A week had past in a moment's time as most of it had been spent getting familiar with the tower and greeting many of the residents.
The tower consisted of 13 floors and I've visited them all.
The most interesting floor to me was the 9th floor where the blacksmiths, artisans and our enchanter resided. They had so many strange, unscientific things that could only be describable as 'Magical' to show me. Maybe it's the scientist in me but for the past week but I've been feeling a bit strange whenever I encountered something that could not be explained with science.
'This is a game, magic exists... This is a game, magic exists...' I've had to constantly drill these lines onto my head and prevent myself from trying to pry into the mysterious things that I saw.
The blacksmiths showed me a common metal called 'Mana Infused Iron', apparently it was a sad attempt at a super rare and precious metal known as 'Mithril'. They also told me about a legendary metal called 'Adamantium' but they had never had one in possession much less encounter one.
The artisans showed me various accessories and clothing that had magical properties. I received a ring as a welcoming gift from one, quite possibly because I am Lady Silvia's disciple and they were trying to fawn up to me but I wasn't in a position to decline a free gift. To my disappointment of owning 2 artifacts, such weak items weren't good enough to be classified as artifacts and thus not named.
It was a small silver ring with a tiny blue gem attached on the top. The ring had the power to convert my mana into drinkable liquid water at a very slow rate and at a very low efficiency. At first I thought it was useless but with the reminder from A.I that humans are fragile creatures and that it may save me in times of need, I decided to continue wearing it.
The final resident of this floor, the Enchanter, refused to see me. A passerby Magus told me that the enchanter does not like visitors and that nobody, except the tower master and the Enchanter's apprentice, had seen him (Or her...Or it?) in many years. Anyone can request items to be enchanted with a fee though sometimes it gets rejected.
The food, from the canteen on the 4th floor, was great as well. The free food provided mainly consisted of vegetables and fruits from the gardens of the 2nd floor but sometimes contained meat dishes from weaker monsters.
Apparently these 'monsters, which I assumed was the reason why I was prohibited from leaving the village by the guards, are often hunted for consumption. Different monsters had different parts and different amounts of each part that sold for varying amounts but all in all, a weak monster could be sold for a few coppers whilst an average monster could even go up to a few silvers. As for monsters stronger than that, they were heavily dependent on the seller and buyer as they were often haggled in gold denominations.
As for mythical creatures and legendary beings? Good luck trying to capture or kill one. The tower master, Lady Silvia, is a dragon herself. A mythical race of unfathomable power who had lived for almost 3 millennia without having been killed, though many had tried according to what I've heard.
All in all, this was the layout of the tower:
Floor 1: Reception and welcoming area. Also has a board where one can obtain missions, accept
commissions, post or join a recruitment and post important news.
Floor 2: Gardens, the largest floor of the tower where countless plants are grown. Also houses
messenger doves, owls and crows.
Floor 3: Canteen, a large mess hall where the Magi gather to consume supplements.
Floor 4: Basic labs and advanced labs, separated by east and west respectively. Contains 22 basic
labs and 8 advanced labs. Advanced labs may only be used by Senior Magi.
Floor 5: Alchemy labs. Potions and one-time tools are often researched and created upon this
floor. Houses 16 alchemy labs.
Floor 7: Common area. A cozy floor with various attractions and amenities for the residents and
visitors.
Floor 8: Living quarters for Apprentices. Second largest floor of the tower.
Floor 9: Blacksmith&Armory. Houses 3 resident blacksmiths, 1 resident enchanter and 2 artisans.
Also contains various equipment that Magi, or visitors, may purchase using currency or
contribution points.
Floor 10: Living quarters for Magi.
Floor 11: Living quarters for the Senior Magi and Deus.
Floor 12: Tower Master's Quarters (Current Tower Master: Silvia Pendragon)
Floor 13: Astrolab. Top floor of the tower, the roof can be opened via a magical mechanism to
reveal the night sky and observe it using various tools available upon the floor. Most
often used for basic astrology and by Dark and Light element users.
There were also 7 basement levels. The lower 6 of which house monsters for various purposes and the first layer being used for storage. I wasn't able to visit the lower 3 floors because apparently they were only open to those with the strength of Senior Magi or higher but the 3 floors that I visited that did have monsters were quite a sight to see. It seemed as if the deeper you went, the stronger the monsters got.
They weren't really held in 'jail-like' cells but rather in a much more humane way than I expected. They each had small 'room' that imitated their natural habitat through the use of magical gadgets and kept them as comfortable as possible. One of the managers informed me that monsters are hard to capture and the ones that are willing to stay 'calmer' than the rest are worth a fortune and thus the treatment. The monsters that aren't willing to be submitted or captured... Those have already been 'taken care of'.
One monster I saw was a giant snake on the 2nd basement floor, probably almost 50m in length, that had been coiled up under an area it had dug out beneath a giant boulder. I could see the yellow eyes shining in the dark but it had refused to come out. Apparently it was called a 'Gigantaconda' and had the ability to control the earth element to a degree.
Another monster I saw was a Lesser Imp on the 1st basement floor. It seemed to have the intelligence of a baby without the innocence as it kept on trying to prank me with various feats of fire. The atmosphere it had been contained in actually had a imitation of a flowing lava and a small cliff made of volcanic rock in which it had dug a hole to house itself in.
As for the 3rd basement floor, I was only able to witness a giant bat in a complete dark habitat which phased in and out from the shadows. It was called a Nox Bat and had the power to create pure darkness around a 20m area that was not obstructed and phase in and out from it. It also had the power to temproarily reduce one's vision to a mere meter around their surroundings, preventing one from noticing a 'predator', like itself for example, from approaching themselves.
As for the area around the tower, there were many tents set up by the mercenaries and merchants that often visited the area. Due to the lack of public space available within the tower, they could only resort to such means but nobody complained. After all, it was relatively safe around the tower as Patrol Magi constantly made sure no danger got near the vicinity on top of the existence of the surveillance Gadget.
The closest town was a town called Clouded village, followed up by Arthro and Cinders village which were similar distances away from the tower. The nearest major city was the Capital of The Empire, a mere 14 days away (Mere because from the edges of the territory to the other edge, it would take roughly half a year on foot or carriage to reach).
All of this had been new and exciting but I was constantly distracted due to the fact that the day in which I would start learning about the magical powers I've had was near.
Tomorrow, training would begin. I've already had plenty of simulation practices during the evening as I slept and have gotten pretty proficient at it. I was already able to imitate the Medeor and Obex spell to proficiency where I could cast it almost instantly. I was also able to control the Obex spell to generate specific amounts of 'panels' by adjusting the amount of mana I poured in. I had a firm believe that this would be a very important spell in the near future as it was my only 'protective' spell I had.
But the most important thing, which I was also the most anticipating for, was learning an offensive spell. Maybe it is due to the atmosphere I am in or simply because I am like this deep down but I've been craving power. Power to destroy. I do not know whether this is good or bad but for now, I've decided to satiate this primal thirst that rang deep within my heart.
And tommorow, it will begin.