light. Under Ace’s mental command, it could release an intense flash in an instant or maintain a constant brightness.

The Scorching Flame possessed high heat and scorching penetration attributes. Under Ace’s mental command, the Explosive Flame could produce small explosions, dimming significantly after each one.

Subsequently, Ace began multiple command experiments. Using iron blocks as Casting Materials, he used Advanced Magical Trickery to create a simple miniature maze.

In the first experiment, Ace ordered the four flames to enter the preset maze from the entrance. He didn’t give specific instructions, only the command to exit the maze.

The first three flames only instinctively tried to complete the task under Ace’s mental command. They constantly hit dead ends unconsciously, slowly began to resist, and finally stagnated in the maze.

The fourth flame also hit dead ends constantly, but Ace noticed it was consciously recording its path. Finally, it successfully exited the simple maze.

“With the addition of the Lesser Thought Activation Rune, the flame’s thinking ability has increased, and its behavior appears more intelligent.” Ace recorded while observing.

Then, he used Magical Trickery to levitate dozens of small wooden blocks, placing the four flames beneath one small wooden block.

The wooden block was not far above the flames. Ace began commanding the flames to jump. Under Ace’s command, the four flames began to jump desperately.

Before long, the Luminous Flame hit the wooden block. Ace immediately punished it, draining some of its Mana, causing its light to dim instantly.

Next, Ace commanded them to continue jumping, observing their reactions through Insight Perception and mental connection.

The Luminous Flame’s mood was very low. The Scorching and Explosive Flames showed no reaction. The Thinking Flame showed fear. In subsequent jumps, the Thinking Flame appeared very cautious, trying to jump where there were fewer wooden blocks, while the other three flames continued to jump randomly.

After several punishments, the other three flames showed no improvement. Ace stopped the experiment, placed the flames on the ground, and watched them slowly disappear before recording in his Grimoire.

“Through comparative experiments, it is clearly determined that the addition of the Lesser Thought Activation Rune improved the intelligence level of this artificial elemental life form. It displayed intelligence comparable to an ordinary dog, capable of executing some relatively complex commands, but has not yet reached human intelligence.”

Ace closed the Grimoire and muttered to himself: “It is confirmed that fire elemental life can be created out of thin air. The Lesser Activation Rune and the overall unknown rune are both extremely important discoveries, major discoveries that have been overlooked! There are more runes to add. I need to try.”

He continued to gesture in front of him. Lesser Runes appeared one by one: Lesser Mana-Crystal, Lesser Fire Element, Lesser Luminous, Lesser Explosion, Lesser Scorching, Lesser Thought Activation, Lesser Insight, Lesser Mana Sensitivity, Lesser Fortification, Lesser Automatic Siphon, Lesser Ejection, Lesser Projection, Lesser Directshot. More than a dozen runes formed a complex Lesser Spell Model, flickering in front of him.

“Creating a living flame. What should I name this spell? Should it be Ace’s Child of Fire, or Flame Life Spell?”

After thinking for a while, Ace finally decided to give it a standard name: Lesser Activated Flame Spell, and the created activated flame would be called a Lesser Fire Elemental.

Ace thought again and separated a small piece of mental power, attaching it to the Spell Model. He did not rush to activate it but continued to observe and think.

Gradually, Covenant Runes specific to the Covenant Ritual began to appear, but they were Soul Runes and could not form a new Spell Model with the Lesser Spell Model.

Ace observed these Soul Runes and traced them with his mental power. Gradually, degraded Covenant Runes appeared—the Lesser Covenant Rune Group.

Ace linked the Covenant Rune Group with his small piece of mental power, forming a complex Spell Model. The expressed meaning of this Spell Model was a Master-Servant Covenant. Ace named it the Lesser Familiar Covenant Spell.

This spell was equivalent to a simplified Covenant Ritual. If a stronger relationship was desired, a formal Covenant Ritual would still be required.

Ace flicked the cowlick on his head hard. The Spirit of the Book, Fuwa, landed on his head with a thump, rubbing his small head in confusion.

“Fuwa, I will activate the Spell Model in a moment. Record the rhythmic changes that appear with all your might!”

The two Spell Models began to overlap and nest. Then, activated by Ace’s mental power—Bang!

A fist-sized flame appeared out of thin air, and the mysterious rhythm flashed by. This time, Ace was prepared. Fuwa, sitting on his head, stood up, activating Retrieval Perception, Comprehend Unknown, and Deduction simultaneously.

Splat! Fuwa fell directly from Ace’s head because he was too focused, landing face-first in a tragic manner.

Ace clutched his head, picked up Fuwa, and asked with an unfriendly expression: “How was the observation?”

Fuwa looked at Ace’s gloomy face, clutched his painful chubby face, and said in a childish voice, trembling: “I recorded a little bit, but I forgot it all after accidentally falling…”

Hearing this, Ace frowned and squeezed Fuwa hard. With the activation of the Transformation Spell, Fuwa turned back into a cowlick and was inserted back into Ace’s head.

The newborn small flame was very different, completely distinct from the previous inferior experimental products. After being born in the air, it also fell like the other flames.

But it reacted instantly, activating its Ejection ability from mid-air, bouncing up a little, and then standing directly.

Ace looked at this tiny flame. With the covenant formed by his mental power, the mental connection between the flame and him was extremely strong. Through mental sensation, Ace depicted a humanoid flame in the flame’s mind.

“Limbs, head, body…”

Under Ace’s whisper, the form of the flame changed, slowly turning into a humanoid flame.

Subsequently, Ace commanded the flame to jump and attack rapidly. The flame leaped within the room, which had been vastly expanded by the Seamless Expansion Rune, burning its internal Mana through Ejection, Directshot, and Projection, moving extremely fast throughout the room.

Ace discovered that when it moved too fast, it would revert to a ball of flame and required suggestion again to become a humanoid flame. Ace rubbed his chin and muttered to himself:

“Can it not maintain a fixed form? To fix its form, I should add a rune expression capable of fixing its form. There is no such rune in reality. If I want to achieve a fixed form, how can I do it?”

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