Ye Ting sat half-reclined on the soft bed, cradling the kitten while perusing a book, his thoughts drifting far and wide.
Eleven years had flown by since he arrived in this world. From an ordinary mortal, he had transformed into a wizard just beginning to delve into magic. The mysterious gates were about to open formally to him.
From tomorrow onward, he would study the mysteries of magic within this castle and explore the truth of the world.
Even with the soul of an adult, he was too excited to sleep.
Only after all three of his roommates had fallen asleep did Ye Ting roll out of bed and approach the fireplace.
Himari, too, followed curiously. She remembered; her master's monthly "summoning" was about to commence.
This was a power Ye Ting had awakened to since he was six. As his senses of space and time continually improved, he often felt a flutter in his heart.
Then, at age six, he finally possessed enough mental strength to follow that fluttering sensation, communicate with another world, and perform a summoning.
However, most of the time, his summonings yielded nothing. Occasionally, what he summoned were common items of no particular significance, such as food, sand, or daily necessities.
Fortunately, he occasionally obtained some unique "products" from other worlds, and some even possessed special powers: items like the Doran's Ring and the Konohagakure Headband were acquired this way. Most "products" ended there, and summoning Himari was purely a stroke of incredible luck.
And this time, his good fortune had returned.
A rift silently opened in the void and, as expected, disgorged a large object.
It was a metal sphere in a steampunk style, about a meter in diameter. It landed with a dull thud, suggesting it wasn't light.
He reached out to touch it, but before he could react, the sphere opened automatically.
Just like a lotus blooming from its bud, the sphere's shell opened neatly, revealing everything treasured inside.
Inside the sphere, curled up, was a beautiful girl entirely composed of clockwork and gears. She had golden hair and a silver-white shell—or skin?
And a massive clockwork key was inserted into the girl's back.
He didn't need to read the information transmitted during the summoning; just from her appearance, Ye Ting could tell who she was.
Orianna, the Lady of Clockwork, from the land of Valoran.
Regarding the origin of Orianna, Riot Games provided two versions.
The first version stated that the creator of the Lady of Clockwork made this robot in memory of his daughter, Orianna, who had passed away unexpectedly.
In the second version, Orianna was once a flesh-and-blood girl, but an accident in the lower levels of Zaun indirectly caused her to contract a serious illness. Her failing body had to be replaced with sophisticated artificial organs, one after another, until there was no human flesh left on her entire body.
Orianna herself excelled in precision machinery manufacturing. Her mechanical heart and spherical puppet were both crafted by her own hands. And according to the ethics of those so-called scientists in Valoran, their "science" was not the same as Earth's science. It was a unique form of magic-infused technology in Valoran.
In other words, Orianna's mastery of "precision machinery manufacturing" also encompassed some magical knowledge of Valoran.
A collision between the magic of Valoran and the magic of the Harry Potter world? It was indeed an intriguing idea, but the priority was to ascertain the status of the Lady of Clockwork.
But how to "awaken"—or rather, activate—the mechanical maiden before him?
After studying her for quite some time, Ye Ting finally came up with the most obvious solution—wind her up.
What was the purpose of the prominent, massive clockwork key on Orianna's back?
Perhaps, being the starter for Orianna was one possibility.
He walked behind the Lady of Clockwork and tried turning her clockwork key.
Turning the key was easier than expected. Ye Ting only needed to apply slight force to turn it. The sound of springs and gears emanated as the spindle rotated, but it quickly quieted down, as if a machine unused for a long time had become smooth after overcoming the initial stiffness upon restarting. Only the feel of winding the key continuously reminded Ye Ting that what was before him was a mechanical creation.
After winding the key counterclockwise for about three and a half turns, it reached its limit. After Ye Ting let go, the key began to rotate clockwise at a uniform and slow speed. With the rhythm of this rotation, Ye Ting could feel a flutter in his soul—a soul had awakened within the mechanical body before him and established a contractual connection with his own soul. This feeling had also appeared when he summoned Himari.
Perhaps this was the contract his summoning magic signed between the summoner and the summoned creature after summoning a being.
He could feel that he was in control of the contract, and the souls of Orianna and Himari were laid bare before him.
As the key continued to rotate, patterns on the surface of Orianna's mechanical shell began to radiate magical brilliance.
Ye Ting glanced back at his three dormmates; they hadn't been awakened.
After about a few dozen seconds, the brilliance gradually dissipated. Subsequently, Orianna suddenly opened her eyes. Those crystal-like—no, crystal-made—pupils emitted a golden glow.
She sat curled up on the ground, her small face hidden behind her knees, only her crystal-clear eyes peering at Ye Ting, revealing a spirituality that no machine could possess.
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