"H-Hello, esteemed judges, I'm Karl Kleist, and my creation is a poppet 'Explorer'..."
The pale young man stammered as he spoke, his flaxen hair casually tied at the back of his head, and wearing an out-of-place dark green suede coat.
He glanced at Vid, showing a smile that mixed nervousness with a touch of closeness and admiration. Then he took a deep breath, trying hard to calm his nerves, as he began to introduce his work with a somewhat tightened voice.
Materials, spells, functions, design concepts...
Yet perhaps because his voice sounded like chanting, most of the audience didn't really pay attention to what he was saying, their focus entirely drawn by the appearance of that poppet.
The overall silhouette barely resembled a human figure, but each part seemed cobbled together from a junkyard—
The torso was like a large cauldron, while the limbs appeared quite slender by comparison, and the head was a round ball with lines sketching a blank face.
It followed Karl Kleist forward, its legs precariously trembling under the weight.
Its gait was particularly unusual, with one leg thrusting forward suddenly, causing the body to lean dangerously. Just as it was about to topple over, the other leg hurriedly followed up with a creaky catch, steadied itself, and abruptly swung backward.
The hearts of the audience were like bouncing on a trampoline, leaping up and crashing down, as they eagerly anticipated seeing this clumsy fellow shatter into pieces. Yet, the poppet still managed to wobble its way to the judges.
Karl Kleist made an effort not to look at those smiling faces, focusing his gaze forward on Vid, and his speech became slightly smoother:
"All of you, you should be able to see that the 'Explorer' poppet cannot carry people. Its core value lies in its endurance in extreme environments and its capability for prolonged work."
"Whether it's in low-temperature surroundings, corrosive spaces filled with toxic gas, or... or the vacuum of space, it can work tirelessly, without needing to breathe or becoming fatigued. It can even recognize over 700 types of mineral materials and magical plants, sort, collect, and detect them..."
"Now, let me demonstrate... Explorer, go bring that moonstone over here!"
The moonstone was on the material rack not far away. As Karl Kleist swung his magic wand and muttered a spell, green mist enveloped the area instantly, causing the nearby green plants to wither rapidly, turn black, and even their pots changed color.
The eyes of several judges brightened simultaneously—whatever could be said about the young man's poppet, this spell was remarkably executed, with impressive precision in controlling the toxic gas so it didn't spread.
'Explorer' looked at the mist, seemingly startled, and only after Kleist urged it again did it wobble toward the rack.
The crowd's hearts started to rise and fall with its steps, unable to divert their gaze even for a second!
'Explorer' plunged its foot into the mist, paused, and then dove entirely into it, its form completely consumed by the fog.
After a series of clinking sounds, 'Explorer' emerged holding a pile of moonstones.
It staggered, teetering back and forth, with the clattering of its components sounding even louder.
Just when everyone thought it might, awkwardly and bumpily, complete the task, a slender stone couldn't withstand the jostling and defiantly slipped from the poppet's grasp!
'Explorer's' claw-like hand abruptly opened, reaching for the fallen stone, but as it moved, several other stones also tumbled to the ground with a clatter.
The poppet scrambled to catch them, even trying to grip one stone with its foot, but the massive movement utterly shattered its precarious balance, and the entire body collapsed with a "clang"!
"Oww—"
Cheering erupted from the audience as they felt their anticipation satisfied.
"Get up, Explorer! Stand up quickly!" Karl Kleist commanded, his face flushed red.
'Explorer,' though fallen, continued its work. Its limbs kept trying to scoop the moonstones toward itself, and even a rope popped out from its elbow, attempting to tie the stones together.
After struggling for a while, not only couldn't it hold the stones, but even its own limbs were tangled into knots, unable to rise.
"Hahaha..."
A burst of laughter erupted from the crowd; it was the most joyful moment since the competition began.
However, their delight was built on Karl Kleist's embarrassment. His face had turned a deep shade of purple as he issued instructions in despair:
"Untie the rope first! Untie the rope... Wait, that will tangle your fingers, you should use a knife to cut it... Stop, don't cut off your own fingers!"
Waves of laughter came crashing down again and again, and as the poppet struggled on, it no longer needed to do anything—just seeing it and its desperate master triggered uncontrollable laughs.
From the judges' seats, Headmaster Fontana tried hard to stifle his laughter, his shoulders shaking.
Clearing his throat, he said, "Alright, Mr. Kleist, that's enough of the demonstration for now... The design concept has great value, but... uh... the motion capability still has a lot of room for improvement..."
Silas Hawthorne chimed in with a chuckle, "Its coordination is practically zero... which leads to its disastrous ability to move."
Ms. Picquery shook her head, saying, "Reliability is the foundation for executing tasks."
Among the judges' voices, Karl Kleist lowered his head further and further, until he heard a young voice:
"Rather than considering the poppet as armor, Mr. Kleist's design actually better utilizes its role, it's just that its dynamic balance system needs a bit of enhancement, which involves the balance algorithms of torque and center of gravity..."
He listed several formulas, noticing the audience's bewildered expressions, and couldn't help but laugh, saying:
"Or put it differently, if two legs can't maintain balance, why not turn it into four legs, eight legs? Or add wheels, or transform its support rod into grasping claws, wouldn't that be even better?"
Seeing Karl Kleist's face full of the 'this could work?' expression, Vid gently said:
"Making poppets resemble real-life creatures in appearance is merely a personal hobby of mine, there's no necessity for it."
"Actually, modifying the poppet's appearance appropriately can allow it to better fulfill various functions—"
"If you need it to collect ores, you can learn from Muggle excavation machinery; if it needs to travel, then mimic cars and planes; it can even resemble this book, the table in front of you, or an egg, or appear in a form never seen in the world."
"Design your poppet according to your needs, Mr. Kleist, instead of defining what it must look like first and forcing it to accomplish tasks."
Karl Kleist looked at the calm-eyed Vid, his initial shame slowly being replaced by excitement and gratitude.
With Vid's narrative, Kleist's eyes seemed to brighten, and the crowd felt as though inspiration practically radiated as light from his eyes.
"Thank you, Mr. Gray! I understand now, I had been on a completely wrong path!"
Karl Kleist took a deep breath, his voice still trembling slightly as he spoke: "I shouldn't blindly imitate you, but instead... design poppets in my own way. Actually, I also thought adding a few more claws and support wheels would be better..."
But with the poppet's creator Vid Gray sitting right in front, Karl Kleist worried about dislike and criticism, ultimately not daring to make changes.
In fact, he had several classmates studying Alchemy together, and poppets were all the rage these years, with every alchemist trying to decipher and replicate them.
During this process, everyone revered Vid Gray's crafting methods as gospel, with the more extreme ones even wanting to replicate the casual swirl of Magic Text inscription.
Yet despite all this, their poppets were still no match in intelligence, agility, and mobility compared to the commercial poppet pets available on the market, let alone those poppet soldiers left in Vid's personal care.
Under these circumstances, any extra modification seemed like an overreach, subject to ridicule and criticism from the crowd, chilling Karl Kleist's restless heart.
But now, he received personal suggestions for alterations from Vid Gray! Vid personally stated that his method wasn't the only way!
Karl was so exhilarated he almost cheered, looking into Vid's smiling eyes as he deeply bowed.
"I know how to improve it, Mr. Gray... And I'll also strive to learn those calculations you mentioned. Someday, I'll present you with even better work!"
Vid nodded, saying: "I look forward to it... Mr. Kleist."