Three months later, in the dormitory.

Allen stood before three Alchemy Creations of different forms. With his arms crossed and his chin in his hand, he scrutinized these works, the fruits of his painstaking labor since beginning his studies under his mentor.

On the left was a tall, eight-legged Mechanical Body. Its limbs were thick and its chassis was stable. The low-spec "Adjudicator" sniper platform mounted on its back remained perfectly still, a testament to its excellent stability.

Allen had once held high hopes for it, but a simulation test last week exposed its flaws.

When the scenario switched to a narrow corridor, its massive body got stuck at a corner, six of its eight legs unable to apply any effective force. During the vertical wall-climbing test, its weight of over eighty kilograms proved to be a fatal burden. It only managed to ascend five meters before it fell.

It was an excellent stationary turret, but not a competent hunter for urban warfare.

The one in the middle was a six-legged version with optimized mobility. In his pursuit of ultimate flexibility, Allen had used a large amount of lightweight materials and reduced the chassis’s structural integrity. As a result, it was incredibly swift in ruined terrain, but when facing an Alchemy Puppet in close combat, one of its front legs deformed slightly on the very first block.

Insufficient power output and a fragile structure. Once an enemy got in close, it was just a pile of expensive scrap metal.

The one on the far right was not equipped with the "Adjudicator" sniper platform.

This was his most daring attempt.

He had attempted to equip it with a low-power beam emitter based on the "Petrifying Gaze" Magic model, aiming for non-lethal control.

However, the technological barrier to miniaturizing and stably integrating a Witchcraft effect into an Alchemy Creation was far greater than he had anticipated.

For that unstable Petrifying Gaze module, the core focusing crystal and energy conversion array alone cost over eight hundred Magic Stones.

Worse yet, it had a three-minute charge time, an effective range of less than fifty meters, and the beam was highly susceptible to deflection from ambient Magic Power, rendering its combat value negligible.

These three prototypes, along with the numerous failed calibrations and material losses, had already consumed nearly three thousand of his Low-Level Magic Stones.

On the floor, several marks burned by corrosive alchemical solvents had yet to be fully cleaned, and the scrap bin in the corner was piled high with discarded metal parts.

Even the steady income from his study group was beginning to buckle under the weight of such massive R&D expenses.

’The path of the Alchemy School really is a money pit.’

Allen was not particularly satisfied with any of these three prototypes.

These designs lacked a certain... qualitative leap.

A spark that would elevate them from "tools" to "hunters."

"DSeek, rerun the cost analysis. Use the six-legged mobility platform as the base and optimize the weapon module. The goal is to get the total cost under six hundred Magic Stones, leaving room for future upgrades."

[Command received. Reconstructing cost model...]

On Allen’s retina, 3D models of countless parts were disassembled, replaced, and reassembled.

Expensive adaptive stabilizing bearings were replaced with a fixed structure, using algorithmic compensation to offset some of the vibration. He also optimized several Magic Power output pathways to maintain efficiency.

One by one, expensive components that couldn’t be utilized to their full potential were replaced.

Like the strictest of auditors, Allen slashed every non-essential feature from the schematics, all to control the final cost.

[Model optimization complete. Final proposal estimate:]

[Spider-type articulated chassis and main frame (including transmission system, high-strength Magic Steel): 100 Low-Level Magic Stones.]

[Low-spec Spider Golem Control Core and power bay (simplified version): 170 Low-Level Magic Stones.]

[Rune Circuits etching cost: 40 Low-Level Magic Stones.]

[Small Magic Guide sniper module (self-stabilization system removed, fixed structure reinforced): 220 Low-Level Magic Stones.]

[Reinforced metal blades for close combat (one pair, on the front legs): 40 Low-Level Magic Stones.]

[Total: 590 Low-Level Magic Stones.]

[Note: This design will place higher demands on the Mechanical Body’s environmental prediction capabilities.]

The cost was controlled to within the one-thousand-Magic-Stone limit for the competition, leaving a surplus of four hundred and ten for the most critical future enhancements.

As Allen looked at this initial design, finalized with DSeek’s help after countless compromises and balancing acts, a name surfaced in his mind.

It possessed the stealthy posture of a spider, and its core tactic was ranged assassination.

’I’ll call it—"Spider Slayer."’

But the initial version of the "Spider Slayer" wasn’t enough. It was still a conventional creation, unable to stand out among the many other entries.

What he needed was a decisive advantage, a technological game-changer that would dazzle the competition.

"DSeek, pull up the data on the winning entries for the Black Tower New Star Cup from the past ten years. Focus on analyzing the evolutionary trends of their core design philosophies."

[Retrieving data...]

[Trend 1: The intensity of the competition has increased annually.]

[Trend 2: Innovation is becoming the new meta. Simply stacking performance specs is no longer enough to score high; designs with unique tactical value are now favored.]

[Trend 3: Emergence of non-traditional movement methods. The 27th champion, "Wind Speaker," integrated small Wind Rune Arrays on both sides of its frame, allowing it to use air currents to hover and glide short distances. The 30th runner-up, "Tunnel Borer," had the ability to burrow stealthily underground, excelling at surprise attacks from below.]

Non-traditional movement methods.

Those words were a wake-up call for Allen.

In a complex urban environment, the real threats don’t just come from the front, but from above, below, and... from blind spots.

He needed a form of movement that could ignore physical obstacles.

’Right, spiders! Movement! The Shadow Realm!’

The Shadow Realm is reality’s shadow and its shortcut. It’s a dimension that closely overlaps with most material planes, like a dim reflection of the real world.

There is no color there, only shades of gray. The laws of physics are blurred, and spatial distances are compressed.

Wizards often use the Shadow Realm for long-distance travel. Walking a short path in the Shadow Realm is equivalent to covering a great distance in the real world.

Shadowy creatures that feed on emotions and memories wander its expanses, and lingering too long can cause one to lose their mind.

It serves as a strategic shortcut, and also as a laboratory for Wizards of the Mind School to study the subconscious and special Magical Beasts.

’I’ve got it!’ 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Allen finally thought of a Magical Beast that existed between the Material Realm and the Shadow Realm.

"Search the bestiary for ’Shadow Demon Spider’."

[Shadow Demon Spider: Low-Level Magical Beast. Core Ability: Shadow Travel. Can briefly slip into the overlapping Shadow Realm from the Material Realm to travel short distances through dimensional space.]

[Habits: Photophobic, cautious, and patient. Averse to pure elemental energy, prefers fresh flesh and blood. Its senses of hearing and smell are dull, but it is extremely sensitive to fluctuations in Magic Power and to spiritual auras.]

[Harvestable Biological Material: The gland of the Shadow Demon Spider. This gland secretes ’Shadow Embrace’ fluid, which, when stimulated by a specific Magic Power frequency, causes the surface of a coated object to generate a temporary planar repulsion effect, thereby enabling ’travel’ through the Shadow Realm.]

This was the "qualitative leap" he had been looking for.

In urban warfare, an opponent with powerful frontal firepower isn’t what’s truly terrifying. What’s terrifying is an enemy whose point of attack is completely unpredictable.

A sniper that can "blink" and move like a ghost would have overwhelming tactical value.

It could pass through any cover, attack from any angle, and then vanish without a trace after an assassination. What a terrifying tactical advantage that would be!

But Shadow Demon Spiders were extremely rare and their movements were furtive. Their ability made them one of the most difficult prey to track.

Even its silk was a rare sight on the market, to say nothing of a material like its gland.

Fortunately, the Seven Towers Alliance’s internal database indicated that the Sinking Dream Swamp in the First Ring Belt was one of the few habitats for this Magical Beast.

The negative energy mist that perennially shrouded the Sinking Dream Swamp, along with the psychic imprints left behind by dying creatures, provided an ideal habitat for Shadow Demon Spiders.

’My thanks to the great Wizards who created the Panorama Corridor!’

’This artificially stitched-together plane is basically a resource-rich starting zone designed just for us "adorable" apprentices!’

The plan became crystal clear. He just had to hunt a Shadow Demon Spider, obtain the fluid from its gland, and turn it into a coating for the "Spider Slayer."

With that, the perfect spider-type competition Mechanical Body that Allen envisioned would be complete!