Chapter 104: Turns Out I’m Illiterate
Anse looked vigilant as he carefully examined it and discovered that this steel-forged construct was already damaged.
It was about three and a half meters tall, with a slender build, covered entirely in thick silver-gray metal like armor, sharply angular, and from a distance it looked just like a steel warrior.
‘This should be a Shield Guard.’
A Shield Guard is a fearsome magical autonomous machine that, when created, binds to a specific Command Amulet for easy control by its owner.
This construct’s appearance is like a soldier on vigilance, without intelligence, its sole function to obey the owner’s commands and protect the owner’s safety.
Some Shield Guards store one or several spells within and release them at specific times.
A Shield Guard’s standard challenge rating is level 7, immune to poison, charm, exhaustion, panic, paralysis, petrification, poisoning, with regeneration ability, powerful strength, not something ordinary people can possess.
Anse raised his hand and knocked on its steel shell, producing a clanging sound.
‘It couldn’t have naturally repaired itself after being damaged, could it? I wonder if it can still be used?’
Unfortunately, he didn’t understand constructs, nor alchemy, magic arrays, forging, magic scrolls… Even if it was broken, he was helpless.
‘Turns out I’m illiterate.’ He mocked himself.
To avoid accidents, he didn’t continue exploring but went back and brought all three of Brat in.
The group was extremely excited, feeling the thrill of exploring ancient ruins.
As soon as Brat entered the hall, he was startled by the Shield Guard: “This thing won’t suddenly wake up, will it?”
“Almost impossible.” Anse shook his head slightly; controlling a Shield Guard required a Command Amulet.
The group maintained combat formation and continued exploring.
Every floor of the Black Tower was nearly two thousand square meters, the hall about a thousand square meters, but aside from the Construct Shield Guard, there was nothing usable left, completely empty.
On the inner side were several doors made of the same material as the Black Tower, which sealed tightly when closed and were easy to overlook if not paying attention.
Brat and Giant Tail checked each one, emerging with disappointed expressions.
“It seems like there was a fire here, all ashes, weapons all shattered.” Brat said, holding a deformed iron piece.
“Let’s go up and check.” Anse was still not giving up.
The group continued upward along stairs on one side.
The Black Tower had twelve floors; from outside, the layering wasn’t obvious, but the internal structure was clear, with different layouts on each floor.
Since the furniture and decorations were completely destroyed, their specific uses couldn’t be determined, only speculation was possible.
The second and third floors were also spacious; judging by the layout, they might have been the dining room, library, or meeting room, similarly empty.
The fourth floor had many rooms, possibly a dormitory or similar, each very spacious with at least fifty rooms, each with its own washroom.
Anse pushed open a door, reached out to turn on the black stone faucet, and after a while of gurgling exhaust sounds, clear water sprayed out, swirling away the ashes in the basin and disappearing into the drain.
“There’s water!”
He turned to look at the nearby black stone squat toilet, lost in thought.
Clearly, the Black Tower had considered water and air circulation issues from the start of construction, with essential living facilities integrated into the tower body.
And after so many years, there was still clear water, indicating that magical power was still active within the tower.
Thinking of this, the disappointment in his heart faded somewhat.
“At least we can live here.” Brat said loudly; he had thought of the same thing as Anse.
Anyone who has lived in high-rises knows that without enough water, it would be a disaster.
The group continued upward; the fifth and sixth floors had layouts similar to the fourth, but from the sixth floor up there were no ashes, each floor empty and spotless, with nothing except the water and drainage system.
Anse had anticipated this and wasn’t disappointed: “Let’s go below; there must definitely be a basement here.”
“Yeah.”
The group returned to the first floor, feeling along the walls and testing each one, but found nothing.
Anse turned to look at the Construct Shield Guard’s position; it stood in an inner corner of the hall, and opposite it in the hall was the upward staircase.
“Ashes everywhere, how did you specifically survive?”
He had initially thought the Shield Guard was tough enough, but after seeing the scenes inside the tower, he was awestruck by the terrifying power of the spell and suddenly felt the Shield Guard’s existence was somewhat special.
“Push it away!”
“Got it.” Giant Tail set down its weapon, hugged one of the Shield Guard’s legs, and dragged it aside.
Brat lightly pushed the wall; a circle of mana spiritual light rotated around him, the Paradise Seal on his chest lit up, a tall door appeared, and it opened at his touch.
“It really is here.”
The group’s spirits lifted; they had been full of expectations, and finding nothing was inevitably disappointing.
Giant Tail and Brat went down first, with Anse and Finn following behind.
The door was abnormally large, the stairwell similarly tall and wide, each step huge, so they could only jump to proceed.
Just as they entered the basement, a shadow whooshed by in front of them.
“What thing?” Brat was startled.
Giant Tail had good eyesight and said doubtfully: “Seems like a broom.”
Anse quickened his pace, and ahead appeared a square hall, very clean, with two brooms flying around.
Seeing them enter, the brooms didn’t attack but continued flying regularly along the corridor; however, the place was already spotless, with really nothing left to clean.
“Animated Broom.”
“This is… the Storage Room.”
Anse looked at the corridors and rooms extending from the hall, his face full of smiles; finally, no more ashes.
The doors weren’t locked, and the group eagerly searched every room.
This was indeed the Storage Room; in one corner was a small mechanical factory.
The good news was there were plenty of things; the bad news was most couldn’t be used.
Miscellaneous items, tools, clothing, grain, various ingredients… almost all turned to trash.
The mechanical factory was probably for repairing Shield Guards; inside was a Shield Guard with only the upper body left, and surrounding rooms stored many mechanical parts, metal ingots, and such, with obvious signs of aging, but repairable to some value.
Anse speculated that the Shield Guard in the hall had been manipulated to run out from the basement after the Mage Tower was destroyed, possibly to scout the situation.
The most valuable were six Animated Brooms; they too were construct creatures, in good condition after so many years.
They wouldn’t attack people with the Paradise Seal; beckon and they come, throw them anywhere and they clean there tirelessly.
“There’s another door here.” Brat stood at the stairwell, hand on the wall. “The magic seal is the key to open it, huh.”
“Let’s check it out.” Anse hurried over.
But as soon as he stepped onto the second underground level, the Scepter of Sanctuary suddenly lit up, a beam of light enveloped him, and a pulling force descended.
At the same time, a hazy underground space appeared in his mind, right below his feet.
‘Hidden room?’
He re-detected the scepter, confirmed no anomalies, nodded to Brat and the others, then teleported over.
Light and shadow flashed before his eyes, and he appeared in a dim spherical space dozens of meters in diameter, the spherical walls covered in silver and purple interwoven magic runes, nodes flickering with starlight, like being in the starry sky, giving an unreal dreamlike feeling.
There was no gravity here, but it wasn’t like space; he levitated in place, able to freely adjust his posture without drifting.
At this moment, the Scepter of Sanctuary shot out a faint light; the spherical space shook, magic runes lit up one by one, the starry sky seemed to come alive, slowly rotating like roaming through space.
Anse had a realization, closed his eyes slightly, and a three-dimensional image of the Black Tower immediately projected in his mind, every detail crystal clear, even the tense expressions of Brat and the others perfectly visible.
This was the Mage Tower’s control hub—the Astrolabe Track Formation; the Scepter of Sanctuary was the controller.
‘Good thing the underground wasn’t destroyed, or it would all be over.’
He opened his eyes, looked at the complex magic runes around him, and helplessly shook his head: ‘Can’t understand it, completely can’t understand it.’
He suddenly felt a sense of inferiority, like a tall rich handsome guy discussing science with a top scholar, quite powerless.
“Meow—”
A cat’s meow sounded in his ear.
