Victor sat in his office, absentmindedly rolling the voidstone between his fingers as he waited. His thoughts were already several steps ahead, considering all the possible implications of what he was about to attempt. If his hunch was proven correct, then the potential benefit would be endless.

  Before long, a knock came at the door, followed by Lizbeth’s cheerful voice.

  “Master, I’ve brought Lillie!”

  “Come in,” Victor called.

  The door creaked open, and both Lizbeth and Lillie entered the room, with Lillie looking as curious as ever. She tilted her head, blinking her heterochromatic eyes as she took in Victor’s expression.

  “Mentor? Did you need Lillie for something? Is it about the previous matter?” she asked as she approached his desk.

  “Mm, that’s right.” Victor placed the voidstone on the table between them. “But first, I have a question for you.”

  Lillie’s gaze turned toward the stone, and a puzzled expression appeared on her face. “Whoa! What a beautiful stone!”

  “Lillie, you can create things using your power, right?” he began. “Things that are real, not just illusions — just like what showed me before.”

  Lillie nodded without hesitation. “Mhm! The bird that Lillie made is still alive! Lillie also made a chair, and it didn’t disappear!”

  “Ho?” Victor raised an eyebrow, intrigued. “Then… do you think you could replicate this?” He tapped the voidstone.

  Lillie’s eyes widened. “Eh? This shiny rock?” She reached out, poking it curiously.

  “Yes,” Victor confirmed. “It’s called a voidstone. It’s very rare and difficult to obtain. If you can create one, it would help me a great deal.” Even if she could only replicate it temporarily, if it could at least last for a week, it would still be incredibly useful.

  Lillie furrowed her brows in thought. “Hmm… Lillie doesn’t know…” She pursed her lips. “But Lillie can try!”

  Victor nodded with a gentle smile. “Good. That’s all I ask. Now, give it a shot.”

  Lillie carefully took the voidstone between her palms and closed her eyes, focusing. Moments later, a faint glow began to surround her, and soon, particles of light began to converge in the air before her, taking on the shape of the voidstone. It wasn’t long before it solidified, matching the original stone perfectly. Within seconds, an exact replica of the voidstone sat floating before them.

  This… Her powers are truly extraordinary.

  Lizbeth, who had been quietly observing, gasped. “Whoa! That’s amazing, Lillie!”

  Lillie opened her eyes, blinking as she examined her creation. Then, with a proud smile, she picked it up and eagerly held it toward Victor like a child who had gotten a perfect score on a test. “Lillie did it! Here, Mentor Victor!”

  Victor reached out, taking the stone from her hands. It felt identical to the original — same texture, weight, and energy signature. He infused a small amount of mana into it, testing its properties. At first, everything seemed perfect, but then—

  Crack!

  A faint fissure spread across the surface of the stone.

  “It’s unstable,” Victor murmured, narrowing his eyes. No, is it because she doesn’t understand Cosmo elemental energy?

  Lillie had absolutely no elemental affinity, which made her almost blind to elemental particles. That meant while she could replicate the voidstone’s structure, she couldn’t perfectly mimic its Cosmo elemental properties, which was what made it valuable in the first place.

  Lillie’s eyes widened in a comical fashion, and her smile faltered. “Ehh? Did Lillie do it wrong?”

  Victor shook his head. “Not necessarily. The replication was almost flawless, but something’s missing…”

  If he could guide her, there was a chance she could duplicate it properly. There were no drawbacks in experimenting more on this.

  Lizbeth fluttered closer, tapping a finger against her cheek. “Maybe Lillie’s dreamforce is different from the natural formation of a voidstone?”

  Victor considered this, turning the cracking replica in his fingers. That might be part of the problem. The way dreamforce interacted with reality was fundamentally different from the natural formation of materials. But even that didn’t fully explain why the stone couldn’t hold its integrity. If I can figure out the missing piece, then maybe… Oh wait!

  A smirk formed on Victor’s lips. “We might be onto something here.”

  There were several ideas and potential solutions that Victor had in mind. Rather than letting this opportunity slip away, he made a decision.

  “Lillie,” he said, looking at her seriously, “I need your help with some experiments. Will you work with me for the next three days and three nights?”

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  Lillie perked up. “Mm! Lillie will help!” she declared, raising both of her arms excitedly.

  Lizbeth put her hands on her hips at this. “That long? Are you sure you won’t collapse from overwork?”

  “Of course not. It’s just a phrase. We’ll take breaks when needed.” Victor shrugged.

  Thus, the experiment conducted by mentor and student truly lasted for three days and three nights. They conducted their research on the basement floor, where Victor’s lab was located. The space was equipped with a controlled environment, reinforced with magic formations to contain any potential failures or unexpected reactions.

  The first step in the experiment was to analyze the exact properties of a voidstone, breaking down its structural composition and elemental properties. Using the spell {Demonic Eye}, Victor studied the flow of Cosmo energy within the original voidstone, mapping its intricate patterns. This was the first time that he did this kind of experiment ever since he became an Elemental Adept Magus. In the past, all the experiments he did as an acolyte were more like child’s play in comparison.

  Meanwhile, Lillie attempted multiple replications, each time making small adjustments based on Victor’s feedback. The first few tries all failed, most of which crumbled within seconds, while others barely held together for a few minutes before collapsing, lacking the stability required for use.

  But by the second night, they finally made a breakthrough. Victor noticed that when Lillie focused her intent on not just copying the stone’s shape but also mimicking its essence, the replications lasted significantly longer.

  Capitalizing on this discovery, Victor took a more direct approach. Rather than letting Lillie attempt the replication entirely on her own, he directly helped with it by gathering Cosmo elemental particles in the air and guiding them toward the forming voidstone. This would help stabilize the voidstone, compensating for Lillie’s lack of elemental affinity.

  The result was quite shocking: the replicated voidstones didn’t crumble right away. It held together for longer, maintaining structural integrity even when Victor infused mana into it. It appeared to be stable. Perhaps with a bit more experimentation, it would become usable.

  “Hoh… This is promising,” Victor muttered, watching as a newly created voidstone remained intact for several minutes.

  Lillie wiped her forehead, clearly exhausted, but her eyes were sparkling with excitement. “Lillie did it?! It didn’t break! Lillie thinks she’s getting better at this!”

  “You are.” Victor nodded, patting her head.

  When he tested its spatial properties, the replication was almost identical to the original. But “almost” wasn’t good enough. The inner structure still wasn’t perfect, and if used for the Teleportation Waypoint, it might cause instability in the long run.

  On the third night, Victor devised a new method — one that involved infusing the replica with a part of the original voidstone. If this worked, it might be the key to creating a fully functional voidstone.

  “Lillie, this time, I want you to focus on merging the essence of the original into the copy.” Victor set the two stones side by side.

  Lillie tilted her head. “Merge?”

  “Indeed. Instead of creating it entirely from scratch, try using this—” Victor held up a small chip of the original voidstone, carefully shaved off its surface. “—as the foundation.”

  Lillie’s eyes lit up with understanding. “Ah! Like when Lillie makes things more real by having something to base it on!”

  Victor nodded. “Exactly. Let’s try it.”

  Taking a deep breath, Lillie closed her eyes, holding the voidstone fragment and coating it with dreamforce, letting the energy flow around it as she shaped a replica. The small fragment became a catalyst, guiding the formation process.

  Minutes passed, and she presented the completed voidstone to Victor.

  Victor picked up the stone, running his fingers across its surface, finding no cracks. He tested its spatial properties and found that the Cosmo elemental energy flow was much smoother and more stable than before.

  An excited smile formed on his lips. Good, good, good. Now we’re talking! This should be good enough.

  “Mentor, did we succeed?” Lillie inquired, looking at Victor expectantly.

  “Yup. This is as good as any voidstone, Lillie!”

  If it truly worked, Victor could have an endless supply of voidstones. Not only would he be able to fix the citadel, but he would also have an endless amount of money. After all, each voidstone was priced very expensively in the market if it were to be sold.

  “Yay!” She cheered, bursting forward to hug Victor in excitement.

  “Bwuh!” Lizbeth, who had been dozing off on a nearby table, jerked awake, nearly falling over the edge. “Wh-What? Is the world ending?”

  Lillie giggled. “Hehe, why would the world be ending, Miss Lizbeth?”

  Rubbing her eyes, Lizbeth blinked blearily before muttering, “Ugh… I thought some catastrophe had happened. Turns out it was just you two making a fuss…” She stretched her arms before hovering toward them, peeking at the replicated voidstone in Victor’s hand.

  Victor let out a small chuckle before shifting his gaze to Lillie, who was still beaming up at him. Her proud smile shone with pure, unfiltered joy, the kind only a child could express. “Lillie, this ability of yours… It’s remarkable. With practice and discipline, you could do things most Magi wouldn’t even dream of.”

  The girl’s eyes widened slightly before she clasped her hands together. “Really? Lillie can be helpful?”

  Victor smirked, ruffling her white-silvery hair. “More than helpful. If you can master your powers, you’ll be unstoppable.”

  Lillie’s excitement bubbled over as she nodded furiously. “Then Lillie will work really, really hard!”

  “Mm. I know you will. But with great power co—” Wait, what the heck am I saying? “—ahem.” Victor cleared his throat. “Your powers are unique. If the wrong people find out, bad, bad people will try to do bad things to you. Can you promise me never to divulge this information to anyone?” he said with a serious tone.

  “Bad people will come for Lillie?” She gasped a little, and then her face turned serious. “Mm-hmm.” She nodded firmly. “Lillie will keep her promise. Pinky promise.” She held out a small pinky finger toward Victor.

  Victor raised an eyebrow before chuckling lightly. “Alright. Pinky promise.” He hooked his pinky around hers, sealing the deal.

  Lizbeth, watching from the side, smirked. “Heh. I should’ve recorded that and showed it to the players. Who knew the big, bad headmaster would make a pinky promise like a little girl?”

  Victor shot her a look. “Liz, do you want me to lock you in a jar and send you to Eleanor for a whole week?”

  Lizbeth yelped and quickly fluttered behind Lillie for cover. “H-Hey! That’s child abuse!”

  What child abuse? You are older than me! Victor thought in his heart.

  Lillie giggled. “Ehehe.”

  “Ahem.” Lizbeth cleared her throat before stretching her arms. “Anyway, I hate to interrupt you two, but I’m starving. Why don’t we find something to eat? Working for three days and three nights is exhausting.”

  “You’re mostly sleeping for the whole time, barely lifting a finger. How can it be exhausting for you?”

  “Don’t mind the process. What’s important is the result. Isn’t a success warrant a celebration?” Lizbeth reasoned with a smug smile.

  Victor sighed but nodded. “Fair enough. Let’s go.”

  “Food! Lillie wants sweets!”

  Lizbeth grinned. “Then let’s raid the kitchen!”

  Victor shook his head as he followed them out. Well, a little treat is well-deserved.

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