There were many different types of mage towers. There were fortress towers that were specially prepared for battle. These towers had simple facilities and were usually shared. There were also research towers that were used by mages to live in. These towers were a mage's personal property and would often contain their entire life savings. But no matter what type of mage tower it was, they were all incredibly dangerous areas.
Having one's own mage tower would be equivalent to having one's own world. Not only would one's combat strength greatly increase, all sorts of research would become much easier with the support of dimensional barriers, energy pools, and other expensive "equipment."
For ordinary mages, having their own mage tower could be considered a lifelong dream. But since it was a dream, most people would never be able to achieve it. The reason? Simply because it was too expensive.
A large-scale energy pool that formed the energy cycle required tons of mithril and other precious magical metals to insulate it. A water elemental pool required a dimensional portal to maintain a normal state. Even a personal library that symbolized wisdom would be a shame if it didn't have at least a thousand books. A single magical book would be enough to exchange for a shop. Even ordinary rich merchants and local domain lords wouldn't be able to afford a single room. Only the rich royalty of various countries would be able to afford it.
The result of having a personal mage tower as their lifelong dream was just like how a salaryman would save up to buy a house. Every day, they would calculate how many square meters they could buy with their savings and future income, but they still couldn't make up for the high cost of living and the increasingly harsh reality of society. Three years ago, their dream was to have three bedrooms and two living rooms. Now, it became two bedrooms and one living room. Perhaps they would only be able to afford a three-square-meter pigeon coop when it came time to pay for it.
Of course, there were also easy ways to obtain a mage tower. One would be to trick a rich person into becoming a spendthrift … Find a rich boss and work for him or her as a personal magic consultant or something. Or, if you were powerful enough, you could even work for a certain country's royalty and become a seemingly decent court mage. Or, if you worked for the military's environmental protection department, then there would be a place for you in a mage tower that was part of a fortress's defenses. But no matter what you chose, the result would be that you would lose your freedom. Your research direction and daily routine would all be changed.
Back when I was at the Ottoman Empire's underwater base, the rich high-level mage towers were far too enviable. Although the Borealis' seven turret-type mage towers weren't made out of any materials, they were more than enough to be used as amplification devices for mages. They weren't self-sufficient, so they could only be considered half-finished products. It would be impossible for them to be used for research.
"A private Magus Tower? I really want one!"
That's right, even I didn't have a mage tower. The main reason was that I didn't have much need for a mage tower. Undead magic's main focus was on raw materials. Even if I wanted to build a mage tower, it would be a Soul Summoning Tower. As for ice magic … cough cough, let's talk about something else.
[Actually, I have the most awesome super mage tower blueprints here (I strongly recommend the Cloud Island and Volcano Tower), but for you, even building a tower won't be of any help. Even if you use a large-scale calculator, it'll still be just four calculations. An elementary school student should just obediently use an abacus.]
"Why didn't you say so earlier? I really do need it!"
I habitually ignored my System's sarcasm. Private Magus Towers with Cloud Island designs had long since disappeared in history. Mobile Magus Towers were just too awesome. Magus Towers with Volcano Towers could absorb lava as an unlimited source of mana. They would even have bonus firepower. As long as the location was good, a single Magus Tower with a single fire archmage would be able to easily deal with an entire country's main army.
When it came to constructing Magus Towers, the Mage Country's mage organization, the Seven-Colored Tower, was at the forefront of the Mage Country's technology. The Seven-Colored Tower was a paradise for elemental magic researchers, as well as an expert in researching Magus Towers. Archmage Antonio even had a small Magus Island that had been passed down from ancient times. Every time he drove it out, it would be incredibly flashy. Even dragons wouldn't dare to compete with it … His Magus Tower was also incredibly expensive. It was said that Antonio was the poorest archmage out of all the other archmages.
[Even if you can't use it, you can sell it for money? Sure, a Legendary-level Magus Tower blueprint costs 50,000 Fate Points, and a blueprint for the core components starts at 10,000 Fate Points. Antonio's Magus Tower blueprint? SemiGod Magus Tower, starting at 500,000 Fate Points. However, I feel that even if you buy it, you won't be able to sell it. After all, the raw material for it is a 'Miniature Fire Cycle Semi-Material Island.' That's far too difficult to obtain.]
I didn't feel embarrassed in the slightest that my scheme had been exposed. Instead, I directly asked her to show me the exchange list. Magus Tower related technologies were either some archmage's personal treasures or magical secrets that had been lost to history. How could I possibly miss out on such an excellent opportunity?
A mobile research residence with such flashy food, clothing, housing, and transportation was every single shut-in mage's ultimate dream!
"Why do you have such a function? Aren't the items you can exchange for ridiculously expensive luxury goods or those scammers that specialize in scamming people?"
[New technologies of the same generation can always be exchanged for. Large amounts of research results will have less of an effect on the karma system. With the new technologies of the next generation, the old technologies of the previous generation will naturally have less of an effect, which will lower the price. Ten years ago, these technologies would have cost at least 3 million Fate Points. Now, you can even afford to exchange for these technologies. So, you understand.]
This time, my System wasn't intentionally scamming me. "You understand?" I really did understand now. So, since the System's list could be exchanged for this technology, it could only mean that a certain place had already used these technologies on a large scale? Was it a certain human country, or a visitor from another plane? No, this technology had existed in the past, and it was a local product. Only a super-rich species with a long history would be able to use such ancient technologies to create mage towers on a large scale.
"Are the elves the most likely? Their recent movements have indeed been quite strange. No, there are also those ancient artifacts that escaped from the garbage heaps of history. Perhaps they've brought with them past technological achievements. Anything is possible. "
But right now, the most important thing was to quickly browse through my System's exchange list and find what I wanted. If the price was suitable, I also wanted to build my own personal mage tower.
"… This one, this one, and this one!"
[120,000 Fate Points. Thank you.]
"Are you kidding me? These are all common components of a mage tower. I'm only using them to research the technology. I haven't decided on the type of mage tower I want yet, nor have I bought any blueprints for the main structures. Why would they be so expensive?"
[So, you're not buying them?]
"I'm buying them!"
How could I possibly miss out on such an excellent opportunity? I grit my teeth and swiped on my System interface, emptying my wallet. I then didn't dare to look at any of the more attractive programs.
[You're not going to continue looking? There's even better programs.]
"Hmph! If I don't look, I won't be tempted. If I'm not tempted, I won't buy them. I won't spend money as long as I don't go out. Do you think I'm an idiot? If I buy them again, I'll chop off my hand."
[I still have Aso's mage tower blueprints here. You're probably going there soon, aren't you? Are you sure you want to go to a super S difficulty dungeon without opening a map? Say it again. Are you going to buy them or not?]
"I … I'm an idiot. Can't I just chop off my hand!?"
…
The Three-Colored Tower was a mage tower model for Aso's personal mage tower on Ebo Street. This was the newest technology of the "Seven-Colored Tower." It was also a byproduct of the Seven-Colored Tower's research on the nature of the elements and their pursuit of "the ultimate product of mixing the elements."
The Seven-Colored Tower had two support tower spirits and two Elemental Pools. When an archmage provided sufficient support and control, it would be the equivalent of having three levels of mages simultaneously casting spells. Not only that, they wouldn't even be of the same element. Not only that, their mana came from the same source, and their mana wavelengths were similar. It was also possible to stack their mana on top of each other to cast powerful attack spells of multiple elements.
The Seven-Colored Tower only existed in legends. It was capable of stacking four different elemental spells, one Order Divine Art, and one Chaos Divine Art. This was one of the ultimate goals of the mage organization, the "Seven-Colored Tower". However, I knew that even as this world approached its end, the Seven-Colored Tower had only managed to create a Four-Colored Tower. They hadn't even managed to fuse all the elemental spells together, not to mention the much more difficult Order and Chaos Divine Arts.
The Three-Colored Tower was a classic battle-type mage tower. Its attack range was at least ten or so street blocks around it. For a certain someone to build such a mage tower right in the heart of the Cloud Tower City, it was rather frightening if one thought about the reason and goal.
And right now, as I stood in front of this mage tower that looked nothing more than a dilapidated bungalow, I was inwardly astonished at how perfect this illusion magic was. There were so many people walking to and fro on the street, but none of them stopped for even a second. Even their gazes were automatically averted.
"AXH … THF … LKK!"
I tested it with a few rune passwords that Aso often used. After a flash, the illusion disappeared, and a tall black mage tower appeared in front of us. The large door, which had gargoyle carvings on it, suddenly opened up, revealing a pitch-black interior that seemed like a black hole that devoured all life.
Everyone on the street then ran away in fright. The uncle who owned a bakery next door looked at the "new building" that suddenly reached the clouds next to his bakery and directly dropped his freshly baked bread onto the ground.
"This feels like a death trap."
From a certain standpoint, everyone's instincts were absolutely correct. Even I could sense that if I entered the tower just like that, I definitely wouldn't be able to come out.
As a shut-in archmage, all of their food, shelter, and transportation were located in the mage tower. This meant that all of their research and collection items were stored within the mage tower. Even for a mage who was about to die, there were basically no good people like "I have so many treasures that I haven't used up yet, it would be such a pity for me to die. I want to give back to society."
Most mages were selfish. They had the mentality of "I won't give them to you even if I don't need to keep them for storage" or "I'll take my treasures and collection with me even if I go to hell." They would definitely use the highest level of skill to create their own defensive spell formations and various traps. Most traps would automatically activate even after the mage died and wasn't at home.
Entering an unfamiliar mage tower without a map or guide would have far too low a chance of survival. Even if you were a SemiGod, a forceful teleportation trap could suddenly teleport you to some random Elemental Plane or vacuum. Even if you didn't die, it would still make you want to cry but have no tears. Then, you would have to spend several decades trying to find your way home.
Although mage tower exploration missions were quite lucrative, ordinary adventurers wouldn't dare to accept them. It would be completely unimaginable if there weren't any fatal traps. And any high-level adventurers who accepted such missions would likely end up as cannon fodder.
A mage tower's danger level was directly proportional to its master's power level. A Saint-ranked mage's mage tower would be able to give SemiGods headaches. As for an Undead Emperor's mage tower … If I had any enemies here, I could simply sell this information to them. All I needed to do was hide the identity of the original owner of this mage tower.
"First team, enter."
I stopped Adam who was eager to try. I then had a group of summoned elemental creatures enter the mage tower, and then … there was no then. In less than a minute, the summoned elemental creatures' soul connections were cut off.
"Oh my, you're quite skilled. Second team, enter."
"I'm not going!"
Alright then, the silly cat rejected me. My magical pet actually refused to give me face? This was something that went against all mages' common sense. Although everyone else was already used to this, Cher, who had been invited along, had an expression of astonishment.
"It's enough for your clone to go. It won't affect your main body."
"Nonsense, of course it won't affect my main body. It's just that after being 'revived,' all my 'children' will have life and pain. They'll be transmitted to me at the instant of death. I don't want to repeatedly experience the feeling of death. I just sent three of my children into the mage tower. Do you know what it feels like to fall to your death from a height of more than four thousand meters, be trampled to death, and be teleported to another dimension to starve to death? "
"… Then would you feel it if someone touched your children? I suddenly recalled something very similar to zombies. "
"You can try. My children can grow teeth as well."
I and I glared at each other. Neither of us wanted to back down. In the end, I used my ace card.
"You've been here for a while as well, right? If I use my magical pet contract to order you to hand over your mage tower."
"Ptui, come at me. I'm not afraid."
"Tsk, so your mage tower isn't there … Ah, there's a giant flying rat!"
"… Isn't that just a bat? I'm not a real cat, so I have no interest in such a thing. Also, do you really think such a foolish method of diverting my attention would work? You're just trying to throw me into the mage tower while I'm distracted. Hmph, I'm already used to this method. I've long since been seen through … Ahhh! Where did this white bat come from!? "
The silly cat bared her fangs and brandished her claws, but she was still carried by the giant bat. She drew an arc in the air and instantly flew into the mage tower. Only her heart-wrenching screams remained in the air. "Someone's abusing the cat!!"
I turned around and glanced at the Beast Tamer who was currently asking for credit and nodded in satisfaction. Beifeng's little companion had once again accomplished something great. Hearing the silly cat's screams, the other Beifeng companions were all laughing and chatting as they watched the commotion. However, Cher, who was an outsider, was rather worried.
"She'll be fine, right?"
"Relax. If the All-knowing Harloys can't deal with her, none of us will be able to. Besides, I'm confident in her. "
"She'll be fine even if she detects all the traps?"
"No, she won't fall before she takes revenge on me. As long as she sends her clones to scout the area, how could her main body possibly be injured? "
"Roland, just wait for me to come out. You're going to teach me a lesson." This seemed to be the most appropriate way to describe the situation. Judging by how confident Harloys was, it seemed that there was indeed no need to worry.
"Milord, little cutie # 3 has returned. Lady Harloys is on the third floor."
"Yep, we'll go in in half an hour. Right, if the silly cat left any traces saying that it's absolutely safe, that place is definitely a trap. "
"Relax, Milord. Even if you don't tell us, we all know. But please don't drag us into your battles. People will die. "
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