Having settled on the basic approach for the energy runes, Kyle set to work on the preliminary design.
At the same time, a new research project titled “Puppet Toy” appeared on his system interface.
Under this project were four sub-branches: Energy, Protection, Flight, and Sound & Light Effects.
Once Kyle finalized his design concept for the energy system, the progress bar for the Energy branch immediately jumped to 20%.
The system’s tracking of such projects wasn’t based solely on blueprint design.
Only when the design files were ready and a prototype—or test model—was constructed would the progress bar hit 100%.
Similarly, every time the progress bar advanced by 10%, the system provided feedback.
When design blueprints and theoretical research accounted for a larger portion of that 10%, the system’s feedback leaned toward knowledge and insights related to the project.
When practical execution accounted for more, the feedback transformed into various handling techniques, operational methods, and fine details that could improve efficiency.
The puppet’s energy source came from two parts: One part came from absorbing diffuse ambient magical energy from nature on its own—the inert energy mentioned earlier.
The other part came from the user’s own magic power.
Considering that young wizards had relatively weak magic power, Kyle needed to design a far more powerful runic circuit.
Only by making one unit of magic produce the effect of two or three could the puppet toy have sufficient operational endurance.
Although he could draw inspiration from broomsticks in this regard, the utilization requirements between the two were vastly different.
Thus, Kyle still had many modifications to make.
First, the magic absorption section needed improvement.
This part aligned with the requirements of the energy storage chamber and could serve as a technical reserve for upgrading it.
The wizard’s magic absorption and conversion section didn’t need much modification, as broomsticks already performed brilliantly in that regard.
The biggest difference lay in the energy output.
Broomsticks pursued faster instantaneous acceleration and a higher top speed, so their output was wild and violent.
To Kyle’s eyes, their runic circuits exuded a kind of savage beauty.
Toy puppets, on the other hand, sought smooth and steady output, requiring no massive instant bursts of energy, which drastically reduced the difficulty of designing the runes.
If Kyle wanted to be lazy, he could simply take a broomstick circuit and add a set of limiting runes—the equivalent of installing a speed governor on a Ferrari.
However, Kyle’s purpose in producing puppet toys wasn’t merely to make money; it was also to put his knowledge into practice, testing immature ideas during the manufacturing process to build up a technical reserve for his official research projects.
Therefore, Kyle decided to redesign this part himself.
He already possessed sufficient foundational knowledge regarding energy output circuits; what he lacked was an opportunity for practical application.
Borrowing the framework of broomstick runic circuits, Kyle embarked on his design process.
Pruning, adding, replacing, filling in.
The originally simple framework gradually grew complex.
A vast number of runic symbols filled the space.
A few simple runes formed a basic unit, and connecting these units in different ways formed a runic circuit.
And this was merely the foundational element of the magical array composing the toy puppet.
It also had to be combined with alchemy to craft a qualified Energy Core.
Days passed quietly like this.
It took Kyle nearly a month to finalize the magical array for the energy storage section.
Supplemented by alchemical techniques, he produced the first sample of an Energy Core.
Because the system continuously provided various insights that Kyle absorbed and used to revise his completed blueprints, his efficiency stayed relatively low.
However, the gains Kyle reaped throughout the design and manufacturing process far outweighed the month of effort he put in.
Knowledge gained from paper is shallow; true understanding comes from practice.
Before this, Kyle’s research into runes and alchemy had mostly remained on paper, with at most a few small trinkets crafted for practice.
This was the first time he comprehensively applied his knowledge.
Moreover, because it was a semi-autonomous design, his application of knowledge became far more flexible.
Various pieces of knowledge were linked together; mentioning one topic brought up related uses and theories.
Only at this point did Kyle officially step onto the path of magical research, rather than staying stuck on paper.
The main body of the energy storage section was a hollow sphere.
It was refined from high-quality forged iron purchased from the Muggle world, fused with green cat’s eye, colored pearl, and citrine powders, and supplemented by a trace amount of mithril.
The final product was sturdy, and its magic-conducting properties fully met the operational requirements.
Densely engraved with runes, these runes extended from points to lines, and lines to planes, forming the complete magical array.
The main function of this part was to absorb and store energy, which Kyle named the Magic Storage Sphere.
Kyle injected magic into it.
As the magic flowed in, the engraved runes on the sphere first emitted a soft blue light.
Then the entire sphere became filled with this soft glow.
As magic saturated the sphere, it slowly broke free from Kyle’s palm and floated upward.
The soft blue light radiated out about 20 centimeters from the sphere.
The sphere hovered roughly 50 centimeters above Kyle’s palm, slowly rotating on its axis as the internal magic circulated.
Inside the room, Kyle held his left hand flat and open while his right arm hung naturally at his side, his eyes fixed intently on the sphere.
The large silver dog walked over as well, gazing at the magic sphere to analyze its strengths and weaknesses.
Only after a long moment did Kyle recover from the thrill of creating his first finished product and reluctantly store the magic sphere away.
Only at this moment did he look like a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old teenager.
Once the magic sphere was refined, Kyle’s research progress shot forward significantly.
Over the next two weeks, he finished the defense module.
This part was designed remarkably well by Kyle.
After all, if a safety issue ever arose, all subsequent products he developed would be affected.
Having spent nearly a decade floating in the business world in his previous life, Kyle understood very well how much effort, time, and money were needed to build a reputation, whereas destroying it could take a single night.
Regarding the design philosophy for this module, Kyle believed it shouldn’t be limited to providing sufficient protection to keep young wizards from getting hurt while playing.
It also needed the capacity to shield them in moments of crisis.
This would become a flagship feature of the puppet toys.
For the magical arrays used here, Kyle drew heavily on existing protective wards—the kind frequently used to guard secret chambers or manors.
In addition, drawing inspiration from a mage’s life-saving skill in video games from his previous life, Kyle installed a piece of Never-Melting Ice into the defense module.
If all protective arrays failed, the module would activate this piece of Never-Melting Ice.
An Expansion Charm would enlarge it, and a Shaping Charm would spread it along the cockpit, ultimately forming a solid barrier of Never-Melting Ice surrounding the cockpit.
Kyle named it Ice Block.
The significance of the barrier lay not only in isolating the young wizard from danger, but also in buying enough time to wait for rescue.