Hill had long known that even though Lina called him "cutie" every day, she thought his excessive kindness would get him killed eventually.
Hill's practice of teaching his personal servant magic made people think he was easily tempted.
Lina, having benefited from it herself, neither could nor wanted to stop him, but Melanie believed that because of his actions, he could only survive under Fran's care, eating and waiting for death, and she didn't pay much attention to him.
It wasn't until the last period that Melanie discovered Hill's strong soul power and well-cultivated mana, that she decided to spend a lot of time teaching him.
Hill actually didn't care about all these things. Knowledge, precious as it was, needed to be cherished but not hoarded.
He had no wish to make Boen skilled, but he did want his companion to have the most basic education.
Boen benefited the most from the chaos and had been determined to follow Hill from that moment on.
Hill didn't know when he would have to kill his first person, but he still hoped it would be later rather than sooner.
The longer he stayed in this world, the more he missed his past life. He understood that once he started killing, he would lose all the beliefs cultivated in modern society.
Having lived to over thirty years old in his previous life and died with his parents in an earthquake, he felt regret but no hatred. Hill didn't know why he had been reborn, but he hoped he could still be the treasured son in his parents' hands, not a ruthless killer.
During the four years at Perast Castle, Hill had always been aloof, and with his mother's fierce reputation behind him, no one dared to provoke him.
He had always hidden everything, and now he could finally leave.
Hill's profession allowed him to survive well, but he still wanted to live comfortably.
He had Boen take most of the storage rings and purchase a lot of supplies.
Beyond the safety zone, the threat became the magical beasts of the wilderness.
But the Wood Elementals summoned by Hill could emit a natural aura that made the wilderness's magical beasts ignore Hill's party.
The Wood Elementals took the form of tiny sprites, small and cute, with delicate wings that allowed them to flutter around in the carriages.
Hill placed a large pot of green ivy in the corners on top of each carriage, the dense leaves providing the Wood Spirits who didn't wish to be seen a place to hide.
The four carriages skirted the forest and headed straight for the distant mountain range.
After gnawing on dry food for eight days, Hill had reached his destination.
This was a rare triangular canyon. The entrance was a long, narrow path with roaring river water gushing out between the kilometer-high stone walls. Hill didn't know how the Grand Knight of Perast had thought of entering alongside the riverbank before, as the thin path that only allowed for one carriage to pass was damp and muddy, marked only by a few animal paw prints.
Hill summoned several Water Elementals, linked the carriages together with ropes, and had all the horses led slowly at the front. The Water Elementals swam quickly to the front in the river, relaying safe passage.
Hill, holding his magic wand, walked in the front, with Boen holding a magic scroll and accompanied by Water Elementals at the rear.
After walking about 3000 meters, the stone wall on the left suddenly opened at an angle to the left, and after the 30-degree inclined line stretched for dozens of kilometers, it was firmly blocked by a transverse mountain range.
The valley was densely forested along the mountain range, but there were large grasslands by the river where herds of herbivores grazed leisurely. It was truly territory suited for Hill.
Hill smiled and looked back, "We've arrived! Come on, let's find a good spot in the middle of the valley!"
The carriages sped towards the center of the valley, eventually stopping beside a small hill.
A towering hundred-meter-high rocky hill lay at the edge of the large grassland, with river water flowing past from the cliff side, the riverside also comprised of rocks.
Hill summoned Earth Elementals, instructing them to dig down to a hundred meters beneath the rocky hilltop and then sculpt the hill into a circular tower.
The Earth Elementals liked to absorb the excavated rocks onto their bodies to increase their strength, and soon became a dozen giants each over 10 meters tall.
After constructing a 20-meter-thick stone cap for the top of the tower, the high tower of a 30-meter radius was evenly divided into nine floors by their giant forms.
The center of the tower was a vertical air shaft with a radius of 5 meters. Hill built a staircase nine stories high and 1.5 meters wide along the boundary, which he constructed from earth piled up. Under the "Mud into Stone" spell, it turned into a sturdy staircase layer by layer.
Hill continually reinforced the body of the tower with spells and slowly descended to the ground floor through the hollow atrium.
The Earth Elementals followed joyfully, one of the reasons Hill believed his bloodline resonated with the Earth Bear.
These Earth Elementals had signed a summoning contract with Hill's entire tribe the first time he summoned an Earth Elemental after becoming a Magician.
Though the Wood Element and Water Elemental also seemed very fond of him, they did not share the enthusiastic sentiment of bringing along families and whole tribes to follow him.
Hill made an agreement with them to let them stay by his side after the Magic Tower was established. However, everyone knew to provide a safe haven for so many Earth Elementals, Hill would have to be at least at the Archmage Level.
Even though they aspired to enter the Prime Material Plane, they were quite choosy! Finding someone like Hill, whose bloodline resonated with the earth, was miraculous, and the Earth Elementals felt that even waiting for decades would be worth it. To their surprise, Hill turned out to be so promising!
They dug jubilantly at the ground level, and Hill gave them a vast plateau 60 meters high beneath a 20-meter thick rock layer, enough space for them to use.
One hundred meters underground, Hill left a chamber 5 meters high.
Standing in the center of the underground hall, Hill opened the Pioneering Decree and proclaimed aloud, "Great God of Justice, Your Excellency, Hill Perast Polanio requests your attention! I hereby vow with my soul: I willingly pioneer my territory in the wilderness and will strive for it for life! All Gods above, I shall have no regrets even in death!"
Hill felt a majestic gaze sweep over him from the heavens. The Pioneering Decree floated up in his hands, and invisible waves rippled outward. He quickly opened the Alchemy Map, and a new location lit up 500 kilometers beyond the Saral Border: the Barony of Polanio.
Hill's domain indeed encompassed the three mountain ranges surrounding the canyon, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
Although the Alchemy Map could only mark places he had visited, it might be a Divine Artifact, for its markings were very accurate. If Hill had awakened the Tower Spirit of the Magic Tower first, perhaps the map would have already shown the Sorcerer Tower of Polanio.
Once the map was recorded, unless one reported it to the Temple or the Pantheon intervened, it would no longer change.
Hill hoped that no one would discover he was a Magician until he reached the Magister level, or at the very least, until he became an Archmage.
Hill drew out a Pentagram Magic Circle next to the stele, and at the five sharp corners of the circle, he placed the Elemental Pools of the five elements: gold, wood, water, fire, and earth. Finally, in the center of the circle, he released the core of the Magic Tower—a dazzling 16-faceted crystal. A drop of blood from his fingertip fell, and he connected to the core with his spiritual power, the floating crystal slowly merging with the ground magic circle.
He closed his eyes and channeled all his mana into the circle, and a light hundreds of meters high burst forth tumultuously.
The Tower Spirit awakened. It controlled the scattered Magic Power and transformed the entire tower and its subterranean part into obsidian. This was probably the toughest and most magic-conductive stone material in the world. A Magic Tower made of obsidian, 30 meters in radius and 200 meters tall, finally gave Hill the confidence to survive.
Hill looked at the Tower Spirit that appeared before him, a grown man with black hair and black eyes, dignified yet with compassionate and gentle eyes, and felt a pang of emotion. After 16 years, although he hadn't forgotten his own face, his mother's eyes had unexpectedly shaped the Tower Spirit's when he was constructing it.
He softly said to the Tower Spirit, "You'll be called List."
"As you command, my master," List bowed deeply.
Hill sealed off this layer, and from then on, only List could enter.
Returning to the first floor of the Magic Tower, Hill handed all the Alchemy Golems to List. List, who had absorbed his Soul Power and gained all his knowledge, was already an outstanding construction worker, capable of commanding the Elementals bound by contract to him. Hill felt he could be an excellent, hands-off client.
As night fell, Hill instructed List to set up the elevator and create living quarters, then he leisurely left the tower.
Locke had already released the horses to graze nearby, while Boen directed a few young servants to move everything from the carriage into the Mage Tower.
Hill brought Boen's family to List to record their soul information. As for the young servants, they could only stay below the second floor. They would go out to the farm once it was established.
Hill stood by the water and began summoning Water Elementals. Some Water Elementals were willing to sign a contract with likable individuals to stay on the Prime Material Plane. After all, the Elemental Plane unchanged for millions of years, some Elementals sought to see the outside world. In this respect, Magicians had an advantage, there would always be Elementals that liked them, relying on their "faces" to curry favor.
One by one, the Water Elementals responded to the summons. However, not all chose to stay, and when Hill's mana was exhausted, seven or eight remained.
The Water Elementals frolicked in the river and also patrolled along the water.
The security of the water was ensured, and the Earth Elementals would guard the perimeter of the Magic Tower.
Hill's home had been built.