[MF] Ch 29: The First Puppet Avatar

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A month went by in a flash.

With ample funding and materials, Touko Aozaki finally completed the first puppet avatar.

It was a true masterpiece—crafted entirely by hand, every inch refined to perfection. Each joint, each curve was the result of countless hours of Touko's precision work and obsessive attention to detail. She hadn't cut a single corner. Every material used was of the highest quality listed in her references.

The Grand Magus herself had poured her heart into building this puppet for Kaito, and now it lay quietly on a surgical table in her third-floor workshop.

On the outside, it looked like an unpainted, human-shaped construct—a life-sized mannequin roughly 1.7 meters in height. Its features were defined but colorless, like an unfinished sculpture.

But this was the finished product. Its "incomplete" appearance was only surface-deep. The real beauty was inside—its core structure and materials. That was what mattered.

Touko lit a slim cigarette and exhaled softly, finally allowing herself a breath of satisfaction. Her sharp eyes shifted toward Kaito, who stood beside the table, examining the puppet curiously.

From the outside, it just looked finely made—nothing magical, nothing special. But Kaito knew better. The Fun System might have a strange sense of humor, but its creations were always top-tier. This puppet was no exception.

The unfinished look was just camouflage. Once bound to its user and activated, the puppet would instantly transform to match its master's appearance and synchronize with their consciousness.

Touko took another drag and said, "I have to admit, this ancient technology is something else. It doesn't even need modern magecraft—just insert a magical energy source and it's ready to use."

"I'm using a magic jewel as the core energy source, same as the one we used in the box that sealed Matou Zouken. You should prepare a few more of these as backups."

She gestured with her cigarette. "Also, it'll automatically bind to the first user who touches it. Once that happens, only you can use it. But don't expect it to think on its own—it has no intelligence. You'll have to control it directly."

"You'll probably need some time to practice before you can control a second body as smoothly as your own."

Kaito nodded and didn't waste time talking. He immediately stepped forward to begin the binding.

Touko smiled faintly when she saw that. He didn't even check the puppet before touching it. That kind of trust was rare—and flattering. She really hadn't tampered with it or hidden any tricks, but knowing he trusted her enough to skip inspection still gave her a warm feeling.

Of course, what she didn't know was that Kaito had already asked the Fun System to run a quiet scan beforehand. Only after the system confirmed there were no issues did he proceed.

Kaito might act like a fool, but he was never careless about security. Just because he knew Touko's "character setting" didn't mean he'd trust blindly. Precautions were second nature. 

Kaito pressed his right hand onto the puppet's chest.

The internal circuits flared to life, mana surging out from the embedded gemstone and spreading through the puppet's frame. The puppet linked with Kaito's hand, scanning him and initiating the binding sequence.

The system's puppet design didn't require magical aptitude or special rituals. All it took was physical contact with the core.

About twenty seconds later, the process finished.

Kaito immediately felt a faint, invisible connection form between his mind and the puppet. With a single thought, he could make it move.

He gave it a try. The puppet trembled slightly. Mana pulsed inside it, responding to his consciousness. Under Touko's calm but watchful gaze—where excitement and nervousness mingled—the puppet began to change.

A faint shimmer spread from within as mana flooded its surface, forming a complete human figure.

Kaito suddenly found his perception split. A second body had joined his awareness. He now saw through two sets of eyes at once: one from his real body standing beside the table, and one from the puppet lying on it.

It was strange, disorienting, and oddly fascinating.

The sensation was uncomfortable at first, but he adapted quickly.

After all, Kaito wasn't an ordinary man. A self-proclaimed "funny guy," a Masked Fool with level-10 attributes—his body and mind were already on superhuman levels. Controlling a second body wasn't hard.

Within moments, the puppet sat up and stood, perfectly mirroring his movements. Kaito even tried shaking his own hand through it. The touch felt completely real—no different from skin-to-skin contact.

The only downside was that the puppet didn't share his enhanced physical stats. It had the build of an athletic, well-trained human, but nowhere near his true strength.

Not that it mattered. Kaito wasn't planning to use these puppets for normal combat anyway. Their real purpose was to hold character cards.

And it worked. He tested it secretly through the system and confirmed that the puppets could indeed equip character cards. Once equipped, the card itself would supply the energy, not the puppet's internal mana stone.

That meant his "roleplay performances" just became infinitely more flexible.

Even better—the system automatically recognized the puppet as his bound property. That meant he could recall it remotely as long as it was within range, and even at a distance, he could still sense its location.

In terms of utility, this setup was flawless.

Naturally, Kaito was thrilled. Controlling both bodies, he turned to Touko and thanked her—simultaneously. The two of them looked identical, moving in perfect sync, like a pair of twins.

Touko's brows rose slightly in surprise.

She hadn't expected him to adapt this fast. His synchronization was near-perfect.

Then again, she reminded herself, this was Kaito—descendant of the mysterious lineage that created this technology. Maybe he'd trained for this.

Inherited techniques really did have their perks.

Still, this was his family's craft, not hers. And no matter how impressive it was, Touko knew she couldn't be satisfied until she perfected her own original puppet techniques.

That thought didn't discourage her—it only made her resolve stronger.

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