Chapter 277 – Magic Tower

(This is actually Chapter 275, apologies for the title error)

The magic equipment Punk brought out was all cheerfully purchased by Master Kirk Weilen. Even the quill that Punk considered most useless fetched a considerable number of exchange points.

All the magic equipment combined provided Punk with a total of five thousand exchange points. The most valuable item was undoubtedly the “Black Eagle Ring,” which alone exchanged for three thousand points.

Punk finally had some usable exchange points in hand. Although compared to those Master-Level Casters with modest assets, Punk still remained in the impoverished category, when contrasted with Formal-Level Mages who barely had any exchange points, he could now be considered a genuine wealthy individual.

However, Punk couldn’t shake the feeling that he might have sold at a loss.

Although the Thought of Truth didn’t manipulate prices dishonestly—all the magic equipment sold at market value—the unmistakable delight on Master Kirk Weilen’s face when he received the items made Punk think that he could have pushed for higher prices. At the very least, he probably could have gotten an extra hundred points for the “Black Eagle Ring.”

But the transaction was already completed, and it was too late to make changes.

Afterward, Master Kirk Weilen left enthusiastically with the magic equipment, while Punk followed a Formal-Level Ordinary Mentor to the exterior of the rented Magic Tower.

The architectural layout of this Thought of Truth branch was quite interesting. Its various zones were clearly divided, with full consideration given to convenience and practicality.

The Apprentice residential area was located at the junction of the swamp and prairie. Apprentices only needed to cross a relatively sparse jungle to reach the nearest city.

The Mentor research area (Mentor residences) was situated behind the swamp, bordering the Greenfang Mountains to the north. The powerful Formal-Level Mentors could meticulously block the magical beasts from the mountains and the Zhentarim Red Robes from beyond the mountains.

The Magic Towers where Master-Level Mages resided were scattered among the Formal-Level Mentor residential areas. The location of every Formal-Level Mage’s residence ensured that, in case of threat, a Master-Level expert would arrive for rescue within three minutes!

Among these zones, the Mentor residential area was quite sparse due to the limited number of mentors. The research institutes of two Formal-Level Mages were at least a sports field apart.

In contrast, the Apprentice residential areas were very crowded. While the collective dormitories for Apprentice Rank Mages were built in an orderly manner, the houses constructed by Apprentice-Level Mages who had the privilege to live separately—after renting plots of land—were clustered together haphazardly in groups of three to five, creating an additional sense of congestion.

Nevertheless, being a mage’s residence, these areas were generally very quiet. On the Mentor side, communication was conducted through spells all day without any noise, while on the Apprentice side, conversations were hushed and mysterious. The only relatively lively place was actually the public trading area.

This somewhat spontaneous trading zone was located at the center of the swamp, radiating around the Mission Hall and exchange hall.The trading area was divided into two sections: the Apprentice Trading Area and the Mentor Trading Area. The Apprentice Trading Area was adjacent to the apprentice residential zone, while the Mentor Trading Area was located near the mentor living quarters. Though not explicitly stated in any rules, apprentices almost never visited the mentors’ area, and mentors rarely “dropped by” the apprentices’ trading zone!

The Magic Tower Punk rented was situated within the mentor residential area, relatively close to the Mentor Trading Area. It took Punk only a few minutes to walk from the Mission Hall to his “new residence.”

Overall, Punk was quite satisfied with the Magic Tower. While it wasn’t as “fair to all” as Kirk Weilen had described, it also wasn’t as deplorable as Punk had imagined.

The annual rent for the Magic Tower was fifty exchange points—not insignificant, but not excessive either. It turned out Master Kirk Weilen hadn’t been lying: there were indeed only two vacant Magic Towers in the entire Thought of Truth Branch, and only Master-Level Casters were permitted to rent them.

As for the tower’s characteristics… in Punk’s words, they could be summed up in two words—ordinary.

Yes, this was an utterly ordinary Magic Tower.

The structure adopted the most commonplace cylindrical tower design, constructed from Moni Ingot Rock, the most frequently used material by mages. The gray-white stone of the tower was scrubbed clean, and of the three basic enchantment arrays, only one exhibited minor energy stagnation issues—the other two operated normally.

The tower’s guardian spirit was a solidified virtual soul with no distinctive features. The only mental enhancement spell embedded was the utterly unoriginal “Mechanized Mind.” Punk suspected the original builder of this tower must have been a research fanatic; the guardian spirit hadn’t even been programmed with a single polite phrase or greeting, rendering a computationally capable entity as dull and uninspiring as a third-rate guide sprite from an Earth online game.

The Elemental Pool within the Magic Tower was empty. Judging by the residual elements, the semi-solid energy previously stored there had likely been pure fire element.

“It seems the previous owner was an evocation mage, specialized in the fire element. But this Elemental Pool will need thorough cleaning.”

Punk felt somewhat resigned after sensing the sedimented fire element residues. These remnants were clearly his responsibility to handle, and the troublesome fire-element condensation enchantments would all need to be removed. To Punk, this felt as unpleasant as having to clean grease from a secondhand range hood.

Fortunately, the interior of the Magic Tower was impeccably organized. The minor dust-repelling enchantment had remained operational throughout the tower’s six hundred years of vacancy, leaving the spacious interior spotless without a speck of dust in any corner.

Naturally, the empty Magic Tower contained no furniture whatsoever, but Punk had never particularly cared about such amenities.

After taking possession of the Magic Tower, Punk embarked on a half-month “renovation project.” He understood the principle of sharpening one’s tools before undertaking a task, and moreover, he possessed too many secrets that must remain hidden from all. Thus, Punk had no choice but to scrutinize every trace of magical residue within the tower and install as many shielding enchantments as possible.With his knowledge from the Netheril era, it was quite simple for Punk to “renovate” such an ordinary Magic Tower. After a series of adjustments, Punk looked at the gleaming golden runes covering the Magic Tower and the layered force field shields, finally nodding in satisfaction:

“Well, this should be safe enough. Even if that Kirk Weilen suddenly goes mad and charges in, these warning enchantments and magical traps will buy me enough time to react.”

Now that he was satisfied with his dwelling, it was finally time to begin the long-awaited experiments.

Punk took out the Alchemy Tools one by one in the designated Laboratory of the Magic Tower. With the assistance of the layered alchemical arrays in the Magic Tower’s Laboratory, his research efficiency was far better than the sporadic experiments he had conducted on the road.

(End of Chapter)