The girl looked incredibly exquisite, yet she lacked a certain vitality. She wore a short purple dress, and her half-black, half-white hair was held in place by a hairpin, with a lotus flower adorning the right side.

Compared to Gwen, this girl's gaze was much colder.

She also carried a mechanical orb, entirely purple, with a golden flower imprinted on it, exuding a strong mechanical aesthetic.

"Finally finished..."

Looking at the girl's appearance, Loren was extremely satisfied.

The main effort this time had been his; Paqina was making a puppet for the first time and had only served as an assistant.

"Should we give her a name, Master Mentor?"

"Of course. I've already thought of one. Let's call her Orianna."

Her appearance was also based on the Soul Lotus Orianna skin from his memory, so directly using that name felt natural.

"Now, let me test her out."

Loren rubbed his hands together, feeling excited like a little boy who had just gotten a new toy.

Orianna's driving method was the same as Gwen's. The moment Loren focused his mind, she began to move. However, the house was clearly not suitable for testing something so destructive. So, a pair of wings sprouted from Orianna's back, and she soared into the air, flying straight through the wall of Loren's house.

At the same time, Orianna simultaneously activated the abilities of three tarot cards—the High Tower, the Hermit, and the World—something Gwen was incapable of doing.

Orianna completely outclassed Gwen in every attribute, but there were still many things she couldn't replace. Gwen was more functional, like being able to act under a specific identity, just like the necromancer known as "Hatsune Miku."

Orianna flew all the way to the wilderness, where there were no people, no animals, only some enormous boulders.

"First, let's test her strength."

As a puppet Loren had stacked with materials, he estimated that there weren't many things in the world stronger than Orianna. His goal was to max out both physical and magical capabilities.

Orianna clenched her fist and punched a massive boulder. The two-meter-wide rock was instantly shattered into fragments by her blow.

Loren hadn't even used any martial skill for this attack.

Most mages in this world were still quite fragile. Even a mage of Casper's caliber would die if hit by such a punch without warning.

Loren sensed no delay between them at all. This meant his own reflexes and techniques could be put to good use.

When it came to close combat alone, no one in this world was a match for Orianna anymore.

"Next up is magic."

Close combat ability was just a bonus. Orianna's strongest aspect was her magic.

Orianna raised her hand and unleashed Crimson Blade. This spell, normally focused on slashing, created a gust of wind upon release, causing Orianna's dress to flutter loudly.

This time, Orianna aimed at the ground. Rocks weren't enough to test the upper limit of her magic.

With such a massive commotion, the power was naturally extraordinary. A deep trench appeared on the earth, as if caused by a natural disaster.

It was worth noting that Crimson Blade was only an instant-cast spell. Loren could spam it as his basic attack without even catching his breath.

"It's a shame no one's come looking for trouble..."

Loren was already itching to try controlling Orianna to wipe out someone's entire family. Killing inanimate objects just wasn't satisfying enough.

Under the Church's control, magical beasts were also dealt with before a beast tide could form. The Church could be quite responsible sometimes.

The basic tests were complete. Orianna flew back to Loren's house.

"How did it go?"

"Absolutely amazing!"

Loren was a bit excited. He studied Orianna eagerly, wanting to pilot her into battle right away.

"And this isn't even Orianna's full strength..."

When creating Orianna, Loren had stacked too many materials. Even with several resonance cores installed, they couldn't unleash her full performance. To bring out Orianna's complete power, he would have to manually control her.

Several transparent magical threads extended from Loren's fingertips, connecting to Orianna's body. In an instant, a light lit up in Orianna's eyes, emitting a dense, oppressive aura.

It was just a pity there was no place to put her to use right now. So, Loren manipulated Orianna to perform a dance. When the dance ended, Paqina applauded.

"It's getting late. Do you want me to ask for leave for you tomorrow?"

Hearing this, Paqina finally checked the time and realized how late it had gotten.

She had been so happy spending time with Loren that she had completely lost track of time.

Now that she realized how late it was, fatigue washed over Paqina. Earlier, she had been too excited to feel tired.

"No need. I still want to attend class normally tomorrow. Thank you for your trouble..."

"Alright."

Coincidentally, Loren needed to go to the academy tomorrow as well. Casper had indeed helped him out a bit, so it was time for Loren to keep his promise and tell him something. After all, he had been stringing him along for quite a while. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Paqina left reluctantly. Even after walking out of the lab, she turned back to sneak another glance at Loren through the crack in the door before finally going to sleep.

"I should get some rest too..."

In Loren's room, he placed Orianna and Gwen side by side. Even ignoring their functions, the two were already quite pleasing to look at as decorations.

This was way better than figurines. Figurines couldn't be this lifelike.

The night passed without incident, except for Cecelia crawling out from under the bed to sneak some food.

During this time, she even breathed on Orianna, once again trying to assert her dominance. This made Loren a bit exasperated.

Cecelia's thought process was always strange, but Loren was gradually getting used to it by now.

...

The next day, Loren also got up early with Paqina. He had forgotten how long it had been since he last woke up this early.

Because he was up early this time, Loren didn't even run into Casper blocking the door. Casper had already figured out Loren's schedule and usually chose to wait for him at noon.

"Let's go."

Loren's house wasn't far from the academy, so even without transportation, it wouldn't take long.

Loren extended his hand. Paqina hesitated for a long time before finally taking his hand.

Feeling the warmth in his palm, Paqina was so excited that her body trembled.

On the way, she also saw many parents dropping their children off at school. She had long envied those students who had parents accompanying them.

Today, she finally felt something similar. So this was how warm it felt...

Unconsciously, Paqina's grip grew tighter and tighter. She was terrified that if she let go, this happiness would slip away.

Amidst the happiness, Paqina also felt fear. She couldn't bear the thought of returning to her previous life. If Loren ever left her, she didn't know how desperate she would become.

"I will never leave you."

Loren sensed the fear in Paqina's heart and offered a comforting word.