One of the Three-Colored Tower's special traits was that it had two elemental pools and two tower spirits. When fully activated, it could be viewed as three archmages. The tower spirit Meteor was a combat-type tower spirit that directly controlled the fire elemental pool, spell boosters, magic colossus storage, and other combat facilities. Meteor's personality was designed to be flexible and cunning. He was a classic battle mage.
The tower spirit Garden was a support and research type of tower spirit. She was connected to the library, the water elemental pool, the laboratory, and other research facilities. In order to aid in research, she would remind mages of possible mistakes. She had a large amount of magical, natural, and societal knowledge in her memory. Her personality was also quite cautious and conservative. She could even be called old-fashioned.
Tower spirits that were absolutely loyal were mages' most trusted assistants. Naturally, the smarter the assistant, the better. There were several ancient tower spirits that had been passed down from ancient times that were even more intelligent than ordinary humans.
Sometimes, overly free and intelligent tower spirits would cause trouble for their master, especially for their master's successor.
Artificial souls weren't devoid of emotions. It was completely understandable that an artifact would trust their creator. Loyalty that was ingrained in one's bones could become personal worship. It would be difficult for outsiders to understand the deep relationship between a tower spirit and a mage … I definitely wasn't insinuating that Otaku and his only old friend, the computer, had a close and trusting relationship that a third party couldn't understand.
"I don't want a new master. I don't want my old master's treasures to fall into the hands of an outsider, even if this was the original master's request."
That was why the most dangerous situation when exploring a tattered mage tower would be if the tower spirit was still functional. That would be basically the equivalent of dealing with an entire army under the control of a single commander.
For the next successor of a mage tower, a tower spirit that wasn't very loyal would obviously be a huge problem. That was why the first thing they did after obtaining control over a mage tower was to reset the tower spirit's personality and memories. Although that would require them to start training the tower spirit all over again, it was still better than dropping the ball at a critical moment.
And since the tower spirit had its own will, this was no different from wiping out the tower spirit's will. This naturally worsened the tension between the tower spirit and its successor. Perhaps the tower spirit wouldn't be able to directly rebel against the new master under the orders of the original master, but it would be unavoidable for them to do evil within the rules.
Compared to Garden, who directly expressed her dissatisfaction, the seemingly kind Meteor's method was actually quite similar. If a normal mage had been given such a torturous trial, they would have long since exploded in anger or directly fought against the trial. But, if someone actually dared to openly refuse the trial and fight against the trial, the Mage Tower Spirits would have achieved their goal. They would be able to use the same method they used to deal with invaders to wipe us out.
No matter who won in the end, the Mage Tower Genie would no longer have a new master. Even if they managed to break through the Mage Tower's defenses, there would still be time for the Mage Tower's vital parts to self-destruct.
Hence, if one wanted to obtain this Magus Tower in its entirety, the only way to deal with it was to play along with them and let them do whatever they wanted. Once they used up all the freedom within their authority, they would naturally pass this so-called test.
"… If I make a powerful undead creature out of a dragon's remains, just how many types can I make? Also, how should I make the best use of the materials? What are the important things to take care of?"
These were Garden's additional questions for the Mage Tower Spirit's test. However, they were filled with evil intentions.
Indeed, this was a test of magical knowledge. However, an ordinary mage would definitely be unable to answer this question. After all, undead mages were still a minority in the Cloud Tower. And even if an undead mage specifically came to the Cloud Tower, that undead mage wouldn't be a top-level undead mage, nor would they be skilled in dealing with dragon corpses. And, the people before me were all quite young and alive. It was unlikely that they would be highly skilled in undead magic. And since Aso was a hidden undead mage, it was perfectly reasonable for him to use undead magic to test his successor.
Garden used her own method to choose the questions that she believed to be the least likely to be answered correctly.
"… She probably saw me use Holy Light just now, so she probably thinks that I'm a Divine Arts mage who also studies Holy Light."
However, it was evident that Garden's cleverness had made her own. If she really used some sort of specialized magical knowledge test, I might not be able to deal with it since I was the one who broke all the records for failing magic classes back in the day … Fine then, since Harloys was here, and with the level of knowledge she displayed in the previous test, it wouldn't be too much of a mistake for Garden to test me on the unpopular topic of undead magic.
Could it be that I had unknowingly achieved the dream of every examinee — to bring a teacher with me to take the test?
Cough — cough — getting back to the main topic, even if it was an undead magic test, there was really no need for me to ask my teacher for help.
"If it's a dragon's corpse, the most common ones are Bone Dragons, Corpse Dragons, and Dragon Souls. These are indeed the best choices for making use of such a rare material, but they might not be the best choice. Since it's a matter of dealing with a dragon's corpse, then I obviously need to consider the 'material's' characteristics. "
Now that I mentioned this, I started to miss the past. Back in the day, in order to obtain some Dragon Grade materials, I had to go through the Dragon Graveyard and Dragon Valley. The feeling of being chased by the guardians of the Dragon Graveyard was truly nostalgic.
"If it's a White Dragon, I'll unhesitatingly make it into a Bone Dragon. Not only is it because White Dragons didn't have much intelligence when they were alive, I don't expect them to have much intelligence or spellcasting abilities. Ice-type corpses can also strengthen a Bone Dragon's Ice Dragon Breath. But if it's a Silver Dragon, Gold Dragon, or Black Dragon of a certain age, and if the dragon soul is still relatively complete, then I can consider using soul-summoning magic to create Dragon Liches, Dragon Graveyard Guardians, and other undead mages. Although the success rate isn't high, if it succeeds, then their combat strength will be off the charts … "
"Please answer me in detail. What I want you to tell me is how many undead creatures and how many species can you create if I give you a single dragon."
I was still intending to continue talking about the theoretical classification and choices of undead dragons, but my teacher seemed to realize that he had found a problem, so he changed the topic to a test of my "application skills."
"If the corpse is complete, the entire dragon skeleton can be made into a Bone Dragon. If there's a dragon soul, it can be made into a Ghost Dragon. However, if the corpse isn't complete, the success rate will be very low. Part of the dragon's wings can be used to create a dragon-skin gargoyle's outer shell. Dragon teeth can be ground off to create dragontooth soldiers. Ribs number seven, nine, and eleven, which won't affect the corpse's integrity, can be used to create a giant bone beast. The internal organs are excellent. Just the dragon heart alone is enough to create a top-level Abomination. All sorts of dragon parts can be used to effectively increase the basic stats of zombies and Stitched Monsters. None of these can be wasted. As for rotting dragon blood, it's best to create Undead Slimes.
Undead mages were so poor that their usage rate of "materials" was ridiculous. If I gave them a single dragon, they would be able to create a powerful army.
"… Just how poor are you? Most of these things were created by you after you scrounged up all sorts of resources. I didn't teach you any of this back in the day. "
Harloys' comment seemed to have inadvertently revealed something. Judging from the Mage Tower Spirit's silence, it seemed that my answer had far exceeded her expectations. It would seem that Aso and Harloys were both wealthy individuals who didn't need to scrounge up research materials and funds. How would they know how difficult it was to start from scratch? I hadn't even explained how to avoid the tomb guardians and dig up the tomb yet. Back in the day, my Grave Robber's Chronicles (Dragon Grave Chapter) sold incredibly well.
"If the dragon eye isn't damaged, you can ask a demon warlock to help you create the highest-level Abyss Watcher, the type that will forever be invisible. It's super practical, but it's quite painful to give them half of the dragon eye. That's why you can consider killing the other demon warlocks. After all, 99% of demon warlocks are troublesome people who have committed countless crimes. Killing them will be the best way to help the common people. As for dragon scales, the heart, the back of the head, and other vital parts can be used to create dragon scale shields. They're light and sturdy, and won't affect spellcasting. They're basically the most popular type for battle mages. As for the other ordinary dragon scales, ask a leathersmith or alchemist to enchant them into protective gear. Dragon skin armor and so on are super popular, but don't ever tell anyone that they were dug up, or the price will be lowered. Remember to paint them first. That way, the disgusting smell can be left behind so that customers can be sure that they're real dragon skin and dragon scales. "" Oh, right.
Green dragon nails contain poison, while blue dragon nails contain electricity. They can also be used to create enchanted daggers. In that case, you'll need to ask a blacksmith for help. I recommend a dwarf blacksmith in the seventh district of Cabel City. Their craftsmanship is truly excellent. Their secret enchantment technique can create cursed black bone daggers, which are quite powerful. It's just that the owner of the shop is quite greedy. He's asking for fifty thousand gold coins as an OEM fee. However, you can use your identity as an undead mage to threaten to kill his entire family. That way, you'll get a 40% discount. If you continue threatening to expose him for creating cursed items, he'll confiscate all of his assets. That way, he'll give you a 10% discount … By the way, even though I'm supposed to take care of that guy's business every time I pass by, why does he look at me like I'm his enemy? "
Alright then, I seemed to have accidentally said too much. Everyone around me fell silent. Cher's expression towards me had changed from the respect I received from the previous battle to one that said, "As expected of a super dangerous individual. I must be careful."
Why did I know so much? She said it out loud! Could it be that there was a problem with my plan to raise a beautiful girl? My daughter had entered a rebellious phase where she disliked her middle-aged father so quickly?
"You're the one who doesn't! By the way, you're already middle-aged, so what am I? "
"… Old? Hello, Grandma. Goodbye, Grandma. "
Alright then, I was already used to having a silly cat hanging over my head and constantly dripping blood. I could just ignore her. What was I talking about just now?
"… The greatest advantage of creating undead creatures is that you can try them over and over again. It's normal to fail. The materials are second-hand to begin with, so it doesn't matter if you reuse them. The only thing you need to pay attention to when creating dragon undead creatures is … "
I recalled my past experiences and came to a conclusion. As expected, that was the only thing I needed to pay attention to.
"… Make sure you don't let the Dragons see you. Otherwise, those narrow-minded lizards will come charging at you with their saliva (dragon breath). Ptui, didn't I just dig up seven dragon graves? Was it really necessary to hunt me down for three years? I'm doing this for the sake of creating new materials! I'm doing this for the sake of truth and knowledge. I'm the righteous one! "
Right after I finished speaking, the staircase leading to a higher level opened up. The tower spirits seemed to have come to an agreement as well.
"Perhaps you'll become an even more amazing undead mage than Master Aso."
"Not perhaps. It's certain."
…
When I touched the control center of the mage tower, I felt as if my consciousness had entered the clouds. The entire structure of the mage tower appeared before me. This was a three-dimensional diagram of everything that I had just obtained.
And then, cold sweat began dripping down my back …
"Salo's crystal? How could such a thing exist? "
Salo wasn't some magical creature. Rather, he was an archmage from the immemorial generation. The word "crystal" was only an adjective. It wasn't some magical creature's core or secretion. It was a completely man-made object.
Salo's man-made magic core wasn't fundamentally different from a titan's heart or an energy core. The only special characteristic about Salo's magic core was that it was much more powerful. Just how powerful was it? In a technological world, it would probably be enough to pay for a city's electricity for three or four years. At the very least, the creator of Salo's magic core had used it to power a floating city.
That's right, a floating city, a large-scale city with several million residents, not a floating tower in the clouds.
Salo's magic core was quite stable in my previous world, but would cause major trouble if something went wrong. If a Salo's Crystal was activated in the wrong way, it would cause a familiar giant mushroom cloud to appear in the sky.
Of course, it wasn't that the creator of Salo's Crystal hadn't thought about using it to develop weapons. However, there had always been a small problem — a weapon that couldn't guarantee the user's survival — so nobody dared to use it to begin with.
Activating a Salo's Crystal required a Legend-ranked archmage to inject a sufficient amount of mana into it through a special method. The explosion radius of the Salo's Crystal far surpassed that of any teleportation spell. It was basically guaranteed that the user would die. Not to mention, Salo's Crystal wasn't a necessity. After all, there were still forbidden spells in this world.
However, if a Salo's Crystal was developed into a weapon, it would have an advantage that forbidden spells couldn't compare to. It could be used as soon as it was activated. There wouldn't be a long casting time, and there wouldn't be any intense magical waves that would be announced to the entire world.
If a Salo's Crystal had been used as an energy source for a mage tower, I wouldn't have been so surprised. However, this Salo's Crystal just happened to be found on a gnome cannon. That cannon was aimed at the Truth Symposium's Tower of Ten Thousand Mages, which was located two streets away.
"… If the undead and the Mage Country started a war, and all the Truth Symposium mages were summoned for a ritual, and then a Salo's Crystal suddenly exploded …"
I once again gained a new understanding of Aso. It was likely that he wasn't here just for personal reasons. He was most likely on guard against the mages from the very start.
The gnome cannon wasn't the most important part. After all, as long as this Salo's Crystal was detonated, the entire city would be within range of the explosion. However, the closer one was to the center of the explosion, the less time the mages would have to react, and the fewer archmages would be able to escape.
And if Aso had left some sort of message for Blackeye, then a Legend-ranked lich would likely be able to kill more than 70% of all archmages in the Mage Country. No, considering that liches could store their phylacteries far away, it was likely that they wouldn't even need to use them. Perhaps the current Blackeye was the backup detonator.
I carefully put away the Salo's Crystal and focused on the other two crystals in the control room. One was white, and the other was red. Both were about half the height of a person, and I could faintly hear a human's voice echoing within. This was the true form of the mage tower spirits. The stronger the mage tower spirit, the larger the crystal, and the more memories and knowledge stored within it.
I also had a mage tower spirit like this back in Sulfur Mountain City. However, it was only capable of controlling a library, so its abilities couldn't compare to these two mage tower spirits. Its core was also only the size of a palm, and it didn't seem very human-like.
Right now, as long as I touched the control panel again, I would be able to reformat these two mage tower spirits into their original forms. However, I didn't intend to do so.
"Forget about what happened in the past. Just follow me from now on."
"Yes, the mage tower spirit Meteor Garden is willing to serve you."
"Really? Then let's start with a little song. 'I'll accompany you to watch a meteor shower land on Earth …' "
"…"
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