"So, you must help me." Bruce leaned forward, overturning his draft paper and placing it in front of Lady Shangdu. He begged earnestly, "I have to submit my homework tomorrow morning, if I can't finish it, I'm doomed."
Lady Shangdu laughed lightly and shook her head, "You're bold to be a student of Dr. Shiller. Everyone in the circle knows he has a bad temper."
"More than bad," Bruce muttered under his breath, casting a pleading glance at Lady Shangdu.
Lady Shangdu finally turned to look at Bruce's draft. For the first thirty seconds, her expression was relaxed; after a little while, her brows slightly furrowed. About two minutes later, they were even more tightly knitted.
"Bruce, may I call you by your name? Are you studying the multi-threaded parallel rune code of the Uputa Sect?"
"Oh God, ma'am, you're the first to recognize my topic. Have you studied this yourself?" Bruce reacted eagerly, as if he saw a life-saving straw.
Lady Shangdu shook her head slightly, then nodded, sighing softly, "I've met the descendants of Master Uputa. But they are no longer studying such obscure knowledge. I have a question, why are you researching this?"
"It's not my choice." Bruce pursed his lips, "It's Professor Shiller's subject. I just have to complete it."
"Well, it seems he intentionally made things difficult for you. Even in the magic realm a hundred years ago, few people studied this topic. You know, multi-threading means you have to understand multiple code chains at the same time. If any one of them goes wrong, there will be a problem when they are combined."
"Exactly, ma'am. So, do you think my magic array can run smoothly?"
Lady Shangdu stared at the magic array, tilting her head, "The first rune in your array is double-threaded. After you complete the functional rune, you split these two runes again into four. You repeat this process more than ten times. The whole array has become so complex that I cannot fully understand it at the moment."
She traced the lines on the paper with her finger and added, "A complex magic array is not a good thing. Every link has a potential for error. If there are too many links, the probability of error greatly increases. That's also why the Uputa Sect has declined."
Bruce sighed, "I have no ability to verify whether this magic array can run, so I don't know what kind of evaluation Professor Shiller will give tomorrow morning. I wish I could test it in advance."
"Who do you have a pact with?"
"Beelzebub."
Lady Shangdu showed a helpless bitter smile and looked into Bruce's eyes, "Didn't your teacher advise you to change your pact object? Beelzebub has been missing for a long time."
"But that might require a greater price, so I have to get a good grade first." Bruce pushed the draft paper again, looking at Lady Shangdu with his deep blue eyes, "Ma'am, could you please help me verify the feasibility of this array?"
"I can, I owe a favor to Dr. Shiller and Master Andrew." Lady Shangdu nodded, "But I need to ask first, what is this magic array used for?"
"It's just a simple demon summoning array." Bruce confirmed, "And it may not run completely."
"Alright, so do you want to test it with a miniaturized array, or with a full-scale magic array?"
Bruce pinched his chin and thought for a moment, finally saying, "Although the full-scale array would be better, it would waste too much of your energy. A small one will do."
Lady Shangdu revealed a smile, "You underestimate the Fae of Maya. We are not the same as humans. Our energy comes from the source of nature. And a demon summoning array made by a magic apprentice is not enough to affect my mana reserve."
"Thank you very much, ma'am." Bruce stood up, eager to get started on the experiment.
Lady Shangdu shook her head, as if sighing over the impatience of the young, but she still took Bruce downstairs. Master Andrew, his hair all white, was still drinking, and Shiller was sitting next to him, chatting.
"Dr. Shiller, I'm taking your student now." Lady Shangdu waved her hand at Shiller, laughing, "Don't worry, I won't eat him."
Shiller raised an eyebrow, but still waved them away. Andrew, with his messy white hair and a walrus mustache, shouted, "Hey, boy, don't listen to her. The lake fairies eat people!"
Lady Shangdu snorted coldly, then beckoned Bruce, "Follow me, we'll go to the back garden for the experiment. Andrew's storeroom has a lot of good stuff. He likes the ring you brought. He won't be stingy."
With that, she led Bruce into the back garden of Andrew's Mage Tower. Then, in Andrew's storeroom, they rummaged out several materials to arrange the magic array.