Chapter 031 – Tower Spirit
...
Early the next morning.
At 3:50 am, Matthew opened his eyes on time. After quickly washing up, he grabbed a bread from the kitchen and left home amidst the morning bird chirping.
He didn't leave the Mage District as usual.
Instead, he walked towards the center of the rarely visited Mage District.
The early spring morning was still chilly.
Matthew walked past a neatly trimmed shrubbery, and droplets of dew rolled down the leaves, some even splashing onto his shoes.
A few minutes later.
He quickly finished the bread and stood in front of a two-story bungalow in the center of the Mage District.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
A clock sound suddenly came from inside the bungalow.
This meant that it was exactly four o'clock.
Matthew approached quickly.
He lightly tapped the door with his right hand until an exaggerated strange face appeared on the door. Only then did he say the password:
"A day's plan starts in the morning."
The strange face quickly split open, revealing a dark, round entrance.
"Good morning, Matthew. Welcome to the 'Crucible House.' I'll be waiting for you on the top floor. Remember to press the elevator's acceleration button several times. You'll experience an extraordinary thrill."
A mechanical voice came from inside.
Matthew lowered his head and walked in.
What appeared before him was an extremely vast space.
The floor was made of a strange material resembling mercury, the ceiling was a circular arch with a constellation track, and six marble columns reached up to the sky. There were also constructs on both sides that looked like sculptures, standing in formation.
This was the Crucible House.
It was a part of a mage tower publicly announced by Archmage Ronan.
Here, you could purchase magical props and materials, borrow magic books, rent spell laboratories, forge magical equipment, and post team recruitment requests, and so on.
It was somewhat similar to adventurer guilds in many online games, except that the Crucible House's services were limited to mages only.
And its entrance time was very strict. It was only open from four o'clock to four fifteen in the early morning. If you missed it, you could only come back the next day.
There were at least four entrances to the Crucible House south of the Ever Song Forest.
But Matthew never bumped into anyone when he came here.
He speculated that it might be because there were still too few spellcasters in this world, and another reason was that the Crucible House charged an entrance fee.
It was 30 gold coins each time, not too expensive, but it was still a significant expense.
Take Matthew as an example.
If he didn't have a requirement to borrow books, he would never come to the Crucible House on his own.
The things and services here... well, they were of good quality but expensive.
The materials and props provided by Archmage Ronan were much better than those outside.
But if Matthew had a choice, he would still prefer to run a few hundred kilometers to Baiyan City to buy from familiar merchants.
There was no other way.
This was the kind of place that made people involuntarily bend over when they weren't financially well-off.
...
Matthew walked towards the marble column closest to him. This was actually a magic elevator hidden inside the column. You could choose the desired floor according to your needs, and different floors had different constructs to serve you. Of course, you could also choose manual reception, but it would cost extra.
When Matthew approached, he unexpectedly found a female mage wearing black-framed glasses and a traditional robe covered in dirt anxiously waiting.
"Ding!"
The column rotated to the sides, and the elevator cabin appeared in front of the two.
"Ah, why don't you go first!"
The female mage said somewhat unnaturally to Matthew.
She seemed particularly uneasy.
Matthew glanced at her and shook his head, saying:
"No, you go first. I'll wait for the next one."
The female mage was somewhat surprised.
But seeing Matthew's determined expression.
She quickly nodded and whispered a thank you.
Then she ran into the cabin.
"By the way, if you hear a voice asking you to press the acceleration button later, remember to firmly refuse it!"
As the elevator door was about to close.
Matthew smiled and gave his advice.
Through the gap.
The female mage tilted her head in confusion.
The elevator instantly ascended.
Matthew patiently waited for a few minutes.
A brand new cabin unfolded in front of him.
He calmly walked in.
As someone who had a close relationship with Archmage Ronan and had many pleasant conversations with him.
He enjoyed the privilege of exclusive service from Tower Spirit 177 in the Crucible House.
This greatly facilitated his search for what he wanted in the vast ocean of knowledge.
And he didn't have to pay for the service.
Matthew was very grateful for this.
The elevator door slowly closed.
He could feel himself slowly and comfortably ascending at a slow speed.
After a few seconds.
A stiff voice sounded in his ear:
"Sir, according to the current speed, you will need another 29 hours and 7 minutes to reach the floor you want. So, do you need the acceleration service? I am your considerate companion, Tower Spirit 247."
Matthew immediately refused:
"No, I don't need it. Stop playing these tricks. 177, it's boring to repeat the same old thing."
A few seconds later.
The voice said again:
"Tower Spirit No. 177 has been replaced by me, and now Cauldron House belongs to my No. 369. Kid, if you don't want to fall halfway, you better behave and press the acceleration button next to you. It will make you happy."
Matthew smiled and said:
"It can indeed make you happy, but sorry, I've already vomited once. After that time, I swore I would never fall for your tricks again."
The voice sneered:
"Not receptive? That's fine, Matthew. You've become quite capable. Do you really think that the acceleration of the magic elevator needs your personal command? I am the greatest Tower Spirit in history. Who am I? I am the king of Cauldron House! If you don't know what's good for you, I'll personally accelerate you!"
Matthew held onto the elevator handrail. "I'm ready."
The voice of the Tower Spirit suddenly became evil and eerie.
"Are you really ready?"
"Hehehe, Matthew, I'm going to accelerate..."
Matthew closed his eyes and tightened his grip on the handrail.
"Don't be afraid, I'll be gentle, Matthew. I'm really going to accelerate."
The Tower Spirit continued to threaten.
Suddenly, Matthew opened his eyes.
"Are you finally scared, Matthew?" The Tower Spirit gloated.
Matthew let go and looked at the elevator door.
"The top floor, we're here."
The door opened with a sound.
Matthew stepped inside.
The top floor of Cauldron House was a large open space.
Above was the boundless starry sky.
On the open space.
A construct over 3 meters tall, made entirely of clay and wearing an exaggerated suit, walked towards Matthew.
It didn't seem to be angry or embarrassed because of the prank's failure.
Instead, it greeted Matthew humbly:
"Good morning, Matthew. Welcome to Cauldron House. I am your humble servant, Tower Spirit No. 177."
But Matthew didn't dare to act pretentious in front of him.
After all, this construct had a terrible personality, longed for a partner, and couldn't stand loneliness. It had 23 levels of profession!
It was said to be the only legendary construct in the known territories of the human kingdom.
Even Matthew's strongest Bone Dragon was no match for it.
"Respected Mr. 177."
Matthew got straight to the point:
"I want to search for and borrow books in two directions."
"Keywords."
177, who entered work mode, was concise.
"The first keyword is Psionic Energy. I want to find books and information related to 'charging items with Psionic Energy'."
Matthew quickly said:
"The second keyword is Su Kingdom. Secondary keywords may include 'emperor', 'Great Wall', 'Jade Phoenix', and the like."
After listening, 177 'pondered' for 3 seconds.
Then it replied:
"Pure research books on Psionic Energy are very rare, but there are some related to charging items with Psionic Energy. I am not talented, but I happen to have some knowledge in the field of Psionic Energy. If you can be more specific with your question, I may be able to give you a direct answer, saving you the borrowing fee."
Matthew looked at him suspiciously:
"Will there be an additional consultation fee?"
He couldn't help but be careful. Borrowing in Cauldron House was much cheaper than consulting!
"You're overthinking it, Matthew."
177 said calmly:
"Originally, there would have been a consultation fee, but now it has been offset by the question brought by the second keyword."
"Unfortunately, information related to 'Su Kingdom' is classified at level 11. Only the Four Guardians and three other Archmages of the Seven Holy Alliance are qualified to know. If you really want to know about it, my suggestion is to kill that old man Ronan and take his place as the Southern Guardian. Then you can do whatever you want."
Matthew didn't find this particularly strange.
The fact that Su Kingdom was rarely known on this continent must have a reason.
The Seven Holy Alliance must have their reasons for deliberately blocking this information.
With his current strength, there was no need to rush to gather information in this area.
So he sighed:
"So you canceled my consultation fee out of sympathy?"
177 said seriously:
"No, it's out of indignation.
Who am I? The greatest Tower Spirit in history!
The king of Cauldron House!
I worked hard day and night for Ronan, and just now when I tried to access information related to 'Su Kingdom', I was refused!
Those old men from the Seven Holy Alliance dared to refuse the Emperor of Cauldron House!?
Of course, I want to retaliate.
Not only will the consultation fee be waived, but when we go down later, you can take whatever you like. Don't worry, I'll back you up. The best result would be Ronan dying in the Star Realm, and I, Tower Spirit No. 177, becoming the Southern Guardian and enjoying all the beautiful women in the world!"
After listening to 177's grandiose words, Matthew fell silent immediately.
"How did Ronan, the Archmage, train the Tower Spirit? Why is 177 so rebellious..."He muttered to himself, then quickly changed the subject, explaining the origin of the coughing staff.
177 decisively said:
"That's simple. The grade of such psionic items is not high, and the charging methods are more or less the same. The first method is to find someone with psionic energy to act as your human energy source, take a few trips to the abyss, some demons possess energy similar to psionic energy. They may not be able to use psionic energy, but they have more than enough to charge.
Here I recommend the succubus, at least 1/3 of the succubus have a source of psionic energy in their bodies, but they almost never use it, they just spend their days in idleness. Considering their robust and durable physique, they are highly operable and also a cost-effective choice."
Matthew rubbed his temples:
"What's the second method?"
177 said: "Hold the staff and imagine yourself coughing."
Matthew was taken aback:
"That simple."
177 nodded:
"Of course it's simple, but this method is very inefficient, you need to be mentally prepared."
Matthew silently noted down the two methods, thanked the Tower Spirit with a bow, and then asked to leave.
"Are you leaving already?"
177's tone was a bit more lively:
"You know, Matthew, I'm very lonely."
Matthew shivered at these words.
"Aren't there many constructs in the crucible room? Are they all not up to your standards?"
He asked politely.
"Don't mention those vulgar things, Ronan couldn't even understand the high wisdom technique later on, and the constructs he made were all garbage. I really doubt how he managed to create me in the first place. Maybe he lied, I'm not his own!"
177 said unhappily:
"I've made my needs clear to him many times, but what about him? Once I asked for my spouse to be at least large enough, and he casually brought me a dinosaur!"
Matthew was surprised:
"Dinosaur? Is this some kind of term to describe an ugly appearance?"
177 looked at him and shook his head:
"No, literally - it was a damn female tyrannosaurus, God knows what kind of unscrupulous things he did when he was involved in the 'Ancient Mythical Creatures Revival' project!"
Matthew fell silent.
"But that tyrannosaurus was quite strong."
The Tower Spirit added.
"What happened then?"
Matthew had to muster up the energy to listen to his complaints.
"Afterwards? I finally had some feelings for Little Flower - Little Flower is the name I gave her, she's not very intelligent, has a bad temper, and complements me perfectly - our days were no longer so dull, but that damn Ronan took Little Flower away. He said the project had problems and was stopped by the others in the Seven Saints Alliance, even he had to return the test subject."
177 said resentfully:
"To compensate me, he caught a cyclops for me, that monster's level is almost catching up to my 17/23, the good news is that at first I also had some interest in this new love."
Matthew nodded.
"I guess there must be bad news."
177 sighed:
"When I couldn't find the entrance for three days and three nights, I realized that Ronan, the damn careless one, had mistaken the gender of the cyclops!"
Matthew was stunned on the spot.
...
When he left the crucible room, it was already high noon.
Matthew tiredly arrived at the oak forest.
He took a short rest in the cabin.
Then he started his work routine for the day.
But when he was carrying his shovel to the north of the oak forest.
He suddenly realized something was wrong!
The ground in front had clearly been wiped clean of traces.
If it weren't for the blessing of the oak domain.
Matthew might not have noticed this trace.
"Sodie."
He quietly woke up the Blade Dancer who had been on standby in the cabin.
He was just about to communicate with the oak forest through the domain.
At this moment.
Several oak fairies flew out.
They started to pour out their words.
"A big, ugly, and fierce guy came to the forest last night?"
"He blocked an attack from an evil Witherer for you? Hmm, you only found out after the Witherer left?"
"That big guy didn't go far, he just hid?"
Matthew's expression changed continuously.
In the end, it became slightly gloomy.
He probably knew who the big guy the fairies were talking about was.
But what he cared more about was the Witherer.
This is the fallen profession of the Druid.
They gain power by destroying forests.
Forests targeted by Witherers.
Usually end up as scorched earth.
"I understand, don't worry, I won't go anywhere until I deal with that Witherer."
Matthew said, clenching the shovel in his hand.
A moment later.
He continued to walk towards his work.
No matter what happens.
Planting trees is still the most important!
...
Night.
The moonlight is bright.
When the first ray of moonlight fell on the world.
The believer's badge on Matthew's chest reacted.
...
"Given your performance in killing three Frenzy guards, you have become a formal member of the Moonlight Society!......
You have obtained the Spell: Moonfire.
......