Chapter Sixty-Nine: Constructing the Tower of Magic

The lowest level was crafted from special materials, hidden within the inner space of the magic tower, so it remained invisible from the outside world.

The first floor served as the reception hall and living quarters, including a kitchen, entertainment room, and other amenities, all built according to Lando’s personal vision.

The second floor was the laboratory, equipped with essential tools. As for higher-grade precise instruments, given his budget constraints, it was better to borrow from his mentor for now.

The third floor housed a small arcane garden and a storeroom, where magical herbs could be cultivated. Tending flowers and plants during leisure time helped soothe the mind—a suggestion from his mentor, Aldo. Since Lando lacked a planar seed or fragments, he could only use a spatial expansion array as a substitute; fortunately, his current spatial requirements for the tower were not excessive.

In fact, if the world under Lando’s control had not been chosen by the Silver Tower as a world laboratory, he could have carved out some fragments. Though technically Silver Tower property, such actions were often overlooked.

A pity…

After confirming the basic structure, Lando nodded in satisfaction.

A sharp snap resounded.

Suddenly, the warehouse’s four walls receded, and the ceiling rose higher. The space was being stretched in an instant—a sophisticated spatial array at work.

Around Lando, ten small teleportation arrays appeared, and ten mechanical golems materialized before him. Each stood three meters tall, looking somewhat bulky. He had Little Grey pass the finalized blueprints to the golems, whose eyes flashed as they began their tasks with precise division of labor.

Their job was simple: construct the skeleton of the magic tower.

If this were ancient times, magicians would have needed thousands of slaves and stonemasons to quarry and refine the special stone, then spend three to five years building the tower.

But now?

The golems’ mechanical eyes emitted scanning beams, logging and sorting the materials on the floor, then proceeding to their assigned tasks. Their seemingly clumsy arms transformed into various tools, and their innate arcane construction abilities allowed them to shape and mold materials swiftly and efficiently. One golem would set down a processed piece, and the next would immediately pick it up for further work.

Glancing at Little Grey’s feedback, Lando saw the estimated time was just over two hours—and the countdown ticked ever lower.

Lando decided to stay, pulling up a small chair and sitting down to toy with a lump of earth element.

The earth element repeatedly formed and dispersed, taking shape again. He wasn’t merely playing, but practicing the essential skill for Silver Tower arcanists—elemental condensation.

This technique, derived from the ancient arcane branches of evocation and transmutation, had been refined by the Silver Tower school into an art. By mastering it, one could instantly condense elements into tangible materials, then use arcane construction to craft them into desired objects.

Aldo had demonstrated this to Lando recently, condensing a highly conductive alloy directly from elemental essence, endowing it with all the alloy’s properties—a feat quintessentially arcane.

Achieving such mastery required extensive practice and a thorough grasp of the material’s structure. At present, Lando could only condense earth element into simple blocks.

Yet his skill grew ever more proficient and refined, as he shaped the earth into the Great Wall, the Iron Tower, Big Ben, Kanna Hashimoto, the Thinker, the Statue of Liberty…

Lost in his practice, Lando was abruptly woken by Little Grey’s alert.

He looked around: the mechanical golems were resetting, just as they had appeared.

Before him stood a magic tower approximately fifteen meters tall and five meters in diameter. Its exterior gleamed with a silvery gray, but its precise internal levels were indistinguishable from outside.

Upon entry, Lando was delighted; the reserved spaces for array engravings were perfectly situated.

He waved his hand, and the golems vanished through the teleportation arrays. The rest was up to him.

The external reinforcement and illusion arrays were indispensable, as were the spatial expansion arrays on every floor. The void energy extraction array and energy circuits needed to be maximized—while the first floor was relatively fixed, the second and third required extensive energy circuits to prevent mishaps.

The void energy core also had to be installed; it not only enhanced the extraction array’s power, but stored surplus energy for emergencies. In his travels, anything could happen.

Once fully charged, the void energy core could, in theory, sustain the magic tower for ten years, should the extraction array fail—provided no excessive energy-consuming operations were performed.

This item was exorbitantly expensive, costing Lando half his budget—even at the Silver Tower’s discounted rate. The remaining arrays, such as temperature regulation and energy distribution, were minor expenses by comparison.

Having already obtained leave from Aldo, Lando spent this period entirely within the warehouse, constructing the magic tower. He slept where he worked when tired, had meals delivered by the lab’s mechanical golem, and devoted every waking moment to his task.

Two weeks later, Lando solemnly placed Little Grey’s core in the central control unit.

“Begin connection…”

“Connecting… Connection complete…”

“Magic tower self-diagnostics initiated…”

“Void energy extraction array… activating… running smoothly… Energy circuits operational… Three errors detected…”

Lando left the central control unit, listening to the auxiliary core’s report from his wristband as he followed its guidance to each faulty energy circuit and corrected them one by one.

After nearly a day of thorough inspections and modifications, the magic tower finally met Lando’s satisfaction. He breathed a sigh of relief and summoned the mechanical golems to finish up the remaining tasks before departing the laboratory.

Staggering and dizzy, he returned to his dormitory and fell into bed. He had already disabled the communication system; unless one of those marked by him as special contacted him, Little Grey would not disturb his rest.

Who awakens first from dream’s embrace? I alone know myself in this life.

Lando slept until he woke naturally, stretching comfortably as sunlight streamed through the automatically opened window. Judging by the light outside, it must be… noon?

Perfect timing for lunch. After freshening up, Lando headed straight for the dining hall, eager to reward himself with Old Moore’s cuisine.

On the way, he checked his messages—mostly irrelevant, except for one left by Toru ten days ago, informing him that a collection of antiquities had arrived. Knowing Lando was sequestered, Toru had handed everything over to Uncle Moore for safekeeping, so Lando could retrieve them at his convenience.